5 Hollywood Secrets That Explain Why So Many Movies Suck

[Shadow Stalker]

I thought I'd post this for some of you here who are a bit anal about a lot of today's movies being nothing but crap.

Click on the link below to find out why, if you're interested.

http://www.cracked.com/article_19012...vies-suck.html

[VirusPunk]

I don't even bother watching movies anymore because I know I'll always end up leaving the movie theater disappointed. I get more kicks watching some cheesy horror movie with shitty acting like Troll 2 then say... Transformers, Avatar, or Battle LA.

How I long for the days when movies weren't CGI, jam packed with cast behaving like modern day retards, and stupid/pointless sex scenes and predictable plots that even a 3 year old child can guess from watching the first 10 minutes.

Avatar is a movie I saw by "accident". After watching it, lets just say I was tempted to commit suicide right on the spot. It was that bad.

I've said this before and I'll say it again, if The Thing prequel has any of (what I mentioned above) all humanity is forever doomed. The trailer was leaked early and looks quite promising, but I won't hold my breath.

[I_Am_Nemesis]

Avatar wasn't that bad, seriously dissapointing yes, predicatble yes but as a whole it was just an average film with the only impressive thing about it being the CGI.
I do have to agree however that Hollywood has been going down hill. I suppose its because they now only really like to make 12a's because those films have the biggest market and sadly they sell the most.
For this reason I have been watching mainly independant films as they always have the most interesting stories these days.
However I still do enjoy the occaisonal, predicatble blockbuster in the cinema. Probably because its more of a social thing rather than a place to sit down and really watch a movie

[GuardhouseMusic]

I read the first item on the list and it pissed me the hell off. Yeah, Irwin Yablans wanted to make a script called "The Babysitter Murders," but the fact of the matter is, they gave John Carpenter near complete creative control. To just cherry pick an example like that which doesn't even support their argument in the slightest just reeks of laziness. They began with remakes and adaptations, but the example they gave crapped on any point they were trying to make. Also consider the fact that they chose John Carpenter because they were impressed with Assault on Precinct 13, which was the only halfway recognizable movie he made; I don't recall Dark Star leading to anything but a dozen or so degrees of separation from the original Alien.

Same deal goes with their Idiocracy example. The reason why 20th Century Fox "buried" it was because it took a fuck load of straight shots at many corporations (which I'd imagine Fox would love to run ads for), and it didn't resort to any "brand X" parody naming. Thus, limited release, barely any box office, hardly a cult hit on DVD. Then again, the movie's a piece of crap in terms of comedic value.

[Pikminister]

This is nothing new.... every generation always say that Hollywood is going to hell.

In the 70's the old studio system had collapsed and people complained that there was no more glamorous celebs and movies with big production values like in the 40's & 50's. They complained that the movies were too dark and full of decadence. Conservative groups hated the Hollywood of that era. Well, they always have.

Anyway, the 70's were all about doom and gloom until Star Wars showed up. That was the start of the "high-concept" type films (action-packed, very loud, very simplistic, and tightly-structured films).

Now such "high-concept" films were considered "bad" since it killed the personal type of cinema of the 70s. But what made it worse, was that it motivated Hollywood to adopt a "bottom line mentality". They started going after the young demographic with simplistic films filled with special-effects. The root of Transformers and all the CGi crap we see now. To this day, people still blame George Lucas and Steven Spielberg for all that.

Thing is, people have always complained that Hollywood is going downhill.

I bet Chaplin heard that one back when 'talkies' started to dominate the scene.

[Rombie]

Also consider the fact that they chose John Carpenter because they were impressed with Assault on Precinct 13, which was the only halfway recognizable movie he made; I don't recall Dark Star leading to anything but a dozen or so degrees of separation from the original Alien.

The Thing begs to differ (also I do note the irony of that, as it was conceived off the back of the 50's B-Movie, but still the point remains).

Idiocracy wasn't that bad, it just wasn't that good either. It has a surprisingly larger cult base than I think either you or I would give it credit for though, enough at least that the one major fake brand in the film, Brawndo, got turned into an actual drink.

[BBboy20]

To this day, people still blame George Lucas and Steven Spielberg for all that.

Even so they weren't trying to create "summer blockbusters" at the time?

[Pikminister]

Even so they weren't trying to create "summer blockbusters" at the time?

At the time? I don't think so. They wanted hits, sure. But it wasn't until after a few summer hits came along, that the industry started to take notice of the "high-concept" trend.

"Jaws" was the first summer blockbuster. But aside from T-shirts and the OST, the studio got most of their cash from the Box Office ticket sales. That all changed with Star Wars.

Here you had the first film that became a tremendous certified cashcow. There was nothing like it before. Anything with the brand Star Wars, sold like crazy (especially toys). The moment Lucas started talking about a sequel, is when the "high-concept' films trend took off.

High-concept films were blamed for the legendary short-attention span of American audiences. Who preferred loud and mindless movies for their entertainment. Thus why there was talk even then about Hollywood going to hell in a basket.