Vista level Bonehead mistakes in movies.

[psychotick]

Hi Guys,

I think the title says it all. I'm curious as to what you think are some of the most stupid mistakes directors and producers make in making movies.

I've already mentioned one in another thread, the Vista level stupidity of producing a movie that's too dark to see and thus turning it into a radio program. That one drives me nuts, and I only mentioned it after a frustrating afternoon of watching Thor on DVD and wondering what the hell was going on for half of it. But AVP Requiem was just as bad. On the other hand,and what should really bother these overpaid hollywood types, Pitch Black wasn't.

But I'll chuck in two more pet hates for fat to chew on.

Throwing away the script is another pet peeve of mine and the most blatent example of that would have to be Highlander II. For a long time I would have rated Highlander as one of the best movies of all times. Which made its first sequal, a poor movie in its own right, one of the worst. I mean why take a beautiful simple fantasy, and try to turn it into some strange sci fi action flick with mood lighting?

And then there's the other classic which completely killed Tomb Raider, squeezing every last ounce of fun out of the movie. Tomb Raider was supposed to be fun. An adrenaline junkie action flick with a sexy MC, a few good laughs, and of course a happy ending. A female James Bond. But the sequal starts with bad - her friends get killed, gets worse when she has to team up with a borderline psycho ex, turns sick when they have a sleazy romantic interlude with him, and then ends horribly when she kills him. Its almost as though some moron went out and said, just how dark and morose can we make our fun action flick?

Anyway, those are the ones that annoy me most. Over to you guys.

Cheers.

 

[TheTomG]

While I am not sure what "vista level" means (I am assuming the OS though I have had no real trouble with it myself)

My pet peeve to add to the ones already mentioned (which are also pet peeves of mine) is "Let's remake this perfectly good movie since special effects are better today, and because it was a big hit before bound to be a big hit again, and because we can't think of anything new."

What usually happens in the process is the loss of character, charm, mood and other things that contributed to the original. But yes, the CGI is usually better (big deal).

 

[psychotick]

Hi Tom,

Yes the OS absolutely. Making an operating system that can't run your older games has to be one of the most stupid business decisions ever made. There was a reason Microsoft got sued by users who didn't want it put on their new PC's and demanded retrofitting XP.

And yes again, too often when they make the new version full of speciall effects wizardry they do lose story and characterizations.

I'm filled with dread at the thought of what the US will do with two of my favourite shows, Primeval and Being Human when they produce them. I certainly don't like the new doctors much, but then I haven't really enjoyed them that much since Tom Baker. But on the other hand, they did take a rather cheesy Battlestar Galactica and turn it into something far better - until the end, when none of it made any sense anymore.

Cheers.

 

[Mouse]

They've already re-made Being Human. ^

That's my pet hate. Remaking a film (or TV show) that's already in English. For example, Death at a Funeral. British film made in 2007. Remade by the Americans in 2010. That's three years. I mean, come on!! Fair enough if the film is decades old, but three years?! We're all speaking the same language, aren't we?!

I refuse to watch the 2010 version.

 

[psychotick]

Hi Mouse,

You're probably right not to. It was poor at best. The same dialogue almost word for word, but not nearly as funny.

Cheers.

 

[Dozmonic]

I've not found a movie that's dark enough it makes it unwatchable, not with the ability to increase brightness and alter contrast - especially if watching the dvd through your computer.

I'm not a fan of altering characters and lines when making a movie based on a book if the change doesn't make sense. Lord of the Rings is one of the worst offenders for that.

 

[Cayal]

1. Shaky camera.

2. Remakes.

 

[Daisy-Boo]

1. Shaky camera.

2. Remakes.

GAAAH! I hate shaky camera. Used in the proper context it can be very effective but these days shaky cam is everywhere and it can ruin a good scene or show. There was one episode of Breaking Bad where the shaky cam was so noticeable that it distracted me from what was happening in a very tense scene. So annoying.

 

[Moonbat]

I'm beginning to hate Hollywood remakes of very very good foreign language films. Two very recent examples are

Let the Right one in - 2008 Sweedish masterpiece
Let me in - 2010 Hollywood remake with less everything except the one thing that the original didn't have (and was better for it) action.

The Millenium Trilogy (Girl with the dragon Tattoo) - 2009 Sweedish Masterpiece based on best selling novels

The Girl with the dragon Tattoo (not done the trilogy yet) - 2011 Hollywood remake that will no doubt be more action oriented and lose all its grace and power.


I also hate the Hollywood formula, Romantic comedys are a spawning ground for the patently obvious formulae, it goes something like

Boy meets girl
Boy and girl fall in love
Boy does something wrong
Boy loses girl
Boy realises how much he loves girl
Boy makes grand gesture to win girl back

Several times I've been wathcing a romance flick and have thought, well that was a good 90 mins, and a nice story about how love can be ruined if you don't respect your girlfriend, only to be horrified for another 30 mins as he somehow wins her back.

