FOOTLOOSE? REALLY?

 The bean counters have officially taken over Hollywood. Truth be told, they took it over some time ago.

The era of the remakes is in full effect and it’s killing an industry. 

It’s no coincidence that at the same time America’s manufacturing dominance has been ceded to other countries, and the television industry is dominated by reality shows, that Hollywood has lost its’ creativity as well.

I know that Hollywood, is a very much a copycat industry but someone needs to spare us from this madness.

This just smacks of laziness. Or a lack of creativity in an industry that demands it.

Has American business simply just run out of ideas?

They’re so desperate; they’re remaking movies that weren’t any good the first time.  They don’t even allow a decent amount of time to elapse before they start trying to crank out the next installment.

This practice has become utterly predictable. And weak.

I believe that is why people were so fervent in their support of Apple Computer. Apple went out of their way to make the customer experience special. Steve Jobs is someone who had quite a few great ideas but alas, he’s no longer with us.

Imagine what he could have done with movie making. Oh yeah, Pixar. 

Thank god for HBO.  Talk about a continuing stream of quality, original, creative programming.

This reminds me of fast food.  If I can just convince you that burgers, fries and a coke are the epitome of fine dining, you’ll never miss an evening at a five-star restaurant.

In my mind this is but another of example of the “Race to the Bottom”.  What is the absolute minimum effort that I can put out and still make a profit? It won’t stop until we refuse to spend our hard earned dollars on this stuff.

Here are a few examples of what I’m talking about:

Conan the Barbarian – Arnold in all his glory along with the great James Earl Jones, and Max von Sydow. At least some effort went into making this happen.

Rush Hour – The first one was pretty entertaining. I didn’t see how they had enough material to go any further with the franchise.

Rocky – The first two were really good then folks got greedy.

Rambo (pick a number) I really don’t even need to comment on this one, do I?

The Flintstones – Loved the old 60’s cartoon. Wouldn’t even think of seeing the movie.

Arthur – A classic. Let it be unless you can top the original.

Bourne Trilogy - (Identity, Supremacy, Ultimatum) I enjoyed the first one. Didn’t see any need for the next two unless it becomes similar to the James Bond franchise.

Hawaii Five-O –The original was an absolute classic. Leave it alone. ‘Nuff said.

Planet of The Apes – I never saw the original but I did see the 2011 release. I wasn’t impressed.  Maybe I need to re-visit the original.

Twister 2 – This just makes me laugh. The first one didn’t merit a remake.

Mad Max 4 – A Prime example of milking the money machine.

Mission Impossible 4 - Ditto

The Manchurian Candidate - I’m a big Denzel fan but this one definitely should have been left alone.

The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3 – I thought the first one was pretty original. Why a remake?

True Grit - The Coen Brothers get a pass from me on this one. The reason? They always (usually) do killer work.

If they try to do a Godfather remake someone is seriously going to have to get taken out to the woodshed.

Am I alone in feeling this way? Would you like to see more creative, original entertainment or are you willing to keep spending money on whatever Hollywood puts out?