The only film in the current top 10 that isn’t one of these is Snow White and the Huntsman but it is sure to be bumped out by more of the same. There is another Batman that is about to be released as well as another Jason Bourne film.
Was it always like this? Let’s go back 10 years to 2002 and see what made the top 10 that year. You had Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Spider-Man, Star Wars, Men in Black II, Die Another Day, Signs, Ice Age, My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Minority Report. Funny how the more things change the more they stay the same.
The last movie to do that well that was actually original was Inception. That came out in 2010 when the top movie of the year was Toy Story 3.
The dearth of original movie ideas is fully transparent come Academy Award time when the quality of the movies nominated and winning is poor.
The last four movies to win Best Picture were: The Artist, King’s Speech, Hurt Locker and Slumdog Millionaire. All good movies, but by no means would anyone consider any of these great movies. Go back 10 years from now and who won: Chicago, Beautiful Mind, Gladiator and American Beauty. The caliber of films there is significantly stronger.
Hollywood and the studios would say that they make comic book movies and sequels because that’s what people go and see but it’s chicken and the egg. People go and see what is playing in the cinema. If that is all there is, that is what they are going to see.
Another issue is that by and large the studios are sheep and when one thing is revealed to be popular everyone else copies it. Currently no-one has the courage to be bold and make something that no-one else is making.
CGI is affecting the quality of acting. By everything being computer-generated, actors aren’t being asked to act as much as they previously did. The Anthony Meindl Acting Studio NY revealed that a number of their graduates are finding difficulties in being cast and the reason for this is the massive amount of animated films that don’t require actors.
Hollywood is making movies for commercial success and not artistic success. Epics of the past such as Ben-Hur, Lawrence of Arabia and West Side Story look like they are going to become a thing of the past. That is sad.
If the studios don’t change their ways soon they are going to be victims of their own short-sightedness. There are no winners from an outcome such as this, least of all the movie going public.
David Wise writes about popular culture. When not doing this, he likes to do jigsaw puzzles.
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