Re: Official RedsZone Movie Thread (pt. III)
Like many, I went to see The Hunger Games this weekend with spousal unit and daughters. I liked it and would give it a B/B+. I thought they told the story well, it was paced well, and was faithful to the book. Some things got cut or changed, but any book-to-movie translation has that. I though the reaping part was especially done well and gut-wrenching.
My complaints (besides the jumpiness of the cameras) was that it did lose the grittiness of the book. In the book, the main characters were Appalachians who were half-starved living on squirrels and rabbits. But the actors in the movie seemed to be picked for their attractiveness and "hunk-iness" and anything but on the edge of starvation. And also that Katniss came to be a calculated killer but her movie character was much softer.
Re: Official RedsZone Movie Thread (pt. III)
I haven't been to the movies in forever but I'm seeing The Hunger Games on Saturday. I plan on reading the book first so I can follow the movie a little better and compare the two as well. Books are almost always better than the actual movie which is fine as long as the movie is entertaining. :)
Re: Official RedsZone Movie Thread (pt. III)
So, who else has seen Prometheus?
Re: Official RedsZone Movie Thread (pt. III)
I should really start some sort of campaign to stop people from going to reboots, remakes, and superfluous sequels. I would blame Hollywood completely, but we are the sheep who keep going to these movies over and over again. Let's get some creativity back and maybe, just maybe, they might create some "new" franchises that we can all love.
Re: Official RedsZone Movie Thread (pt. III)
I'm with you on the remakes. Green Hornet for example was the worst remake I have ever seen. No resemblance to the original at all. I cringe now everytime I see an advert for a remake.
Re: Official RedsZone Movie Thread (pt. III)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
*BaseClogger*
So, who else has seen Prometheus?
Saw it yesterday. Visuals were very cool. Storyline was...eh. Charlize Theron in skin tight outfits = awesome.
Nice to see at the theatre, but it's not a very memorable movie.
Re: Official RedsZone Movie Thread (pt. III)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
improbus
I should really start some sort of campaign to stop people from going to reboots, remakes, and superfluous sequels. I would blame Hollywood completely, but we are the sheep who keep going to these movies over and over again. Let's get some creativity back and maybe, just maybe, they might create some "new" franchises that we can all love.
Sounds good on pape, but think about the reboots that you'd miss out on:
The latest Batman incarnation.
Ocean's 11
Cape Fear
Thomas Crown affair
Dracula
Ransome
Man on Fire
(to name a few)
then there are the adapation of films from foreign language films like
Insomnia
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Ring
Italian Stunt Job
How many times has James Bond script been given a new location, new gadget and perhaps most importantly a new bond girl while following a similar plot development? There have been a ton of great Bond Films.
A good movie is a good movie, no matter how old or often its been repeated. If its well shot and well acted, then it turns into a good movie.
We don't need to boycott sequals, remakes or reboots, we need to boycott bad movies. What is bad is highly subjective, so good luck with that.
Re: Official RedsZone Movie Thread (pt. III)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
GoReds
Saw it yesterday. Visuals were very cool. Storyline was...eh. Charlize Theron in skin tight outfits = awesome.
Nice to see at the theatre, but it's not a very memorable movie.
I wasn't a big fan of the plot either, but memorable? I spent the next three days reading about it online haha...
Re: Official RedsZone Movie Thread (pt. III)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
medford
Sounds good on pape, but think about the reboots that you'd miss out on:
The latest Batman incarnation.
Ocean's 11
Cape Fear
Thomas Crown affair
Dracula
Ransome
Man on Fire
(to name a few)
then there are the adapation of films from foreign language films like
Insomnia
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Ring
Italian Stunt Job
How many times has James Bond script been given a new location, new gadget and perhaps most importantly a new bond girl while following a similar plot development? There have been a ton of great Bond Films.
A good movie is a good movie, no matter how old or often its been repeated. If its well shot and well acted, then it turns into a good movie.
We don't need to boycott sequals, remakes or reboots, we need to boycott bad movies. What is bad is highly subjective, so good luck with that.
I'm not saying that Hollywood shouldnt make those types of movies. But, it is pretty much all they are making. In the 70s and 80s, Hollywood invented brands:
Star Wars
Rocky
Back to the Future
Indiana Jones
Jaws
Alien
The list could go on and on. Now, they simply take super popular books and make them into franchises (Harry Potter, LOTR's, Twilight) where the fans already know the ending. Or, they simply take comic books and build a movie around them. Or a kids show (Transformers, GI Joe).
So, when kids who are 15 now talk to their kids, what are they going to be nostalgic about and how odd are those conversations going to be.
"What was your favorite movie as a kid?"
"Spiderman."
"Which one, the one with the dorky guy or the one with the British guy?"
"You know, the one with the Redhead."
"Was she pretty?"
"Kind of, kind of not."
"Oh, okay. I think I know which one youre talking about."
I'm not saying that they cannot make good movies. The Dark Knight was tremendous, and everything I hear about the new Star Trek and Superman movies has been positive.
But, Hollywood isn't willing to take too many chances on new franchises. They cost so much money to make that they need a guaranteed audience. This is a smart financial plan but it certainly fails to capture my imagination.
