Life Cycle of an American Movie

[rtf]

Here is my take on

The Life Cycle of an American Movie

Tell me if you liked my opinions FACTS

[Esseb]

[...]

2. The one with the lower IQ finishes first by secretly ripping a succesful movie off the internet and changing the actors names. The guy with the higher IQ loses the bet because he was busy writing a Shindler's List quality movie.

[...]

4. The script sits on the producer's desk for 3 years, where all the humor gradualy becomes outdated.

[...]

13. The crappy producer for the lame movie was looking up "Bikini Supermodels" on google, and accidently gets redirected to our friend, the guy with the high IQ, award winning movie script.
What a coincidence! The producer had just taken a bet from some producer with a High IQ that he couldnt write a better movie!

[...]

14. Repeat from Step One.

[...]

4. The script sits on the producer's desk for 3 years, where all the humor gradualy becomes outdated.



I can't remember that much humour in Schindler's List.

[shbaz]

You misunderstood. The bad movie was a humor movie.

[rtf]

I can't remember that much humour in Schindler's List.

I should have been more clear about that.  Yeah, what jackhammer said.

[Las Naranjas]

You're the cinematic equivalent of an Avril fan

[Esseb]

In point 13 you imply the script writer with a lower IQ ripped off a Schindler's List quality movie since you wrote the whole thing as a perpetual cycle.

[rtf]

In point 13 you imply the script writer with a lower IQ ripped off a Schindler's List quality movie since you wrote the whole thing as a perpetual cycle.

Oh Crap!
I forgot the apostrophe and now it dosent make sense.

Thanks for pointing that out.


EDIT: It's fixed now.  Have a ball!

[Esseb]

Not really. It's the concept that is flawed.

[Eggie]

I think the idea is that they ruin the high-quality script...

Or shumfink...

[rtf]

No, they dont take the high level script and make a bust with the bad one

[cpage]

so let me get this straight
1. you dont like american movies.
2. you write and complain
3. Nothing is accomplished....
.
.
.
.
GREAT SYSTEM!!!!!!

[DGMacphee]

WARNING: This post contains extreme film geekness -- I show my true colours here!

I think what Esseb is trying to say is that you create a paradox.

I say this because, at point 13, you're ripping off a script and thus will repeat the process, but you're ripping off a Schindler's List-style script.

The problem is you mention that the film is "A Comedy" and there aren't too many low-IQ "high concept" comedies that directly rip-off Schindler's List.

It would be better if you chose a comedy film as the "high-IQ" script.

Also, I don't think I've seen any Sundance films ripped-off and turned into Hollywood films.

A lot of the time, Sundance films are bought by bigger studios and marketed to the public (It's cheaper than ripping-off and you don't have to worry about legal implications -- just simply buy their film and market it to its particular niche).

For example, I don't see anyone out to rip-off American Splendor, which was last year's winner -- but it got a decent-sized distribution (and a nomination for Best Screenplay at this year's oscars).

Also: the low-IQ films you describe are what's actually known as "high-concept" films (A term attributed to Spielberg where he said "High-concept means I can hold the film in the palm of my hand" i.e. a simple sentence to describe it such as "Alien is Jaws in space").

The scripts are not ripped-off, but rather two concepts are ripped and combined from other low-IQ "high concept" movies -- that's what makes the big budget.

This happens because producers believe whatever worked last year will work this year.

For example, look at how black cop/white cop movies have ripped-off each other over the last few decades.

All are practically a rip-off of In The Heat of the Night, where that particular film's racial subject matter was a big issue of the late 60s -- nowdays, the black copy/white cop formula seems very tame in films like Lethal Weapon and Showtime.

Another example: look at Star Wars -- every Sci-Fi film these days wants to rip it off and out-do it.

Even though Star Wars itself was a rip-off of Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress (notice that ripping-off high-ranking foreign films don't come into your "Lifecycle")

Even then, producers are wary of ripping of foreign films for several reasons, like: 1) Getting sued (As Kurosawa did to Serio Leone for ripping of Yojimbo for A Fistful of Dollars), or 2) they're stinkers (Swept Away, anyone?)

You obviously have a very superficial knowledge of the true business dealings of Hollywood and cinema in general.

I understand you're trying to be satirical, but it doesn't work if the satire is false and superficial.

Besides, screenwriter William Goldman summed up the Hollywood film industry in a more satirical and simpler way:

He said only three words: "NOBODY KNOWS ANYTHING."



I also want to state for the record that some of my fav movie moments are from such low-IQ, "high-concept", popcorn, comic-book movies

For example: Independance Day, Pirates of the Carribean, Toy Story 1 + 2, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars + Empire + Jedi, Terminator 1 + 2, etc

Sure none of the above are all that taxing (although Toy Story 1 + 2 have some deep things to say about life and the universe ), but they're bloody entertaining.

And no one should ever appologise for entertaining people.

No one.

[llamamanspeerski]

Except that "Schindler's List" would make an awful comedy.  It's not making that movie, it's making it funny.

Like the musical "Springtime for Histler" or whatever.

[DGMacphee]

Aye, and "Springtime for Hitler" only worked because it was unintentionally funny.

The only Holocaust comedy I can think of is "Life Is Beautiful" and even that film has its critics.

And even then, it wasn't meant to rip-off Schindler's List or parody it in anyway.

Nor could you call it a low-IQ "high concept" movie.