Have you noticed that
the only good movies
made today are about famous people or events like Johnny Cash, Ray Charles and the World Trade Center? Sure, you have your sequels and remakes but those are based on past ideas and a lot today are not even good.
It seems that the only movies today that are both original and well-written are independent films such as, “Thank You For Smoking,” “Sideways,” “Little Miss Sunshine” and “Life Aquatic,” among others. Is it that big movie productions are running out of ideas? Or are they just not taking chances like they used to? Or is it that movies are just for the big box office dollars and not showing us a film, a work of art, like they used to? Yes, yes and yes.
In my opinion, this trend of junk movies started on a mass scale sometime in the early 2000s, right when Britney Spears started acting and rightfully failed, and Jimmy Fallon was somehow seen as a movie star.
Something went wrong. It seems the combination of bad acting and movies became more restrictive in what they showed and could not take chances like they used to. On top of that, we see too many movies today that have bad and thoughtless storylines, relying on special effects, sex, violence – anything remotely stimulating to bring in an audience.
Not too long ago, films like “Pulp Fiction,” “Boogie Nights,” “Fargo,” “Rushmore,” “Trainspotting,” “Leaving Las Vegas,” “Forrest Gump,” and “American Beauty” were hitting theaters. These are films, not movies because films leave a lasting impression. Nowadays, we see movies like “Herbie: Fully Loaded,” “Freddy vs. Jason,” “Alien vs. Predator,” and “Scary Movie 4,” all of which are horrible and are not even original ideas as they are either a sequel or a remake. But wait, there are original movies out there like “Catwoman,” “Legally Blonde,” “Beerfest,” “RV,” and “Jackass.” And all they do is entertain us, at best, when we have nothing else better to do; they are not good movies.
It seems that movies are just made for the money today. There’s no spirit or something to prove like there used to be, like in a film such as “Easy Rider.” Back then, money was still an issue, but it was more about making a good and thoughtful film, not the big bucks. The lack of ideas today is evident in the amount of sequels and remakes we are seeing.
Other movies made today are the usual: nothing special. And if they do not make a profit in the box office, then the unrated DVD version with a minute of extra unseen footage surely will. That’s why the good movies that are praised and win Oscars today are based on famous people from the past in movies like “Walk the Line,” “Ray” and “The Aviator.”
That is not to say people are not capable of coming up with great movie ideas. But it seems that you have to think outside the box like independent film companies who are not in it for the money but are here trying to show us a work of art, like the movie “Elephant.”
To overcome these lack of ideas, the big movie productions need to stop being gutless and greedy. They have to stop trying to stay within their comfort zone and challenge themselves with something different. They need to do what the independent movie productions are doing which is to make a film for us, for our generation and not for them.
For example, every generation of teenagers since the ’50s has had a movie represent them. “American Grafitti” represented the youth of the ’50s and early ’60s. “Dazed and Confused” represented teenagers of the ’60s and ’70s. “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” represents the ’80s and “American Pie” represents the ’90s generation of teenagers.
Now I ask you, what movie represents our generation of teenagers? If films used to be considered great works of art, then why can’t the big movie productions go back to how things used to be and not make junk movies? Perhaps they will in time.
Daniel Macri is a junior film major and a weekly columnist for the Daily Forty-Niner.
