The average movie producer does not know what?.... (1 Viewer)

[Mark Kalzer]

Call me a rip-off artist if you will, but I find the previous thread intersting!

- That gross out humour is not the only kind of humour.

- That we can understand it when stories which in reality took place in other countries with different people, on film DO take place in those countries or with different people. (Points at U-571)

- That science fiction does NOT automatically equal action. A lot of them are still good, but Contact showed that Science Fiction doesn't have to be action centered.

- That we can see through fancy digital effects and see that the story's lousy.

- That regular people don't really walk around looking like they're in a shampoo commercial 24/7.

- That we like original concepts!

- That fratty teenagers aren't the ONLY ones who go to movies.

 

[Terrell]

That rehashes are getting old.

That no more Jason, Freddy, and Halloween movies need to be made.

 

[Jeff Pryor]

...that we are tired of seeing movies based on old TV shows.

 

[Rob P S]

... that some of us would appreciate a historical drama without an insipid love triangle in it.

... that Morgan Freeman can carry a movie without being paired with a younger, white costar.

... that there are more talented people than Diane Warren who can write songs for the end credits.

... that every kid's movie does not require fart jokes.

... that Mary Louise Parker is a far better actress than Julia Roberts and Gwyneth Paltrow combined.

... that some of us can understand movies without profanity.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

- That fratty teenagers aren't the ONLY ones who go to movies.

But they're the only ones who matter.
Getting into the spirit in which this thread was intended:
- That Cuba Gooding Jr. showed potential before Pearl Harbor.
- That kids don't need to be patronized with embarrassing "Kids rule" scenes where the dimwitted adults are overpowered by a crowd of kids.
- That films, despite popular belief, can have artistic merit.
- That every action film doesn't need a romance. Just blow shit up, and we'll be happy.
- That films made to win Oscars hardly ever win Oscars.
- That an audience can follow more complex plots than cause-effect, cause-effect, cause-effect...
- That you can make a superhero costume look like it did in the comics.
- That making good films that garner good word-of-mouth will be more successful than bad films with a $100 million advertising budget.

 

[Rex Bachmann]

Adam Lenhardt wrote:

But not the "female demographic", presumably. Any honey to catch a few flies.

 

[SteveGon]

...that you should not show the best parts of a movie during its trailer. Just tease us - that's what trailers are for.

...that anachronistic soundtrack selections are annoying as hell.

...that classic movies should not be remade with obnoxious comedians.

 

[Christopher P]

SteveGon beat me to mention revealing the best parts of amovie during teasers/trailers, but producers probably aren't in charge of that. Ever notice how some listings after TV spots breeze by the cast & crew but spend seconds frozen on the soundtrack listing? Who the hell cares? Oh goody, the song "J-to-the L-O" is in "Enough" I want to go see that movie now. Whomever is in charge of this...figure it out! Also...

Men and women don't normally fall madly in love and risk their lives for each other in a matter of days (...or Romeo & Juliet syndrome as I call it)

Thee guy doesn't always get the girl in the end (remember Casablanca?)

High school girls don't normally look like Eliza Dushku & Kirsten Dunst, et al... (but who would pay to spend 2 hours to look at the cheerleaders at my high school?)

Chris

 

[Matthew Brown]

-that a strong female lead in an action movie would be refreshing. (I don't count movies based on video games)
-that it doesn't have to be explained how a character of Asian origin wound up in America (ROMEO MUST DIE, REPLACEMENT KILLERS, RUSH HOUR, etc.)
-the audiance should have a right to see movies as the were originally intended (referring to the cutting and dubbing by Miramax and others)
-Matrix-style special effects are great, if it's a Matrix movie.
-if a producer doesn't like the job the director is doing, perhaps he should just direct it himself.

Matt

 

[MatthewA]

...that using focus groups' suggestions for making movies can turn movies into disasters.

