Lately it seems like about half of the movies being made in the US are remakes—either of older movies or of movies from other countries.  Past remakes of Japanese movies include: The Ring, Shall We Dance, The Grudge, and several other horror movies.

It’s interesting to note that sometimes it works both ways.  This past weekend saw the opening of the movie 「サイドウェイズ」, a remake of the 2004 indie film “Sideways.”  I think this is especially interesting because Japanese people are generally not big wine drinkers—they mainly stick to their sake and beer—and as a big fan of the original, I’m very curious to see how they adapted the movie for a Japanese audience.