What Up?

Tonight I'm off to a film festival....no....it's not Sundance, however, I could get to Park City in under 30 minutes....hmmmm. I am going to a local Film Festival where I will go through screenings, seminars, workshops etc talking about film, the future of film, and whatever else they have planned. I really look forward to this each year. (third year attending)
It should be fun. Maybe I will post some pictures.

I must say, I saw a recent animated film that was such a downer to me. You would think that in a world of such fantastic technology, that films anymore would be top notch in every way. But that is clearly not the case. It seems to me, that although the sky has no limit on ideas and creativity, films seem too rushed, too politically correct, too peppered with agendas, and the storylines seem too bland, too much "stuff".
Where are the classics anymore? I wanted to like it. I wanted to love it. Instead, I cringed through the first hour...and never made it to the end.

The film I saw was, "Meet The Robinsons". That film was such a waste of creative talent. What is sad, is that we rented the movie as a family...sat down and watched it as a family.....and over time, one by one, each family member kinda slipped out and disappeared. There was an occassional holler from the couch, "This movie is so dumb", and, "Dad, can we watch something else?" but I was determined to stick it out for this family activity....

and then I too looked for my escape.....

I ditched to the kitchen and found something else to do and forgot about the movie. My 8 -year old son was the last man standing. Poor little guy.
I asked him what he thought of the movie, and he said, "it was lame".

He was right.

Again I ask, "Where are the classics?" You know, those are the films you buy and watch over and over with your children? Yes, that is called a "classic". You buy it in every format; vhs, dvd, dvd HD, dvd Blue-Ray, and the "special editions" and whatever other technology comes our way........you even buy the audio cd, picture books, toys, games,.......and the list goes on and on......Then, when my kids get married, they will have children of their own and repeat the cycle.

"Meet the Robinsons" will never be in my dvd collection, my kids will never watch it, nor their children etc. And that is one example of the millions of crappy films we are getting pushed into our lives.

Hollywood needs to get back to the basics. Look at the films of the 50's and 60's. Something was working right. What was it? Smaller teams? Smarter work? It seems to me that this is a mystery worth solving. But hey, what do I know.

This is what I DO KNOW.
-Focus on the story. Just because you can do it in a movie, doesn't mean you should.
-Always remember, families watch movies. They watch them together. They buy your films and bring them into their homes. You are a guest. Family is what keeps you in business. The majority of families want good quality films....void of raunchy humor, rushed storylines, pop culture, hidden agendas, etc.
If you make good films, you will make millions of dollars.
(REPEAT 100 X)

-dev