‘Hollywood’ displeases with recycled remakes

Sequels, prequels and re-makes have dominated mainstream movies for the past few years, bringing up questions about whether or not Hollywood is running out of ideas.

Nearly everyone who goes to the movies has complained at least once about how mainstream cinema seems to be recycling everything that was, or is, “good.”

There is one obvious cause — money.

Successful franchises end up creating lucrative products for major movie studios.  
But there is no lack of originality within the filmmaking industry — just ways to make money over and over again in cinema.

When technical abilities became capable enough to move into different genres, there also came various methods of drawing in audiences.  
Studio executives realized they could capitalize on outlandish comedies or stylish noir films and war-themed blockbusters that guaranteed high attendance numbers.

Ever since motion pictures turned into a viable art during the early 1900s, there were three approaches to movie-making. Realism focuses on the realistic aspect of films and is meant to document the world as is.

They are almost always documentaries that do not include visual tricks to enhance the story.

Formalism is the highly stylized version of filmmaking and it involves visual effects and camera tricks to tell whatever story there might be.

Truly formalistic movies make up the experimental genre and usually do not follow a narrative, or a story line.

While formalism and realism began the motion picture industry, those styles do not necessarily engage an audience for 80 minutes. The movies that are released in modern day combine these two styles into what is called classicism, three-act storytelling, that uses visual effects and incorporates realistic elements.

Classicism presents the story simply.

Big budget productions lately have, and will continue to, rely on this fashion.

Fast forward to the three decades where blockbusters really took off, the 60s, 70s, and 80s.

Films like “Planet of the Apes,” “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and “The Pink Panther” catapulted box office revenue in the 1960s and were followed by bigger hits in the following decade. In the 1970s “Star Wars,” “The Godfather” and “Jaws” were released to the masses. Studio execs found these genres particularly geared toward profit.

Action adventure, science fiction and fantasy were attention grabbers to the average moviegoer.

The spotlight on art house cinema slowly faded.

Art house cinema is artistically unique and aimed at certain audiences.

These movies typically do not earn much of a profit throughout their theater run.

The 1980s solidified an interest from major movie studios in perpetuating blockbusters so that they may garner revenue for decades to come.

The result, recent years have seen a less enjoyable movie-going experience for those who hate to see their beloved classics trashed.

Earlier remakes done before the 2000s and mid-1990s were story driven and less concentrated on making money, but nonetheless turned out successful.

Now remakes are done to capitalize on cherished nostalgia or to redo something in a more appealing manner to attract more people.

The promise of a sequel when a film performs well in the box office overrides any artistic merit filmmakers may have about continuing story ideas.

And a lot of the time the films end up poorly made.