The recent craze in Hollywood is to re-make classic films with slight alterations for effect. Movies like director Christopher Nolan’s Batmans and the new James Bond films are delighting fans while tearing it up at the box office, and with good reason I would argue. These are some of the best movies created in the last decade. The argument that I will be making however is not that there is a need for more of these realistic movies, but that directors need to be more selective when determining if they are going to make these movies. As much as I love a good movie, there are limited scripts, actors and directors available, and not every film can be improved upon.
It is more enjoyable to watch a movie that sucks because the director made it that way than to watch a movie that sucks but is advertised as the next classic. Let me put this point into context to help you better understand. The movies Righteous Kill (2008) with Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino and Snakes on a Plane (2007) with Samuel L. Jackson were both unrealistic and pretty stupid; the difference was that Snakes on a Plane (2007) was extremely entertaining, while Righteous Kill (2008) was predictable and annoying.
The way I see it is today's director is like a car salesman. The first car has a BMW logo on the hood, it is clean and shiny, and the salesman tells you it is one of the best cars a man can drive. The second car is new, but it doesn't look like anything special. The car salesman tells you that this car will get you through your hour and a half (sometimes two hour) commute and it is very reliable; in other words, what you see is what you get. The BMW looking car is the vehicular equivalent to the movie The Spirit (2008) and for some reason you decide to purchase that car. So your journey begins in your new automobile. Things seem to be going fine for about the first 20 minutes but then next thing you know, boom! The wheels fall off this P.O.S. and you are spinning out of control; you just miss a woman pushing a stroller and are almost levelled by a dump truck. The smoke clears and you're parked sideway in a ditch. Shaken up but not injured you exit the car; however, now you are left on the side of the road. You don't have any money for a taxi so you start walking your sorry ass down the road. The whole walk home all you think about how badly you were taken.
Now think, if you had purchased the second car that was shown to you, the movie Shoot Em’ Up (2007), you would have left for your commute at the same time; however, on this trip you would not only make it to your destination, but maybe you would find out this little car had some hidden features. Maybe there is a little gum ball machine in the dash that lets you enjoy delicious gum the whole trip. Maybe this gum is gourmet gum and is the best gum you have ever tasted. Maybe it’s that splash gum with the stuff in the middle that bursts and fills your mouth with delicious flavour... I feel like a piece of gum now. Sorry, I am off track. My point was: disappointments can be daunting, but surprises, they are superb. Put that on the bumper of your new car in sticker form! On second thought, don't. Bumper stickers are ridiculous.
My good friend Bruce Landry once said to a pimp, “Don't sell me the hooker with the heart of gold.” The saying, although in completely different and less creepy context, holds true for movies. Let me know what I am buying! Directors, make the preview accurate of what you are going to show in the movie (note: please do not show the entire movie in the preview because that is as equally annoying).
As much as I love the police academy series, when I show up and pay to see what I think is going to be the Departed (2006), I am a bit frustrated when the criminals are tricked and then detained by a police officer who is using his mouth to make sound effects (regardless of how cool and hilarious that actually is). However, if I show up at a movie that looks really stupid and then all of a sudden this guy is making these hilarious sound effects, my day has been made! So what I am saying is that I will pay to see a bad movie regardless; however if it is marketed as a bad movie I will enjoy it. With that being said, I am signing off and I will be busy for the next hour and a half watching Tommy Wiseau’s The Room (2005).
Aaron Bawn
0 comments:
Post a Comment