It seems there is there a current new trend in the Tinseltown, and what we should expect from it is not something most of us, myself included, is ready to deal with.
I consider myself to be a bit of a movie buff. Amateur, sure, but I have fun geeking out with my buddies about who guest-starred in that certain episode of Law and Order, or what Masi Oka did for a living before he was saving cheerleaders on "Heroes" (he was an ILM artist!) I enjoy chasing this little hobby because movies are what I've been into ever since Chunk did his truffle shuffle in The Goonies. Whenever I see Indiana Jones cracking his whip and smacking a bad guy with that way overly loud smack sound effect, I get a little rush thinking, 'I wish I could of been there'! I watch the X-Files with an utter awe, gaping at the screen going, 'What IS the truth?' Or, more recently, watching Juno, she picks up a guitar after having gone through an ordeal and plays a happy song with a friend. All the while I'm thinking, 'man, I wish I could play the guitar.'
I watch these movies and TV shows wish such intensity that I'm not afraid to admit that the 'Bucket List' made me tear up. I'm not afraid to admit that Jim Carrey's 'The Cable Guy' may have been his greatest movie, and made me laugh the hardest. It's the emotion that I invest in a show that makes them so great, no matter how it ends. Watching a movie with a bunch of friends is fun, but you lose your focus quickly. Watching a movie with that special someone or a select few is what makes them entertainment, in my opinion. When you can let go and immerse yourself into a good movie, that's what it's about...escaping...the next 90 minutes is yours, and nobody can fuck with that. Until...*ahem*...Hollywood came along, that is, which brings me (closer) to my point.
Now, if any of you are like me, you also like to be entertained. That's what movies are for, to entertain you, to take you their world, to experience something different than what you already experience everyday. Which, as of lately, has become a problem. The New Hollywood Ending.
I'm going to start off with No Country for Old Men. This is a movie I have been dying to see for quite some time, because I kept reading it was the Coen Brothers 'return to form'. The Coens started there 'form' with a fantastic movie called "Fargo". I realize this wasn't their first movie, but it is, in my opinion, the first Coen Brothers film. They handled the brooding film with such patience and added humour that was very aesthetically pleasing and still remains a favorite of mine to watch. With No Country, they based their screenplay from a novel. Most of you agree that movies made from generally suck, because Hollywood feels that in order to retain suprise, they need to change certain aspects, character revalations, and most damagingly, the end. Look at Stephen King's Dreamcatcher. Great novel. Shit movie. No Country (and I know some of you may have not seen it yet, so I'm really trying to restrain, but forewarned, minor spoilers lurk ahead) ends on a such downer that it's hard to appreciate the wonderful directing, acting, and cinematography that the rest of the movie contained. You are so focused on that terrible ending that you forget for a moment that the rest of the movie was so awesome. But what can you do? The movie is finished, that's that. I started to wonder what's going on with movies these days? Is the internet hurting the industry so bad that they are (for lack of a better word,) punishing us? Then again, No Country has recieved several Oscar noms, and is highly critically praised as the best movie of the year. So who's to blame? Just because I didn't like the ending doesn't mean it wasn't a great movie, sure, but honestly, how many people could have really enjoyed that ending? It's a current trend, and I'm still not sure what to make of it.
2007's The Mist had a seriously shocking and brutal ending, and I enjoyed the hell out of it. That's hard for me to admit, because it's ending was so much more depressing than No Country's, but at the same time, it fit the rest of the movie. The Mist was a sad but terribly true commentary on society selfishness as a whole. I didn't view Mist as a monster movie, I viewed it as a very shocking outlook on humanity. When people are pushed, sometimes into a corner, they will revert to an animal like state, and the most you can do is watch, listen, maybe learn, and best of all, think. I loved The Mist (almost better than the book) and everything it had to offer.
Let's move on to Cloverfield (I'm bouncing in timelime of these movies, I know). Cloverfield was marketed as a big-budget popcorn movie. It had everything designed to make sure you had a good time at the theater: Super-thrilling secret teaser in front of Transformers, a solid PG-13 rating, and a really creepy monster to boot. What can go wrong? Now don't take me the wrong way, I loved Cloverfield. It was a very fun movie, hardly none of it was boring, and the so-called 'Blair Witch' camera style wasn't nearly as annoying as...well, Blair Witch. But what was up with that ending? C'mon, this is a popcorn movie! This was supposed to be fun! Monsters tearin' up New York! Guy trying like hell to save his love! Comedy relief behind the camera! Then, SPLAT. There's goes the ending, making sure that you rooted for these guys for virtually nothing, and making you leave the theater all depressed. And the makers were scratching their heads wondering why it had suffered a 67% ratings drop in it's second week. Hmmm.
Death Sentence. Depressing ending. 3:10 to Yuma. Depressing ending. The list goes on as the movies are more recent. To go to a movie is to escape the current reality that you are residing on, and to get a release for whatever you may be watching at the time. I realize that happy endings are getting harder to write as they are so often repeated. I'm not looking for romantic comedies. I'm not looking for comedies. What I'm looking for is a serious movie that can take itself seriously without dumbing us down by killing everyone or the hero or the main protagonist. It happens, sure, but all the time? Can't we be more creative? I'm sure there is a smarter solution other than making your audience making want to commit suicide when they leave the theater. After all, I came to your movie to be entertained....
...what did you make the movie for?
