As a person who does not go to the movies a lot, whenever I see a trailer for an upcoming movie I feel a kind of disappointment. This feeling stems from the tons of movies that are cheap, cheesy remakes of better films from the 1980's or sequels that no one even thought to ask for. For example, one of the biggest remakes coming out in 2016 is the new “Ghostbusters” movie starring Kristin Wigg. The big ploy in grabbing audience members is the fact that they hired an entire female cast. This is not what I have a problem with. What I do have a problem with is the laziness of Hollywood where they know that people will go see a poorly written, directed, and acted film simply because it has the same name as people’s favorite movie from the classic 80's with more special effects.
When I go to the movies, I want to be immersed in the film for the entirety of it. I cannot remember the last time that happened when I actually saw a movie in theaters. Where is the drive in Hollywood to make films that have never existed before? We as consumers control what Hollywood makes. We can choose to see the same rehashed over and over again or we can choose to go to the movies and pick something that is new. Something that has never been done before. We can go and see the next Oscar winning film for something completely innovative.
This is not to say that if Hollywood makes a remake that it will be awful. I was completely enthralled in the newest “Star Wars” film even though it was basically a remake of the first movie in the franchise. I also have to admit that “Mad Max: Fury Road”, a sequel to the 1979 film “Mad Max”, deserved all of the awards that it won. Even though it was a sequel to a much older film with updated visual effects and everything I find wrong with how one should make movies, it was still a very visually stunning, engaging film.
I don’t normally find myself going to the actual theater to see movies for a few reasons ranging from price of admission and popcorn, to not wanting to actually leave my house to see another explosion filled Hollywood film. I go to the movies when I hear that the film has an actual story that is well written and the director is passionate about his or her film. I will indulge in the “popcorn” movie aka the superhero movie or the latest in science fiction movies set a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, but I will also go to see films like “Whiplash” which won the Oscar for best supporting actor with J.K. Simmons (rightly deserved in my opinion) among others, “Birdman” which took home a few Oscars and literally anything by Wes Anderson.
We go to the theater to see which movies will be this season’s next big winners at the different festivals and most importantly, the Oscars. What we don’t realize is that we have the power to say which films go and which do not. Our money speaks to the academy and shows them what is good and what is not. We should spend it on stories and pieces of art instead of yet another sequel and another boring remake of a thirty year old movie.
