Little films with big hearts cash in
NEW WESTMINSTER, B.C. (CUP) — Film is a fragile medium, meant to be approached cautiously and treated delicately. The art has come a long way from its silent, black and white days to the technological marvels we call modern movies.
Unfortunately, historically speaking, we have proven to be great at destroying the very things we set out to create, and Hollywood is no exception.
Back in its heyday, Hollywood was the land of glitz and glam. It was where the stars came to shine and where magic was made. But as we all know, Hollywood's lost its lustre in every possible way. No longer is it beautiful, no longer is it where great new talent goes to gain recognition and no longer is it really associated with film. “Hollywood” has become more of an idea or fad — at best, a collector's item; at worst, a tourist trap.
Hollywood movies have time and again proven a major disappointment, especially in recent years, where a big name (actor, director or writer) fails to sell tickets or receive good reviews. However, despite these setbacks, the art of film is far from dead. 2009 has been one of those years where relatively small films, in terms of actors and/or budgets, have made a bigger impact.
In terms of lesser-known actors, Star Trek did exceedingly well, with sales roughly double that of its $150 million budget. Director J.J. Abrams, along with stars Zachary Quinto, John Cho and Simon Pegg each have respectable cult followings in separate film and television realms.
However, fandom doesn't always rake in $300 million in sales — that comes from positive reactions and a job well done. Another sci-fi success was District 9, a film that had virtually no well-known actors or director. While producer Peter Jackson is certainly well known, it's not the name that sold the movie, it was the positive feedback. The Hangover was also one of the surprise blockbusters of the year. Not that each of the four lead actors don't have their own level of recognition, but, before this film, they were all relatively unknown, and even its creators were stunned by the critical praise the film received.
Then there's Watchmen. With few known actors, it did well at the box office and feathered well from the critics. Personally, I'm glad the film did well and got a brand new generation into one of the greatest graphic novels of all time — however, I still want my damned squid ending and I will continue to hate Zack Snyder as a filmmaker.
In terms of small budget films, Blaxploitation-homage Black Dynamite was made with a shoestring budget of $2.9 million, yet has received seemingly endless critical praise, and what hopefully will be a decent size cash-in. October's Paranormal Activity was another film with essentially no budget ($15,000), but has managed to rake in over $85 million dollars so far in the U.S. alone — and has also received extremely high critical praise, a feat not even joked about in the horror film industry.
Big-budget, star-studded movies do continue to draw audiences, like one of my least favourite productions, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Occasionally, such movies bring critical praise, such as Inglourious Basterds. In all seriousness though, this year has had far more financial failures than blockbusters, and most of those failures came from movies that depended more on the “star factor” rather than, let's face it, effort. Hollywood may be dead, but film still lives and will hopefully see a better year in 2010.
Unfortunately, historically speaking, we have proven to be great at destroying the very things we set out to create, and Hollywood is no exception.
Back in its heyday, Hollywood was the land of glitz and glam. It was where the stars came to shine and where magic was made. But as we all know, Hollywood's lost its lustre in every possible way. No longer is it beautiful, no longer is it where great new talent goes to gain recognition and no longer is it really associated with film. “Hollywood” has become more of an idea or fad — at best, a collector's item; at worst, a tourist trap.
Hollywood movies have time and again proven a major disappointment, especially in recent years, where a big name (actor, director or writer) fails to sell tickets or receive good reviews. However, despite these setbacks, the art of film is far from dead. 2009 has been one of those years where relatively small films, in terms of actors and/or budgets, have made a bigger impact.
In terms of lesser-known actors, Star Trek did exceedingly well, with sales roughly double that of its $150 million budget. Director J.J. Abrams, along with stars Zachary Quinto, John Cho and Simon Pegg each have respectable cult followings in separate film and television realms.
However, fandom doesn't always rake in $300 million in sales — that comes from positive reactions and a job well done. Another sci-fi success was District 9, a film that had virtually no well-known actors or director. While producer Peter Jackson is certainly well known, it's not the name that sold the movie, it was the positive feedback. The Hangover was also one of the surprise blockbusters of the year. Not that each of the four lead actors don't have their own level of recognition, but, before this film, they were all relatively unknown, and even its creators were stunned by the critical praise the film received.
Then there's Watchmen. With few known actors, it did well at the box office and feathered well from the critics. Personally, I'm glad the film did well and got a brand new generation into one of the greatest graphic novels of all time — however, I still want my damned squid ending and I will continue to hate Zack Snyder as a filmmaker.
In terms of small budget films, Blaxploitation-homage Black Dynamite was made with a shoestring budget of $2.9 million, yet has received seemingly endless critical praise, and what hopefully will be a decent size cash-in. October's Paranormal Activity was another film with essentially no budget ($15,000), but has managed to rake in over $85 million dollars so far in the U.S. alone — and has also received extremely high critical praise, a feat not even joked about in the horror film industry.
Big-budget, star-studded movies do continue to draw audiences, like one of my least favourite productions, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Occasionally, such movies bring critical praise, such as Inglourious Basterds. In all seriousness though, this year has had far more financial failures than blockbusters, and most of those failures came from movies that depended more on the “star factor” rather than, let's face it, effort. Hollywood may be dead, but film still lives and will hopefully see a better year in 2010.
