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Moving on
9 years ago
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Friday, September 2, 2011
Support Your Local Indie
Even though Harrison and I would love to think of ourselves as film critics we're not. We started this site to share our discussions/opinions/beliefs and debates about movies because we think that others share our opinions and would like someone out there to determine which one of us is right.
In this post I'd like to share an opinion that I have and many of my friends also have. If you are anything like me, you are annoyed at the product that Hollywood is selling. Before you jump all over me, let me explain my position.
This post is written from two perspectives: as a student of film and as a consumer. In college, I spent four years studying film theory, film production and screenwriting and mention this not to proclaim the superiority of my opinion but to explain that I have been exposed to a variety of different genres of film from experimental to early hollywood films. These films are some of the wildest and most interesting films I've ever seen. Because of this exposure I continue to search for the innovation and originality in every movie experience. Here's an example:
I Am Cuba (1964)
The summer movie season of 2011 is one of the worst I can remember if originality is one of the judging criteria. There were at least five comic book movies, nine sequels and three reboots, not to mention the couple cross-pollinating comic book movie-sequels. That is the nature of Hollywood. If I'm spending 100 million dollars on a movie I'm going to make sure that it's going to reach as broad an audience as I can. Banking on recognizable names is the way to reach that broad audience: the highest grossing films of 2010 were Toy Story 3, Alice in Wonderland, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. Sequel, Reboot, Sequel.
I'm not here to bitch about how Hollywood isn't original, rather I'm here to offer an alternative. If you are going to go to the movies, try to find an independent theater around you. I went to the movies four times the entire summer, and saw four movies: Super 8, Midnight in Paris, Tree of Life and a second run of Win Win. I went to the large mall multiplex once to see Super 8, but for the others I went to the Spectrum. It runs the best selection of films including small indies, local filmmakers, one night only live theater events, and foreign films.
Another and more viable option is to search out movies that you want to see. With the advent of Twitter and the internet film has been democratized and everything including film has become more interactive. Follow and like independent filmmakers and keep track of what they are doing. Chances are they might be self-distributing their films and they are easily found after a quick google search.
In this post I'd like to share an opinion that I have and many of my friends also have. If you are anything like me, you are annoyed at the product that Hollywood is selling. Before you jump all over me, let me explain my position.
This post is written from two perspectives: as a student of film and as a consumer. In college, I spent four years studying film theory, film production and screenwriting and mention this not to proclaim the superiority of my opinion but to explain that I have been exposed to a variety of different genres of film from experimental to early hollywood films. These films are some of the wildest and most interesting films I've ever seen. Because of this exposure I continue to search for the innovation and originality in every movie experience. Here's an example:
The summer movie season of 2011 is one of the worst I can remember if originality is one of the judging criteria. There were at least five comic book movies, nine sequels and three reboots, not to mention the couple cross-pollinating comic book movie-sequels. That is the nature of Hollywood. If I'm spending 100 million dollars on a movie I'm going to make sure that it's going to reach as broad an audience as I can. Banking on recognizable names is the way to reach that broad audience: the highest grossing films of 2010 were Toy Story 3, Alice in Wonderland, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. Sequel, Reboot, Sequel.
I'm not here to bitch about how Hollywood isn't original, rather I'm here to offer an alternative. If you are going to go to the movies, try to find an independent theater around you. I went to the movies four times the entire summer, and saw four movies: Super 8, Midnight in Paris, Tree of Life and a second run of Win Win. I went to the large mall multiplex once to see Super 8, but for the others I went to the Spectrum. It runs the best selection of films including small indies, local filmmakers, one night only live theater events, and foreign films.
Another and more viable option is to search out movies that you want to see. With the advent of Twitter and the internet film has been democratized and everything including film has become more interactive. Follow and like independent filmmakers and keep track of what they are doing. Chances are they might be self-distributing their films and they are easily found after a quick google search.
Edward Burns is doing this with his film Nice Guy Johnny
There are also several sites that allow you to pay per movie including Amazon Rentals, Netflix original movies and sites that specialize in distributing independent film sites. In the era of HDTV's your home can become your personal screening room. The point of this post is to encourage you, the viewer, to take charge of their entertainment. Don't settle for something that you don't want to see. Hollywood will eventually follow the money to where you, the consumer, is spending it.
Instead of dragging your girlfriend into see Spiderman 119, find new and interesting alternatives, whether that's a movie you downloaded and paid for on your computer, a live film screening, or a trip to the local independent theater. Besides the indie theater has the best popcorn.
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