Checking out the previews currently up online it quickly becomes apparent that the motion picture industry is doomed, trapped in ever-repeating cycles of done-it-before mediocrity. OR… Then again, there are also some surprising signs of life, in particular marriages of technology and vision which indicate the creative spark has not entirely gone out in Hollywood.

Evidence of Doom: Yes Man (Christmas 2008). “Jim Carrey Stars as man who must say ‘yes’ for a whole year.” Wow, such a familiar premise… The trailer shows the story is a little more reality-based and biographical than, say, Liar Liar, but not enough. Not nearly enough. Not nearly, nearly, nearly enough.

Further Evidence: The Love Guru (out and gone) and Meet Dave (out and gone). These seem to be cut from the same chintzy cloth as Yes Man: More-of-the-same comedy-star vehicles. I’m tempted to throw in You Don’t Mess With The Zohan as an additional example but that thing did nearly $100M in business: Guru and Dave will be lucky to cover advertising and distribution costs.

Interpretation: The comedy-star stalwarts have been completely hamstrung by Judd Apatow. He introduced a completely new form of movie comedy: smaller, more intimate, relationship-based. Made the stalwarts efforts seem almost quaint (and certainly tone-deaf and clueless) in comparison.

Evidence of Hope: Watchmen (2009). A remarkable graphic novel from the 1980s gets it’s turn as a motion picture. I have maintained the thing is pretty much unfilmable– but that was until I saw the trailer. Pretty much shot-for-panel, and definitely keeping in the 80’s alternate-universe spirit of the original. Best of all: no big stars. Billy Crudup, Jackie Earle Haley, and… Matt Frewer? (actually, Matt “Max Headroom” Frewer is a casting signifier: When he is in a film it means “this movie was made in Canada.”

Further Evidence: Star Trek (2009). It’s biggest star is Chris Pine, or maybe Simon Pegg. More for the effects budget.

Interpretation: The technology is more or less in place to bring comic book or sci-fi movies to startlingly realistic life. Filling these movies with lesser-known or lower-listing actors is a guarantee the money is going to be spent wowing the audience, rather than lining already-stuffed pockets.

And people WANT to see comic-book movies– I think The Dark Night is going to top $200M in less than a week. We have an IMAX theatre here in SF, and I REALLY want to see it in that format, but I have still not been able to get a ticket for it, even at midnight. Good sign indeed.

–Skot C.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 24th, 2008 at 7:16 am and is filed under Acting, Digital Wonderland, Motion Pictures. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.