The Bottom Line: The NEW New Movie Industry

There was brief time- let's say a little over thirty years ago- when a surge of creativity and originality blasted onto the big screen. The era for mega-budget blockbusters was born, and movies like JAWS, Star Wars, and E.T. set the standard for how a filmmaker can create not only a movie, but a timeless franchise.


We see movies that were made in 1977 such as Star Wars, and realize that sequels and prequels are still gaining George Lucas and Twentieth Century Fox more and more of a revenue stream.

Now in 2011, everything is being remade and sequel/prequel-ized. This year we have seen yet another X-Men movie, another Pirates of the Caribbean Movie, and soon to come out this Friday, Captain America, a seventy-year old franchise character, will take the number one spot for new box office releases.

Are you wondering about the ORIGINAL movies that have come out this summer? Apart from a fresh breath of air in the comedy apartment (nod to Horrible Bosses), there really hasn't much to run home about.

Perhaps the most enjoyable movie of the summer was Super 8. Yet while it was entertaining and amusing to watch, I couldn't help but think that I was viewing a hybrid of ET, JAWS, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind!

Has Hollywood legitimately run out of ideas? Or are they simply manipulating and milking the general public into thinking that you can keep updating and cleaning up old classics? I know if I was a douche bag Hollywood executive, I would probably want to take the easy way out myself and remake Titanic. You just add a few new cast members, make the ship explode instead of sink, and have Daft Punk do the new soundtrack.