I dunno. I used to feel the same way, Steph, wondering why Hollywood kept churning out remakes. I used to blame the studio execs, but y'know what? Nowadays, I blame the ignorant herds that flock to the movies. There ARE still great, innovative, original, thought-provoking movies being made, and they DO occassionally make it into the theatres...but no one goes to see them.
Most of the drones I work with were utterly unaware that there even WERE originals of flicks like "Gone In 60 Seconds" or "The Fast and the Furious", or even "Dawn of the Dead", for that matter.
I'm actually pretty pepped for "War of the Worlds", although it could wind up being a big-budget disaster. There's a "Fantastic Four" in the works. How many were even aware that they'd actually already DONE a film version of the comic(apparently, it was so awful, it was immediately shelved; it's available on the bootleg curcuit still)? When they can bring something fresh to a retelling of a story, esp. using some of the fantastic effects available these days, I'm usually for it. I say usually because word has it that they've tapped Peter Jackson to do a "King Kong" remake. There's one I really REALLY wish wouldn't get messed with. The original is one of my all-time favorite films: DON'T FUCK WITH IT! Certain films should have some sort of sacred remake shield around them that forbids any futzing, like "The Wizard of Oz"...(don't bring up "The Wiz" to me. That doesn't count. It was made in the mid-`70's, and everybody was on drugs back then)
The whole remake quandary is such an iffy subject. I mean, WHY in Gawd's name did they ever bother to do a scene-for-scene remake of Hitchcock's immortal "Psycho", fer Christ's sake?!? On the other hand, BOTH versions of "Cape Fear"(the `61 and the `91) are excellent movies in their own rights.
Personally, I think remakes have their place, especially if a movie with maybe afew faults can be improved upon. It's just that usually, the opposite occurs, like with the incredible "Island of Lost Souls", based on the Dr. Moreau story. It's been remade several times over the years, and just seems to get further and further away from the stunning masterpeice that was the original film version.
So, as you can tell, I'm sorta ambivalent on the remake-bashing. Just depends on WHAT they're remaking, and WHO'S involved, I suppose.