Why Big Summer Sequels / Remakes / Adaptations Are A Good Thing
This summer, the big money so far went to Speed Racer, Iron Man, Indiana Jones 4, etc. Many people supporting independant artists see this as a bad thing.
I don’t. I’m actually really happy with it.
When someone complains to me that movies today suck, it means A- they’re only watching what entertainment weekly tells them to or B- they have terrible, terrible taste.
Some of the best movies ever made have come out in the last few years.
But they’re smaller.
And that’s fine- that’s good.
What we want is a system that allows a wide variety of filmmakers to make many smaller movies, and for the big money to get spent on so-called ‘proven’ properties or creatives, not in a sense of quality but in a sense of financial justification. So long as the money is being spent responsibly, the smaller size of investment in risky projects is what allows the risky project to exist. And so long as the sizeably invested in and more sizable project are based on existing, proven, once-considered-risky projects, said risky projects will continue to be invested in, to determine which to take the next step forward.
This is good. There is no bubble to burst.
Filmmakers like Wes Anderson can continue making movies like Darjeeling Limited and I can continue enjoying them.
Also, Iron Man and Speed Racer were fucking awesome.
(Still holding out on Indy 4).