A Great Disturbance In The Force | Fandom In Franchise Hell |Unscripted
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- čas přidán 19. 06. 2024
- There is a great disturbance in The Force! In this Unscripted video, I wrestle with what it means to be a fan of something in this time of controversy, creative bankruptcy, and franchise hell.
Further Viewing:
3:58 Star Wars: The Expanded Universe Begins • Star Wars Bookshelf Ep...
5:42 Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire • Ghostbusters: Frozen E...
12:12 Were We Wrong About The Sequel Trilogy? • Were We Wrong About Th...
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I relate to this very much. I'm the guy who got burned out on superhero flicks by the time Avengers 2 came out. When JJ rebooted Star Trek, I said "No thank you". I dropped out of Halloween and Aliens and a some other messy aggravating franchises over the years. I had no interest in the new Ghostbusters, and I am a firm believer in voting with your wallet. All that being said, I started jumping up and down like a giddy school girl when the Beetlejuice 2 teaser dropped. You're right, we're all guilty. The studios are Lucy holding the football, and we are all Charlie Brown, somehow convincing ourselves she isn't going to move it out of the way.
"Tap out. Turn it off. Starve it out." Sounds like we've got a new mantra here, Heath! The new "We're mad as hell and we aren't going to take it anymore"? ;-)
Heath, you consistently have the best and most level headed takes in this space. I am at a point where I am happy that I left the big ip products behind. I’m not sure if I would have delved too far outside of the mainstream bubble if I didn’t let go. I’ve found so many films and shows that bring me so much joy and I know I most likely would not have sought them out otherwise.
I’m just burnt out on all of geek culture. I won’t name any names, because I don’t want to bring that to your channel, but I am just so sick of the toxic hate. You can and will find new things to love if you let the past go. If you are upset by the direction of Star Wars or any other IP, then I implore you to let it go and find new films/shows. Every time you think you’ve seen it all you haven’t. Don’t get pulled into the negativity
“Who knows? God willing, we'll all meet again in Spaceballs 2: The Search for More Money.”
“Star Wars fatigue“. You nailed it right there. Gone is the anticipation and excitement of getting to see a new Star Wars movie.
Not with Disney “barfing” out new Star Wars content every time you turn around.
As he got older and could no longer stay awake as late, my grandfather would say of his sportsball games, "They play them whether or not I watch." It's okay-healthy, really-for our priorities to shift over time. Any time I start to get in my feelings about something I loved as a kid changing, I remind myself that I am well outside of that target demographic now. Is it depressing that theaters are slowly dying, promising talent is being subsumed by the franchise machine, and original stories are being sidelined? Well, sure, but I also have 130 years of cinematic history to uncover and relish. And if nothing speaks to me, as you suggested, I'll go create something of my own (music in my case, but it could be anything).
Exactly!...there are 1000's of incredible films and books I have yet to experience and I'm doing my best to take a big chunk out of that mountain of brilliance.
Modern-day Hollywood for me personally?...don't need it.
Theaters are not dying just going through a contraction like they do every 15-20 years. Majority of the chains went bankrupt in mid 2000 only to be bought out of chap 11 by oaktree and kkr etc and consolidated. They say theaters are dead every generation only to get a vitamin b 12 shot in the arm when one movie swoops in and changes the economics and inside out 2 handled that this summer. Also Sony isn’t going to buy Alamo drafthouse chain unless they know the next 5 years are going to be fine You’re right things change but the community experience of seeing a movie together won’t change what needs to change are the films and they need to be “must see “ events instead of “maybe see “ events :)
I don't really believe in "fatigue" unless the quality of the product is poor and doesn't leave to the standard of the original, which is where we are at now. Disney wanted to milk the cow without considering the quality of the product. And even when the consumer told Disney that the product they are putting out is bad quality, they don't care, they think that the consumer is wrong and should consume the product anyways and customers are no starting to say a hard no. which is needed, at some point one hopes they will realize that their product is bad and either switch to something more original or, start doing things right and put product that consumers do actually like.
