Movie Industry Failure

[Raezarin]

Movies.

Yes, the oh-so-wondefull Hollywood with its series of delightful eyecandy and delicious scandals. Its also getting boring as hell. Has anyone noticed that nearly all the movies that are coming out are based off a book? Some of them are good, I have to admit, but the books is generally better because of the details that the movie simply cannot convey. We can do great things with digital programs and make even the wildest fantasy novel come to life, but in the end all thats been done is a new twist on an old idea.(If they don't manage to butcher the book entirely....)

Those original ideas that do come out of Hollywood and gain some success are milked for all they're worth until everything that made you want to watch the first movie has been destroyed.
*coughshrekcoughpiratesofthecarribeancoughcough*


My current favorites are all by Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli. I saw a translated version of Ponyo before its North American release. Thats not even going onto the never ending soap operas and series (the current fad is doctors, I believe). Hell, I don't know about you but I'm dying for something new.

So.

Thoughts? Theories? Opinions?

Am I wrong, are there good movies (not based off a book) out there that i simply haven't seen/heard of because they're not my taste?

What would they have to do to revamp the place anyways(is there any hope or should we simply turn to anime and manga?)

[newdivision]

What I'm annoyed with is that books are being turned into badly-made films, and there are countless. The reason is usually because it's not possible for a movie to convey the same message as a book, they are different mediums. I'd like to see movies with original ideas. I'm also sick of raunchy, cynical humor films like Superbad, Knocked Up, Zack & Miri, etc. Lately, I've been watching older movies and foreign films which are original, creative and with good acting, costumes, sets, ect. Miyazaki movies are always enjoyable. Ponyo, the newest one, was fantastic and had an environmentalist message but wasn't overly preachy.

In summary, movies should go back to being works of art.

[Transcendence]

Personally I am a fan of Greys Anatomy so I must admit I was swept up into that fad. It was at a time in mylife where depression wrecked my life and that show helped me. Yeah its stupid but hearing about all of their insane and improbably problems made my life seem better. Not to mention it was funny and I thought that guy was hot. Now I have lost a little interest in the show because every relationship has run its course and is getting old. Now I am on the House the other doctor show. I used to watch ER when I was a little girl so that is why I am drawn to these shows. I also like the show HOUSE md because the man reminds me of my grandfather and I love trying to figure out the way his mind works.

When it gets down to it these dramas are all about the entertainment value and very little about content for me. I want a show that can get my head off my own life and away from my worries.

Yeah, I can understand that movies being made into books is kinda FAIL in most instances. But if you hadnt read the book you would probably think that movie was fantastic and that is the way of things. Its impossible to catch it all in visual what is captured in a narrative. Honestly LOTR's did the best job at this.

And yes, while I feel like every story has been seen a million times played over and over in different movies that is absolutely true. I mean unless you come up with some strange scify what idea hasnt been done already?

I mean there will always be that classic love stories with a different twist you cant really change them in any way that will make then any different from any other movie done before. The core of the story is almost always the same. Same with oddesys of some sort and comedies.

Comedies are always about making someone else look bad or hurting someone else in order to bring laughs. Or laughing about every day things that everyone can identify with to make life seem a little sunnier.

The world has its limits on what can be done. Its all about how well movies are done these days. What angle a shot was taken at, what background, what computer animation was used. This is what makes a movie idea new and exciting every time even if it has been done many times.

[Raezarin]

I know that I'm kinda asking a lot of the movie industry by demanding they get new ideas, but I feel like they can do it. Quite frankly, I think the problem is that movies are slowly becoming less of an independent way to communicate an idea and more like a different format.

Weird, I know. Look at it this way. there are many different ways to portray human nature through books and written pieces in general. People use the power of words to convey an idea that has evolved over years, be it the horror of war and death, or the need to strive towards your goals. I repeat, they do this through words. What the movie industry has started doing is taking those words and turning them into visuals. Changing the format.

But movies aren't books. They are, as I've said, a different kind of communication. A hybrid creation of pictures and sound with a power different then that of books. So my question is, why can't we treat it like that?

Why can't we try to convey our ideas via film. Its a lot harder than writing a book, you not only need to think of how the dialogue should flow, but the shots, the music, the actors. So why waste all that effort on trying to convey what that book does so much better? Naussica of the Valley of the Wind is one of my favorite Miyazaki films because of the images and sound. His message? Peace and harmony with nature. Has it been done before? Yes. Has it been done in books? Yes. Does that take away the originality of his approach? Hell no.

I've nothing against comedy either. There's no denying that movies are one of the best ways to convey humor, and that they are great for entertainment. All I'm saying is, stop leeching of books.

/end rant

On a somewhat lighter note, I have nothing against soap operas in general and I have enjoyed House on occasion, but THEY NEVER END. Seriously! there are soap operas out there nearing 600 episodes! Enough is enough. Learn when to move on people!

[Lux-Vertas]

Hollywood is currently scrapping the bottom of the Barel... sadly there are too few Story Tellers Like Lucas and too many Pratts Like Bay and Bowle!

Plus the whole post modernism crap...


an another problem is that there is too much old blood, we need younger actors to be casted more not just "Girls with the biggest tits"

[Graymalkin]

I tend to stick to movies I know I will enjoy, and yes. Hollywood has nothing better to do than make movies from books. Some were alright, like.. Inkheart except.. that it added the books together. I prefer watching the Studio Gibli films. I own three or four of them so far. I used to own more, I need to re-buy them. I liked the Transformer films though, they were alright. Hmm.. Hollywood is drowning in my opinion. I watch more foreign films than I do anything else. I also read more manga than anything. Haha. Geek much?