But also, and probably more devastating is the generic formulae for all films, be they action, comedy, drama or anything else. Batman Begins was a perfect example of a great 1st half, but then it descended into a Hollywood blockbuster that was almost an hour too long and had to have the big bad almost winning and the hero surviving by a hair's breadth.

I'm getting angry just typing it, so I will stop now.

 

[Metryq]

Daisy, do you mean the "ShakyCam™" meant to heighten the action of a scene and create a fake sense of cinema verité, or do you mean the equally annoying "Hill Street Blues Cam™" that drifts and wanders all over the scene aimlessly?

And remakes aren't just remakes anymore! With its vanishing stock of creativity, Hollywood has come up with the terms re-imagining and reboot! The home video marketers love it because then everyone runs out to buy the original(s), too, and then compare them and argue about it on Web forums.

 

[Rodders]

I don't mind shaky cam, remakes don't bother me so much. (If an American remake of a known foreign film brings more attention to source material, then i'm of teh opinion that it's a good thing.)

My biggest hate is the making of obviouslty bad sequels purely because the original was huge. The Matrix being a prime example. Somebody looked at those scripts, knew they were rubbish but green lit them anyway because the knew we'd come. How insulting is that? Grrr

 

[Diggler]

The wanton use of sex and nudity. I'm not a prude by any means. But why do movies need to rely on copious amounts of half naked bimbo's, and boob shots to get bums on seats?

Remaking of Foreign films for an English speaking audience drives me bonkers. If people are either too illiterate, stupid, bigoted or lazy to read subtitles, that's their loss! Asian cinema has unluckily suffered the biggest blow from the "terrible remake syndrome" with a plethora of abominations including One Missed Call, Dark Water, Pulse, Shutter, The Eye, The Grudge and My Sassy Girl being at the top of the list.

 

[Cayal]

The wanton use of sex and nudity. I'm not a prude by any means. But why do movies need to rely on copious amounts of half naked bimbo's, and boob shots to get bums on seats?

That's my gripe with life in general at the moment. Everything has to be sexualised.
Heck, I saw a toothpaste ad that was sexualised, more accurately it implied sexual activity once you had fresh breath. (Being in Australia I imagine you would have seen it).

 

[Foxbat]

Remaking of Foreign films for an English speaking audience drives me bonkers. If people are either too illiterate, stupid, bigoted or lazy to read subtitles, that's their loss! Asian cinema has unluckily suffered the biggest blow from the "terrible remake syndrome" with a plethora of abominations including One Missed Call, Dark Water, Pulse, Shutter, The Eye, The Grudge and My Sassy Girl being at the top of the list.

I agree absolutely 100%. I wonder if this is a product of a much deeper malaise in English speaking film (lack of originality and creativity).

 

[Metryq]

I agree absolutely 100%. I wonder if this is a product of a much deeper malaise in English speaking film (lack of originality and creativity).

That, plus the fact that the filmmakers think they can get away with it without anyone noticing. "Nobody watches movies that need subtitles." Long before the Internet my dad was teaching high school English and literature. Any student trying to plagiarize a literary critique quickly learned that my dad had read the original, and knew the source.

 

[PTeppic]

My pet peeve to add to the ones already mentioned (which are also pet peeves of mine) is "Let's remake this perfectly good movie since special effects are better today, and because it was a big hit before bound to be a big hit again, and because we can't think of anything new."

Even worse, when they make it largely with same dialogue and even same scenes...

 

[Diggler]

That's my gripe with life in general at the moment. Everything has to be sexualised.
Heck, I saw a toothpaste ad that was sexualised, more accurately it implied sexual activity once you had fresh breath. (Being in Australia I imagine you would have seen it).

LOL. I actually don't think I've seen that one. Though yes, the use of sex to sell everything from hygiene products to children's toys is really becoming quite worrisome.

I agree absolutely 100%. I wonder if this is a product of a much deeper malaise in English speaking film (lack of originality and creativity).

I think you're right here Fox, though it would be more to do with a lack of wanting to take risks. Look at the great foreign directors that had creative freedom with their native productions, who are then controlled by the US studio's with a whip and leash when they make the transition to Hollywood. Hollywood is more interested in a name than the creative force behind it.

Hollywood also does not want great cinema. It wants digestible, cookie cutter cinema. The sort of thing that the masses will happily blow $10-$20 to see at the cinema. While this is great for the quick buck scenario (horror suffers from this). It kills any possibility of long term profits due to the fact that people will not buy that film on DVD, Blu-Ray and the next generation format when it arrives.

 

[Foxbat]

Just to expand on your statement Diggler. I remember reading an interview with the creators of Stalingrad (one of my favourite German movies of recent years). They tried to get some funding from one of the big American studios. They were told -yes you can have the money but we want a happy ending.

A German movie about Stalingrad? Happy ending?

Does not compute.

What planet are these people living on?

 

[Metryq]

What planet are these people living on?

A far left planet where historical revisionism is par for the course. All scripts are written in double-think.

 

[Foxbat]

A far left planet where historical revisionism is par for the course. All scripts are written in double-think.

Must be a wonderful place if you don't 'do' the truth