It's James Bond for me. I saw "Thunderball" as a kid back in 1965, and have seen every book film, read every Bond book, collected, contributed and commented on all things 007 and 007-adjacent ever since. Loved the "Casino Royale" reboot, continue to defend the admittedly flawed "Quantum of Solace" and embraced the divisive "No Time to Die." I could care less about what happens next with the franchise. but it would take too much energy.
I recently went back to do a series watch in chronological order and found I wasn't interested in continuing beyond "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", the film that marked the end of the 60s and the end of James Bond. Epic, romantic, with skull-cracking action and fully drawn characters, the film was an elegant elegy to a decade's champion. Everything that followed was redundant, as the producers kept grinding out "more of the same, but silly". By kicking off with "Casino Royale", the Craig era breathed new life into the series - by going back to the original source material. The fact his run has a definitive end helps me view it as a stand-alone series, judged on it's own terms, just as Bond from 1962 - 1969.
I see it as a separate experience, and the last one this old super-spy fan needs to consider.
Yeah, I actually think Bond is done. I've read all the books up to Deaver's 'Carte Blanche' and own all the films on Blu-ray, but I don't feel the need ever to read another new Bond book or see another new film. I consider Roger Moore's films to be a separate series and Timothy Dalton's films to be the end of the original run. Pierce was a decent 'tribute band' act that I've come to like more as I've aged and, although my enthusiasm for Daniel Craig's era waned, the fact his films definitively ended means that I don't care to watch any new ones. I agree that OHMSS is the end of the major Bond era. In a sense, Dr No to Thunderball, then jumping to OHMSS, forms a coherent narrative of the 1960s action-spy film genre with the tragedy at the end forewarning of the darker times to come in the 1970s.
Absolutely with you on the 60s films. I watched "Thunderball" and "OHMSS" back-to-back - the order Fleming wrote 'em - and they worked exceptionally well together. Which finally convinced me the cinematic "You Only Live Twice" never happened - it was crazy anxiety dream Bond created to deal with Blofeld remaining at large at the end of "Thunderball". The film is filled with really weird sexual imagery (the castrating mother ship snipping the astronaut's life line, the womb-like volcano), and Bond's difficulty maintaining an identity throughout (turning Japanese, magically shrinking to fit in the clothes of a Japanese gangster and astronaut). It's pure lunacy. No wonder he wakes up a changed man in the form of George Lazenby. "Thunderball", for all it's jet packs and hardware, remains planted firmly in the waking world. Narratively, it segues nicely into "OHMSS", and the contrast between the blue waters of the Bahamas and the frozen tip of a Swiss alp couldn't be better.
Oh...and I can recommend Anthony Horowitz's "Trigger Mortis" novel. Best follow-up/knock-off since the excellent "Colonel Sun".
I've realized that I had to let much of my fandom go, I just can't do it anymore. I don't have the energy to watch and hate, but I do have the fortitude to leave them. I don't watch Star Wars, Marvel, Ghostbusters etc. I don't have Disney plus as I just don't like what they do, I've let them go. You are right, I am happier remembering what I loved and not watch the new stuff to feed hate. It's funny how things can go away, for me personally, by not looking at it.
I have been saying this for years. The only way to stop bad films is to stop watching them. I totally agree with you. By all means, watch the first Star Wars trilogy, read the comics, play with the toys if you feel like reliving your childhood. But it's time to forget the Star Wars franchise. It's become exhausting and we need something new.
Bottom line is, most new entertainment is trash. As these soulless companies "mine" their IP, I've been mining the vast quantities of forgotten, lost and vintage properties. I've found so much great stuff I didn't know I'd like because I was constantly looking forward to the next thing I was familiar with. My advice is: give something old a shot. You might be surprised that its actually really good.
