The State of Hollywood Cinema, OR; STOP FLUSHING MONEY DOWN THE DRAIN.

As I mentioned in my latest post I am rather discontent with the current state of Hollywood cinema, it has been a long time coming but it seems right now that they have given up on producing anything even remotely resembling a decent film.

That is not to say that currently there are no good films, the end of last year was a very good time indeed for Hollywood film, with releases such as Black Swan, The King’s Speech and The Fighter. It is just depressing how everything that is due to come out in the next year looks like it is mostly uninspired bullshit (re-remakes, sequels or even more comic book adaptations.)

I guess this comes as no surprise though that the Hollywood machine rather green lights another boring CGI filled piece of crap that is more likely to do well at the box office than a more risk taking film such as Moon or Precious for example. The industry is naturally focused on money; one only has to look at a studio such as MGM to see just how bad these major studios are having it. However, their inability to spend their money wisely is what frustrates me the most, a studio throwing $ 32 million at a film like Repo Men or even a more astonishing $ 80 million on Grown Up. How do these studio executives justify such extreme spending on films that should really not cost that much. Moon only cost $5 million and even though it only broke even, it is such an amazing film that is a great example of being creative due to a lack of money. So instead of throwing loads of cash at one thing hoping it goes well, how about being sensible with money for once and using the money more resourcefully. There is a higher chance of breaking even when the budget is lower and by having more money available you are able to give ‘’risky’’ films/directors a chance, which in turns could actually lead to more profit.

So please please please Mr. Big-Hollywood-executive-man, seeing as the film industry is a bit like gambling, how about being a smart gambler by betting more sensibly. Put a more moderate cap on spending for a film which is most likely to do well, and with the money spared open up new avenues and continue to push the creative side of the industry. Please.

Next week’s update: I will delve deeper into the lack of creativity in Hollywood by discussing the trend of comic book adaptations.

Limitless OR How the Hollywood machine keeps turning out crap.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3U9RsXeJ3w

This trailer actually had me quite excited for about, 20 seconds, it starts off rather good with a scruffy looking Bradley Cooper (The A-Team, The Hangover) explaining how he is a writer who seemingly hit a bit of a rough patch. The beginning is trailer is setting out to be a realistic drama or perhaps a comedy of some sorts as it is accompanied by a realistic colour pallet and arguably slow cuts. Perhaps it is going to be a film about the perils of being a write. But then suddenly my entire perception of it changed, an old friend gives the main character a new drug which is apparently FDA approved and he decides to try it, this is when the trailer suddenly shifts from being slow paced to incorporating a bright and sunny view on the new life of Cooper’s character. Even at this point when he unlocks his ‘’true potential’’ (by the means of medication) it still looks like it could be interesting in exploring cultural avenues; he learns Italian, writes his book in 4 days and gains a ‘’cultural appetite’’.

But then it goes even further downhill, he starts using this ability to make money, The film also features Rober De Niro, what De Niro is doing in this film I do not know as it all seems a bit shit for someone of his greatness but I guess he has been doing some terrible films recently (Fockers etc.) The trailer continues this fast pace and it just gets out of hande as we get taken on a mindnumbingly boring rollercoaster ride of stereotypes. Apparently Cooper needs ‘’a few toys’’ which are quickly provided for by De Niro (among them a private jet). We see Cooper walking in the sun with a group of slutty chicks, he buys a house without pondering and while the soundtrack kicks in (why they chose Kanye West makes no sense at all, but I guess neither does the trailer.) In the last part of the trailer we are just drowned in a seemingly endless amount of fragments which do nothing but make this trailer feel like it has no idea what the film is actually about. But instead of making me feel intrigued it actually makes me repulsed that something that sounds quite intriguing when read in a synopsis can be made so off putting in a trailer.

The reason I keep whining about this trailer is because it is such a good representation of the current state of Hollywood cinema, why and how I will discuss in a later update.