As told to me by the ghosts of Hollywood’s past, present and future.
Past – Mel outburst will have no affect on his film, but his age will.
It use to be that men were ageless in Hollywood, while the women had a short self-life but that trend seem to be changing. The movie going public seems eager to accept Carrie Bradshaw and her shopaholic croonies living the single life, Meryl Streep can do no wrong and TV audiences are buying into Cougartown, but what about our aging men?
Yes, Stallone is back in the Expendables, but he has lots of company, Indy had to come back with a son and Pacino & De Niro can’t seem to get the dollars up anymore (see 88 Minutes and Righteous Kill). Could it be because women don’t have the same interest in the distinguished, intellectual and traditional blue pill heroes they once adored? They seem to have their eyes glued to the young little sex pots now. The Shia’s and the Taylor Lautner’s of the world. Have the tables truly turned? If so, that’s just disgusting!
Present – Spiritual movies are an endangered species.
I tried to make my case for their comeback here, but it seems Hollywood is making the case for spirituality box office futility at the movies. As we speak there are three divine movies at your local theaters: The Book of Eli, Legion and the Lovely Bones, but none of them are having the commercial impact the studios were hoping for. Legion is a B-movie at best, but Book of Eli stars Denzel Washington (see above maybe?) and the Lovely Bones is based on a popular book, yet neither is the blockbuster it was suppose to be.
Which begs the question, is spirituality too intellectual for the big screen — creating success only in literature — or is the subject just too taboo, turning off the religious and atheist alike? It can’t be that people don’t like being preached to. No, not with Avatar‘s success. It can’t be that people don’t want to hear stories they heard a million times, see Avatar again. So what is it that makes people shy away from blatantly religious movies? Maybe it’s the over-the-top fantasy element of it. Maybe, just maybe, people actually want spiritual tales without the creepy spirits. You know, something they can actually relate to.
Future – the Criminal Minds spinoff will be a ratings top 10 out the gate.
I’m not exactly going out on a limb here, but with Forest Whitaker on board, this show is a sure-fire smash. I myself just recently hopped on the Criminal Minds train over the Christmas break (oddly enough I first tuned in to verify my wife’s claim that Shemar Moore waxes his eyebrows) and I just can’t get off. This is a franchise that will rival CSI and NCIS with Whitaker on the team.
Typically I only choose one: I only watch Law & Order: SVU, I only watch CSI and I only watch NCIS: Los Angeles. But I’m watching both Criminal Minds. Namely because the show doesn’t just switch scenery. But then again, how could they? Federal jurisdiction spans the entire United States — though Criminal Minds: Afghanistan does have a nice ring to it. This Criminal Minds is suppose to be the “bad boys” of the FBI. Profilers that don’t always “go by the book.” Whatever, as long as they have psychos killers who could give the Joker a run for his money people will tune it.
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