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This past weekend saw the release of yet another version of Alice in Wonderland, this time from quirky director Tim Burton. The movie, which co-stars Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter and Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen, has done crazy business at the box office, as noted on this fine Web site earlier in the week. If only the movie was, you know, good. Seriously, though, the wild success of Alice in Wonderland has apparently inspired Warner Bros. Pictures to dust off yet another childhood classic for potential remake status: The Wizard of Oz. Yes, friends, once again, Hollywood has decided to mine their collective brains for the original idea of copying an old story. Before we all go back to the common complaint any film fan has - Why does Hollywood have no original ideas any more? - I feel we should get to the crux of this specific issue.

I had something of an epiphany come to me as I was watching the mostly forgettable and sometimes loathsome Academy Awards ceremony. Like last year, the In Memoriam segment was accompanied by a solo performer singing a classic song. Last year, it was Queen Latifah. This year, it was James Taylor serenading us with the Beatles' In My Life. I have no quibble with Queen Latifah, nor with James Taylor. But sometimes, it's best to leave things alone. The In Memoriam segment can confuse some people if they don't know who's being eulogized, but the montage is usually moving, scored to some famous movie theme. No, said the producers; let's throw something live in the mix. So, here I stand on my proverbial lawn, turning into a proverbial old man, and grumbling about the way things were.

But, in the case of some movies, whether we like it or not, Hollywood chooses to change things. We can't leave well enough alone at the Oscars, so why not everywhere else in the multiplexes? This week's A-List is going to highlight five movies or stories that are so popular, so often used, and so poorly used that Hollywood needs to stop. Not all of the movies are the best, but the basic stories have been done so many times, in movies and on television shows, that I say we need to retire them. I like the movies or stories on this list, but I don't love them; the point here is to try and preserve whatever dignity is left in these sacred cows, so sacred despite Hollywood trying to sully their reputation at every chance.

The Wizard of Oz

Here's one of the movies that I just don't like as much as others. Yes, it's a classic. Yes, the movie is iconic. Still, I've never embraced The Wizard of Oz as much as my contemporaries, or the generations before. Having said that, Hollywood needs to back off this movie. Remaking The Wizard of Oz, or attempting to sequelize it, as was done in the 1980s with Return to Oz, is a bad idea. What's more, the very idea of a character going to a fantasy world, only to return to the real world and be met by people who appear in both worlds, is about ready to be retired. When it comes to The Wizard of Oz, should anyone even attempt to top this Judy Garland classic? I'm not saying that a filmmaker couldn't try, or that an actress couldn't match Garland's charm and vivaciousness, but this is one of those cases where you have to wonder what the point is.

Yes, being fair, remaking The Wizard of Oz, potentially in 3-D (because what would make the movie better is if the Scarecrow pointed toward the audience when telling Dorothy Gale how to get to Emerald City), is all about money. I'm not naïve enough to assume that the people who greenlight movies aren't first thinking about the financial bottom line. That said, there has to be a line people shouldn't cross. Movies like Casablanca or Citizen Kane, you would imagine, are sacrosanct. We'll never get too close to seeing these movies be remade. There have been rumors in the past; the former film's potential remake would've starred Kevin Costner as Rick. Once you've finished puking your guts out at the thought, join me back at the computer screen. Shouldn't The Wizard of Oz be considered as sacred a movie as those two? It's a defining classic, and shouldn't be tarnished.

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