Why movies are shit.

[olliebean]

http://io9.com/why-so-many-movies-seem-so-much-the-same-1489291670

2013 was the year my screenwriting career finally started to take off, which meant constant meetings with development executives, and they all seemed to have the same notes. 1) the main character has to be the only person who could possibly be the hero of this script. They have an epic destiny or a very specific set of skills that make them perfect. Gone are the days when a protagonist could be an anybody who happened to be in the right place at the wrong time. 2) the stakes have to be raised. No matter how high the stakes are now, they need to be higher. This can't be about one small town, it has to have the possibility to leak into the whole world. It can't be about one man or woman saving their child. In the process, they also have to stop the villains from taking over the government. Any successful film that didn't meet these two points is considered an "fluke."

I reckon that must mean over 95% of the most successful films of all time were "flukes," then. Certainly most of my favourites don't fit that superhero-saves-the-world template. Part of the joy of many good films is seeing how the protagonist deals with adversity in spite of being ill-equipped to do so. What those two notes are is a recipe for tedious stories with unrelatable heroes, little or no tension, and lots of big CGI special effects and explosions. IOW, for most modern blockbusters.

[Glebe]

Lots of movies are clichéd and shallow and contrived but it only makes the great works of art shine out more, like diamonds in shit.

[Old Nehamkin]

The stuff about stakes is a right load of bollocks, isn't it? I can't remember if it was on here or somewhere else, but I recently read someone pointing out that the plot of Back to the Future, one of the best films ever made, is basically just about a teenager trying to repair his family. Intimate, personal stakes are the way to go all the way, fuck off with all your high stakes bollocks, evil Hollywood executives. This has been Old Nehamkin's Screenwriting Theory 101. I'm a bit pissed.

EDIT: Actually, I suppose Marty is threatened with being erased from time, so the stakes are heightened a bit, but it's still all about him and his parents, it's not like the whole universe is at threat. And he's certainly not the only person in the universe who could be the hero of the script. Bloody Hollywood executives, when will you learn?

[Sam]

All mainstream, mass produced things are shit and all executives in companies are twats...why would films be any different?

[jake thunder]

I just read Thomas Lennon and partners book about screenwriting. Very interesting. lots of specific information about how to sell a movie like don't ask a movie star for water and what page of your script a certain thing should happen.

merry Xnas

[Old Nehamkin]

I'm reminded of a classic Ian Martin tweet I have in me favourites:

Oh God, so sick of Writers' Rules. Are there? Really? Or just a series of Writer's Rules? Write it. Fluke it. Wing it. Fuck it.

Tell it, Ian.

[Morrison Lard]

"movies"?

Good God, is this what we've become..

[Famous Mortimer]

I just read Thomas Lennon and partners book about screenwriting. Very interesting. lots of specific information about how to sell a movie like don't ask a movie star for water and what page of your script a certain thing should happen.

merry Xnas

If only their films were even slightly better.

[Replies From View]

EDIT: Actually, I suppose Marty is threatened with being erased from time, so the stakes are heightened a bit, but it's still all about him and his parents, it's not like the whole universe is at threat. And he's certainly not the only person in the universe who could be the hero of the script.

Indeed the first film is arguably George McFly's story rather than Marty's.  Marty is responsible for driving the events but ultimately it's George's personal demons we get to see laid to rest.  Biff isn't simply the first film's villain - he specifically symbolises George's internal struggles and once these are overcome, Biff is transformed into his bitch.

[Small Man Big Horse]

All mainstream, mass produced things are shit and all executives in companies are twats...why would films be any different?

Mainly as it's not always true. Obviously tastes differ, etc, but there's been some great blockbusters over the years have been enormous fun. Well, I loved The Avengers, Thor, the Crank films, The Lord of the Rings trilogy and various others, anyhow. Sure, they might not affect me in the way an arthouse flick might, they might not change the way I think about things or have some other kind of profound experience, but sometimes it's just nice to have watch loud, trashy, fun things.

[Sam]

Oh yes, I agree with all that. I'm exaggerating so scratch out 'all' and replace with 'most', to be more literal. I still think a good mainstream film is the exception rather than the norm.