Hollywood Gone Stale?

Welcome back for another week. I spent the weekend with the flu, and am still in recovery mode. Since I couldn't enjoy myself at the Movie Theater this weekend, I decided to visit my trusty Pay-Per-View, through Verizon FiOS. I didn't see much originality from the various selections. Has anyone else noticed how Hollywood seems to be rebooting just about everything?


I decided to take a look at IMDB, or Internet Movie Database for those who are not familiar with the site. Seems like Hollywood not only has a fascination with Reboots, they also have an entire slew of sequels planned, for things that should never have sequels. Forrest Gump for example; Here is a movie, which told its story from beginning to end in a beautiful way. Why then would a sequel be necessary? Well, I can hear some of you say, "There was a second book, so the movie will likely be based off of that". Okay, maybe I can see that as being a reasonable explanation in this one instance. What about a Clover field sequel? That was a horrible movie to begin with, so why make a sequel. What about Bruce Almighty? Good movie I thought, but it told its story. They even continued the franchise with Evan Almighty. So why make a Bruce Almighty 2? Greed!


Hollywood knows it can dish out whatever it wants and like the little suckers we are, we'll pay for their drivel. Instead of focusing their efforts on creating fresh, original content, Hollywood would rather give us a Midnight Run sequel, or another Reboot of Superman. I can understand the self-interest behind running franchises into the ground with sequel after sequel; however, what is with the obsession of rebooting everything?


Just a quick glance on IMDB, and I can find a more than half dozen reboots scheduled, which should never see the light of day; Daredevil, Batman, Spawn, Highlander, Robocop, Superman, and Ninja Turtles. Now, that isn't to say these are bad movies or franchises, but didn't we just have a Superman reboot a couple of years ago, and I swear Ninja turtles was also rebooted a couple of years back. So what is the obsession with rebooting everything? Greed!


See folks, Hollywood isn't planning to come out with an Independence Day 2 and 3 because it is good cinema, they are doing it because they want to squeeze every last nickel and dime they can from your fists. They know people will pay to see this stuff, even if it is borderline garbage. Whereas a movie like Scott Pilgrim vs the World, which wasn't a box-office cash cow, but was original, fresh, and fun, won't see the light of day with a sequel. It's no longer about quality entertainment for most movie franchises, it's about quantity, and profit


Sadly, it seems many of our favorite Actors and Actresses sold out on this new model of Hollywood production. Directors like Steven Spielberg are not immune to this phenomena either. Jurassic Part IV is scheduled for 2014 completion; however, in fairness a lot of his material is fresh, interesting, or at least thought out in a way to make it entertaining. Real Steel was original as was Super 8. I just think until we pressure Hollywood to give us quality cinema, instead of rebooting every series ever made, or bringing us Sequels people don't care about, we will keep getting garbage every year. I for one could do without another Fast and the Furious sequel, or Ninja Turtle reboot.