Unoriginal Hollywood

[unclejack]

Okay we all know that Hollywood is dying of starvation for originality but I really don't know why. They have alot of options out there as far as good movies they could make but instead they choose to keep makin remakes and keep makin big superstunt films and cheap laugh goof movies that they know will draw big crowds. Here's some things I would like to see more of in Hollywood: Mafia Movies...I just can't get enough of that and there are a thousand undtold true stories out there about the mafia not to mention the possibilities for makin somethin new. History Movies...I'm a history buff and nothin is more fascinating than american history and some of the best movies I've seen have been based on historical events which took place in our nation's history...Glory, Saving Private Ryan, Dances with Wolves...need I go on? Plus, I know their comin out with a documentary but that doesnt count cuz there are already a million of those out on it as it is...I've been wanting for a long time to see a movie about Jim Jones and the Jonestown Massacre. I guess one reason they haven't made that movie is because the facts of that event are already dramatic and creepy in themselves and it would be hard to recreate that on film without doing it injustice. More movies about England!! LOL, only kidding, I thought I would throw that out there, those have to be the most boring movies on the planet. Anyway, my point is there are alot of things throughout history that Hollywood can look to for inspiration but instead they just look to other movies in Hollywood and that is gettin really old.

[pyan]

Originally Posted by UJ

instead they choose to keep makin remakes and keep makin big superstunt films and cheap laugh goof movies that they know will draw big crowds.

Aye, that's the rub, though....Big crowds = good box office = lots of money....

[Connavar]

You can make quality movies that sell. Memento,Godfather,Scarface etc


Instead making lame us comedies and a new Saw movie every year. But those are easy to make and less hard work than the really good movie that takes and an effort and that is not what hollywood want....

Nowadays CGI effects are the stars of the movies not the actors, just look at movies like Spidey 3,Pirate 3....

[Curt Chiarelli]

All too true. I've worked in Hollywood and while I've had the distinct pleasure to have worked with men who could easily be accused of brilliance, the same cannot be said of producers and their collateral support group of sycophants and other camp followers.

To go further with the point I'm driving at, many of the folks who labour at the bottom of that very greasy totem pole we call the Hollywood hierarchy are true fans and some have excellent and original ideas that easily top anything their bosses can concoct. A few - a very small minority - are able to make the big breakthrough and get their dreams realized. All too many cannot. And so, the same cycle of garbage creation/garbage consumption is perpetuated.

[Connavar]

I couldn't care less of how bad hollywood anymore. Im not only about them like before. I watch more oriental,euro movies. Im like 60% oriental movies, 30% euro movies,10% hollywood, that is the few hollywood movies that interest me the few real quality movies and the indy ones cause as Curt says those people are true fans with original ideas.


Plus there are 1000's movies from the golden eras of hollywood i havent seen. Old SF movies, Bogart movies, old Marlon Brando movies etc

[j. d. worthington]

The reason is really fairly simple: people keep paying to see regurgitated plotlines, sequels, retreads, and similar bilge; producers are almost exclusively interested in the profit to be made with as little expenditure as possible (except in the special-effects department, where they -- and far too many audience-members -- equate big budgets with quality filmmaking, rather than quality special effects... not necessarily the same thing); and writers are paid not a whole hell of a lot more than they were 25+ years ago (hence the strike that -- unless something has changed in the last few hours that I'm unaware of -- is set to begin Monday), so why the devil should they strain their brains to do good scripts when they're being paid peanuts in comparison to everyone else connected with the project -- and then usually get to see their blood, sweat, and tears eviscerated by rewrite hacks who put it more in line with what the producer (seldom a person with any creative acumen at all) thinks will sell to an audience. (After all, without their words to begin with, there wouldn't be much in the way of film; but Hollywood has veeerrrrry seldom recalled that unpleasant little fact....)

[Curt Chiarelli]

Yup! Spot On J.D.!

And don't forget that when these talented writers do hand in something of value, it's often corrupted and meddled with by lesser hands (like, say, the directors) for reasons of ego and one-upsmanship . . . .

[The Ace]

Well yes, but when they do make something decent, don't they usually bin the facts ? "JFK," was a travesty, every WW2 film tends to concentrate on a handful of yanks winning the war without outside help, and films about Vietnam (Even good ones like, "The Deerhunter," "Platoon," and "Born on the 4th of July,") start off on the premise that the gooks had the gall to defend their country.

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by Curt Chiarelli

Yup! Spot On J.D.!

And don't forget that when these talented writers do hand in something of value, it's often corrupted and meddled with by lesser hands (like, say, the directors) for reasons of ego and one-upsmanship . . . .

