Hollywood - Is It Overwith?

[Yellow Oval]

Just wondering what people think about Hollywood and its future as it seems to be on a downward trajectory. Granted, the superhero trend is helping studios stay afloat, but in all honesty that is starting to drop as well. Considering the increasing unpopularity of celebrities, award shows, difficulty for TV (so many increasing channels and networks, quality of programming, etc.), and dwindling theater attendances I think Hollywood's Golden era is not only over, but so is its Silver and Bronze as well. I would say it's now descended into what maybe it's final stage - the 'Rusted Tin' Era.

I also don't subscribe to the 'people increasingly watching on their smartphones instead' excuse for lower attendances/ratings. It may be, but whenever I'm out and about I see people with their phones constantly typing and not watching anything.

No real actors, writers, producers, or directors with any unique imagination, creativity, or vision doesn't help. Just a lot of bad CGI. And music? Memorable themes a la John Williams or Jerry Goldsmith are non-existant! Hacks like one-trick pony Hans Zimmer (repetitively and without fail) alternating between high-string violins and crashing percussions don't cut it in my book. Anyone really remember any themes to films of any kind in recent years?

And then there is the one basic movie fan/tourist fact. The old tried and true visit to the movie studio to see how it's done. With all the over-reliance on CGI, what is the point visiting a studio? To have a guide bring you through some offices with computers saying, "And this is where the magic is made..."? What any of us can see in our own home study or studio with a computer on a desk? Whoop-dee-doo! This is being increasingly compensated by studios trying to become Six-Flags rather than a legendary movie studio.

Is the magic gone?

[AndyFish]

I think it absolutely is.
I agree with you 100% on the smart phone thing-- binge watching TV shows is the new thing for the young folks- I deal with two dozen college kids every semester so I have my finger on the pulse. They ridicule CGI as watching cartoons.

The last movie I went to was TWELVE STRONG or whatever it was called, and that's because i had free passes-- the theater was half full on opening weekend and as the half hour of previews played (I try to convince Mrs Fish we don't need to be at the theater until at least 20 minutes past the scheduled start time) it was nothing but groans from the audience as the latest CGI fest played out on the screen.

You're right on the money-- the magic is gone. The stars are gone. The age of the internet has given us TOO much not curated access to these celebrities. Before you'd have a magazine with an article about Cary Grant sitting around his pool with Katherine Hepburn and it would be about whatever movie they were making. Today they don't go away-- they're with us on twitter and everything else and they are constantly lecturing us on how WE should behave when their own depraved lives are fully on display.

Even the superhero films-- when I was a kid I loved the live action Hulk, Spider-Man, Wonder Woman etc-- I even sat through the LEGENDS specials, it was great seeing them translated to screen. The stunts were real-- when they lowered that guy in the Spidey suit down a wall that was something. Today it's a bit of animation, yawn.

From what I've seen and heard about the SHAZAM film, and it should be called CAPTAIN MARVEL, it looks like we finally get a superhero in a cloth suit with a sense of humor. There's hope for some fun there. But the track record is they'll load it with CGI and kill it.

Today I watch 95% old movies and TV and there's very little that I watch new. FIXER UPPER, TOP CHEF and sometimes IMPRACTICAL JOKERS are about the only things we watch "live".

[dell]

I think things come and go in cycles. Newspapers were said to be on the way out, but some big papers have seen an uptick in subscribers. One of the reasons cited is that online articles just don't cover stories in detail.

I think we may see the same thing again with movies. They need to start making movies people want to see and people need to go see good movies. I liked the Wonder Woman movie, but the final battle was way too long and way too much CGI for the sake of CGI. We knew who was going to win, so just do it. And I liked the backstory they gave Wonder Woman. It made her more real instead of just a woman in a superhero costume.

[SprangFan]

I try not to put too much weight on my own preferences, because I'm turning into an old man and I hate everything modern: TV, movies, music, comics, most fiction.

On the other hand, there are some interesting trends to suggest movies are on the way out, or at the very least due to morph into something we wouldn't recognize.

First, ticket sales are way down in general. Some movies continue to make a lot of money, but only because tickets cost so very much money. There isn't a "blockbuster" of today that wouldn't have been considered a "middling" success or disappointment 40 years ago just based on tickets sold.

The films that do make money tend to make it all on their opening weekend, because so much effort is spent on marketing them ahead of time. If everything works out just right, interest reaches a fever pitch on the day the film is opened and tons of people flock to the theater to see it, but by the second weekend, attendance drops off by as much as 75% percent and it only goes down from there. That's because movies are marketed as "events," like the SuperBowl or a 4th of July fireworks display. If you aren't there on THE weekend, there's no point going. The Monday after opening weekend, everyone at school or the water cooler will want to talk about the movie, so you have to see it to participate. But a week later, everyone's moved on and no one wants to talk about it any more. Movies are events now, not art, and even the ones you enjoy are forgotten a week later.

Also, isn't it interesting how for years electronics and furniture companies sold people on the idea of making a home "entertainment room" that mirrored the theater experience, and now theaters are spending a fortune on refits to make their venues more like your home? Leather recliners, cup holders, etc. It's like they're admitting, "Hey, we know you'd rather be at home, but if we promise to make it as much like home as possible, would you please come, then?"

Also, the whole model of "get in your car and drive here to see a film at the time we decide to show it" is so 20th-century. Nobody even makes an effort to be in front of their TV at a particular time anymore, so why should they bust their humps getting to a theater on time, only to find there's no good seats left, anyway? With Netflix, they get to decide for themselves when to watch something, and for how long, and wherever's convenient. If they want to break it up over several nights, they can. If they want to watch an entire TV series in one long sitting, they can. If they want food, they can pause the show and get it (and not pay a fortune for it), if they need a bathroom break, they won't miss anything. And you can tell a much richer and more nuanced story over a season of TV than you can in a 2.5 hour movie (which is too long and too short at the same time).

I think we're going to see the "superhero" fad go on for a while, and I include a lot more franchises under that umbrella than just the films that are literally based on comics. The ONLY films that put butts in the seats are the "event blockbusters", the spectacle films, and so that's what Hollywood will focus on: heavily marketed "events" that make the bulk of their profits in the first week. But within our lifetimes we may very well see the end of theaters and a transition to a more useful delivery platform.

Also, I think movies, like every other form of entertainment, are aimed at niche audiences now and we've seen the last of films that have "universal" appeal. Today you can hear lots of great music if you know where to go, but it's aimed at niche audiences: there will never be another Beatles or Stones or super-acts that fill stadiums; modern generations don't all listen to a handful of radio stations, they've each got a unique experience going with their individual players and headphones. Same with movies: there's something to appeal to many interests, but little that appeals across the board. We will never see a star as big as a John Wayne or Jimmy Stewart again. 90% of the "celebrities" I see in "People" or "Us" magazines are people I've never heard of.

And I agree: movie stars have always been creeps and weirdos, but at least in the old days our exposure was limited, and filtered. In the Golden Age, MGM could hush it up when Clark Gable killed a pedestrian with his car. Today we know what Jennifer Lawrence had for dinner, and how long it took her to get rid of it in the bathroom. Familiarity breeds contempt.

[vintagematt]

I personally love movies and have studied them for many years, I love that you can tell visual stories for the viewers enjoyment, for me if film should die out I would lose a part of myself! I also really dislike the "Hollywood is a bunch of evil middle aged men sitting around with no creativity" perspective that many people seem to have these days, I have to admit Hollywood isn't in a good place but I don't think it is dying for good!