 

[Mike Broadman]

...that as adults, we don't need to be protected by censorship, and that Europeans shouldn't be the only ones allowed to see Eyes Wide Shut in its original presentation.

...that just because a movie has any kind of success, that shouldn't automatically green light a sequel. ASS (Automatic Sequel Syndrome) must stop. American Pie 2, Scream 3, Scary Movie 2 - are these necessary? Sequels should be the rare exception, not standard practice.

...that martial arts look better when you film talented fighter/actors doing their thing, not using fast edits, wires, and CGI to enhance their "coolness" (ahem, Jet Li movies, ahem)

...that sometimes, it's good to let the camera sit in one place and focus on the actors. Cutting back and forth and zipping and zooming all over the place cause motion sickness, not suspense.

...that hinging all your bets on a summer blockbuster rahter than modestly marketing more films is risky business and viciously damaging artistically. Have we learned nothign from the record industry?

...that all the fart jokes that could ever be done have already been done, so stop it.

...that nobody believes those cute little critic blurbs on the advertisements, like, "The feel-good hit of the summer!" So stop using them, it only makes you look stupid.

...that Keanu Reeves can't act outside of Bill, or Ted, whichever one he was. He stinks. Ok, girls find him attractive- so let him model underwear or something.

...that as much as we men love to oggle gorgeous women, in the end, we'd much rather have a good performance and a believable story.

...that Bay and Bruckheimer should not be allowed anywhere near a movie studio.

...that it's OK to end a movie with a "sad" or more realistic ending. I'm a big boy, I can take it, really.

...that some of us do not appreciate getting preached at or taught "life lessons." If I wanted that, I'd go to church or call my mother. Preaching is especially irritating when coming from Hollywood hypocrites, so they can take Family Man and K-PAX and stuff it.

...that love and romance are beautiful things and shouldn't be cheapened by carbon-copy processed girly-drivel mandatory "romance" exposition scenes that are there just because every movie "has to have" a romance sub-plot.

...that the fact that almost every major movie release violates many of the above statements is a frightening state for cinema, and causes the dissaffection of many movie goers.

 

[MickeS]

Now that is simply not true. If that's the case, why is "Bring it on" moentioned all the time on this forum?
Some great comments from people so far, here's the one thing I can think of right now:
...that trailers for foreign films CAN contain dialog, and that it's cheating to make the audience think that the movie is in English

 

[Chris Lock]

I think they know most of those things, but they also know (or think they know) what sells tickets & video rentals. (Some of those things should probably be filed under Things Studio Executives Who Greenlight Movies Should Know.)

 

[Mike Broadman]

Oh, I just thought of another one:

...that when some emotional or poignant scene is supposed to be taking place, I don't need syruppy tinkling piano music to tell me that. It is distracting. If the actors do a good job and the dialog is plausible, the scene will be successful.

This is something that really bugged me while watching K-PAX last night and A.I. recently.

 

[Malcolm R]

...that all the fart jokes that could ever be done have already been done, so stop it.

Are you sure? Have we ever seen a fart contest between an actor and a CGI dog before? Supposedly a highlight of the upcoming "Scooby Doo." :rolleyes

 

[Peter M Fitzgerald]

--that louder/shriller doesn't automatically = funnier

--that animation (hand-drawn or CGI) isn't just a delivery system for more politically-correct baby food

--that the world isn't exactly clamoring for another new Richard Gere or John Travolta movie every couple of months

--that when you do make another big-screen version of an old TV favorite (and we all know that you will), it isn't necessary to trash the original's concept/characters, just so that you can trade on the show's title (i.e. WILD WILD WEST, THE AVENGERS, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, etc)

 

[Andrew_Sch]

-that throwing together a random mishmash of the time's most popular alternative rock songs and inserting them into the movie at the most irrational times does not constitute a score (yes I'm looking straight at you, American Pie 2 )

 

[Jeff Rogers]

HAHAHAHAH