Heath man, you’re absolutely right. I swear I’m “this close” to just collecting VHS tapes again. Nothing is original, everything is for profit, devoid of integrity, made for a dime and sold for a dollar. If we want this to stop, we have to start speaking with our wallets. It’s the only language the studios understand, and they’ll only be as lazy, pandering, and creatively bankrupt as we allow them to be. This is how we protect the films we love and their legacy.
I hit the same point a while ago. I gave up on Star Wars after the Obi Wan Kenobi series, haven't seen the most recent Terminator, Exorcist or Ghostbusters & have no intention of seeing them.
I make a point to seeing as much as I can in theaters & watch and support as much indie movies as I can, trying to send the message with my money that I want new stuff.
I have to say I'm in my 50's and grew up with the original star wars and the new Obi-Wan Kenobi blew me away. Love getting to see Darth's power that was missing from the originals. It made me smile and I watch it all the time. Sometimes the new stuff can be good and restore what is buried deep inside us from the early days. My inner kid came out and I have new collectables now from that show. So glad they made it.
Bang on man. I have similar feelings to yourself. I was a huge Star Wars kid too. I watched up to Mandolorian and have checked out since. On similar fronts, I have not seen a Marvel movie in years, and I have not seen the new Ghostbusters, etc., etc. I have huge guilt for supporting all the IP stuff during the 2010s. I feel some responsibility for the current state of cinema. These days I give my dollar mostly to interesting original content. Sadly what this means is I have not gone to the theater as regularly because there's not much of that these days. I'm digging deeper into cinema history. That seems to be where original ideas are hiding. On a side note, do you see parallels between movies and music these days? It seems corporations push established artists and buy existing catalogues (like IP) and new artists are getting buried.
Agreed overall with your sentiment, although I did quite like Ghostbusters Afterlife, because it was an ‘80s throwback with a great cast, and much much better than the 2016 film. It was nice to see the familiar faces again and I thought the story worked. Haven’t seen Frozen Empire yet.
only 80s part was the reunion appearance of old cast .....still doesn't make it 80s . That re Union really showed what amateur the new cast of actors ....movie was terrible 😕 and boring. Doesnt even come close to the Ghost busters I remember as kid.
I used to be a fan of many franchises (I hate this term). Star Wars, Ghostbusters, Tolkien films… now I am not any more.
I gotta say I'm 100% onboard with letting the things you love die. I don't love IPs. I love good stories with good characters. Once those run out, I bounce. Great video man 10/10 fricheks
"End of Star Wars = Yoda luv + Yub Nub was the end..."
Thank you for this video HH. I'm turning 50 on Thursday and thought about getting a screening arranged of a film that I can enjoy in a theater. A lot of places are doing that now because they are losing money. And I can't even think of anything to screen.
Happy birthday in advance! Yeah, there’s not much to see right now.
I’ve pretty much let go of Star Wars. I watched some of The Madolorian, but just ended up not caring. Im okay with letting go, but I cringe thinking about how Disney has run everything Star Wars into the ground. It doesn’t really affect me anymore; it’s just that the greed for making every last penny they can possibly make is gross. It goes beyond “It’s a business” as the excuse.
SW, ST, MCU...i was a big fan up to a point. I'll treasure and watch the old ones, but the new ones, not for me. I've gone in a "new" direction, I've rediscovered the heroes of my childhood and enjoying the heck out of the low budget, corny, B/W serials such as Commando Cody!
You can still love the old stuff you love, and not enjoy the new stuff. The new stuff doesn't have to "ruin" the old for you, either. Enjoy what you enjoy. Don't force yourself to consume what you don't.
Pretty much feel the same way about these franchises especially Star Wars. I dropped out after Kenobi. No longer have a Disney+ subscription. I also love Star Trek but also just stopped watching. Both are just not for me anymore. There are ways to do older franchises again like Planet of the Apes and Mad Max (I know many don't like the new movie but I do).
Great video Heath. I really enjoyed your analysis of the franchise film world.
