The other day I was feeling it, nice day, nice evening, wanting to do something nice for my girlfriend. So I decided to take her out to go see a movie. Right now, nothing too great is out in theaters, so we lowered our standards just a bit. I had heard, from many credible sources, that Mortal Instruments: City of Bones was not too shabby. Several critics that I actively follow gave it an okay rating, leading me to believe, that I could enjoy this teen romance/action movie.
Then we saw it...
This had to have been one of, if not, the worst movies I have ever seen. Now, I understand this is a teenage romance, but heck...that doesn't mean it has to be bad! Compared to some other of it's counter parts, Mortal Instruments was just pure crap. With horrible dialogue, a convoluted story line and acting that was more stale than my morning bagel, Mortal Instruments failed on every level. I was infuriated as we walked out of the theater, absolutely infuriated. I was angry because we paid for a terrible movie like that, as well as the fact that that movie had a budget of $60 million!!! It angers me that that amount of money is wasted on movies such as these. I kept thinking, "If I had 60 million bucks, I would give you the best movie in the world." It doesn't need to cost that much to make a great movie! District 9, one of my favorite movies, only cost $30 million dollars, and was a fantastic piece of filmmaking.
It breaks my heart when a movie is bad. It's the art form I love, and the career I love. My girlfriend says it's the same when she hears a bad piece of music (she works in the recording industry). There's so much potential, and so much money thrown at this potential, to have it fail, is just heartbreaking. That time, money and effort all could have been thrown to a better place. I've been talking about an implosion in the film industry, and how imminent it has become. It's not only imminent, but just around the corner...there is going to be a pretty big change in the way things are done.
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Elysium
It's very rare that a movie comes out that's not only visually entertaining and stunning, as well as thought provoking. Neil Blomkamp's Elysium is definitely one of those greats. I recently watched the scifi action thriller about a damned man, set in the future, and was absolutely blown away by the film. Matt Damon's character, Max, accidentally gets irradiated at his job and must get to Elysium, the space habitat orbiting earth where the privileged live. On Elysium, his radiation poisoning and all injuries can be cured, however, getting to Elysium is not so simple.
As mentioned before, I loved the film. It had great action, an intense storyline, and social commentary to make your brain think for days. Blomkamp's film is a commentary on the socio-economic inequality the world (especially America) is suffering from. In an interview, Blomkamp describes an incident he had in Mexico, where he spent the night in a jail. He stated how odd it was that he could literally see America, but could not touch it. He was in an essentially third world country, and just over the fence was his "Elysium." I loved the social commentary in the film, as I love to be mentally intrigued and challenged. The last film to really do this was District 9, again directed by Blomkamp.
The main thing that I really admired about the film was it's budget. It's no secret that movies these days have outlandishly bloated budgets. Disney spent upwards of 400 million dollars on The Lone Ranger, alone this year. Elysium has the blockbuster look and feel, with great actors and great special effete...and the budget was only 90 million dollars. Now, yes, that's a lot of money, but for a hollywood studio movie, that's quite humble of a budget. Blomkamp's last film, District 9, only cost 30 million dollars, and made upwards of 210 million in the box office. I quite admire this, as I don't believe a movie should cost an outrageous amount. Studios these days are burning through cash with these giant budgeted movies that don't make back what they cost.
As mentioned before, I loved the film. It had great action, an intense storyline, and social commentary to make your brain think for days. Blomkamp's film is a commentary on the socio-economic inequality the world (especially America) is suffering from. In an interview, Blomkamp describes an incident he had in Mexico, where he spent the night in a jail. He stated how odd it was that he could literally see America, but could not touch it. He was in an essentially third world country, and just over the fence was his "Elysium." I loved the social commentary in the film, as I love to be mentally intrigued and challenged. The last film to really do this was District 9, again directed by Blomkamp.
The main thing that I really admired about the film was it's budget. It's no secret that movies these days have outlandishly bloated budgets. Disney spent upwards of 400 million dollars on The Lone Ranger, alone this year. Elysium has the blockbuster look and feel, with great actors and great special effete...and the budget was only 90 million dollars. Now, yes, that's a lot of money, but for a hollywood studio movie, that's quite humble of a budget. Blomkamp's last film, District 9, only cost 30 million dollars, and made upwards of 210 million in the box office. I quite admire this, as I don't believe a movie should cost an outrageous amount. Studios these days are burning through cash with these giant budgeted movies that don't make back what they cost.
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