[Iregyura]

I think yes, Hollywood is getting a bit boring. There's the same things, and like the movies keep dragging on forever, and they have 2 or 3 from the original story (like Shrek, if that's from Hollywood) And it is getting a little old, I must say.

[saya_parker]

I agree there's no fresh ideals. I think people in Hollywood just can't think of anything new since almost everything's been done. Now all they are doing is anime/cartoon shows into live action movies which most suck so badly. Not all but at least 75% of the suck.

I personally think they need some new fresh faces into the writing and making of the movies and not just who's acting in them. At this point i'm starting think that a five year old would do just as good in the field of writing movies and such.

[Chu]

High-School Confidential: Notes on Teen Movies by David Denby basically sums up my thoughts on the American film industry.

The article covered high school movie cliches of blond bitches and athletic dumb asses that were popular, but still hated, as well as the polar which is basically the outcasts and the various roles they cover. It asserted that while everyone believes that these movies represents society, they actually mold it. Many teenagers relate to the outcasts, for example, because they feel that they're not loved or noticed enough. People relate to the popular crowd because they feel the pains of all the drama.

The fact of the matter though, is that everything covered in such movies is overly dramatic bullshit. Then again, isn't most teen drama?

This connection that people feel to these movies makes them buy more and more, even as adults. That's where nostalgia comes into play and they think "Oh, I remember when something like that happened" when really, the phrase "LIKE THAT" is more emphasized than they think because of their poor memory. Still, they continue purchasing the movies, and this only encourages the production of said movies.

Obviously the only reason for making movies these days is the profit. In a way, society has been indoctrinated to believe in things portrayed in movies. Society itself introduces such things, but in seeing this, the media immediately took off with the idea, embellished it, people bought it, further embellished it, and the cycle continued with more and more embellishment.

What they see is what they produce. What they produce is what we adopt. And what we adopt is what they see.

So all you can really blame this on is the easily influenced society which sees these movies as real life. It's true that it's pathetic for the film industry to merely play off of hype, but what can you expect? It's surprisingly hard to come up with anything original that people would actually take interest in. Achebe wrote that "a good writer might outgrow [the] influences" of prejudices, and that applies to the film industry as well. They need to grow out of their prejudices - that is, stereotypes - in order to make anything decent.


Sorry for the rant. ^^; I spent an entire week studying a few marxist articles in my English class so it's really fresh in my mind.

[PookaRose]

I think what I worry about the most when it comes to movies is the recent fad of taking movies that they made years ago (The Day the Earth Stood Still, Halloween, etc...) and remaking them.

Right now there are so many slated to come out in the next few years and what makes them worse is most of them are ones that I saw during my childhood that I really am worried that the magic of them is going to be lost in the haze of trying to make them look better with all the updated technology. Movies like Short Circut, Neverending Story,The Karate Kid, and Footloose are classics and they should stay that way. Not be remade with whoever is the hot actor/actress right now.

And don't even get me started on all the comic book movies, yes I realize its a marketable franchise...but they do more harm then good.

[Jazzeroki]

Most of the fresh ideas yes may be missing from the larger hollywood studios but it seems that home town studios are starting to grow like crazy. I seem to see more and more decent movies coming from places that I've never heard of before. Hollywood doesn't seem to exactly to be the only top dog anymore. Foreign studios now seem to be sometimes as big if not bigger. Even Chinese studios are starting to do some really excellent work, though I've yet to see any Chinese studio do a movie staring any many western actors. But if you've ever seen any of the movies like Red Cliff, or Myth, those are pretty much on the same level as many hollywood big budget films or better and the stories were really good as well.

[Chu]

Blame society. Generally we're only satisfied with instant gratification and our attention span isn't very large. They'll only produce what sells and when a less-than-intellectual society is your market you won't be going for originality: You'll be going for what you know works.


Foreign and home town studios are still in the minority, and you can't really deny that. Americans are beginning to show a bit more interest in other cultures but most people (any people) only take other cultures at face value. All that I hear people talk about is still Hollywood these days.

[la Acuatico]

I agree. A lot of the movies are getting old, same tactics, and other things like yes, the book movies. I still like the books better. ANYWAYS, I think that it's our society and their brain's faults. I mean, their brains get tired, yes, and also they can't create as fantastic movies as before because probably of the lack of money for good actors, orchestras, etc. etc. But I have to say, YES, Hollywood movies are getting old. And boring. And long. And repeating. And etc.

[NeoDarklight]

I don't think it's just movies that are being unoriginal *cough cough* Legend of the Seeker *cough cough*, but some of them are pretty good, despite the fact that they can never stand up to the original pieces. I personally like the movies that are based on books, though, as I said, I like the books better. However, since this thread first started, some truly original movies, such as Avatar, and they have been truly epic. So I can't say that the topic isn't without point, but you have to bear in mind that it is very difficult to come up with an original idea for a movie script and be successful at the same time.

[x_lilmissNINJA_x]

Hollywood has run out of FRESH great talent. Most new actors aren't very good, while the old ones are tired and at the end of their careers. The people in the middle either suck in acting or are so overused in film because they are good that you get sick of seeing them.

I prefer to watch indy films on youtube, just because the idea are so much more origional, even if te production isn't great.

The American film industry is dying because of uncreative and overused ideas. (Highscool love stories, mob murders, funny cops, too much romantic comedy etc etc.) That or they are all remakes of older movies without much done to make them different and better.

With every new movie that comes out, I dislike the movies more and more. Hopefully the Tim Burtons "Alice in Wonderland" in March meets my low expectations, because I need a decent film.