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Ridley made his comments in relation to the poor box office reception to The Last Duel. Implying the films like that were missing out because Hollywood is too preoccupied with superhero films and audiences - in particular millenials - fascination with them to the point that is all they watch. I mean, I do see where he is coming from. To a point. However he is forgetting there were numerous factors going against The Last Duel being successful and those are -
1. The pandemic making people nervous to return to cinemas. Heck, some countries still have their cinemas shut. They were shut here in Australia for nearly 4 months in some states.
2. The very audiences interested in a film like that are 30s and up. More so those middle aged and onwards. The very group that are being extremely cautious at the moment due to their susceptibility to COVID.
3. The subject matter of the movie. A film that hinged on whether a woman was raped or not.
4. Promotion. The film went under the radar. Most didn't even know it had come out until after it was in theatres. I didn't see any trailers until the week it was to be released.
Is Hollywood obsessed with superhero films? Yes. But they are no different to any big budget blockbuster release and those have been a staple year in, year out since the 1970s.
Cecil B Demile is single handily praised from defining the big Hollywood visuals block buster films, every current big budget film owes a debit to what Demile did and Demile had to mastermind visual and story. To say, visuals are not a big part of it will mean many films like Greatest Show on Earth, The Ten Commandments, Samson and Delilah, Ben Hur, A Spacy Odyssey never happened. these films laid the grounds of later films like Jaws, Jurassic Park, Titanic and these 3 films I just mentioned their visuals were an important part. to say they are least important is to try to wipe out Cece B Demile legacy in cinema and that is impossible. Here is why.
Also they are superheroes with lots of ridiculous looking villains and world ending fights. they really do need those good visuals even more than the sci-fi or fantasy genre.
Cecil B Demile was born in the the late 1800s and I am still talking about him and the impact that he has had to film making, what Feige movie has had the same artistic impact? Even in the comic book bubble ,Feige films are barely the strongest in story telling and technical categories.
No Way Home alone has only made the debate seem more iron clad of why Sam Raimi films films are so beloved after 20 years. Also to sony's favour, shown some of strongest parts of the amazing Spiderman films were still better than the Iron-Junior Disney kid friendly tales Holland was getting.
Additionally in irony that you mentioned star trek. Yes, star trek 60s was cheap and the visuals, awful even for the 60s but what has made star trek TOS so iconic is that it was a very intellectual show, challenging deep social narrative, real impactful sci-fiction and it was a show for adults.
MCU is not star trek, MCU is neither as intellectual, story driven or garnered towards adults as star trek, so would we still be watching mcu films from now in 20 years in the context of how people still watch star trek tos/tng/ds9? hmm.
Please do, it is one of the best sci fi films in the last 10 years in every content that film should matter. However it is not even about Blade Runner, it is about Dennis just getting better and experimenting more with film making, that is the actual fun here for films fans.Still need to get around to Blade Runner.
I heard the MCU Spiderman director is also the new director for the fantastic 4 mcu films. Dont need to see that film to know the films will look and feel exactly like all the other mcu films including the 3 Spiderman films he did. However, I cannot wait to see what Denis does next, even with Dune 2 and also I know Cameron has an ace up his sleeves for his Avatar sequels that is again going to shift cinema. he always does.
MCU and Feige compared to these 2 men (Cameron and Dennis) seem to be so stale, that they are on to the next gimmick of now trying to connect all the sony and fox characters, to keep the steam. Thoughtfully, how much are they really going to pay Ben Affleck to come back for Daredevil? If this rumours are true, I hope Ben declines and gives the same reason why he is done playing Batman in the DCEU.
https://www.screengeek.net/2022/01/1...l-cameo-rumor/
Avatar is a high art visual movie. Just saying. it fulfils the purpose of the art by definition. the artist own personal vision that was balanced by very serious film making.
When people say TDK is a cop thriller or a crime drama. that stick first about the film over it been a batman comic-book film. No narrative of marvel has every overshadowed Disney theme message set for the series- Marvel movies are action-comedy fun.Just like how Infinity War and Endame were nothing like the Russo's Winter Soldier (a political thriller)?
Maybe because they want more art- films to make money.They might not be jealous (although it's beyond odd that they get angry over another company having success doing something different), but you kinda do. Just saying.
It was still down to choosing between Cameron or Feige filmography as he was the person of topic here. As for other artists, Would I choose Cameron over Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder, Walt Disney, Steven Spielberg or William Wyler? No. Would I choose him over Feige? Yes.Also, if I was an aspiring filmmaker, there are artists I'd bee looking to long before Cameron's name came up, even in the context of blockbuster popcorn films.
