I have seen many good "Hollywood" films over the years. Some of my favorite films are Hollywood films, some are even big budgeted Hollywood films. I love a lot of Hollywood films from the past, especially the 40's and 50's and even some from the 30's. I saw a film with Claude Rains and Bette Davis the other night, Mr. Skeffington, an RKO picture I think. It was great - would I have cared whether it was independent or a film made for $50k? Probably not. But I also think that I end up really liking films that are built more by the mind of the filmmaker - usually a writer and director - than a studio exec looking to mix plot 3a and 2b and give it some flash, although I really enjoyed Pirates of the Carribean which was all put together like that type of film with a producer throwing all the pieces together.
That said, Ive also enjoyed some indies recently, like ESoTSM, Garden State, and Napoleon Dynamite, a couple of Ed Burns' films, and earlier, a couple of Woody Allen's and some of Hitchcock's later more indie type stuff. I think its the control factor that really makes a difference. A clear, good vision seen all the way through - Hollywood or indie.
But really, in general, I think the overall quality of filmmaking and especially dialog and writing has gone down the tube. No more great scenes of romance or discussion, its just plot point to plot point, someone drops someone else into bed and you see some simulated sex or its some type of slasher or horror film where everybody runs around scared of zombies or something. No more 5 minute onners with incredible dialogue. No more sweeping themes or solid dialogue. Nothing that I want to watch.
And I think audiences are dying for those types of films, but nobody gives it to them anymore. Is it the political climate? Are we all so jaded that were tech junkies and not just good writers trying to tell a really great story that people will want to see?
I see so many filmmakers who think the answer around all of this is to make horror films because they sell. Well, I dont want to watch modern horror films. Pretty much no normal adults I know want to go watch horror films. Some of the male 18-26 demographics do. They live for Return of the Zombies on elm street vs. Jason Part XXII. But their girlfriends and their parents probably don't. In fact the only reason why I think movies like Narnia and Potter and Kong do so well and draw so well is that even if the the film isnt 100% solid, you know with that much money thrown at it its at least going to be a lot of entertainment for your buck.
And so thats where we find ourselves. The cinema has turned into a place to go and pay for cheap thrills, like a rollercoaster or something. Something we know we can kill a couple of hours and escape to. Maybe we'll really like it, but at least it will entertain us.
Then you look at the flipside. A movie like Napoleon - that some absolutely cannot grasp because it isnt simply cheap entertainment - and it was made for $400k and it does 44m box office. Thats an interesting response is it not? Or maybe ESoTSM which was estimated budget for 20m (of which we know where a good chunk of that money went and it wasnt for crew) and it grosses 34m in box office alone. Then you have Garden State made for under $3m and it does closer to 30m in box office.
So you know, I dont want to say indies aren't responding right, but I'm looking at the formulas for these successes and they seem fairly straight forward - great script, incredible acting, great cinematography, etc. Solid films. And yet, no massive violence, no constant profanity, no drug dealers and junkies.
But what I see out of 95% of all indies is violence, profanity, and drugs.
I liked Braveheart, Reqium, and Clerks. But those were solid films in their own ways besides the formula they used. They embraced whatever they used as a necessary point to tell their stories, and their stories were fresh. It wasn't like I read on half of the summeries at film festivals, "A junkie and a pusher go for a joyride through the inner city only to end up turning on each other at the worst possible moment." Dear god, I have zero interest in seeing that. Very few people I know would feel compelled to watch that movie. And yet, if its a solid effort I *might* check it out based on buzz or something. But never in a million years would I be drawn to that film. Or, I hear about a film that has some buzz around it but it reads, "A female prosititute decides she wants to become a man but not before her adopted son reappears in her life." It could have the worlds best script but for gods sake I dont want to see that. YMMV, but I think in the end it doesn't matter who we are or where we are, we all like solid films, and to be honest, I'm just not seeing it out of Hollywood or independents.
If you want to make The Godfather, great, make it but it better be damn good. You wont get me to see it or my friends most likely but many who enjoy that type of movie will. Want to make a M Night type? Go for it, but it should be great and fresh because everyone and their dogs are making horror films it seems and most of them are bad. How about another film about drug usage? Fine, but decide, am I going to make Blow or Requiem or am I going to make a film that sucks?
Hitchcock said there are three things to making a great film. A great script, a great script, and a great script. Whatever happened to those days? Days when people poured their heart and soul into a script about topics that appealed to people instead of seeing green or success, writing a decent script and trying to sell the movie?
You want better movies? Make them. Whether its with a studio backing you or a private investor.