I think one of the reasons people are so angry is that there seems to be a deliberate effort to destroy the original films and characters in some of these franchises (Star Wars, Indiana Jones, etc.). I know we just like to enjoy films for their artistic and entertainment value but the people in charge of Disney and other big companies get a kick out of trashing these franchises and mocking those who loved them. Disney even despises their own classic films. Look at the disrespect the creators and cast of the upcoming Snow White have shown for the original 1937 classic.
I don't really think anyone at Disney loves trashing the past, I think they're catering to the youth culture of today at the expense of older fans. I can even understand it, to a certain extent because young people are doing most of the watching.
@CerealAtMidnight that's the thing... young people of today really don't care about films/TV shows unlike us who grew up in the 80s and 90s/early 2000's. All the young people of today want to do is surf the web, CZcams, tik tok and play video games💯 hollywood is catering to an audience that doesn't care in the end unlike us movie buffs who do care passionately in turn insulting us with all of hollywoods Messaging inserting. I mean Daniel Day Lewis Retired because he saw the writing on the wall.. there was no creativity/Original ideas In Hollywood.. just relying on franchises... 😞😓 I've been done supporting majority (not all) of the Garbage that Hollywood dishes out and reverted back to watching Much better older films/TV shows.
I was a Star Wars fan that decided I'm out after seeing The Phantom Menace. That seems like a better decision every year.
"Starve it out" is the best description I've heard on how to fight this re-hashing of old ideas which is killing film. I have been doing just that. I'm not going to the theatre unless I see a unique original idea (this is rare). I haven't seen the latest few Star Wars spinoff series because I'm just so tired of it. The Mandolorian and Book of Boba Fett were the last one's I watched. The Mandolorian was legitimately good. Boba Fett was just ok. Now I'm mostly watching older movies I've never seen before because they are just more entertaining and real compared to modern trash, and I'm getting way more entertainment out of it.
You just summed up how I feel about all this stuff so well. Thanks
Somehow, I felt this video is just what I needed. Because currently that's my fear with even a recent film series, like the Sonic movies. Where as much as I want the 3rd movie, I'm worried of it getting the franchise, cinematic universe, run to the ground treatment. And I will never forgive Universal for giving Back to the Future the same treatment you described. So if anything, sometimes it's better to leave myself content with the films that already exist. Like Back to the Future, with at least 3 movies, Top Gun with 2, Jurassic Park with only one, etc.
Well said (as usual), Heath! Our only divergence would seem to be with Andor, which I thought was excellent. None of the rest of the new Star Wars seems remotely "necessary" to me (and the sequels REALLY didn't work for me), but Andor kind of rocks.
Serious question: with all these major studios shuttering home media departments, is there a major lane being opened up for NEW boutique labels to crop up. It would Gove so many of these movies a home and the rights might be easier to acquire than ever
I just don't blind buy anymore when it comes to these new Franchise add-ons, I'll wait until the buzz is over and if there is genuine acclaim I'll preview it to see my reaction. I used to Blind buy or invest my time into a Franchise that I love when something NEW would be coming out but 75% of the time it would be a big disappointment. Thanks
There's maybe a dozen franchises that have a grip on popular consciousness, and it's tedious. So many people who love Star Wars would be better served by watching or reading some new sci-fi or fantasy story, but they keep returning to this franchise where if it hits the same beats, it's stale, and if it does something different, it isn't what people originally fell in love with. People gotta learn that not all of these stories were meant to live forever.
I hereby offer this comment for algorithm food. Thanks for the video, Heath!
Thanks for the algorithm food! It really does help (I think)
@CerealAtMidnight it totally does help. I have a video that, ironically, is one of my most disliked, that has a TON of engagement, and it has made the most $. With both my channels, I have gotten in the mindset of: I am making this for me and those few who may be interested, and if it does well or not, so be it. It's helped me stop worrying and love the bomb.
