Trading Places: One of Those Movies that Should Never Be Remade

I was channel surfing today and came across an old favorite on AMC: Trading Places with Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy, Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Ameche, and Ralph Bellamy.

For those of you who haven't seen it, it's the story of two men: Louis Winthorpe III (Dan Aykroyd) and Billy Ray Valentine (Eddie Murphy). Louis is a filthy-rich stock broker who has everything: a butler and driver, a 'fabulous' girlfriend, and a dream job working at a commodities brokerage firm for brothers, Randolph (Ralph Bellamy) and Mortimer (Don Ameche) Duke. Billy Ray is a street hustler who will stoop so low when panhandling that he pretends to be a legless veteran. Louis has him thrown in jail when they bump into each other because he thinks Billy Ray is trying to rob him.

Randolph and Mortimer have been arguing about whether it is the environment or genetics that determine how someone turns out:

Mortimer: Winthorpe is a very steady young man. We're lucky to have him managing our firm.
Randolph: Oh, hogwash. Exeter, Harvard - he's the product of good environment.
Mortimer: It's got nothing to do with environment. With his genes, you could put him anywhere and he'd come out on top. Breeding, same as in race horses. It's in the blood.
Randolph: That man is a product of a poor environment. There's nothing wrong with him, I can prove it.
Mortimer: Of course there's something wrong with him... He's a Negro! He's probably been stealing since he could crawl.
Randolph: Given the right surroundings and encouragement, I'll bet that that man could run our company as well as Winthorpe.
Mortimer: Are we talking about a wager, Randolph? I suppose you think Winthorpe... say if he were to lose his job, would resort to holding up people on the streets.
Randolph: No, I don't think that would be enough for Winthorpe. We'd have to heap a little more misfortune on those narrow shoulders. If he lost his job and his home and his fiancée and his friends. If he were somehow disgraced and arrested by the police and thrown in jail, even. Yes, I'm sure he'd take to crime like a fish to water.
Mortimer: You'd have to put him in the wrong surroundings, with the worst sort of people. I mean real scum, Randolph.
Randolph: We've done it before. This time it's in a good cause.
Mortimer: How much do you want to bet?
Randolph: The usual amount.
Mortimer: Why not?

As you can tell already, this is not going to be a politically-correct film.

A Victim of Poor Advertizing: Knowing

Back in 2009, I was excited to see this new movie, Knowing. The ads, like the one above, said the movie involved some sort of mystery, involving creepy messages from aliens and Nicholas Cage unraveling the truth.

What I got was something very different.

And me disgusted at this cheap fakeout by advertisers.

I typically don't like to reveal things in my reviews, but to adequately discuss this movie, I have, so if you don't want spoilers, don't read further.

Knowing tells the story of John Koestler, a university professor and astrophysicist, who sets about investigating the strange numbers found in a time capsule from 1959 that was dug up at his son's elementary school. The piece of paper, found by John's son, Caleb, is a long string of numbers written down by Lucinda Embry, a girl who heard voices and who was compelled to transcribe them (continuing in the coat closet when she was interrupted, leading her to be banished to a mental institution). John is intrigued by the numbers and then becomes obsessed in figuring out what they mean when he notices the date, location, and death toll of the 9/11 attacks located within them. He eventually figures out that the numbers detail "every major global disasters in the last 50 years." This, combined with the three remaining dates, and the strange "whisper people" who seem to be stalking his son, leads him to believe that his family plays a role in the events that are about to unfold. John tries to hunt down Lucinda, discovers she has died; instead, he connects with her daughter, Diana, and her granddaughter, Abby, who, like Caleb, is being visited by the whisper people. He and Diana, convinced their children are in danger, set out on a quest to stop the impending tragedies.

From the trailer (above), you see Caleb looking the piece of paper, while a whisper man looks on. Later, Caleb interacts with a whisper man who shows him a vision of fire and destruction and then he screams because of the whisper men. Another trailer (which I couldn't find) had 2 whisper men watching their house like stalkers. That, combined things like them vanishing into thin air and the floating stones (like to see when a UFO hovers above), left me thinking that this movie and its mystery had something to do with aliens who were targeting these kids.

The movie, however (and stop now if you don't want spoilers), is not about aliens. It's about something all together different.