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
