Fever Pitch

I know. I'm jumping to conclusions, but I need to do this, before Jimmy Fallon and Drew Barrymore prove me wrong.
"Life gets complicated when you love one woman and worship eleven men" (tagline for Fever Pitch)
Hollywood is remaking Fever Pitch, based on the Nick Hornby (About A Boy, High Fidelity) book. The original was a small British hit back in, oh, 1995? or something. check out imdb.com if you want details. Anyway, the original starred Colin Firth as a guy obsessed with... um... Arsenal. To the braindead who for some reason read this blog, that would be an English football team. The team that David Beckham is being rumored to be going to, in case his contract with Real Madrid falls apart during negotiation.
But I digress.

Anyway. I am one of the few who have seen this film, and, yes, at the time Colin Firth was not yet Mark Darcy of the Bridget Jones movies, but he captured that kind of English fanaticism that is not quite being a hooligan, but...
Fever Pitch is about a guy obsessed with Arsenal and their quest for the FA Cup, and how it affects his relationship with his girlfriend. I was a tennis fan at the time, so I didn't really follow the importance of that scenario. But if you're a fan of a team that has not won anything in a long time, you'll understand the turmoil of the lead. But i completely related with the decisions of staying home and watching the game over a social life, as well as the viewpoint of if-you-love-me-so-much-turn-the-bloody-television-set-off (the girlfriend).
I'm sorry, but why is Hollywood remaking a movie that's fine as it is? Okay, it doesn't have Drew Barrymore or Jimmy Fallon, but the original has the essence of the book, and probably more loyal to it.
I can't stand it. And they're doing promo for this new movie as if there hasn't already been a movie made of the book.
oh well.
and, if you must know, i became aware of the movie because of the soundtrack.
say what?
here goes: there was a local comic book published at the time, called Wasted. and the title (as well as a few panes in the comic) was taken from The Who's Baba O'Riley. This was before the rise of the mp3 (and I was too poor to afford buying whole cds for one song), so when i saw the cassette of the soundtrack, which included The La's "There She Goes" and Van Morisson's "Bright Side of the Road" (check out the musical diversity). so i got the soundtrack, which includes some audio clips from the movie, and i was curious.

long story short (too late!): why is hollywood doing this movie? and why no acknowledgement of the original?


"Can I not be the poster child for your nervous breakdown?"
- Lorne, in Angel ("Not Fade Away")