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Post by bouncingbrick on Mar 13, 2010 12:29:48 GMT -5
I was listening to an episode of the SlashFilm cast and it got me to thinking about the things that the decision makers in Hollywood screw up. I'm talking about the studio heads and the executives that spend their time reading pie charts and studying demographics instead of the creative thinkers.
The specific thing I thought of was how poorly the US film industry imports foreign talent. Jackie Chan was working in the film industry as far back as the '70s and was starring in films for over two decades before he was cast in a US film and that film was Rush Hour. Jet Li was making movies for almost two decades before he was cast as the villan in Lethal Weapon 4. The same thing seems to be going on with my two favorite martial artists right now, Stephen Chow and Tony Jaa. For some reason Hollywood won't even try giving these very talented people some big budget projects until they're in their 40's and mostly past their prime.
There is a similar problem with people behind the camera like John Woo. He made total crap in the US but made some amazing films before he came here. I'm not sure what this is a result of, but it's like Hollywood saps as much creativity out of the film making process as possible.
So, what other things do they get wrong (specifics like Spider-man 3 or broad things like fear of NC-17 films, etc.)? What could the top brass of Hollywood do to help stimulate creativity from their products? Is it possible to get a pure breed of artistic films out of hollywood? And if so, what film makers are able to create quality films within the industry?
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Post by Tyler Smith on Mar 13, 2010 20:25:52 GMT -5
There's a lot going on in this question. I think that there's actually a whole BP episode in there.
As such, I won't go into a lot of detail to answer the question.
I will say that there are only a few filmmakers, I think, that are allowed to do whatever they want within the studio system. First and foremost is probably Steven Spielberg, followed closely by Martin Scorsese. There are others, but I think that those are the big two.
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Post by Caribbean Captain on Mar 14, 2010 15:42:54 GMT -5
I will say that there are only a few filmmakers, I think, that are allowed to do whatever they want within the studio system. First and foremost is probably Steven Spielberg, followed closely by Martin Scorsese. There are others, but I think that those are the big two. I whole heartedly agree, which has always made me wonder why the studio bet the farm on Peter Jackson making Lord of the Rings. Don't get me wrong, I loved Dead Alive, but a zombie B-movie director creating the largest production of all time? That takes some balls. As for the original poster, I've noticed that you only listed Asain directors and actors. A larger point to make would be that all of these people (aside from John Woo) only make action/martial arts films. You see very few Asian actors in dramas or comedies, outside of their stereotypical roles. That being said, while ignoring the east, Hollywood has adopted many from the west into its fold. Europeans comprise a significant portion of the entertainment industry. |
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Post by MojoBox on Mar 15, 2010 12:54:34 GMT -5
I whole heartedly agree, which has always made me wonder why the studio bet the farm on Peter Jackson making Lord of the Rings. Don't get me wrong, I loved Dead Alive, but a zombie B-movie director creating the largest production of all time? That takes some balls. The explanation I've heard is that New Line was trying to avoid a hostile takeover and needed to sink themselves into some risky investments to make themselves appear a less attractive purchase. Jackson was only trying to sell 2 movies to New Line, and they asked him "Why not 3?" |
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Post by cucumberboy on Oct 24, 2010 6:32:05 GMT -5
To people here in europe the censorship and ratings in the US is absolutely insane. Not so much the system of PG, PG-13, R etc., but more specifically the view Hollywood and, consequently in european eyes, America as a whole has on sex. I don't want to make this into a political argument, so let's not, but to most europeans the view on sex juxtaposed with the view on violence is pretty absurd. Just showing a pair of breasts is somewhat a taboo, but there's an abundance of death, and more specifically death without consequence, in american film. Even some people who aren't really into movies have noticed this. I guess you could nullify everything I just said by saying I'm looking at Hollywood from a european point of view, but I think the majority of americans would agree that sex is less dangerous than a bullet in the head. I think the MPAA is more conservative than the american public, and definitely more conservative than Hollywood filmmakers.
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Post by Tyler Smith on Oct 26, 2010 18:06:00 GMT -5
To people here in europe the censorship and ratings in the US is absolutely insane. Not so much the system of PG, PG-13, R etc., but more specifically the view Hollywood and, consequently in european eyes, America as a whole has on sex. I don't want to make this into a political argument, so let's not, but to most europeans the view on sex juxtaposed with the view on violence is pretty absurd. Just showing a pair of breasts is somewhat a taboo, but there's an abundance of death, and more specifically death without consequence, in american film. Even some people who aren't really into movies have noticed this. I guess you could nullify everything I just said by saying I'm looking at Hollywood from a european point of view, but I think the majority of americans would agree that sex is less dangerous than a bullet in the head. I think the MPAA is more conservative than the american public, and definitely more conservative than Hollywood filmmakers. Now, now. Let's not forget just how idiotic the MPAA's view of profanity is. |
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Post by cucumberboy on Oct 27, 2010 15:15:12 GMT -5
Now, now. Let's not forget just how idiotic the MPAA's view of profanity is. Yeah the taboo of certain words in America has always baffled me. Louis CK pretty much sums it up in his act. And how about when that little girl said 'cunt' on TV and people went nuts? That would never be a thing here. Now, of course, we're not perfect either but there is an element of absurdity to how much of a controversy those things are in american media (not podcasts though!) For example: I just turned on the TV today and the first thing I saw was a bunch of finnish dudes dancing naked and singing folk songs. ... yeah maybe the MPAA isn't such a bad idea after all... |
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Post by bouncingbrick on Oct 28, 2010 7:43:39 GMT -5
I want naked finnish dudes singing folk songs on my TV! As for the original poster, I've noticed that you only listed Asain directors and actors. A larger point to make would be that all of these people (aside from John Woo) only make action/martial arts films. You see very few Asian actors in dramas or comedies, outside of their stereotypical roles. That being said, while ignoring the east, Hollywood has adopted many from the west into its fold. Europeans comprise a significant portion of the entertainment industry. I simply brought up the topic of Asian action films because I love action as a genre and I feel that US films, for the most part, fail at them. I also think Asian filmmakers really "get it" when it comes to action. For example, they use real people doing real stunts instead of CG people (screw you, Matrix Reloaded) and a lot of them better film and frame the action on screen than most of Hollywood's directors. Just watch The Good, The Bad, The Weird for some perfectly filmed action scenes then watch the fights in Batman Begins (from a director that I love, for pete's sake!). Of course we'll wait until Kim Ji-woon is in his twilight years before we throw a Hollywood sized budget at him and give him a chance in front of a mainstream US audience and he'll be so jaded by then... For crap's sake, Hollywood, give the man a comic book adaptation or something! Something r-rated and full of action scenes, please!  EDIT: Kim Ji-woon's next movie stars Liam Neeson! They listened to me! That's right, I freaking made that happen! Bring on the royalty checks!
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Post by deadpool on Jan 27, 2011 12:05:44 GMT -5
I would agree that there is a lot of international talent that is underlooked however if you jump the gun bad things can happen. Ang Lee made crouching tiger hidden dragon which became really popular so they gave him the hulk to adapt into a movie. Nothing about crouching tiger hidden dragon screams the hulk to me. I would never look at crouching tiger hidden dragon and say this guy should make the hulk.
As far as the ratings go I feel they are too high in the states. I live in canada and our ratings our similar but often softer. Ie in ontario in a pg movie you can use the f word up to 3 times, you can have nudity or sex just not both in the same scene. If you use the f word more than once in the states you get an R. There are so many worse words and it's more about the context. Look at battle star galataca they say frak all the time. Everyone knows what they mean they change the word slightly and suddenly it's not a swear.
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