With YouTube sensation turned Adam Sandler flick Pixels soon to released, is our obsession with nostalgia and familiarity ruining Hollywood filmmaking?
I don't really think nostalgia is the problem, really ever, but familiarity is. It's the familiar part of nostalgic things that is overemphasized and may lead to ruin, not necessarily the nostalgia itself. Specifically with Pixels, it's not a homage based on nostalgia or anything of the sort. It's either an "easy way" to make some good money (publicity is free, characters are already created, etc.) or potentially a really good and exciting flick on a pretty novel idea (not expecting this one at all... unfortunately). – Austin10 years ago
Wes Anderson said that although he loved theatre, he never had the chance to do stage work; but many of his films incorporate a theatre play or have a very theatrical mise-en-scène. He demands a lot of his actors, privileged long takes to allow them to play the scene fully an during a long time, as if they were on stage. Study the theatrical elements of some Anderson's films (costumes, sets, performance) and look at the influence of theatre practices on his style. Look at how he portrays theatre as well – is he admirative? ironic? a little mocking?
It would also be helpful to seek recurring themes in Anderson's films and how they incorporate within a theatrical mise en scene. – Ryan Errington10 years ago
Cool topic. It, however, may be helpful to focus specifically on certain films (best of the best, chronological etc.) and how they fit into his filmography. Better yet, how they stand out compared to most modern movies. – Thomas Munday10 years ago
thomas has a good point- you should also perhaps limit what types of theatre you'll discuss? narrow it down maybe to a few playwrights instead of general "theatre". – cheltaylor10 years ago
Corporeal mime and pantomime were very popular once. Performed in the streets and theatres, they were appreciated by popular classes and families. Mime was then adopted by the film industry which diffused it around the world and to different social classes. It was recognised as art. A whole school of actors like Jean-Louis Barrault ( Children of Paradise, which is a sound film) or Marcel Marceau developed mime techniques and became film stars. Slapstick comedians like Chaplin or Buster Keaton were inspired by mime art, and even musical actors like Gene Kelly.
Today, mime is slowly disappearing and is almost completely absent from the film world. What has changed? Can you think of any contemporary films that include mime? How is it different from before?
A question which could be asked in this article is can mime have the ability to be placed in contemporary films? – Ryan Errington10 years ago
You could discuss several instances of its paying off (the mime/frozen person sequence at the beginning of X Men 2) in relation to the conflict between CGI and practical effects. – Thomas Munday10 years ago
Analyze films where a language is created. Examples: – Nothing from Earth – Plukanian – Klingon – Dothraki – Mostly because Jason Momoa's acting is still incredible and real despite spouting a made-up language.
I don't know If this would count, but another famous created language is Elfish from Lord of the Rings. Also consider the Star Wars, which is full of made up languages. – Aaron Hatch10 years ago
This sounds like a lot of fun. It be interesting to know who came up with the language. Was it a linguist? Or did the creators just use gibberish. – Cagney10 years ago
Sounds awesome. It might be worth looking at the Navi language from Avatar, specifically at how James Cameron built it from the ground up. – Thomas Munday10 years ago
The person who made up the Dothraki language is actually a linguist, so he used a particular method of language making that focuses on the evolution of language. – Travis Kane10 years ago
Even though the topic is Film, this article needs to at least hat-tip Tolkien, who created Middle Earth and LOTR basically so he'd have a world where the languages he'd created were spoken. – Monique10 years ago
The alternate ending for Clerks would've been pretty interesting, even if it was a downer, I still remember being very shocked about that alternate ending. And as a Rocky fan, I would've loved it if Rocky Balboa had that alternate ending, I was actually expecting to end that way.
The Thing's original ending would've been great, I did like the other alternate ending with the but I much prefer the current ending where it just leaves you hanging, that ending still has people debating it. Training Day would've been pretty interesting to see but I remember Denzel didn't want it to end that way, he's pretty much responsible for Fuqua going with the ending in the film.
Fatal Ataction's original ending is incredibly downbeat , but the real one seems clichéd and generic (not sure whether it already was back then or has just become in the years since) – the original ending would have at least been different from the majority of other movies where the ' good ' character lives happily ever after and the ' evil, crazy ' person is ' defeated ' (yes, I never had much sympathy for the male character in this film).
If you are looking for movies with better alternative endings that the actual ending, I recommend looking at the alternative endings to "I Am Legend" and "First Blood".
They are really interesting endings that are really sad, unlike there actual endings they got. – Aaron Hatch10 years ago
Would be interesting to see how World War Z, or other production with troubled histories, would have turned out. Look into some of the most notorious production stories to delve into this subject.
– Thomas Munday10 years ago
There's no doubt that there are some characters in film that complain to much, and do little to change it. Yet, what has been more noticeable for a while now is how audiences, and even some times critics, misunderstand the difference between whining and necessary drama. Without drama or conflict, a character is boring, so the character that resinates with us are the ones with inner struggle they need to conquer. Yet, people say that characters should quit talking about there problems, and to just face them head on. But it becomes confusing when people also say the character should show some sort of weakness, and not just have their chest puffed out all the time. It can be argued that there should be a middle ground between brooding and bravery, but to me, it feels like audiences want to have their cake, and eat it to.
make it clearer. I got lost in the middle. – dhaugabr10 years ago
Interesting premise, you may want to delve more into the overall message of the article. Are you discussing articular characters in relation to popular cinema or foreign films? Do you wish to talk about Oscar bait films? – Thomas Munday10 years ago
Chan Wook Park trilogy about revenge shows many different facets of revenge. However the film trilogy as a whole can show vengeance in a new light. Showing not just a bloody path to fulfillment but the amount of effort one must put in to get close to their finale. No film ends as your typical vengeance thriller and leaves viewers with some conflicting feelings. It raises the questions of whether revenge is ours to get and if it sates our satisfaction or a deep need of fulfillment.
Would be neat to compare American crime-thrillers Stoker (Wook's first American production) to this trilogy. – Thomas Munday10 years ago
We've all heard of the big name producers such as Marvel's Kevin Feige and Jerry Bruckheimer. But what does producing a movie entail? What's the process? How much of a creative say do producers have?
Interesting. Are you going to list all the types of producers like executive and co-producers? It would be awesome if you include some examples of producers that had made some sort of impact on movies. – dthechadwick10 years ago
You could talk about how big name directors like Steven Spielberg use their name to sell the movie, by putting them in the producing role. Interesting to think that some producers names are used in the marketing, while others are not. – Aaron Hatch10 years ago
May be interested to see how TV producers stand up to film producers. Do TV producers nowadays have more clout? Where can Jerry Bruckheimer and Kevin Feige go next? – Thomas Munday10 years ago
I'm going to rock the boat and pose the question of do we even need producers? Do they have to much say on certain creative aspects? Can the producer actually harm the story they're producing instead of making it good, especially in the case of adaptation? Or are they a necessary part of film production? Just some thoughts to think about. – Travis Kane10 years ago
