A mild Snafusis

Random thoughts on most things from A. M. Craig.

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Sorry, Jon Favreau.

While Ironman looks pretty awesome, Thundercats might just be stupid. And now they're making a G.I. Joe movie? And if Cloverfield is just another Godzilla, I don't mean to be a naysayer, but maybe it's time for some originality.
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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ok, my take on originality:

I believe that originality, while ever present, tends to go in cycles. For example, in the 1950's there was a huge boom in monster movies with original plots. A big reason for this was the new and emerging nuclear technology. People were unfamiliar with nukes and the long-term effects of nuclear radiation on humans and the environment. Hence the endless hoard of monster movies... perhaps the best example being the movie THEM. The common thread tended to be "We did something to the environment with some new technology... now we have doomed humanity."

In my opinion, creativity, as far as movies go, tends to deal with something that people are uneasy about, and, therefore, slightly apprehensive of...

Today's creativity tends to deal with social and family issues. No one can deny that the family unit is being attacked. Everyone can see it... I think that many of our new ideas have to do with dysfunction, abuse, loss, single-parent families, racism, acceptance, etc. The reason being that, although we are aware of the problem, most people don't know what is causing it, or how to fix it...

11:05 AM
Anonymous said...

PART TWO:
...I think the main reason for so many Comic Book remakes is due to the fact that many people feel a loss of childhood... and some 20-somethings feel a need to postpone adulthood... one way to do this is to re-enter childhood, if only for a few hours. Disclaimer: I don't think there is anything wrong with watching a movie as a form of escape. I think that is healthy and necessary in moderation.

I believe that you can look at the plots of movies and gage what a writer or director is worried about. You can look at the themes and directions in which movie media travels, and understand what seems to be bothering, or worrying the general population at that time (you ever notice all the end of the world movies that came out right around Y2K?).

Another motivator for creativity is technology. In these situations, story and plot take back seat to the idea of "look what I can do". I think that may be one reason we have started to remake some of the classics. Originality is not dead. I think we are in a transition from one thematic cycle to the next.

This happens in film, art, literature, music...

On a bright note, although a remake of a classic (therefore not original in and of itself), I AM LEGEND was a sweet movie.

THE END.

11:15 AM
Anonymous said...

Oh, one more thing:

There are always some movies that are just plain bad... with few, if any, redeeming qualities.

11:18 AM

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