An Open Letter Letter to Hollywood

[brettdale]

I know summer blockbusters are your bread and butter, and help
pay for the artistic movies, and I do like blockbusters.

My local tv station had Back to the future on. A Movie that is 27 years old.


Minimal CGI, minimal special effects, characters that had heart and soul, that
will be remembered for for generation after generation.

So why the fuck have you spent $1.1 Billion dollars in the past five years on four movies about
fighting robots?

[Ilsa]

1. We introduced our kids

to Back To the Future a couple of months ago. I had recorded it off of HBO. My 12 yo loves it!

[Dilldoe]

2. Your answer

Transformers :
Budget $150,000,000 (estimated)
Gross $ 709,709,780 (Worldwide) (8 November 2007)

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen:
Budget $200,000,000 (estimated)
Gross $836,303,693 (Worldwide) (15 October 2009)

Transformers: Dark of the Moon
Budget $195,000,000 (estimated)
Gross $1,123,746,996 (Worldwide) (31 December 2011)

Check out imdb.com they have even more numbers

[Darth_Kitten]

10. Numbers mean nothing with the cost of movie tickets....

plus the fact that some people will watch anything, being somewhat robotic with their own choices.

[dems_rightnow]

13. They certainly do to the people who develop movies.

Nobody is saying that the Transformer movies are some sort of classic. Just that they make huge money.

[KansDem]

3. "...four movies about fighting robots?"

I don't get out much. Could you please elaborate?

[KansDem]

4. Ah, please disregard...

I just read post no. 2...

[taterguy]

5. The lead in that movie had no Elvis in him

Your premise is fatally flawed.

[Fumesucker]

6. My grandkids love Ghostbusters..

Who you gonna call?

Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a big hit with them too, the movie I mean.

The old version of Clash of the Titans, they'll watch that one over and over as well, one of my granddaughters is practically obsessed over the scene with Medusa..

The Blues Brothers, they can sing every song..

[YellowRubberDuckie]

7. I kind of feel sorry for kids today.

We had some amazing movies. Just think of the 80s movies alone. The Goonies will FOREVER be my favorite movie. You really need to introduce them to that one to if you haven't already.

[Fumesucker]

9. My daughter knows every line of dialog in Gone With the Wind..

I taped it off the TV in the early 80's when she was quite young and she basically watched it until the tape wore out..

GWTW was in its first revival when I was a kid, I recall seeing at the theater..

[libinnyandia]

8. My grand-niece posted on facebook that no movie filmed before 1990 was any good. I hope she was

Last edited Sun Apr 8, 2012, 09:16 AM - Edit history (1)

just being a teenager.

[Darth_Kitten]

11. I had some teenager tell me there was no "soft porn" scenes in movies prior to 1994.

I was describing this anecdote about a movie and what allegedly happened behind the scenes, and she told me no director would ever have filmed that as there were no scenes like that prior to 1994.

Wha-t?????????

[Bluenorthwest]

12. All commercial films are made for the same reason, to profit. It is incorrect to think that

those profits from one sort of film are made to 'pay for artistic' films. They are not. They are made to make money, which they do.
The reason that technical options are used is the same reason we all use cars, although we do think hose carts are charming. Back to the Future was cutting edge tech at the time, not one new trick was left unused. That which you are calling 'minimal' was in fact a full tilt use of all the fx they had, and few they created newly for that film. So it was then exactly what the current 'summer tent pole films' are now, a huge amount of effects, explosions, action filmed to the height of the moment's potential.
Now rather than go on and on, I will say go rent Hugo, a film which is framed around the nascent art of film and the first director to see his work fall away as 'dated' due to technical progress. You will enjoy it greatly, as it speaks to much of what you are pondering here. it also looks amazing and honors the earliest film makers of all.

[raouldukelives]

14. So glad we have the green screen & CGI.

From the issue of climate change alone. Sometimes it seems pretty selfish with all the around the world sets and massive amounts of pollution created in the filming of a big budget movie. Especially when it winds up being a bad movie!
Now they can achieve the same results from a studio and a computer. Pretty slick.

[Beaverhausen]

15. I watched "My Week with Marilyn" last night

wonderful, sweet, sad film. There is something for everyone out there if you look for it.

I'm also very much looking forward to the final film in Chris Nolan's Batman Trilogy.

[DavidDvorkin]

16. Brace yourself

There's talk of a remake of Back to the Future.

[brettdale]

17. please tell me

Michael Bay is not going to get his hands on it.

[DavidDvorkin]

18. I just Googled "back to the future remake"

because I couldn't remember what I'd read. Apparently, the subject has come up frequently, with various directors, etc., wanting to do it. The latest ones to express interest are talking about trying to do a remake at some point in the fairly far future. Michael Bay wasn't mentioned. l

I get the impression that it might not happen at all.