Re: Official RedsZone Movie Thread (pt. III)
I decided to test your theory and take a look at my watchlist on IMDb. These are my 9 star and 10 star films from the last five years:
Drive (adapted novel)
50/50 (original screenplay)
500 Days of Summer (original screenplay)
Knocked Up (original screenplay)
The Dark Knight (comic book franchise)
Inglourious Basterds (original screenplay)
Midnight in Paris (original screenplay)
District 9 (original screenplay)
No Country for Old Men (adapted novel)
The Fighter (original screenplay)
The Hurt Locker (original screenplay)
There's my 11 favorite movies from the past five years, and eight of them are original screenplays; two that are not are adapted from far-from-household novels. Only Batman is the obvious fanchise, and it had one of the best directors of our generation at the helm.
The Prestige, Children of Men, and Little Miss Sunshine all just missed the cut by a year and are (mostly) original franchises.
I think film has gone the same way as music--there's just more of it out there. As a result of the development of the internet, you really have to dig to find the good stuff. The studios and record companies are cramming garbage down your throat. But it's there...
Re: Official RedsZone Movie Thread (pt. III)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
*BaseClogger*
I decided to test your theory and take a look at my watchlist on IMDb. These are my 9 star and 10 star films from the last five years:
Drive (adapted novel)
50/50 (original screenplay)
500 Days of Summer (original screenplay)
Knocked Up (original screenplay)
The Dark Knight (comic book franchise)
Inglourious Basterds (original screenplay)
Midnight in Paris (original screenplay)
District 9 (original screenplay)
No Country for Old Men (adapted novel)
The Fighter (original screenplay)
The Hurt Locker (original screenplay)
There's my 11 favorite movies from the past five years, and eight of them are original screenplays; two that are not are adapted from far-from-household novels. Only Batman is the obvious fanchise, and it had one of the best directors of our generation at the helm.
The Prestige, Children of Men, and Little Miss Sunshine all just missed the cut by a year and are (mostly) original franchises.
I think film has gone the same way as music--there's just more of it out there. As a result of the development of the internet, you really have to dig to find the good stuff. The studios and record companies are cramming garbage down your throat. But it's there...
I was thinking more about Franchises than simply movies. I agree that there are a ton of good movies and there always will be, just like music. But The Dark Knight is the only franchise movie on your list and it is not an original concept.
Look, there have always been sequels and a certain lack of originality in Hollywood. But, I would argue that art is at its best when the good stuff actually makes it to the general public and is not just revealed by the Oscars or music writers. The historic movies are the ones that combine public viewership with critical acclaim.
The only (non children's) movies that combined box office success with originality in the last 5 years have been Avatar (although Ferngully fans might argue with me), Inception, The Hangover and Hancock.
In 1984, look at the original movies that were top 10 grossing, original, and franchise creators:
Beverly Hills Cop
Ghostbusters
Gremlins
The Karate Kid
Police Academy
1988: look at the movies in the top 10 (while most didn't inspire franchises, but they were all excellent movies that were creative and brought something new or unique to the box office.
Rain Man (number one)
Roger Rabbit
Coming to America
Big
Die Hard
The Naked Gun
Beetlejuice
There was so much more creativity making it to the masses instead of simply doing layups. Look a the 2011 top 10:
Harry Potter 7 part 2
Transformers 3
Pirates 4
Twilight (who knows)
Mission Impossible 4
Kung Fu Panda 2
Fast Five
The Hangover part 2
The Smurfs
Cars 2
We are sheep. Why do we allow them to do this?
Re: Official RedsZone Movie Thread (pt. III)
Two other points:
1) The real reason Hollywood makes big, easy sequels is the international market. The American market is only about 1/4 of Hollywoods total gross on most films and big explosions and simpler films tend to be easier to watch in translation (like watching Wile E. Coyote cartoons on international flights).
2) If we rewarded the movies you mentioned the way we do Transformers, we would get more of them. Hollywood (and any business) responds to what works in the market. If all we demanded was Inception like High Concept movies, that is what we would get from the big studios. The same goes for Reality TV, top 40 radio, fast food, the BCS, etc.... We can complain about all of them, but we (the market) pay for all of them and provide them with the incentive to make more of it.
Re: Official RedsZone Movie Thread (pt. III)
Perhaps Hollywood learned something from themselves when it comes to making sequels and turning good movies into franchises:
Have you seen Gremlins 2?
Or Ghostbusters 2?
Or the Karate Kid 3, not to mention "the next karate kid"
Or Police Academy 3-whenever they finally killed off that series.
The Naked Gun 2 & 33-1/3
That doesn't even mention other 80s franchises with terrible sequals (and often more than 1 sequel) like Revenge of the Nerds. Breakin, Nightmare on Elmstreet.
Beverly Hills Cop = Good, 2 was OK, 3 was forgettable
Coming to America while good, isn't exactly an original idea, how many "trading places" type movies have we seen thru the years? The 80s seems to have a million of them.
Die Hard, I guess you didn't know this was based upon a book:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0861636/
At any rate, you confuse me, you complain that they make no new franchises, but also complain about the franchises on that list, 1 of which was made up from a ride at an amusement park, another from a toy/saturday morning cartoon (you're not stealing a story from that format). As far as I know, the Hangover, Kung Fu Panda, Cars and F&F were never books, so there are your 'original franchises' that you clamoring for, but complaining about at the same time.
Re: Official RedsZone Movie Thread (pt. III)
The movies I listed all made a good chunk of change. And I think the argument could be made about District 9 as a franchise. But I digress.
Does it really matter whether my favorite movies made a lot of money or not if they are still being produced?
