May the Flop (not) Be With You

A-Train - 12:03 a.m. (Eastern, weak)

First off The Jay, I’m gonna give a little response to the first couple of points you made in the last entry. When someone you care about is in a bad relationship, or you hate their significant other, you tell them. No need to make a big thing about it, but let them know that you’re looking at his or her life and wishing nothing but the best for them. Shit, people have done it to me for years. And it makes me acutely aware of which people in my life are closest to and care the most about me. The people who sat back and never asked why I was with a particular person or why I let a certain relationship go down the road that it was on are the people who make up my past. Those who questioned my motives (and occasionally my sanity) are the people who still question them to this day. None of these people ever got in the way of what I wanted to do (whether it was in my own best interest at the time or not), but they would bring up concerns when they had any. So go ahead and ask your friends why they’re dating the idiot that they are. Go ahead and ask why they’re in that long distance relationship with the convicted felon. The answer that you get may surprise you, but at the very least, you will have shown that person that you care about them.

Also, I’m not so sure where exactly you were going with the whole Hall of Fame analogy. Are you saying that after I’m dead and my dating days are far behind me I’ll be able to decide which of the girls that I’ve dated meant the most to me? I don’t know if I like that. Plus, you’ve gotta go with what’s right for you now. A girl that you dated in high school may have been exactly what you needed at that time in your life, but that doesn’t mean that she fits into your life in any capacity later on. However, is that to say that her role in your life takes a backseat to the girl you dated in college? Or the girl that you end up marrying? I’d like to believe not.

The Jay, when it comes to Hollywood, anyone can have a flop. It’s a fact. People who only make great movies are one in a trillion, if that. Take George Lucas. The man has just about as much clout as anyone in the movie industry and he’s flopped his entire career. Most of the people who are going to see Episode III are gonna walk into the theatre expecting the worst. The only question is going to be, “how much is this going to suck?”

You spent a good deal of words lamenting the sadness that was Catwoman (and for what it’s worth to everyone that saw it, I told you so). But, the real issue (as you put it) is: How is it possible? The answer is that everyone has different tastes. It’s becoming abundantly clear to me that there just isn’t any accounting for tastes. Example: How is it that the two proprietors of this very site walk out of Collateral supremely satisfied at a job well done by all parties involved, while the two friends that accompanied us felt the movie to be so bad that they had to rip on it for the entire way home? This is no small disagreement. Its two opposite ends of the spectrum in one group of very similar people. Also, how is it that everyone enjoyed The Bourne Supremacy? I don’t fucking get it. Could no one else see the vast similarities between its camerawork and editing, and those of the fucking Blaire Witch Project? Were people too focused on Pig Boy’s snout to see the insane shakiness that accompanied every cool fight or chase scene?

As for Catwoman, there were a few power players involved in that deal. All it took was for a couple of them to think it was a good idea, and a couple of “yes men” to convince the others and help push it through. If Halle Berry reads the script and loves it, is her agent going to tell her no? Even if he thinks that the script sucks more ass than anything he’s ever read before? Fuck no. He knows that when she films this piece of crap, he’s collection his 15% or so right off the top. And his percentage is nice. Puts his kids through college, gets braces for the dog, and buys whatever shiny penismobile he so desires. In the end, the majority of the fault can be placed on two groups: stupid people with too much power and influence, and smart people who only care about the money and keeping the stupid people happy.

Damn, Jay, I just had an epiphany of sorts. I’m reading your post over and generating some responses, and it just hit me like a ton of bricks. There is just too much market these days. In everything. In entertainment especially, there are just too many of us damn consumers that are throwing around our movie dollars willy-nilly. There is too much profit out here in the world to be had for people to only make the good ideas. In sports, there is just too much profit to be had to only have great players in the league. People have found it acceptable to pay top dollar for mediocre product. It’s why we get more teams like the Royals than the Yankees. It’s why we get way more Punishers and Catwomen than anything else. Maybe we should blame inflation. Maybe we should blame ourselves. I don’t know what the cause of this overexpansion of the market is, but it’s leading to far too much shitty product. It’s important to have standards.

However, this business of too much market is a double-edged sword. While we end up getting plenty of craptacular products, we also open up the doors for the breakout stars. You don’t have to put $100 million into a movie for it to be seen by millions of people. Independent film thrives on this expanded market. Without such a market, the entire indie movement might shrivel up and die. Another point: are we just going to not go to the movies? If we withhold the almighty dollar from all but the most deserving films, how are we to know which the greats are and which are the underachievers? Should we not go see the big budget movies just because they have the farthest to fall for a flop? Should we only see the independent films because they have the most upside potential? I don’t know the answer. All I know is that Collateral kicked ass and The Bourne Supremacy didn’t come close to living up to its expectations. Blog’s to you,

A-Train

And for one more record, this post was put up in way less time than either of your last two. And you didn't move across the country or take a standardized test either.