Dustin Hoffman: film industry is "worst it's ever been" | Den of Geek
http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/dustin- ... -ever-been

I find it hard to disagree. TV will try just about anything now, while movies have gotten so ridiculously expensive that they need to be sure-fire hits according to the beancounters. Unless you're Disney, they're mental, but even they can offset it with Team Marvel.

I think it's partly because TV can be sold in so many different ways now. Even a POS can be sold to a sub service, and cult's the new mainstream, going into syndication at worst.

Do you think cinema is only as 'bad' as it's ever been?

I don't think it is worse ... whatever that may mean in this context, I just think it is now different.
You still do get the character driven films being made, there's still dramas being produced, but I think TV is now producing the types of shows that cinema used to produce; the paradigm has shifted.
Mass-market cinema these days is all about the spectacle, TV can't compete with that on a budgetary level, so it has to use the tools available to it that it can afford.

Mark

Re. spectacle, I think TV is quickly getting there. There's still some ropey CGI, but there's no doubt it's improving to a great extent. And I've seen some utterly sh1t background CGI in recent films where it's quite clear the production didn't go smoothly. Other production values in TV pretty much hold their on, from Suits to superheroes through Game of Thrones.

I think it's become very split. You have the 'arthouse' character pieces and you have the $200m budget marvel/DC/Bond level blockbusters and there's really nothing in between. You can't imagine a large budget film with a more challenging script (say a Full Metal Jacket or 2001, to use one particular director's work) being made at the moment. if it costs a lot of money it's got to make much, much more money back and the only way to do that is mass appeal. And the mass market doesn't want to be made to think or question itself, it just wants two hours of explosions and chest thumping.

Not that a $200m film can't have a good script - I thought Captain America : The Winter solider was pretty decent for example - but a film with that budget simply isn't going to take any major risks any more. There's always a place for big, loud, dumb blockbusters. The Avengers is one but so was Star Wars and so was raiders Of The Lost Ark. And there's still a place for cinema that asks questions and requires introspection. What we seem to have lost is the auteur's vision being backed by significant money. And I think that is a loss.

RTL seem to have always done a good job on spectacle with series like Alarm for Cobra 11 or Lasko. The have always done big stunts, car wrecks and the like and Alarm has walked away with the European stunt awards for years.

That said, the stories are a "little" weak.

Alarm is like CHiPs from the 70s, transported to this decade and the bikes replaced by BMWs and Mercedes.

Michael Douglas Says British, Australian Actors "Taking Many of the Best American Roles" - Hollywood Reporter - The Hollywood Reporter
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/m ... ian-807295

He's not wrong when it comes to younger actors, that's for sure. And something is seriously wrong when you consider Jai Courtney is not only still getting work, but turns up in successful films.

I must admit that there haven't been any films I've seen previews of in the last couple of years, where I have thought, "ooh, I must see that."