As I sat down the other day to think back on the few things I’ve been up to lately I made a startling discovery, at least to me anyway, I’ve seen quite a few movies in theaters this year and a lot of them I didn’t hate. I don’t believe I’ve actually forked out the money to go see this many movies in the theater in a long time and not felt disappointed by it or let alone do it at all. If anyone knows me they know I’m a big fan of movies and editing and the whole big deal. I’m a stickler for things that are different and how I feel, well, worth paying nearly ten dollars to go see it. Now maybe I’ve just become bitter over time or maybe my tastes have matured but I go by a small list of rules before I’ll actually see something in the theater, these include but are not limited to:
- The trailer has to blow me away, make me laugh until I pee or in general impress me.
- Its part of a franchise that I actively follow or keep up with in some medium
- I can’t predict the movie from start to finish just from the prevue’s
-I know its going to be horrible going into and that’s usually the point of me seeing it
-It’s a zombie movie. I’m a sucker for these cookie cutter pieces of crap : /
And some other crap I can’t quite think of at the moment, but these are the big ones
Honestly my biggest gripe in movies these days extend mostly from plot. There have been thousands of movies that have been around since the dawn of cinema and contrary to popular belief they haven’t all been made yet. I don’t honestly see the need to do a bunch of remakes or reboot a franchise or anything like that very often. There are a few exceptions, but not often. Other than that there is no reason not to be original. Don’t follow that same tired old plot: open on a good hearty time with friends, main character leads a certain lifestyle that is either terrible or carefree but life is good. Something is given to main character to “make their life better” and works for a bit but slowly it consumes them to become something unlikable or a jerk to their friends, big fight, then time of reflection, and main character returns to save the day in the end, all is forgiven, happy ending. Give or take a few details here and there adding or subtracting love interests this pretty much sums up nearly all movies out there today. Now don’t get me wrong this CAN be done well, but usually it isn’t. Take Adam Sandler movies for example. I like Adam Sandler and think he can be pretty funny, but that really describes about all of his movies. There has got to be a better way of doing things and throwing special effects in the way of good writing or plot points isn’t an ok substitute (Star Wars, Avatar……)
Being able to predict the ending is always a downer for me too. I always assumed that I was just super astute at being able to do so many times before, but as I grow older I guess its more that these endings to movies are just forced way too many times instead. I do however like to claim some of that astute-ness however, but just because I like to feel proud sometimes. If I go into a movie and a mystery is presented and I can’t figure it out I’m much more prone to enjoy the movie whereas I generally don’t if I have it solved in the first fifteen minutes. This also goes for brainless action movies that replace anything resembling a plot with explosions, sex, and swearing a bunch. Don’t get me wrong, I like a dumb action flick every once in awhile, but they just aren’t my cup of tea to be honest.
Now this year is been interesting to me. I’ve seen at least ten or so movies in theaters this year, some even more than once and I only left the theater feeling disappointed once or twice. That’s remarkable to me. Is it possible that the past few years were just the results of lack of good writing from the writer’s strike a few years back that they had warned about?
Some people might read this and say “Well you’re just being picky and can’t just turn off your brain and enjoy it.” Well yeah that’s the point. I don’t want to turn my brain off most of the time. I want to use it while enjoying a movie. I want to be taken on a journey of sight and sound and be able to suspend my disbelief and be whisked away into a story for an hour or so. If I’m going to pay nine dollars to sit in a chair and watch something that a rather large crew has slaved over for a number of months of production to play for me, shouldn’t I deserve something worthwhile? Or am I just asking for too much?
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