I'm in complete agreement with what you said, but the age old saying "curiosity killed the cat" gets me everytime. I want to like the things but they end up being crap which is always my intial thought, which is "this looks lame but maybe it will be good." (Narrorator: it never is good) 😆
I've never understood the concept of hate watching. If you're not connecting with whatever new stuff is being pumped out by the studio bean-counters, walk away and enjoy the thing that you fell in love with in the first place.
Personally, I don't feel like I'm missing out whenever I miss the latest installment of (insert franchise here), but I am very aware of the associated opportunity cost. Every *Ghostbusters (n+1)* comes at the cost of a new and original film that I might have actually wanted to see, and that's just sad. I miss original filmmaking, and rarely seek out anything new. More and more, I'm exploring older films, foreign films, etc. while working on building out my physical media collection. I haven't tapped out yet, but I'm a heartbeat away.
If you love something, set it free...
Was Ghostbusters EVER really a 'new idea'? Didn't Abbott and Costello cover that ground in the 1940's? I appreciate what you're saying though. My favorite films - many of the 1970's - they would have a helluva hard time trying to remake!
Even Abbott and Costello were treading on well-worn material at the time. The Cat and the Canary, The Ghost Breakers. etc.
Right you are. A good or great idea is timeless. Didn't Bob Hope even do a film that was literally titled Ghost Busters? Good times are always just around the corner!
Hope is the last thing that dies.
Although i agree with your point on feeding the machine, especially with a franchise like Star Wars, it's hard to say goodby. Rogue One is the perfect example for me, how modern Star Wars can be amazing.
And with all the storys we have in comic and novel form, the potential for amazing Star Wars is just too great to give up upon.
At what point everybody let's their favorite franchise go, is a very personal decision and if holding on to it does nothing more but fuel dissapointment and hate, it's certainly time to let go.
But with Star Wars i feel like
it's a general special discussion.
Death of theaters is what scares me the most, I can’t imagine not being able to go to the movies, grab a soda, etc.
For the record I’m surprised you didn’t like Andor, I think that captured to 80s feel pretty well. I cancelled all my streaming services though, I just do discs until I can’t anymore
I'm done with streaming services too. And downloading. I've just finished the long process of picking up Blu-rays of films I previously only owned on streaming! I wish they'd make decent 4K TVs that aren't 'smart.' I just want a TV I can turn on, plug into the soundbar, coaxial and Blu-ray player.
Andor is a 2 hour movie stretched to 11 hours. Great production design, but literally no story at all. It has two great set pieces--the heist and the prison sequence. Literally hours of the series are spent on character transportation. There are good things there, but it's a perfect example of a great idea stretched far too thin.
We've been living with the death of theaters since the 50's. Enjoy every day, they aren't going anywhere
Andor captured 80s? how so?😂 u obviously not lived through 80s or even watched any 80s movies. I got Andor and only good thing is atmos and LFE good....story doesn't kick off until Disk 3😂....slow very slow stretched out story.
@@Reggaebeatman I was born in 1980, they got things like haircuts and outfits very 80s ish. Look at how the police force in the show looks as an example. I’m not saying it’s on par with 80s movies, but from Disney streaming that’s as close as well get to characters that don’t appear as if they pulled a millennial out of a metropolitan city in 2023
You have to admit, Gary from Nerdrotic is the funniest movie and show reviewer on youtube right now. He gave the Rings of Power, the star wars franchise and the marvel universe the verbal spanking they deserve. He did starve out the Wheel of Time series, he refuses to talk about that one, and for good reason.
