I have to just take a moment and a break from the long running story, but still need to take to the page and keep the embers going. No rest for the wicked I guess.
I've been faced with several dilemmas this last week. Relationships, work, state of mind, progress in general. The ever elusive grounding we all crave for.
Ah…whatever.
Change of subject.
Who really wants to see this Hobbit movie? I mean I want to see Smaug like everyone else…but seriously…Legolas. REALLY?! I'm truly starting to lose faith in Jackson. Actually I started to lose it after "Lovely Bones", such a missed opportunity to return to some serious "Heavenly Creatures" subject matter and tone. In truth, I don't want to see a filmmaker make the same movie over and over, but you gotta scale back and create some freakin MOOD every once in a while! SHeesh! Lovely Bones had none of that…except the death scene with Tucci…that shit was legit.
But honestly these Hobbit movies are such retread. It's boring. It's too much of the same scale, tone, shots, characters…it doesn't seem fresh or exciting. A unique vision could've really made this series stand out, to breathe a new viewpoint, a different kind of journey. Del Toro, who was originally slated to direct these films, had the potential to bring his unique vibe to this world. But at the same time Del Toro's "American" movies (you guys know what I'm talking about) aren't really that far of a stone throw from Jackson recently. They both have achieved this level of "Hyper-Fantasy" films. Ones that have…a…cartoon quality, but not only in visuals, but in language and character as well. It hurts a bit that there is still a challenge to blend more sophisticated storytelling with a maturity that responds to multiple age groups. Maybe I'm just getting to the age of nostalgia that reminisces about the films from my growing up.
More kid type fantasy films used to have (in my opinion) a higher level of maturity and story quality. I think something gets lost in this PC craving world, a freedom of experimentation and risk with subject matter and relating that to kids. I remember films like "Flight of The Navigator", and "The Neverending Story". Films that dealt with complicated themes with real drama and emotional exuberance. People now I feel might be too fearful of their kids, or just kids in general really, being exposed to "real" emotional conflict, the good and the bad. I think there is a lack of faith in the emotional capabilities of children. This is unfortunate. It's amazing how powerful perception is. What the mind starts to perceive vs. what it's actually being shown. This "trick" is the power of movies, its what creates the drama, suspense. Playing with your perceptions, moving you back and forth from "dread" to "relief" is what builds the strength of your perception, you ability to deal with the extreme up and down challenges of being scared, anxious, loved, broken. You watch movies to experience these things…but you also have to have faith in the fact they will lead you to a good place. Film, cinema, movies…require a mutual arrangement between the story and you. You have to believe in it too, blind trust even. I feel people are losing that faith. With the extreme over exposure and overly analyzing every little nuance of media from the initial conception, there is born too much judgement, to much preconceptions of the material before it's seen in context. People, now, are so quick minded, that everything needs to happen and be experienced RIGHT NOW! We need to know how everything is going to play out…it alleviates that fear of the unknown which is so important for films, for the experience. People I feel are becoming scared of the moments where nothing happens. The anticipation building is killer. And with everything out there now coming at your face so fast from every direction, to slow down…and really see whats coming…to anticipate it and think about it rather that just having to react to it like a reflex. If you watch children's films…or kids films (I determine "children" films as ages 4-10 and "kids" as 10-15 give or take) now…they have a rather rapid delivery of movement, dialogue, and tone. Where if you look at the equivalent film from say 20 years ago (shiiiit I feel old) You'll find an incredible amount of "space". You'll find that they are paced way slower, and in that event more of that anticipation that I worry we now feel kids are incapable of dealing with.
There is a loss of breathing room in films that aren't "art films" (I hate that term btw. all film, even at its worst is still "art" to a certain degree) the "deliberate" nature, truly calculated execution is starting to fade. When it happens now, it really stands out but there are less and less of it in anything other than a auteur film, less of it in anything other than what you would expect to find it in. I think this is something that needs to be instilled more in the new generation of filmmakers…everyone wants to be "Snyder" or "Bay", or even the Marvel films…I hope we don't lose the "Polanski" quality of storytelling…the masterfulness in creating a real film…a real experience that calculates an effect on your eyes, mind, and soul. Films that stay with you to your core.
I'm being overly cynical…there are tremendous films coming out and being noticed that would never see that light of day usually. But I just don't want to forget…the art is paramount, the design, skill, execution to manipulate and control how a whole group of people are reacting from moment to moment. Us filmmakers really owe it to the people, to give them something that goes straight to the core. Even if it doesn't do it for everyone. We should always strive for that.
Goodnight.
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