At What Cost...?

With the increase in popularity of comic book based movies there have been a lot of speculation on the cost of movies. Many movie-goer's feel the current cost of movies is too high. What is the cause of this you ask? Well, lets examine...

1. The increase in movie cost: The cost it takes to make a movie has become unrealistic. Budgets are designed to keep a movie affordable but directors and movie makers are going above and beyond this to make a movie. Production costs begin to affect our wallets and purses.

2. Actors costs to star in a film: Actors are continuously increasing their cost to star in a film. When a film becomes popular, the actors raise their rates to star in the next flick.

The reason I am bringing this up is because of how it impacts you, the consumer. There is speculation in Hollywood that they will begin changing the admission fees based on the budget of a film. The more it costs to make, the more it will cost for admission. This is an idea that should not be supported by any person across the world because it will not be just limited to the United States. We as consumers could see ticket prices reach as much as $15-$20 per person. This is unacceptable and unaffordable for the mass majority. Will people still go watch a fourth or fifth Iron Man at these prices if it happens.... probably so. Is there anything wrong with that? Absolutely! This will only fuel the continuous and outrageous dipping into our already exhausted pockets. The sad part is many directors are behind this move because it holds the probability to a limitless production budget if the trial run proves successful.

Here are a couple of links to look at if you don't think this is a real possability:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/01/business/media/as-ticket-prices-rise-theater-audiences-shrink.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

http://www.benzinga.com/analyst-ratings/analyst-color/13/06/3677232/could-movie-tickets-rise-to-150

I want my readers to weigh in on this subject. Please keep the comments clean and respectful because of who might be reading. I do not want any person or groups to be offended by the comments of others.

Remakes or Rehash What's the Difference?

One repeating element that is becoming more common within the movie industry is the overwhelming abundance of remakes. Why can a story line just continue or be left alone all together. I believe that the younger movie going generations need to be aware of the classics. The classics not only gives us a terrifying view of horror movies (one genre example) but also how they looked and felt "back in the day". Dark locations and creepy music that was designed just for that specific film accompanied by hormonal driven teenagers meeting their demise. There was plenty of gross and bloody moments that would give you a good nightmare :)

I have seen many of the "remakes" or "rehashes" over the past few years and they just lack the scare factors that the originals had. The originals had the creepy factor plus the scareability (Not sure if this is a real word but oh well). When movie studios want to "remake" a current film, such as Spider-Man, it is called a reboot and the viewer is taken back once again to the origins of the character or movie. They just take what was originally done, chop it up a little, add new faces, change the story just a little and BA-DA BING! A reboot is born. 

Will all of this prevent or stop people from watching movies.. no and I don't want it to either. My entire point is simply this... do not forget the classics. Take the time to watch the originals prior to watching the remakes. Determine which one you like best. I am only writing this from one perspective. Please respond or discuss and I hope everyone enjoyed reading.

A Common Bond

You are probably thinking about now "is this guy going to do nothing but talk about movies?" The answer is No. I am going to start various other blogs about random topics. Another topic is one that I have ventured into while studying for my B.S. in Psychology, but that is for another day. On we go... I enjoy movies and I enjoy reading. It is a common misconception that if you like to watch movies or television then you must be fat, lazy and hate reading. One of the things I love about going to the movies is the fact for those two hours there is nothing to worry about. Everything that has been on my mind is gone. It is the same for everyone else across the globe. A movie is a common bond that almost everyone shares. Regardless of where it was made or who stars in the film, it holds the power to bring everyone together in a form of unity. There is no more hate for another race, culture or gender because everyone is there for the same reason.. an escape. Everyone's petty differences are placed to the side for a short time to enjoy what is happening on the big screen. I go watch movies because it puts me in a place different from the one I am in, or a world of fantasy. It acts as a form of "down time" for myself and others with busy schedules. My wife and I are so busy with two children we treat the movies like a fine dining experience because we rarely get to go alone.

This entry was short and my apologies in advance for anything misspelled. It is still early and I am very tired. Just wanted to jot down some ideas before I forgot them. Please leave comments if you would like but make them clean. You never know what age a person is who may be reading this and I do not want anything vulgar.

Call for Independence (In films)

One thing that I have noticed over the past few years was the increase of fan made films. These have been referred to as independent films or fan-boy films. Let me explain... these films are made by individuals who love a specific genre or franchise to the point of creating new ideas and putting them in a short film. Their films are backed by pure passion and not fueled by the box office ratings of Hollywood. Personally, I think these are wonderful. They are usually well thought out scripts with stories that fit into the world of the movie, such as Star Trek, Star Wars, and even Ghostbusters. The individuals who write the scripts for these short films have spent many hours, days and even years in a fantasy world of his or her choosing. This is where the creative ideas come from. Fan made films, in my opinion, hold more truth to genres than the bigger name movies that hit the big screen.

It is for these reasons I tip my hat, so to speak, to the individuals who take the time to put their knowledge, passion, and time into making a decent short fan-film. If you want to find and watch some of these fan-films they are easy to find anywhere on the Internet by performing a simple search. 

Hope you enjoyed reading!

Random Comparison

I am an avid watcher of comic book movies because I am a nerd. The biggest comparison among the different comic book/super hero genres are the story lines. In my opinion, Marvel has found their groove for making movies. Each movie focuses around specific characters and the story leads, or ties, into the next movie. Even if the characters make a cameo appearance the movie studio and directors make sure to use the same actors from the previous films. This makes for a solid story that makes sense to the viewers. Nobody wants to see Robert Downey Jr. play Iron Man in the main movies but replaced during a cameo of Thor or Avengers. It would not feel right. As strange as this may sound, viewers develop a connection between the actors and the characters they play. When those get replaced or recast the viewers respond, usually with negativity.

DC movies are a little different. They feel the need to recast the hero for each film which makes it feel... off in some aspects. They are planning a Justice League movie but talking about replacing Christian Bale as Batman, but considering the story arch's from the Dark Knight trilogy, Batman retired. The makes no sense because are Wonder Woman and the others just supposed to "show up" during the JL movie without any explanation where they came from?

I think movies today need to focus more on the quality of the writing rather than the next big star. Keep in mind while reading this, these are my opinions. Please keep any comments clean because you never know who will be reading the posts and I do not want any thing offensive to others posted. This has been on my mind for a while and just want to express some ideas on this.

I hope you enjoy reading and all is well!