Last edited by Castle; 01-23-2022 at 04:42 AM.
Hollywood may be obsessed with comic films with marvel slaying the box office like butter on a bread, however are auteur film-driven producers obsessed with it? Maybe not. the people that seemed obsessed with it are mostly the shareholders of studios that just want to make the money anyhow they can get it. this is why they rushed the DCEU in the first place. DC share holders saw the money mcu was generating and they wanted their copy ASAP.
Why has Brad Pitt and George Clooney not drank the kool aid of superhero films as actors turned producers in recent times.
Last edited by Castle; 01-22-2022 at 06:59 PM.
Honest question: Why are you so obsessed with "proving" that the MCU movies have nothing worthwhile to them? Isn't part of the point of art on how it speaks to people? Clearly the MCU resonates with audiences, so why not explore why that is rather than trying to argue that they're wrong for liking it more than something like Avatar (which, frankly is a bad movie)?
"But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so." - Ratatouille
Doctor Strange: "You are the right person to replace Logan."
X-23: "I know there are people who disapprove... Guys on the Internet mainly."
(All-New Wolverine #4)
Politely...
Your films cannot get much more stale than just not getting made in all of the years since 2009.
At least Ridley Scott was actually putting some work out in the time between Prometheus and the point where he just ran that IP into the ditch.
More than anyone can say for Cameron.
Dude is essentially telling us about how great the eventual Youngblood comics will be.
I do agree with the big studios but I have to commend some big studios that can still take risk even with their obsession with money. WB wanted MCU money, they rushed the DCEU, however they did not put all their eggs in that one basket. Joker and The Batman so far still offer more opportunities for auteurs.
Fox was doing the same before the buy out with X-MEN, They were still trying to keep the main series going but offer alternatives that will not tie too closely with the main series and not cost so much in budget. It is worth a laugh that Dark Phoenix cost more than Deadpool and Logan combined. lol
Big Studios like the one Feige runs are just stuck now with no alternative, that is pretty depressing and I am not going to consider the multiverse push as an alternative.
This is true but you can have interesting topics in superhero/comic films. Joker is a great example in the last maybe 5 years, it is a movie about a mentally ill man and still a comic film. Feige will never produced Joker and he will never encourage his screen writers to think that far, so why should I put him anywhere near somebody like Billy Wilder who in the 1940s made a great movie like The Lost Weekend, which was one of the first movies to ever tackle alcoholism in a serious way as a lone topic.As for auteurs? They'll keep on doing as they've always done, I guess. Make films about topics that interest them and do them the way they see those topics being told.
Wilder did it with the Hayes Code still in place, which just feels insane to me now, when I think about it because the film is just so compelling and it is a plot that can be in any film genre, even comic films,... even Marvel, if you have read the comics. Just show you know the Hayes Code was far more toned down and restricted than todays pg 13 that all Feige films are given. so the reality is that Feige even with more technical freedom 75 years later, is practically limited than many producers in the 1940s -1960s.
Last edited by Castle; 01-23-2022 at 05:39 AM.
There came a time when the Old Gods died! The Brave died with the Cunning! The Noble perished locked in battle with unleashed Evil! It was the last day for them! An ancient era was passing in fiery holocaust!
Last Read: Zatanna and the Ripper vol. 1
Monthly Pull List: Alan Scott: The Green Lantern, Batman, Batman/Superman: World's Finest, Beware the Planet of the Apes, Birds of Prey, Daredevil, Green Arrow, Jay Garrick: The Flash, Justice Ducks, Justice Society of America, Negaduck, Nightwing, Phantom Road, Shazam!, Suicide Squad: Dream Team, Superman '78: The Metal Curtain, Thundercats, Titans
There came a time when the Old Gods died! The Brave died with the Cunning! The Noble perished locked in battle with unleashed Evil! It was the last day for them! An ancient era was passing in fiery holocaust!
Exactly.
Let's not forget that Harlan Ellison successfully sued Orion over the script of Terminator (which Cameron wrote) ripped off his work.
Cameron is a great genre director but he's done precious little original, non-derivative work in his career (maybe the Abyss is the only truly original thing he's done). Same with Villneueve that has really experienced most of his success in genre film making.
A lot of these guys are throwing sour grapes because other guys have experienced massive success in genre film making. Period.
EDIT: The Abyss was also inspired by H.G Wells. I stand corrected.
Last edited by Username taken; 01-23-2022 at 11:00 AM.