Originality

[Pak-Man]

Well I'm not talking about Rip-offs per-say. They say there are only like- 7 stories in the world anyway. It's how the human brain works. The human brain can't think of ideas out of the blue. It takes existing ideas and builds on them. So goes the movie industry.

I'm talking about not even bothering to rip things off and just picking up existing franchises and making more. If we keep running in circles, we're never going to go anywhere.

[nummy muffin]

Maybe it all has a little to do with the fact that people don't read enough books anymore.  They don't spend time talking.  They don't get outdoors?  Maybe we, writers included, watch too many movies.  Maybe silence and contemplation are a lost art?

[bratpop]

There's still plenty of ripoffs like Ultraviolet, Underworld, and other movies starting with the letter U. Nobody has come up with a good slasher since the big th... the big four (if you count Leatherface), and they certainly tried. Horror died in the later 90s. So you have to figure they'd just remake the old ones. The thing is, this stuff was 20 years ago. In cinema terms, that's a fairly long time. Imagine a movie in 1970 remaking a movie from 1950. You wouldn't think, "They just made that!" Bill and Ted was 1988 or so, and that's 20 years now. If that makes us old, oh well. Us griping about it makes us sound old. Besides, mofo, it's our fault for saying Batman Begins is so damned good. They're just making everything Begins now. People want them to relaunch the Superman franchise. If the nerds stop saying things like this and praising The Incredible Hulk, we'll stop getting rehashed reboots every year. Hollywood thinks we think it's a good idea.

I don't think it's as bad with sequels. There were tons in the 80s. Thank god they aren't making Ace Ventura 3.

[Tyrant]

I don't think it's as bad with sequels. There were tons in the 80s. Thank god they aren't making Ace Ventura 3.

  They're making a prequel, however.

[bratpop]

No they're not. *sticks fingers in ears and hums*

[Cosmic Muse]

I don't think it's as bad with sequels. There were tons in the 80s. Thank god they aren't making Ace Ventura 3.

  They're making a prequel, however.

Please tell me you're kidding. 

[OTC316]

Nobody went to see the Dumb & Dumber prequel, what makes anyone think an Ace Ventura (and I'm guessing Jim Carey won't be in it.) prequel will work? Hell, the Mask sequel bombed! Do people LIKE losing money?

[GalvaTRION]

Hollywood's a dinosaur reacting to changing times, like the music industry. Their stale distribution means, taking their consumers for granted, and spending vast sums of money of crap has come back to bite them in the ass. They're so terrified of not being super-profitable that they're just making safe bets- Fox studios in particular, I'm looking at you. Sure, I'd rather be super-rich than kind of rich, and making safe bets is a good way to stay in business nowadays. Back in the old days, there was no television to compete with theaters- thus you had massive hits like Gone With the Wind taking in the equivalent of a billion dollars. Then TV came, and theaters focused on showing things you couldn't get from TV- widescreen format mega-epics like Ben Hur. Tastes became more juvenile, studios realized that kids spend more money at the movies, product became dumbed down, etc.

I'm tired and rambling right now, but you get the gist.

[Tyrant]

I don't think it's as bad with sequels. There were tons in the 80s. Thank god they aren't making Ace Ventura 3.

  They're making a prequel, however.

Please tell me you're kidding. 

  I think they were planning one originally (I remember a few articles about a prequel specifically, unless I'm hallucinating), but I now seem to stand corrected: http://movies.ign.com/articles/805/805623p1.html. It's even worse than we thought.

 

[Plastic Self-Cleaning Duck]

You'll just have to spank me then. Hard.

Don't tempt me. 

[RVR II]

You'll just have to spank me then. Hard.

Don't tempt me. 

O.. O.. O.. Me Next

[Plastic Self-Cleaning Duck]

You'll just have to spank me then. Hard.

Don't tempt me. 

O.. O.. O.. Me Next

[RVR II]

You'll just have to spank me then. Hard.

Don't tempt me. 

O.. O.. O.. Me Next

OWEEE

[Plastic Self-Cleaning Duck]

OWEEE

You asked for it. 

[Tripe]

The moral here is to never volunteer to be the spankee