The Oscars took place this weekend and after looking over all the movies, I could see that it was not a good year for Hollywood. There were some great movies like The Help, 50/50, and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.
However, it seemed like it was the year of the sequel: The Hangover Part II, Cars 2, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and the list goes on. With the exception of Harry Potter, the rest of these sequels are mediocre at the best.
Honestly, why do we need them? It just builds our hopes that it will be as good as the original, even though that is usually never the case.
There is also no point to making another sequel decades later. They are making a third Ghostbusters movie. The last movie was made in the 80s and no one has made another sequel since then because there was no need for it.
If people want their kids to be interested in older movies, tell them to check out Netflix. That’s what it’s for.
Another thing is that once one type of movie comes out, there are six other ones trying to pull off the same success. For example, Paranormal Activity, which is another “documentary-type horror movie” like The Last Exorcism and The Devil Inside that came out. Or how after No Strings Attached premiered, Friends With Benefits was released.
Just because one movie does well does not mean that the same plot is going to work for all of them. It seems like there really are no real original movies at the box office. If there are, they are usually ignored or considered to be boring, tacky or weird.
The action movies have maintained a steady popularity, but why are they all in 3D or IMAX now? I understand that it is supposed to enhance the experience, but does it really?
I spend about $12 on a ticket just to take the glasses off halfway through the movie because I get so dizzy from all the explosions and back and forth camera angles. I wish that these movies would put as much effort into their visuals as they did their plots so I wouldn’t be sitting there bored with a migraine.
It is possible to have a creative story with great dialogue that has action. Look at movies like Indiana Jones and Harry Potter: Both of these sagas have kept me entertained and emotionally attached while watching them.
Romance movies have the same problem. They are either too mushy and unrealistic or are just stupid. Up told a better love story in about eight minutes than what the Twilight series has given the public in four movies. These stories are usually so over dramatic and complicated that you are never quite sure what exactly happened. A perfect example of this is the story within movies like New Year’s Eve and Valentine’s Day. There are so many plots and subplots that you need a venn diagram just to understand a movie about people falling in love.
Whatever happened to simple plots about two friends falling in love like in When Harry Met Sally or a guy falling in love with a girl even though she is completely dysfunctional like in Breakfast at Tiffany’s?
What about the musical? It would be nice to see a few original dance numbers, really anything else that isn’t a remake or a re-release. The new Footloose was not bad, but it will never live up to the original. These film directors need to stop trying to make movies that were already good “better.” As the old saying goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t try to fix it.” The movie franchise has seemed to hit a snag, but not all hope is lost. With movies like The Artist and Hugo, hopefully aspiring directors and screen plays will use these for inspiration for future movies and ideas.
PHOTO COURTESY of movies.popcrunch.com
