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“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”
– Albert Einstein
I love this quote. It perfectly captures the scope of many aspects of life, including the current film industry. It is increasingly disappointing, but in a world of digital media and demand for an endless stream of films and shows, it is no surprise that the quality of those films is decreasing rapidly.
As a filmmaker, I plan on sharing a bit of my opinion here on modern films and, though my views are most likely controversial, I hope you will take into consideration some of my words for your own benefit.
Modern Film
Old films are the best. The classics: Star Wars, Jaws, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, The Godfather, Mission: Impossible, Rear Window, Citizen Kane, I could go on for a long time. This was the Golden Age of film; when creativity and artistic form collided and spawned dozens of beautiful masterpieces for posterity.
So, what on earth happened? Today we see the rise of the modern machine, turning out movies like there’s no tomorrow, and for what? Half, if not more than half, of the films we get from Hollywood and other major film companies are utter garbage on a variety of levels, from compromising the story and characters in favor of political correctness and inclusivity to simply rushing the filmmaking process and turning out raw, bland trash that was made too quickly or with an obvious lack of IQ points behind it (*cough cough* The Rise of Skywalker anyone? So many plot holes it had my head spinning).
The problem is that society relies so heavily on television and movies to entertain them (books and other forms of entertainment are widely considered “lame” now for some reason) that the movie companies know they can put out any movie and as long as it has a certain brand on it, people will pay for it.
This is a problem. And as a filmmaker, it’s one I can’t stand.
My Views on Modern Films
Now, there are some gems that pop up here and there, even today in this oversaturated world of digital media. Heck, 1917 (2019) is one of my top 10, maybe even top 5 favorite movies of all time. Moon Knight, Spiderman: No Way Home and The Mandalorian are great Disney products and there are other movies and shows from the last couple of decades that seem to play by the old rules, and I usually enjoy them because of that.
However, the mainstream films that are now considered “ground-breaking masterpieces” are either reboots/remakes of something old, sequels or prequels to a story that should have ended, or a never-dying line of films that just can’t seem to hang it up while they were ahead (we’re looking at you Marvel and DC). And on top of all this, 95% of this content sucks.
This leads me to question whether or not I should even be watching these studio’s products anymore. I mean, if they can’t even make something original or legitimately interesting to entice me, are they really even trying or are they just trying to pull more money out of my pocket?
For example, I have given up on two of the largest (and two of my favorite) film franchises in the big game: Star Wars and Marvel. Both of these storylines have lasting potential and could be so much more if proper story-telling was enacted. But instead, Disney decided to remake the Original Trilogy of Star Wars…but make everything bigger, more diverse and 100 times less interesting.
As a result, we got the Disney sequel trilogy, and it is one of the most universally-hated film trilogies of all time. The same is happening with Marvel, and nothing is changing. These companies like Disney know that we as viewers will say:
“Well, Eternals really sucked, but the next thing might be better!”
And then when it’s not, we keep watching because we’ve been trained to do so. We’re hooked on nostalgia and we can’t seem to let go, even when we are looking at a cheap rip-off of what we love.
So, the big question remains: How can this be stopped?
Tune in for my next blog piece to see where hope on the matter still abounds. Thanks for reading and see you next time!
Dylan
Fellowship Studios
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