Hollywood is Dead, Long Live Hollywood: The Happening and Get Smart
Tuesday, July 22, 2008


These two movies prove that there's something really wrong with the people who "greenlight" films in the Hollywood system. I don't doubt these movies will make a decent and acceptable return on the money the studios put into them.

A Little History

Currently, the films that are emerging from Hollywood remind me of the last two periods in which they were dying: 1950's and 1970's. The 1950's was the first period of slow death due to the advent of television. It also gave us all those "classic" B-films like Attack of the 50 Foot Woman.

The 1970's was a true near death: the original studio system, run by true media moguls, had been completely swallowed up by corporate bean counters. The films produced were nihilistic, pessimistic and violent.

They offered up nearly a decade of "black exploitation" because of the success of Van Peebles' Sweet Sweetback’s Baad Asssss Song. Following that period Speilberg and Lucas created the blockbuster system, which saved Hollywood. Thereafter, scores of black folks in films and black themed movies disappeared.

Can This System Last? Where's the Full Access?

I see the movie business as archaic and near death as television and music. However, a powerful inertia keeps them all going. These entertainment vehicles exist, because people attend to them out of habit, and it still has the lowest barrier to entry for modest priced entertainment.

My biggest beef with these distribution systems (music, television and movies) is that they won't allow viewers and listeners unlimited access. I shouldn't have to hunt for music or a movie. I should be able to find it the same way we Google for information.

Movie Reviews

M. Night Shyamalan likes to keep folks guessing to the very end.

Unfortunately, The Happening didn't happen. It has terrific visuals in the beginning: construction workers falling like robotic dolls off of a building.

Unlike his past films, Shyamalan doesn't offer any coherent clues as to the reason behind the mass suicides. There are red herrings. Marky Mark (Mark Wahlberg) wears a mood ring, and you wait for it to be a plot point. It yields no clues what-so-ever.

What initially starts off as a good semi-sci-fi-mystery devolves into a tame, lame, and rather boring nature-goes-bad film. I would like for Shyamalan to watch a few Hitchcock films, especially The Birds. He needs to remember these key points: Am I trying to scare them? Make them laugh? Or put them to sleep?

Get Smart had one good thing about it: Dwayne Johnson. It was a shame he wasn't shown more.


This flick is a remake of sorts. Like the horrid Bewitched, it is based on a television series. I could only ask myself: Why? It wasn't smart, or funny. I loved the reruns as a child. I like Steve Carell, but this film is decades late.

Cold War Era films lost their relevance many years ago. The standard plot line in any film coming out of Hollywood today is: the enemy is us. So that being the case, there are no surprises left.

Labels: black exploitation, Dwayne Johnson, George Lucas, Hollywood, M. Night Shymalan, Mark Wahlberg, Steve Carell, Steven Speilberg

posted by GoldenAh
email this! | 0 comments | post a comment


Hancock
Monday, July 14, 2008


I suppose Will Smith is trying to work out of being the "nice, good guy" all the time in every movie. Can't say I blame him. I haven't seen I Am Legend yet, so I won't say if his intensity of roles starts there or not.

I really liked this movie. I wasn't sure if I would, because of the reviews. I take movies in one or two ways: serious or not. Most of the time, not. I've read the reviews, and I'm thinking: Did we see the same movie?


He does start off as a bad tempered, angry, amnesiac superhero. I think some people conflate the piss poor behavior with him being black. It's not mentioned, because it is rather obvious. People have taken that wrong, as if to say if he's going to be a superhero he shouldn't have any issues.

Well, if that was the case: what would be the point of the movie?


If superheros didn't have emotional or relationship issues there wouldn't be a movie to see. I read one guy's blog where he says he doesn't know of a superhero who doesn't get to have sex with the girl or keep her in the end.

I sooo dislike these sweeping generalities, because if any of them saw the Hulk movies, Superman, Batman, or any other superhero overcoming his emotional problems - it is all there. They often don't get the girl, sex, or even a damn dry kiss. Some men should admit, especially the black guys, that they just want to see Will Smith have sex with a white girl.


Charlize Theron and Will Smith have terrific chemistry on screen. I'm sure they may make another film together. It could happen. I would be pleased to see them kiss on screen, if the story is plausible. I dislike any movie with gratuitous sex, violence or stupidity, no matter the color of the actors.

But these guys should be honest, which would make their blogs and movie reviews worth reading. To just see a black guy sex a white girl - that's already free, and a click away on the Internet.

Will Smith did alright with this film: he was a sad, angry and lonely superhero without a sense of purpose. He found "family" in the end, who gave him a sense of purpose, although not with the solution or format some people may have desired.

For all we know, there may be a sequel. I see room for it.

Labels: Charlize Theron, Hancock, Jason Bateman, Will Smith

posted by GoldenAh
email this! | 0 comments | post a comment