Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Hollyweird is in Trouble!





I read two articles this week from two of Hollywood’s biggest icons, Dustin Hoffman and Michael Douglas where they discussed the state of Hollywood and the movie industry.  I have to admit that they are saying the same things that we have commented about and have been discussing for quite some time now.  Also, for this to come from two veterans who know the industry inside and out, speaks loads. They also have the awards and accolades to back up the knowledge of their craft.  Both make some interesting, yet very valid points.  Hollyweird is in trouble!!!

First oft (to quote “Big Hutch”), Dustin Hoffman points out that the cinema is the worst it has been in 50 years.  He said that it is at the lowest point it has been in the half a century that he has been working.  He stated that actually television is the best it has been and movies are at the worst.  Mostly because of the demands that have been placed on directors to put out these projects so quickly where the only emphasis seems to be on the almighty dollar as opposed to actually putting out a decent project.  “It’s hard to believe you can do good work for the little amount of money these days,” he said.  This speaks to why, instead of coming up with original material, the industry seems to have a severe case of sequelitis!  Also, there is a strong emphasis on whether your films make money as opposed to the actual quality of the films.  In my opinion this speaks loads as to why we have been getting an incessant array of garbage from the movie industry and it is being rammed down our throats.

Second oft, is Michael Douglas who speaks of why we are seeing mostly British and Australian actors in American movies now days.  This is also something we have touched on and I actually posted about a couple of weeks ago.  It is as if the industry does not think that our American actors are convincing playing Americans.  WTF!  That speaks loads as to what they actually think of our current crop of American actors.  Michael Douglas points out that social media is causing American actors to lose out on roles because they appear to be more obsessed with their image as oppose to studying their craft.  Which I absolutely agree with.  British and Australian actors take their training far more seriously than their American counterparts, which is why damn near every British and Australian actor can do a convincing, if not flawless American accent, but how many American actors can do a convincing accent of any kind other than American.  Case in point, the movie Phantom which stars David Duchovny and Ed Harris.  The movie is about a covert mission led by Russian soldiers which was intended to actual incite World War III and blame it on the Chinese.  Now the concept, in and of itself sounds cool and I think it may have been loosely based on a true story.  However, the entire cast was played by American actors, of which I have no issue, but when the American actors are too lazy to even attempt a Russian accent, you have to say WTF!  I mean not one American actor bothered to attempt a Russian accent, which took you totally out of the story because you sometimes forgot that they were even supposed to be Russian.  You can best believe, if the cast were played by British or Australian actors, a Russian accent would not have been an issue.  If you want a good laugh, then I suggest you rent this flick. 




This represents the state of the movie industry!  The actors seem to be more concerned with being famous than actually pursuing their craft.



The Female Perspective

1 comment:

  1. The cycle has come around again as it did in the sixties. Hollywood is always playing catchup to the tastes of the audiences and it's going to take the same solution now as it did from the late 60s and early 70s - investing in new talents and new ideas for stories. Hollywood has to have their backs against the wall to take chances and that's just about where they are at.

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