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156th out of 396 books
—
211 voters
Remake
Winner of more Hugo and Nebula Awards than any other science fiction author, Connie Willis is one of the most powerfully imaginative writers of our time. In Remake, she explores the timeless themes of emotion and technology, reality and illusion, and the bittersweet place where they intersect to make art.
Remake
It's the Hollywood of the future, where moviemaking's been comp
...moreMass Market Paperback, 140 pages
Published
January 1st 1996
by Spectra
(first published December 1994)
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An easy read, and follows the themes which I find common with Connie Willis - some (a little) romance, time travel, disjointed experiences...someone commented that she has a terrible editor. I suppose I can see a little of that, but in any case it got me through four days of tube journeys (and nearly got me run over by a bus). Cautionary note to readers, it pays to look up from a book while crossing the street. I'd be a little disappointed however if it was this book that finally led to my demis...more
My judgments of Connie Willis books are always a little unfair. Of her works, I read Doomsday Book first and loved it, and I come to every new read hoping it will be just as good as that masterwork. And some of them are: Blackout, All Clear, To Say Nothing of the Dog... I tend to like the books in that same time-travel universe established in Doomsday Book, while the more self-contained novels that satirize an industry or a genre - Uncharted Territory, Bellwether, and yes, Remake - I don't tend...more
For film buffs and Connie Willis fans only, I'm afraid. Knowing all the film references, and being able to tolerate Connie Willis's trademark "seemingly uselessly and frustratingly thwart the protagonist, who is also under the influence and/or ill and/or exhausted for long stretches of the book" method of plotting is necessary to enjoy this book. I love it, but I think the appeal is limited. This book feels a bit like Lincoln's Dreams in plot structure and relationships, and the characters are a...more
Very readable, intriguing not-too-distant-future worldbuilding, decent characterization, somewhat sloppy science with not-quite-explained loose ends. A quick read with a narrator who is unpleasant, but not so unpleasant that he's intolerable. There is character development, although the two main characters, Tom and Alis, seem somewhat depthless. Heada, ostensibly the most minor character of our love triangle, is actually the most engaging and interesting of the three.
It occurs to me that the boo...more
It occurs to me that the boo...more
I've been wanting to read Connie Willis for quite a while now, and I'm sorry that this was the book I chose as my first of hers. The concept is interesting: technology has made it so that the only movies made in Hollywood are remakes of classics, with stars like Marilyn Monroe and Fred Astaire digitally inserted in new combinations. I liked the world she created, but the jargon and technical details were overwhelming. Normally in a futuristic sci-fi story, a certain amount of future-speak is fin...more
Recommended to me based on my love of film and my constant complaints about the latest remake, this book is not exactly what I expected it to be. Set in a near future (clearly of 1995 and not 2010, with it's constant references to Crays, "tape", and ILMGM) where "liveactions" are made anymore, just remakes of remakes of remakes with random dead actors inserted, the book is mostly about low-end people in the film industry-they seem to be students but the book was vague about it in a lot of ways-a...more
Hilarious because Willis was so clearly writing in the Made Up Words And Drugs Of The FUTURE! trend that happened in the 1990s, and I don't find that to be her strongest voice. Made up future-drugs are kind of a thing in cyberpunk, and this is a shot at cyberpunk that doesn't care about cyberpunk in the least. It cares about movies - or popular things, copyright - and time-travel, which is basically Willis through and through.
The themes of copyfighting are amazing, though; the plot hinges on Fra...more
The themes of copyfighting are amazing, though; the plot hinges on Fra...more
This book was a bit different from Willis's other books I've read (The Doomsday Book, To Say Nothing of the Dog, and Passage). There was less of the frantic running around in circles that seems to characterize most of her books and more of an actual give and take of characters and an interesting plot that drew me to the end.
The blurb makes it sound as if the book was written in Alis's POV. It was actually from [ ] POV. [ ] is a tech-geek, who is hired by ILMGM to "remake" movies. As with most o...more
The blurb makes it sound as if the book was written in Alis's POV. It was actually from [ ] POV. [ ] is a tech-geek, who is hired by ILMGM to "remake" movies. As with most o...more
Connie Willis is one of the most imaginative authors I read. I love how her mind works. As an old movie buff, I enjoyed this foray into future Hollywood. Instead of fresh stories, Hollywood recycles the same old movies. Wait, isn't that what they do now? :)
The twist in Willis' tale, however, is that current actors and actors aren't used. Through the magic of technology, long-dead actors can be cast in roles they never would have imagined. Marilyn Monroe can be cast as Scarlett O'Hara with Charl...more
The twist in Willis' tale, however, is that current actors and actors aren't used. Through the magic of technology, long-dead actors can be cast in roles they never would have imagined. Marilyn Monroe can be cast as Scarlett O'Hara with Charl...more
This is a short-ish book by one of my favorite writers. Like many of Willis' novels, this one is set in a future time where scientific knowledge has expanded but humans aren't particularly happy. In fact, this book edges further toward a dystopian vision than some of her other works.
