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Article on big time stars & movies tanking

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http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/21/movies/21stars.html

 

Interesting piece on the trend of supposedly sure-fire movies, with big time stars,  losing money.  There seems to be a myriad of theories on why this is.  Here are a few from the article;

"...allowed their fans to move on by working infrequently"

"...refusing to do certain types of publicity"

 "wearing their routine too thin"

"a plethora of entertainment options competes for time and attention"

"script concepts that fail to translate to the screen"

"poor release dates"

"awkward marketing"

 

I admit to not going as often as I used to myself, but for me it's been the offerings. It certainly isn't the scripts for me because I'm not even in the theater to find out.  More often than not, it's been the fact that it's a remake of a film that I didn't feel needed to be remade - either because the original was a classic that shouldn't be tampered with - or not enough time has passed to warrant an update.

Another reason for me is stars who I am tired of from their over exposure. I've never seen a single Seth Rogen\Jonah Hill\Justin Long\Michael Cera\Judd Apatow film - yet I feel like I can't escape the deluge of exposure to the films these fellows make - which all seem to be the same, sometimes two per year. Because of the extreme over-saturation of these fellows, I have no interest in seeing anything that any of them are involved in, ever. Enough already. I include Sandler and Ferrell in with those fellas also.  They're all one trick ponies.

In the interest of disclosure, I should point out that I'm not, and never have been, a fan of that type of buffoon humor.

My free time is spent riding motorcycles, not paying 10 bucks to see a shaky-cam remake or high school humor - I don't care who the star is. In fact, more often than not, I'd prefer it not be a "star".  The media over-saturation of their personal lives makes it all but impossible to believe they're the character.

Anymore these days, it takes seeing an old friend (Indiana Jones, James Bond), or something original (Doubt, Traitor) to pique my interest. Hollywood seems to have taken the easy road and I seem to have taken to not buying it.

 

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The funny thing is Hollywood blames the audience and the current economy and not themselves for making shitty movies nobody wants to see, they make obscure art films or politics pieces that make ten cents while films like transformers 2 make tons of money.

The audience wants characters they can identify with and if barring that at least be entertained from the doldrums and boringness of reality.

Some films are critic proof and will make shitloads of money despite what the fans and critics think of them, like crystal skull or the star wars prequels.  At least they did their job of entertaining people for a couple hours if not beyond that.  Other films don't even manage that which is a joke.  Lucas at the bottom of his creative well and powers still does better than Hollywood, even provokes a response even if it is negative one.  Most other films get a meh i saw it for 2 hours and then forgot about it.

I mean people like the tried and true cliche concept of the heroes journey and it still resonates with people, which to me explains the success of the jj star trek movie doing something that has not been done since the original star wars trilogy, or peter jackson's lord of the rings trilogy.

The hero journey concept also explains the success of the matrix trilogy as well.

 

If Hollywood or the independants start making films people actually want to see the audience will come in huge numbers.  But not every film can be universal or mainstream enough in its tastes to satisfy everyone young and old.

I would like For people like Steven Spielberg and George Lucas to make those magical films they used to make when younger but they  have moved on to their vanity projects and won't do them.  OR if they try they fail miserably like the prequels of star wars, indy iv, war of the world etc.

“Always loved Vader’s wordless self sacrifice. Another shitty, clueless, revision like Greedo and young Anakin’s ghost. What a fucking shame.” -Simon Pegg.