I Wouldn’t Pay a Dollar to See That
In this week’s Entertainment Weekly, Stephen King tells us what’s wrong with Hollywood:
Many of this year’s best movies were really depressing.
(No free link, so I’m not linking at all.)
King goes on to list what he thinks were the best movies (pre-Christmas releases) of 2005. In order:
The Jacket
The Devil’s Rejects
Cinderella Man
The Constant Gardener
War of the Worlds
Crash
Good Night, and Good Luck
Downfall
Capote
The Squid and the Whale
Of these ten movies, King admits right up front that five of them were “bummers.”
Of the ten that weren’t bummers, we have:
The tale of a psychologically-wrecked Gulf War vet.
Yet another boxing movie.
An action-thriller whose destructive Martian invaders were, in the opinion of the screenwriter, meant to symbolize American foreign policy.
A contemporary Los Angeles drama showing us how everybody is racist.
A ’50s period piece showing us how all our politicians are fascist.
Remember, those are the “happy” five-best of the year.
Admittedly, there are some good movies on the list. In fact, most of them are quite good for any year. “Downfall” blew me away when I watched it on DVD, as did “Crash” and “The Devil’s Rejects.” I haven’t yet seen “Capote” or “The Squid and the Whale,” but I’m dying to see both, even though they’re “bummers.”
Yet here’s what King has to say about them:
Capote is also Part 1 of What’s Wrong With the Movies this Year: a great film about a brilliant, repulsive, manipulative, coldhearted bastard whose progress as we watch as scientists might watch microbes mounted on laboratory slide. Murderers Perry Smith and Dick Hickock are ultimately more sympathetic.
[snip]
The Squid and the Whale – What’s Wrong With the Movies This Year, Part 2. About another writer, this one an ego-driven monster who demonizes and nearly breaks his children’s hearts and minds. It will never play the nabes in the heartland. It is
A must-see for every American:
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Jimmy Stewart at his best.
Nah. America wants a movie version of My Favorite Martian where the Ray Walston role is freshly cast as Tim Robbins as a parable for the transnationalist community as the superego for the American id.
Greenlight it now! A box office smash in 2007 or summer 2008!
Proves Too Much
While I’m sympathetic to this argument, by so easily dismissing the availability of DVD’s I think it tries to prove too much. [Via Instapundit.] UPDATE 12/14/05: Stephen Greene has more: Shakespeare’s tragedies still resonate all these centuries later …
There are “good message” movies. Harry Potter. Narnia. The Incredibles. Spiderman. They are aimed at kids mostly. Everything coming out of Hollywood is dark – even the independent stuff is dark. Sin City for example.
The funny thing is that the dark movies lose money, and the lighter movies make money, yet they still make more dark movies. That probably says something about their mental stability.
I’m really surprised that he didn’t mention Serentiy, considering it was one of his recommended movies at StephenKing.com…
What about Serernity, Batman, Narnia? I.e. racist facist far-right fundie rethuglican movies that everyone watched.
I’m with you, Steve. Serenity is the only movie I saw in the theater this year. More, please. And faster. Otherwise it’s TCM (thank heaven Ted hasn’t ruined it) and DVDs for me.
You can also send the same request to the novelists. Much fiction since WWII (and likely WWI) has been depressing from the get go.
I’ve only heard of three of those films and seen none of them. The only films I shelled out to see this year were 40yo Virgin and Serenity. The only films on my radar currently are Geisha, Kong, and (grudgingly) Narnia.
movies I saw in the theater, Narnia, Harry Potter, I will see King Kong. Films I will never end up seeing. Syriana, War of the worlds, Munich, Brokeback Mountain et al. I want to see good movies, finely made, telling stories. I am tired of left wing moralists and thier propaganda plays that tell me how evil America is,
The only movie I would agree with him on was Cinderella Man–but any list that has War of the Worlds on it is automatically suspect. That was pure tripe (and I’m not convinced that Crash was anything other than self-serving moralizing).
I’ll have to think of what would constitute my “best” of the year and whether they are uplifting or not–but this list isn’t even close to what I would suggest.
Mmmm, Serenity…
So Hollywood smells of garbage! Try a decent movie with good acting, like Last Orders (with Michael Caine).
Actually, Crash sucks so bad it’s nearly unwatchable. And, without having seen any of the others, I’m going to bet most of them suck, too, since most movies suck (general rule). The only movie on that list I was interested in seeing was Crash, and, as noted, it sucked, so now I’m waiting for Netflix to send me Cinderella Man, just because something tells me I need to see yet another inspirational film about a boxer as a metaphor for life.
I’m mildly flabergasted by the description of War of the Worlds as an “action adventure” movie. It’s a (very depressing) horror story, and always has been. And yet, for some reason, part of the movie’s ad campaign involved trying to sell it as another Independence Day. I saw it on DVD, and while visually well done, the fact that all three lead characters are so unlikeable makes it hard to care about what happens to them.
I’d like to catch Mr. Washington goes to Smith!
What, you all missed Wallace & Gromit?
No offense, but relying on Stephen King to evaluate quality film is like relying on Chef Boyardee to evaluate quality food.
You have a very good point about honest tragedy and overall quality, but the main problem with your argument is overgeneralization. As others have already pointed out, there are plenty of heroes to be found in movies today, and movies in the 30s and 40s weren’t all wine and roses, either. Don’t forget that was the era of the Universal monster flick. Or All Quiet on the Western Front (now there’s one that turns those frowns upside down). Many of the great Hitchcock films. Most of the better films of that era went well beyond simple good triumphs over evil. And on the other side, you have the unfortunate stereotypes, such as the happy darkies in GWTW and Song of the South.
But I think the main problem is not optimism or pessimism or any particular genre. It’s that very few people in Hollywood (or anywhere else for that matter) know how to tell a story anymore.
Value Entertainment
Several pundits are pontificating on the problems of the film industry. Tammy Bruce says it’s because the movies suck and Stephen Green concurs. But why aren’t Christian or other conservative media groups filling the gaps?
How Much Do We Have To Spell It Out For Hollywood
Steve Green on Hollywood’s dearth of heroes:Shakespeare’s tragedies still resonate all these centuries later because in the stories he told, the world was just
There are the books and movies that other authors and filmakers and critics want to read and see, and then there are those that the average person seeking entertainment wants.
If they want to make products for Cannes rather than Kansas, well, *shrug*.
“Most of Hollywood’s tragedies can’t sell tickets even on opening weekend because in the stories they tell, the people are still flawed
It’s also the lack of originality that’s hurting the movies.
Along with the list of dark depressing overly-messaged movies, add one that are remakes, made off of television, video games or any other mass media crap.
Exhibit A: They’re making a sequel to, “Dude, Where’s my Car?’ It’s entitled, “Dude, I still Can’t Find My Car”.
Another good “downer” movie conspicuously absent from King’s ten-best list, not to mention the comments here so far: Star Wars Episode III. (Well, good except for the lousy Anakin-Padme dialogue, and George Lucas’s half-baked attempts at a political message. Everything else Lucas finally managed to get right, and not a moment too soon.)
Of Hollywood and Movies
Stephen Green says, I Wouldn’t Pay a Dollar to See That: Shakespeare’s tragedies still resonate all these centuries later because in the stories he told, the world was just – it was people who were flawed. Most of Hollywood’s tragedies