"This portal is mine and must be sealed up forever for the love of God!"
Being John Malkovich: This is one of those films that I've been meaning to see for years. It's awesome(!) and John Malkovich's involvement and performance is dazzling. Damn shame I was so young when it came out and therefore I didn't see the film in a theater. The sole regrettable aspect to Being is the handful of product placements. Certainly, though, they are far more subtle than those which haunt us now, over a decade later.
Now that we're at the end of the decade, I'm noticing that the '00s haven't matched the '90s in terms of the frequency, quality and distribution level of interesting and/or dramatically solid films. In comparing "best of" lists, I've wondered that the '00s are full of "franchise" films, many of which were not fundamentally good much less great. The shift is subtle, but it is there.
I've remarked in the past that just after the turn of the century I came to understand I was witnessing (and involved in) a shift in motion picture and media. Some of this was magical, and some of it was highly alarming. This change had to do with a tipping point in vertical integration + media conglomerate consolidation and, accordingly, the way that franchises came to be identified, developed and marketed. On the micro side of this effect, I've talked about how I was an AOL Time Warner franchise myself. At "all-hands" meetings there would be a Powerpoint slide with my work and likeness included in the presentation, and the executive speaking would trumpet me as one of their original franchises along with the music franchise Sessions. This sounded like a good thing at the time. Everyone wanted to buy me lunch despite the fact that with more attention I was increasingly losing what creative leeway I started with. So it was that I was influential among millions of teens. For a time. I failed to sell out as I came to these realizations early on in my career, and course corrected quickly. I have since been informed that this is unfortunate: It is apparently better to develop a conscience and pursue wisdom after I exploit you.
Back then, at the turn of the century, the DVD market and the Internet were two phenomena that shaped this sweeping change in Western mass media, as did the growing presence of WalMart, which became the world's largest corporation in 2002. WalMart: A superstore with limited shelf space for (certain types of) movies and, in many places, a local monopoly on communities. This has not changed. If WalMart won't agree to stock it, then why make it?
The way that AOL Time Warner treated The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter marked this turning point specifically in regard to studio film. Since over 90% of the box office is owned by the studios, in saying "studio film" I mean the entire film industry: The influence and ownership is that severe.
As much as I find to love in the The Lord of the Rings film/media case study, I find to loathe in the Harry Potter film/media case study. Of course there are worse examples than Potter (such as anything to do with Disney merchandising).
Perhaps this change isn't as marked as the change that occurred before my time, during the Lucas/Spielberg era that launched a thousand multiplexes and Ewok dolls. I wish the turn-of-the-century change had not occurred, however. The impact on the quality of motion picture has led to a further decline in the quality and thinking of corporate media conglomerate business practices and therefore has had ill effect on production and filmmaking. Hence, when entertainment reporters ask me why I'm adamant about producing independently, I send them this:
Most chuckle, "Good one!" and then go on about their business, perpetuating everything that has created this lamentable climate. I should note that I don't much talk to entertainment reporters anymore: They are owned by the same companies who control that 90%! News media and motion picture share the same blight.
Yes, this is our present day: A time when I can no longer visit my favorite blogs without having calculated ads for McMovies thrust in my face at every click. Here are some things you definitely don't need in your life:
A. Anything to do with fast food
B. Another bullshit credit card
C. Yet another Shrek sequel
D. ...Especially a sequel designed simply to sell plastic dolls and mass-produced artificial flavors coupled with factory-created fats to a media-addicted society that needs far, far less of both.
When you look at the '90s and '00s "best of" movie lists and view what was produced and distributed during those two decades, what do you think? There are great films on both lists. Do you mark any changes in quality between the decades? If so, do you find them gradual? Or dramatic? Are we moving in the right direction?
"Do you see what a metaphysical can of worms this portal is? I don't see how I could go on living my life the way I've lived it before!"
