A wonderful piece and is something that can be generalized to most of Hollywood for the last couple of decades: the number of re-treads, picking up on tv shows that have little audience and making them into movies, giving the same basic concepts re-done to a fare-thee-well and then sticking to the shopworn villains (ex. government, CIA, big business, european men in Nazi groups, etc.) plus sticking the number 2 or 3 or 4 on it has killed filmography and the creation of interesting stories.
On the SF side I am tired, and very much so, of the one or two ‘blockbusters’ and then ignoring the rest of the field. Off the top of my head I can name 5 writers who have put out better work than the popular Herbert and Heinlein who will not see the light of day. That is because they feature compelling characters, thought provoking stories and often more than a bit of action. How about putting Iraq into context and giving us David Drake’s Hammer’s Slammers stories like ‘Counting the Cost’ or ‘At Any Price’ or ‘Rolling Hot’? Gritty material, gut wrenching and yet gives us a view of warfare that easily translates to our modern era. But you won’t see those because of the entirely insular community of Hollywood unable to deal with the morals and ethics of warfare. What ever did happen to staging the morality play in the future and giving us a compelling story? Good and hard commentary can be given on warfare, as was done in times past with ‘All quiet on the Western Front’ in which we see a lot of WWI is not about fighting but surviving it. Not a great film by modern standards, but still quite moving for the portrayal given without getting ideology slathered on it.
With the low cost of CGI (getting lower every year thanks to the computer industry) the cost to make a good video is dropping precipitously. We already have dedicated Star Trek fans making new original series episodes revolving around other people and happenings… not done for glory and money, but because they love the material and the process of bringing their dreams to fruition. As that sunk cost for equipment goes down, and software encroaches on high end skill, Hollywood will be faced with either making compelling stories at lower budgets… or being swamped by those who will do so. And if you think the art critics and film critics were harsh on things, just wait to see what happens with *fan based criticism* driving things… those folks don’t spend much time as prima donnas… where ‘if you don’t like it, then do it better yourself’ is not a condescending slur from a multimillion dollar producer, but a challenge to actually present good and compelling visions for the community to have.
Hollywood can survive if it ends ‘blockbusteritis’, ‘repeatomania’ and just dishwater dull stories and heads back to low budget, decently produced flicks that capture the heart of those presenting stories. I don’t see that happening. In the long run we will be better off without the egos and with the stories.
