SciFi/Fantasy burnout

[Goin2Disneyland]

Tom Cruise is a hack. Lauren Bacall is no hack.

[MattO]

I think that is why I like indi movies... usually the stories are unusual... not the same old studio grist, and the actors are new. The sad thing is that so many really good actors perish because they dont have the right publicist, competing against the Tom Cruises (who is just awful, in my book) and Kirsten Dunsts.

You are right, but often times excellent movies are pumped out of big Hollywood studios. I think the key is not to limit your viewing to current movies. There is a huge wealth of excellent movies out there.

The problem is that movies cost so much now to make.

They cost no more now than before. Thief of Bagdad, made in the 20s, cost millions of dollars. Adjusted it was nearly as expensive as Titanic. Lavish spending is something Hollywood has been doing since its inception. And they market this only too well. The same thing happened in theater before film.

Studios are afraid to be innovative.

Are they? Did you see Sin City? That was pretty innovative.

Back in the 80's some really clever scripts made their way to the screen. The original Back to the Future, Ghostbusters films were cool.

Both were extremely expensive to make. Back to the Future was shot with Eric Stolz as Marty, then he was dumped to be replaced by Mike Fox. They had to reshoot those scenes. I'm sure that made Lew Wasserman and the other execs at Universal oh so happy.

But now, we just get clones and sequels... and sequels seldom cut the same excitment.

How many Charlie Chan and Planet of the Ape's sequels were there? Topper had many many sequels and that was 70+ years ago. How many Dracula and Frankenstein, and their spinoff. movies are there?

I think... I hope... we are seeing people weaning off the sci fi stuff. The last Star Trek movie was a tragic headstone to the series, carved by idiots who had no idea what the legacy was that they had in their hands.

Sci-Fi is a huge genre with huge areas to be explored. Yeah there are sequels, and many suck, but to write off Sci-Fi as passe thanks to recent bombs, is kinda limiting yourself. Ever see Metropolis?

I was already tired of Sci Fi when Disney did Lilo and Stitch, and I hate Japanese animae animation (Strong Bad does a great parody of it over at homestarrunner.com)... Stitch and Lilo came right out of the animae design mode. Then they gave us Treasure Planet, and it blew up faster than the Death Star.

Spirited Away and Miyasaki's other movies really shouldn't be compared to Lilo and Stitch.

I just wish Disney would get the message... try something else. But I'm not too sure it will happen under Iger. Eisner started playing things safe with sequels, and Iger is right out of the Eisner mold. Time will tell.

Pirates of the Caribbean was the first pirate movie in a good while. Remakes and sequels are not a new trend in Hollywood. Most suck, but some are pretty good.

[MattO]

Tom Cruise is a hack. Lauren Bacall is no hack.

Both are annoying. At least Tom Cruise is a psycho.

[Goin2Disneyland]

Make no mistake, Lauren Bacall is a psycho.

[Mortimer]

What about Joan Crawford?

[Goin2Disneyland]

Now there was a broad. An insane, wire-hanger obsessed broad.

[Maxdad]

Lauren Bacall? Oh! My mistake. I meant Lorne Green!


so sorry!