The Manchurian Candidate (2004)

to be a slam dunk, but Demme doesn't handle these well. The brainwashing scenes in the original were a model of subtle, surreal ingenuity, but here they are obvious and clichéd. And Demme still has that excruciating tendency to cram in as many cameos as possible, taking the viewer repeatedly out of the movie. That's annoying enough

Full disclosure: I believe that John Frankenheimer's 1962 Manchurian Candidate is a classic political satire and pulse-pounder that no one needed to remake. That said, director Jonathan Demme's remake isn't half bad. In fact, it's a mesmerizing mind-teaser that finds its own way into the material, adapted from Richard Condon's 1959 novel. Instead of the brainwashing Commie threat posed by the first film -- set in the Korean War era -- the menace this time is the mind control exerted by powerful…

Grab this special-edition DVD of John Frankenheimer's 1962 satirical thriller about brainwashing and an assassination during a political convention, and see what director Jonathan Demme is up against with his current remake. Frank Sinatra excels as a Korean War vet who uncovers secrets about his hero pal (Laurence Harvey). And Angela Lansbury is a marvel as Harvey's mommy dearest. The "making of" extras add to the kick.