Yes, well.... On producers, I keep thinking of the tale of how Ellison reamed out a studio exec and told him he had the intellectual capacity of an artichoke because he wanted to make the robots in Ellison's screenplay of I, Robot "cuter"... like R2D2 and C3PO... all without having read the script that his studio was planning on spending one of (if not the) largest budgets to date on producing a film from....

Oh, and for anyone interested in seeing what a truly great film could be made from Asimov's book... read the screenplay by Harlan Ellison. It's very easy to follow, and a damn' fine example of what science fiction can be (but seldom is) on the screen.... (It was published in book form some years back.)

[Curt Chiarelli]

Originally Posted by The Ace

Well yes, but when they do make something decent, don't they usually bin the facts ? "JFK," was a travesty, every WW2 film tends to concentrate on a handful of yanks winning the war without outside help, and films about Vietnam (Even good ones like, "The Deerhunter," "Platoon," and "Born on the 4th of July,") start off on the premise that the gooks had the gall to defend their country.

It would appear that all nations (at least the ones who have any longevity) must pass through a period of maturation, a confrontation with their own shadow - a transitional period analogous to adolescence, if you will.

In relative terms, America is an exceptionally young nation and the mistakes of America have been the mistakes of England and every other world power since the dawn of time. All have passed through these stages and all voluntarily let go of their imperial designs because the cost - both ethical and economic - would have been far too costly.

The time is at hand for the United States to choose between either the light and the darkness, between life and death.

[GOLLUM]

Originally Posted by Curt Chiarelli

The time is at hand for the United States to choose between either the light and the darkness, between life and death.

Comrade Curt, you're beginning to sound like Mr Bush, Scary!...

[Curt Chiarelli]

Originally Posted by GOLLUM

Comrade Curt, you're beginning to sound like Mr Bush, Scary!...

You maybe scared, but can you imagine how much more terrified I'm feeling right now?!

[GOLLUM]

Originally Posted by Curt Chiarelli

You maybe scared, but can you imagine how much more terrified I'm feeling right now?!

I can only imagine, you poor fellow!!...

Actually on a side note, after watching Al Gore's Incovenient Truth the other day I kept on thinkg to myself, why couldn't that guy have won the election/maybe should have won following all that legal stuff at the time. At least, he comes across as being a reasonably inteligent and articulate human being, unlike the 1/4 brain encumbent you guys are stuck with now LOL!..

[unclejack]

Originally Posted by GOLLUM

I can only imagine, you poor fellow!!...

Actually on a side note, after watching Al Gore's Incovenient Truth the other day I kept on thinkg to myself, why couldn't that guy have won the election/maybe should have won following all that legal stuff at the time. At least, he comes across as being a reasonably inteligent and articulate human being, unlike the 1/4 brain encumbent you guys are stuck with now LOL!..

lol, if you say so man. Personally I think that Al Gore is a moron and a hypocrite but hey, that's just my opinion.

[Connavar]

Originally Posted by j. d. worthington

The reason is really fairly simple: people keep paying to see regurgitated plotlines, sequels, retreads, and similar bilge; producers are almost exclusively interested in the profit to be made with as little expenditure as possible (except in the special-effects department, where they -- and far too many audience-members -- equate big budgets with quality filmmaking, rather than quality special effects... not necessarily the same thing); and writers are paid not a whole hell of a lot more than they were 25+ years ago (hence the strike that -- unless something has changed in the last few hours that I'm unaware of -- is set to begin Monday), so why the devil should they strain their brains to do good scripts when they're being paid peanuts in comparison to everyone else connected with the project -- and then usually get to see their blood, sweat, and tears eviscerated by rewrite hacks who put it more in line with what the producer (seldom a person with any creative acumen at all) thinks will sell to an audience. (After all, without their words to begin with, there wouldn't be much in the way of film; but Hollywood has veeerrrrry seldom recalled that unpleasant little fact....)

Thats why i feel proud not to fall in the trap of seeing crap movies you will regret later on. Thats why i go the movies like once two-three months unlike three-four times a month like before. Less good movies and not as much urge to see crap movies

I spend my money on renting DVD movies that dont come to the cinema over here just cause they arent hollywood.

Seriously only three good/great hollywood movies i have seen this year. The Simpsons,300,Bourne Ultimatum. Last year only Casino Royal was great.


I have a friend that goes and see every crappy horror,comedy movie hollywood ever makes in the cinema. I think when he is talking about how horrible the movie he saw was " damn you people like you are the reason that makes crappy movie sell and they dont have to actually make a good movie"