Computer Animation Arts

In 1998, director Gus Van Sant remade Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho  - pretty much shot-for-shot, give or take a few additions, notably some subliminal cuts of seemingly random images.  It was universally panned by critics: Rotten Tomatoes states "Van Sant's pointless remake neither improves or illuminates Hitchcock's original."   It certainly seemed like an odd choice for a respected director, and an intelligent director at that.  Watching the remake is a very strange experience.  It feels familiar, of course, but also synthetic: it's Psycho -flavoured all right, but it isn't a real flavour; it's artificial and unsatisfying, as saccharine is to sugar.   One might be tempted to think the Psycho remake is a knowing art-house appropriation in the style of Sherrie Levine , who likewise enjoys disrupting existing legacies and superimposing parasite meanings on revered or especial cultural artefacts... Pointless remake or another postmodern mind game...