There is biting, if somewhat removed, satire. There is a love story... somewhat triangular, but not tragic. Willis' wonderful penchant for research lends her backdrop (the film business) a richness that was easy for...more
There is biting, if somewhat removed, satire. There is a love story... somewhat triangular, but not tragic. Willis' wonderful penchant for research lends her backdrop (the film business) a richness that was easy for...more
A love story to the movie musical. In a future Hollywood where movies are an endless stream of remakes using digitized actors of the past, a man who has the job of digitally altering classics to remove the smoking and alcohol (science fiction then) falls in love with a woman who wants to dance in the movies. But no movies are being made. Then he starts seeing her in the chorus line and even leading roles of classic movies. A wonderful short tale with lots of the Connie Willis humor that was most...more
More of a novella than a book, this one packs a lot of punch in a short time. Set in the future where Hollywood has reached its inevitable outcome, a film editor meets a dame who wants nothing more than to dance on the big screen. Except there aren't musicals anymore, there aren't dancers anymore, and new movies aren't even made anymore -- they're all photoshopped remakes. He tries to snap her out of her foolish dreams, but she holds on to her pluck and does what she can to make them come true.
F...more
F...more
Ce bouquin est une étrangeté, un extra-terrestre qu’on peut classer en SF à défaut de le classer ailleurs, mais qui a aussi peu à voir avec le reste que, par exemple, Marilyn Monroe et les samouraïs du Père Noël.
Pour raconter le bouquin sans dévoiler l’intrigue, le héros travaille comme cinématicien pour créer de nouveaux films à partir d’anciennes bandes retouchées (par exemple, Terminator avec Julia Roberts et Steeve McQueen) et, un beau jour, ce type découvre la femme qu’il aime en fond d’un...more
Pour raconter le bouquin sans dévoiler l’intrigue, le héros travaille comme cinématicien pour créer de nouveaux films à partir d’anciennes bandes retouchées (par exemple, Terminator avec Julia Roberts et Steeve McQueen) et, un beau jour, ce type découvre la femme qu’il aime en fond d’un...more
SF. I love Connie Willis, but this book wasn't meant for me. It's a novella, and it's still good -- I think -- it just can't stand up to her full-length novels. As always, Willis' research is seamlessly incorporated into the narrative, but there's just not enough of it and the main character is so noir he's got no identifiable personality.
The book may have a few glitches, but it's still Connie Willis, and the futuristic Hollywood she creates is full of the details that make her writing so origi...more
The book may have a few glitches, but it's still Connie Willis, and the futuristic Hollywood she creates is full of the details that make her writing so origi...more
A scary futuristic alternate reality look at what the entertainment industry could conceivably become when technology makes real live actors obsolete and pride in craft is completely absent. Bow to the almight buck! Recycling of old films to make new in this case is not such a "green" idea, remakes replace originality, no live actors, no writers or directors needed. Great characters, I was completely sucked into the story. I'll be looking for more of this author's work.
Remake (1995) by Connie Willis.
If you thought the last movie you saw was just like a dozen other ones, the future imagined in _Remake_ takes that to an extreme. Nobody's making new films anymore. They're just recycling old ones and substituting alternate actors in "classic" roles. Not quite as technical as I thought it might be, but the story offers hope, all the same. It would be especially interesting to see as a movie, if it were done correctly.
(August 2007)
If you thought the last movie you saw was just like a dozen other ones, the future imagined in _Remake_ takes that to an extreme. Nobody's making new films anymore. They're just recycling old ones and substituting alternate actors in "classic" roles. Not quite as technical as I thought it might be, but the story offers hope, all the same. It would be especially interesting to see as a movie, if it were done correctly.
(August 2007)
I once heard on NPR that there are plenty of examples of male novelists who write good women characters, but no examples of female novelists who write good male characters. Well, I think that Connie Willis does a pretty good job on her male characters. Willis is also the master of the bittersweet ending, which this book has. Although I like her books, I think that I might have to put off reading the next one because it is bound to be sad like all the rest.
