Ok, this one’s been brewing in my head for many years now. I’ve often discussed this with my fellow movie/comic book friends and I think we’re all in agreement. This is ‘doosey’ that I’m about to drop so you better be sitting or leaning up against a wall. Hollywood is dried up creatively; real dry. Now you may ask “why say that? Hollywood’s doing just fine.” But I say nay. In the words of our great 21st Century statesman Dave Chappell, “the milk’s gone bad.”
Just look at the current trend of comic book properties making it to the silver screen. Hell some of them you may not even realize that the movie was based on a comic book. Surrogates, Road to Perdition, History of Violence, From Hell are just a few I can think of that may surprise some people. All those were comic book graphic novels. This trend is great if you are looking at it from the perspective of a comic geek, like me, but horrible for the movie side of the equation. Hollywood’s use of comic book properties, remakes/revisions, book adaptations and retreads has hampered the industry by creating cookie cutter movies. Case in point, or just the latest in a long line of examples, is the movie The Roommate. Check the YouTube link for more of what I’m talking about http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0qvBFrJ1Gs. I have a distinct memory that I saw this movie in the ‘90s under the title Single White Female. Or for that matter Obsession with Beyonce. Saw that one in the ‘80s; it was called The Hand that Rocks the Cradle. Not to mention the remakes of Spiderman and X-Men coming out this year. (Those movies came out just about ten years ago and already Hollyweird is retreading them.) Check out this link to see a list of movie remakes in the “works” and gasp at what Hollyweird is thinking of doing. There‘s even a couple of Hitchcock films on the list!! WTF. http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/450292/75_movie_remakes_and_reboots_currently_in_the_works.html
The only upside I get from all of this is it’s great for us comic fans who have been languishing, in desperate hope, that our favorite comic book would be on the screen some day. Clearly that day is here with movies like Thor, Captain America and the Avengers looming in the horizon. But what about the general movie fan? Are they forced to banal screen fodder or do they deserve more? I say yes they do deserve more. I want some real, original, fresh movie ideas to hit the screen. Black Swan was good but only to a very minute degree that Natalie Portman portrayed her character to perfection. She’ll get an Oscar nod no doubt. I am often stupefied that Hollywood finances some of movies. And how do they get passed the pitch stage? Are Hollywood execs that forgetful or forgiving? I really think not. “Yeah, I got this great idea for a movie. It’s Single White Female….in college!!” WTF people. If I’m the guy on the other end of the desk with the ability to finance millions on a movie people would have to work a lot harder to get the funding. The Roommate, please. Hollywood must think we’re stupid.
I just feel that there hasn’t been a movie in recent memory that affected me like Star Wars, 1977, and made me think ‘that movie was awesome, original, fresh, new etc.’ Do you know what I mean? And Avatar wasn’t it. Again, Avatar wasn’t it. It wasn’t….
