The Problem with Movies Today

I was today years old when I realized that I'm very picky when it comes to a new release of a movie today. Whether it's on Netflix, straight to DVD or Blu-ray, or just in general free on whatever app that will take it. Studios just don't make good movies now. Yes, you may have your once in awhile indie film that takes a risk and does something creative with its structure or narratives like Good Time starring Robert Pattinson or Memento starring Guy Pearce. Both drastically different films but manage to draw the audience in with both premises, focusing in on the character's journey to reach their want. Not disregarding the flaws that Connie and Leonard have to deal with, but rather humanizing them to us and making them not just relatable but great in the sense of the viewer. And one other thing that both of them do well than most movies of recent years is being ENTERTAINING.

Let's take a look at one of the best forms of a movie, an action/adventure one. Everybody and future newborns will know who Indiana Jones is, he's just that memorable and ionic of a character. Granted he's also the guy from Star Wars so it's not hard to depict the actor from the two roles. Nonetheless, the Indiana Jones films are a great example of conveying a story perfectly. Which brings us to our first part...

THE STORY:

Raiders of the Lost Ark give a quick scene of what Indiana Jones goal is gonna be (The Ark), the enemy he'll be facing (The Nazis), and the danger of obtaining it (Mystical Powers). It is clear, concise, and well-paced to keep the audience engaged and enthralled from start to finish. Temple of Doom follows this same exact formula in a matter of minutes, as well as the Last Crusade, just with some minor differences in all three films. Oh, and the 4th one takes a bit longer to get to the main gimmick of the story. For example, he has to fight the Russians for a bit, then a truck chase happens in the warehouse or something, then fights a big strong Russian guy on a train or whatever, and then a nuke with a gopher. In a fridge! This isn't a movie! It's fanfic!

Although, the Indiana Jones Trilogy plus one is a simple and good way to convey the main plotline to the audience and making us engaged. As I previously stated earlier, the movie Memento and Good Time are slow-burning stories but are very intriguing from start to finish. Even if the story is okay at best with some plot holes here and there, you have the basis of what you need to work on to complete the film. An atrocity any movie could be is BORING! Why should I be enthralled in the experience and journey of the protagonist along with the side characters going up against the antagonist when the whole beginning, middle, and end is lame. FANT4TSIC is a great example of a very boring movie from start to finish. I won't go into too much detail cause I'll talk about that next month. However, the film opens up with a bunch of kids giving out a presentation of what they wanna be when they grow. Sounds innocent enough but its the way it's portrayed and shot that gives the first bad vibe of the film. Flat, dull, and not enough tight spandex to get me to believe why I should continue watching the FantAstSiC FoUr (2015). It misses so many marks on the list, like the...

THE THEME:

Every movie, good, average, or bad, has a theme. Even if it's terrible or predictable there is always gonna be a lesson to take from the movie. The Lego Movie is not only a great movie but has heart, creativity, and the right amount witt to carry the film along. Doing an effective job with the source material (the legos) and even adding in property brands to excel in the marketing of the film while also enhancing the film itself. Equally important to the film was the theme; belief. As lego Morgan Freeman said, "Believe." Emmet, played by Chris Pratt, feels as though he isn't special in the world and just some ordinary yellow face looking guy. Until he's accidentally merged with a glue cap and was "chosen" to become the special one. However, near the end of the film, lego Morgan Freeman says that he is not the special one and that no one is. This is when Emmet on his own realizes that he has to believe in himself to make him think that he is unique and creative like everyone else around him. Like the cat poster says. If you believe in yourself, you can accomplish anything. Cheesy and corny as hell but gets the job done.

Now nothing would make me happier than talking about Blade Runner 2049, but this isn't an article about a hidden gem in 2017. Though I do encourage everyone to go watch the first one (Blade Runner) and the superior sequel. Cause we do not just delve into the story and look for them, but rather appreciate the...

THE CHARACTERS:

Imma keep this one short and sweet. A good story makes the movie and a theme solidifies the over-arching narrative into our heads. Character - the primary reason why we remember that film, why we love it, why we talk about it. Whether it's just an average high school guy or girl trying to attract the attention of they're crush and ends up dating the polar opposite (DUFF), a couple of goofballs going on a road trip so one of them can get the girl while carrying a fat stack of cash (Dumb & Dumber), or a skinny guy who takes serious steroids for a government project and beats people up with a shield (Captain America: First Avenger). We need someone that we see ourselves relatable to on some level. Making the character seem great yet flawed at the same time captures a true human being on screen. An unrealistic interpretation of a character is having a guy make an app of where other guys just have one night stands with women and pass him off as a redeemable dude at the end cause he then created another app of which girls possibly do the same thing. Yes, I'm talking about Swiped. Which is ASS!

WRITING:

How hard is it to write realistic situations and dialogue? Noah Centineo's character blackmails his white nerdy roommate to develop a new hookup app called Jungle, so he can have a one night stand and not call them back because he hates calling girls back. I'm very confused about not only the premise alone, but a film like this got passed the Bechdel test. Which is where two women talk about literally anything else other than men. And near the end of the movie is all they talk about. Like I'm not even lying when I say writing is the most important thing when it comes to a movie because you have movies like this that exist. It isn't hard for me to believe that 40 or 50-year-old men don't know what teenagers or young adults are like in the year 2020.

Although, Netflix does have some good ones under their belt like Irishman...ummm...Marriage Story. And umm...Bright maybe? On second thought nevermind.

In the end, I could go on about the whole slough of reboots and remakes that nobody asked for or really cheap horror movies that look so bad that people are gonna see them and make money off it. Like the movie ChiPs starring Dax Shepherd or Slender man with Joey King. I could talk about the dumb big blockbuster movies with my man The Rock and he's fighting a giant monkey in a city! Or climbing up a giant skyscraper to save his family with fake legs and the bad guy is looking for money, and it's just a ripoff of Die Hard: the greatest Christmas movie of all time. Personally, in my opinion, you can love any movie out there, no matter how good or bad it is. If there is something to like about it, then good for you. I just wanted to state my personal thoughts on why I think the film industry is going more downhill at the amount of uninspiring and quick cash grabs to get people to buy see them. Sometimes we do get our ones that blow everything out of the water like Endgame, Baby Driver, Fury Road, or hidden gems like Uncut Gems, Silence, Midnight Special; stuff like this can get me going. Maybe next year when Mrs. Rona is exiled from Earth, theatres open back up again, Florida isn't apart of the USA anymore, our lives can finally go back to normal and we can enjoy classic cinema.