One of the books the Library ordered "as a matter of urgency" at my request. Short 170 or so pages and pulsating with research. Every sentence seems to be a cinematic referance.[return]In a future in which cinema has eaten itself using cgi to endlessly recycle old plots and old faces Alys wants to dance in the movies.[return]This should work better than it does the plot seems get lost in writing and characterisation.
Though not as immediately enjoyable as Bellwether, Remake appealed to the film student in my heart that refuses to die and spun a horrifying/hilarious yarn about the future of Hollywood and what we're in for. We're already living in an era where original ideas are yesterday's news, and I think what Willis is trying to tell is is to rage, rage against the dying of the light. Well, the light flickering up on the silver screen.
The only thing this had going for it is that it was short and I still couldn't finish it. She had a great premise but but couldn't pull it off. It wasn't funny or incisive enough to work as a parody, and was full of irritating future-speak that only distracted from the narrative. If I had to sum it up in one word, I'd have to say it was boring. I have some more of her books lined up to try but now I'm wondering if I should bother.
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This one had possibilities. Possibilities that didn't come to fruition, but at least some glimmers of intelligent, insightful writing. Interesting thoughts on the evolving nature of human relationships in an increasingly technologically-driven world, what constitutes reality and how we create our own version of it, and the over-arching role of sex in motivating human action and choices.
Feb 03, 2010
Margaret
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fantasy-and-science-fiction,
authors-vw
Meh. I simply do not seem to get on well with her short novels (with the exception of Lincoln's Dreams). Here, the concept was interesting -- the terrifying all-CGI future of the movie business -- but the characterization was so thin I just didn't care that much. I might well not have finished it if I weren't an old movie fan myself and enjoyed the references. Like Uncharted Territory, I feel that this would have been better either as a short story or as a longer novel.
Combining a fairly interesting critique of post-modern mash-up culture with a knowledgeable, if not particularly insightful, ramble through classic Hollywood's filmography, this book should have been right up my alley. Unfortunately, the strung-out narrator/protagonist, the vapid object of his affections and the lexicon full of banal neologisms he throws at you just didn't do it for me... Not a terrible read, by any means, but I expected it to add up to more than this
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Curious concept of a future Hollywood where only technology-driven remakes seem to occur. Curious that a movie industry could ever continue without original productions, but TV does that even now, so could be. Whether or not it's likely, I did feel I was there through great descriptions & realistic leading and supporting characters. Good plot, dialogue, and irony with upbeat resolution not unlike an old film. Very original and truly well done. Best if you're familiar with old musicals.
I find Connie Willis a bit hit and miss, but this one is great, with its predictions about the nature of Hollywood, celebrity, and copyright. I think it's perhaps a length issue: the books of hers that I've liked the most have been the shorter, more focused ones. The longer books seem to get a bit rambling and repetitive. Definitely a case of less is more.
Chock full of meaningful references, as much of Connie Willis's work is. In this case, the bulk of the references are to movies, so for someone who isn't a movie buff, much of the meaning is lost! I didn't particularly enjoy the book, but I'd be interested to know what cinephiles think of it.
Her weakest book that I've read so far. After reading all the Oxford books, I will admit to some disappointment in the mystery solution for this one. But it started out so well! I agree with another reviewer's comment that this would have been better as a short story.
I was quite shocked when I started reading this book. All of her others that I've read have been clean, but this one opened with vulgarity, drugs, and sex. I'm sure its a great commentary on today's media, but I couldn't stomach the read.
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Constance Elaine Trimmer Willis is an American science fiction writer. She is one of the most honored science fiction writers of the 1980s and 1990s.
She has won, among other awards, ten Hugo Awards and six Nebula Awards. Willis most recently won a Hugo Award for All Seated on the Ground (August 2008). She was the 2011 recipient of the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award from the Science Ficti...more
More about Connie Willis...
She has won, among other awards, ten Hugo Awards and six Nebula Awards. Willis most recently won a Hugo Award for All Seated on the Ground (August 2008). She was the 2011 recipient of the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award from the Science Ficti...more
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“That's what the movies do. They don't entertain us, they don't send the message: 'We care.' They give us lines to say, they assign us parts: John Wayne, Theda Bara, Shirley Temple, take your pick.”
—
5 people liked it
“They make you settle for second best."
That's what I like about the movies. There's always some minor character standing round to tell you the moral, just in case you're too dumb to figure it out for yourself.
"You never get what you want.”
—
2 people liked it
More quotes…
That's what I like about the movies. There's always some minor character standing round to tell you the moral, just in case you're too dumb to figure it out for yourself.
"You never get what you want.”
Jan 05, 2012 02:58pm