Saturday, June 22, 2013

The State of Films

Yesterday, James Walsh vlogged on the issue of movies today and how the future of films may be bleak. I understand where he is coming from. 2013 has not been a kind year for films. While some gems have been in the mix, most of the films have either under-performed or were just disappointing. In any case, James' words bring up a good point: are the best year of cinema behind us?

This is a question that has been brought up by countless others; recently George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. In hindsight, it is not surprising why some may be pessimistic. Do certain films require sequels? How many brainless movies do we need? What is the point in watching the film when the studios are just going to reboot it? These are just some of the questions that moviegoers ask themselves these days. The sad truth is that as long as these kind of films make money; Hollywood is going to produce them. So is this beginning of the end? Should we as moviegoers just put down are bags of popcorn and exit the theater?

I've been watching films as long as I can remember, and I've been following the movie world since I was in the sixth grade. In the past 4 years, I've had reviews both written and produced. I'll be the first to say that I don't know everything about films as there is a lot that I have to see and understand. Yet despite that I have become more critical over the years I stand by what I believed in since I was a kid; and there is always a time to be excited for movies.
Oh sure, it most likely a foolish thing to believe. These days, movies are too big for their own good and studios will give us sequels, prequels and reboots to make a quick buck. All of this is true, but sometimes I just enjoy the adventure of movies. Even when I go into a bad movie and I know I'm going to hate it; I won't deny that I enjoy just heading to a theater to give that film a proper judgement. Sometimes, it is not about what's playing in theater but rather how that experience turns out.

But back to the matter at hand: the state of movies. As I have stated, 2013 has not been a good year for movies. However, we are in the month June. The year is not over yet; so there is still a chance that a good movie might pop up . Plus, it is not like we haven't had bad years before; look at 2007. There are always going to be a year that doesn't work out; but who to say the next year will be bad?

If Hollywood has taught me anything, it is that we are always going to have the likes of sequels and remakes; and those film should be held accountable. Yet even with the unnecessary sequels, there will always be the chance that a film in a franchise could turn out to be good. We may see it a hundred times, but there is a possibility that a filmmaker could be on a project saying "hey, let's just make a good movie". Plus, who to say that there won't be an original film in the mix?
For me, this comes down to a matter of hope. Perhaps it is a fool's hope, but it is something that I hold too. Even with all the bad films, the unnecessary sequels and studios' loves for all things rebooted; I still believe that movies can be good through the experience and the film's performance. We should always hold films accountable for what they, but we can't just look at the scheme of movies like it is a glass half emptied. There is always that the magic will always be there in some form; and if it isn't, there are about 100 years of movies that we can go back to and enjoy. Yeah, things aren't great, but I still believe movies are worth seeing. There is always the chance that I could be surprised; and if I'm not, well I'll have an angry review about it, get over it, and wait til next week to see what comes out next. I guess what I'm saying is I believe in the idea of what movies can be; and even to this day, I still think there is always a chance that the next big film is right around the corner.

Now video games on the other hand.....

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