SydLexia.com - The Forums :: View topic - Movies Need To Take More Storytelling Risks(SPOILERS)

Posted: Oct 31 2010 02:11 pm

There will be major spoilers in this thread. So if you haven't seen the movies I suggest you stop reading. Continue reading if you have either seen the movies or don't care about the spoilers for Salt, Dinner For Schmucks, and The Kids Are All Right.
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I've seen so many movies in the past that rely way too much on paint by numbers writing where the story is way too formulaic and really predictable. For example I figured out the entire plot of Salt within the first five minutes of the movie. I felt like the writers should have taken a risk with that movie and make Angelina Jolie a villain. In the movie she "kills" the Russian president but you knew the writers didn't have the balls to actually go with that and actually have her be a bad guy. So it held zero tension when this happened because you knew she really didn't kill him. This movie would have been a lot better if they actually rolled with her being bad. It would also be much more interesting in they did that.

Dinner For Schmucks also suffers from this. You knew pretty much the entire time that Paul Rudd would end up becoming friends with Steve Carell. You knew that Paul would stick up for Steve in the end. It was also quite predictable and not really that funny.

A good example of going a different route is with The Kids Are All Right. I liked how they actually didn't go with the happy ending. I was glad they didn't go with the cliche ending where everybody basically gets what they want and they are all happy. Some people I've talked to didn't like the ending but in my opinion if they went with a happy ending the film wouldn't be as strong as it was.

I am really getting tired of sloppy/lazy writing in movies. It seems like no writers want to take a risk in their storytelling. Or maybe some do but the studio pressures them into changing it to all work out in the end. I just wish they could make plot points that don't feel predictable or something I've seen a thousand times already.

Joined: Dec 06 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 11244

Quote:

There will be major spoilers in this thread. So if you haven't seen the movies I suggest you stop reading. Continue reading if you have either seen the movies or don't care about the spoilers.

Ok?

How are we supposed to know what movies you are talking about though?

Posted: Oct 31 2010 04:18 pm

GPFontaine wrote:

Quote:

There will be major spoilers in this thread. So if you haven't seen the movies I suggest you stop reading. Continue reading if you have either seen the movies or don't care about the spoilers.

Ok?

How are we supposed to know what movies you are talking about though?

Edited to show the movies.

Gallery 2 · Posted: Nov 01 2010 01:50 am

Hollywood is ruled by business; business relies on what safely works and not on what might work if given the opportunity. What works = Easy Money. You get the picture.

Perhaps the only exceptions to the rule is when a very important/famous/whatever actor/director/writer/etc. suggests a clever idea in which you'd have to be complete moron to ignore; from there, the rest safely jumps into the bandwaggon that said person created (if said idea actually worked of course).

To quote Fry from Futurama when it comes to the audience:

Quote:

"Clever things makes them feel stupid and unexpected things makes them feel scared."

That being said, take a look at this article: http://www.cracked.com/article_16258_5-awesome-movies-ruined-by-last-minute-changes.html

And on a less depressing note, take a look at this video: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/1923-Innovation

Yes, he's talking about videogames, but most (if all) points he brings up do apply to all sorts of media that should be utilized.

Posted: Nov 01 2010 02:04 pm

I've only ever seen the Unrated cut of Live Free And Die Hard. I'm glad.

Posted: Nov 01 2010 04:12 pm

I have to go with AtmanRyu on this. Most people, your regular work-a-day American schlubs, don't really care about plot and nuance and amanuensis and subtext and everything. That's the reason that action movies are still horrendously popular and Hollywood can repackage stories infinitely if they've got snappy visuals (re: Avatar). People just don't give a shit, and Hollywood panders to the people who'll make them rich-er.