I know this comment is remix of commentaries from many individuals over the span of forever, but here goes anyway.

I'm not going to defend Hollywood's endless regurgitation of the same material. The dearth of original ideas in that town is appalling. However, if you read Joseph Campbell, other mythologists, and literary experts, you'll know that there are really only a limited number of original stories in the first place. Kirby Ferguson even mentions Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces. One author whose name completely escapes me at the moment wrote that there are only about 60 stories - various tragedies, romances, heroic adventures, and even comedies have their roots in basic stories that have been told for millennia. Other experts will say there are fewer stories than that, others will say more, but you get my point. However, it's HOW those stories are retold is what makes them great, mediocre, shitty, etc.

Take the movie The Fighter. It's a classic story of an underdog beating the odds and achieving greatness. In this case it's a true story, but it's a classic. Just ask Rocky. However what made The Fighter great was in the details, especially the acting. Melissa Leo, Amy Adams, and Christian Bale all turned in great performances.

Also George Lucas did take a LOT from other films, but he made the material his own and succeeded wildly with Star Wars. (Then 20 years later he took all that greatness and took a huge fucking dump on it, almost souring me on my love of the originals.)

So I don't mind stories being retold, as long as the filmmakers can make them their own, keep them interesting, and stock them with good actors (not necessarily famous actors, but good actors). I hope Kirby Ferguson touches on this in the third part.