Can Hollywood Save Hollywood

While it is true most of my posts will be sports related, and predominantly baseball related, I do have other interests.  One of these interests is movies.  I love movies.  I used to go to two or three movies a week.  Of course, life gets in the way more now and it would be really hard to go to the multiplex that much at this point in my life even if I wanted to.

That’s the issue.  Hollywood is doing its best to ruin the movies.  Over the past two or three years, the quality of films seems to have deteriorated badly.  I think lack of originality is the biggest culprit.  Poor and lazy writing doesn’t help either.  What does it say about the industry when animated films seem to do better at the box office than live action?  Seven of the top 14 earners in 2010 were animated.  What is Hollywood going to do when the Harry Potter and Twilight sagas are done?  What are the studio executives going to do when they run out of mediocre super heroes to dust off? 

Is Hollywood out of ideas?  Is Hollywood running out of imagination?  Sequels and remakes seem to dominate the big screens.  Is anyone but me starting to tire of the half-hearted efforts put forth in the assembly line of formulatic romantic comedies churned out by the studios?  Even two beautiful people like Jennifer Anniston and Girard Butler can’t save us from such crap as The Bounty Hunter.   

It really ticks me off when good material is butchered by the powers that be.  A perfect example of this is Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief.  My family is a big fan of this book and the rest of the series.  I was excited when I heard Chris Columbus directed the film.  Columbus was at the helm of the best two translations of the Harry Potter series.  Columbus did the first two films and remained true to the books and was a patient story teller.  Not so with the Percy Jackson film.  He slaughtered a terrific book, leaving out key characters, changed big parts of the book, and made the ending unrecognizable.  He changed and left out things key to the series in general.  He is directing the second film of this series as well, and I don’t know why he felt the need to rewrite this terrific series by Rick Riordan.  Hollywood has done this for years (Along Came a Spider – 2001).  If you have a book good enough to make into a movie, why change it, almost always for the worse?

Hollywood hasn’t completely put it on cruise control.  Inception was an original in idea and concept.  A King’s Speech was a great story brilliantly spun and acted.  The 2010 version of True Grit was better than the John Wayne vehicle.  Recently I saw Red Riding Hood.  Obviously, it was not an original idea, but it was freshly presented.  It wasn’t perfect but it was entertaining.  Sometimes Hollywood does get it right but just not often enough.   

Please don’t think I am a stodgy movie watcher.  I have eclectic tastes in movies – I like just about anything other than horror films and Jack-ass-type movies.  A movie doesn’t have to be great.  It does have to be well-made, well-acted, and entertaining.  A lot of films seemed rushed, without the proper plot line and in-depth character development.   If a film is made from the same old mold, it has to be presented differently, freshly.  I watch some of these previews, there is nothing about them that makes me want to watch them.  I’ve seen them before, in some reincarnation.  Very few previews make me excited to fork over the money for a ticket.

Another issue plaguing Hollywood is a lack of superstars.  Are there any must see actors or actresses left?  How many stars are bigger than the movie they are in?   Where have the superstars gone?  Cruise got weird, Hanks has started to fade away, Ford and Pacino got old, and Gibson, well, Gibson just went crazy.  It has been a long time since John Wayne.  Don’t get me wrong.  I think there are some terrific actors out there.  Meryl Streep can do anything.  Jeff Bridges gets better with age.  Sean Penn is outstanding.  Matt Damon is really establishing himself.  There are others that are very good but how many of these actors draw you to the theater regardless of the film?  Probably none.

I have one more item to complain about.  I loathe 3-D.  It is so, so unnecessary.  Avatar was a terrific movie but James Cameron has almost ruined the movie going experience for me.  I cannot stand movies in 3-D.  I wear glasses and the 3-D glasses are uncomfortable and heavy on my face.  It is not worth it because it adds very little to most movies.   It was laughable when The Last Airbender and The Clash of the Titans were released in 3-D.  The former was a horrible effort anyway and the 3-D was poorly executed in both.  I don’t think it adds anything to the movie watching experience and it is most definitely not worth the extra $3 to $4 theaters charge for the crappy privilege.  The quicker the movie makers realize this, the better we will all be.  Movies are expensive enough without the extra charge to be uncomfortable for two hours.  I have told the manager at the local theater I will not be going to anymore 3-D movies.  Ever.