A Word to Hollywood

We drove by a multiplex theater today, interested in what films were playing there. In the eighteen theaters, twelve movies were showing. I ran down the list and counted seven remakes of old films or TV shows.

Apparently worried about declining theater sales, major Hollywood filmmakers seem intent on playing it safe, recycling old properties they think will have built-in audiences. They seem to feel that it's only by churning out new versions of the tried and true that they'll lure people out of their homes and away from their DVD players. When you add sequels to the remakes that compose Hollywood's annual film output, the picture one gets is of an industry virtually devoid of creativity and paralyzed by fear.

It isn't that remakes and sequels can't be good or even original in their treatments of old stories. Within the past week, my son has shared Oceans 11, the 2001 remake of the old Frank Sinatra/Rat Pack flick, and Oceans 12, its sequel, with me. The first George Clooney et al version stands well on its own even if it is a remake and the sequel was very different, although it revolved around the same cast of characters.

But usually, remakes are worse than the originals, sometimes by virtue of being crasser and coarser, opting to titillate us rather than entertain.

So, Hollywood, listen up: Do you want to get us back to the theaters? Have an original idea and lure us not by using juvenile humor pretending to be sophistication, but by really thoughtful stories, characters, and situations. There's nothing like going to the theater to see a movie, if the movie is worth seeing!