I loved Splinter of the Minds Eye. With Star Wars i loved the original trilogy and its before my time the original series Star Trek, the original series movies and original series animated and the Next Generation. But I see those as a the core and look at the rest as merchandising programs. Same with Marvel & DC Comics and movies after a point
It’s weird how no one can figure out how to replicate the original magic. There were some good movies like the first Wonder Woman, Guardians of the Galaxy Trilogy, Winter Soldier, the first two Raimi Spider-Man movies…
But yeah I’m keeping the classic originals and letting go of the stuff I don’t like and focusing on other things
The franchise fatigue is real. But could avoided with new original stories using existing characters. To continue a story beyond a trilogy is stretching it in most cases. Star Wars was a 9 film or chapter series but the episodes 7-9 wasted the themes and built up story lines from episodes 1-6. Marvel and DC have similar issues where they keep making the same stories substituting one super hero for another making the audience realize hey I have already seen this story. 😢 unfortunately a lot of the audience doesn’t understand or worse care.
You took the words out of my mouth about STAR WARS . Loved those last 2 GHOSTBUSTERS though. Mostly I find myself more excited about shiny new remastered Blu Rays of movies and TV shows from last century.
A few years ago, I bought the DE-SPECIALIZED versions of Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. The discs are on Blu-ray, and yes, they were pirated. I watched about HALF of The Phantom Menace and decided that I would never watch Star Wars sequels and prequels and spin offs ever again. I will stick with the Original Trilogy for the rest of my life.
It's sad things are screwed up.
It's appropriate that fast food restaurants are franchises. "Mining the IP" is just more nuggets being shoved into a box to be consumed without regard to quality. 🍔
I'm not judging when I say this, people can choose their lives, but there are lots of fans who made Star Wars their whole personality. They gave the franchise many decades of their loyalty. And when the released films and shows are no longer doing it for them, their entire life has been thrown into disarray. I imagine if, for example, the New York Patriots were sold, then stripped for parts, then put back together in a new way that didn't lead to results, Patriots fans would be equally upset and wandering through the emptiness of their loss.
You are spot on Heath. I have not watch pro sports for 25+ years. I simply could not stomach the salaries and attitudes of the players post 1990's. Most of my friends agree with me but watch it anyw3ay and attend games. I've always told them if you want to stop this insanity, stop buying tickets and turn it off. WE HAVE THE CONTROL. WE HAVE THE POWER. Use it!
I did left it behind... But since I am still new to many of these, and the new stuff is awful, I just spend my time trying to discover what came before...
well im just enjoying the movies i can watch, i don't have the energy to try to reason with people. Just enjoying the stuff we have and thats it.
I always say if you change something a little each time you redo it or reboot something, at what point does it cease to be the original thing. Dr who is a great example.
Some franchises should be allowed to die. I never realized how good we had it when we were wanting more Star Wars and not getting it. I have two friends who don't care if the Star Wars "product" is even good. They just want more and more and more of it. I didn't like the prequels. I liked THE FORCE AWAKENS at first. THE LAST JEDI greatly disappointed me. THE RISE OF SKYWALKER was the disappointing movie I have ever seen in my life. It made me appreciate THE LAST JEDI, and that movie is not good. I watched the first two seasons of The Mandalorian, which offered diminishing results. And that was it for me. I could not get worked up for The Book of Boba Fett. No more Star Wars for me. I've been done with Star Trek since STID. I had no interest whatsoever in seeing any Ghostbusters movie after GHOSTBUSTERS II. I want new stuff, not recycled and rebooted stuff. I'll still watch superhero movies and James Bond movies regardless, but far too many franchises are persona non grata for me now.
Another insightful video, Heath. My feeling on the matter of Star Wars is that it's symptomatic of Hollywood in general. There are no original ideas coming out of that machine. They have to regurgitate their IP and twist it from the originals that we all love. My movie tastes these days lean towards Asian cinema. They have great stories, themes and seem to avoid the need to push a political agenda. Most of all, I think Hollywood has forgotten that their role is to entertain and not educate. We go to the cinema for an escape. We don't want the subliminal messaging around gender politics. But most of all, we want a great story to engage us. Even the Disney SW trilogy had to rehash the original trilogy. But at the end of the day, Disney are all about the dollar and bottom line. Starve them of an audience and they may get the message.
I love Star Wars, if I don't like it, I just don't watch. I cannot ever imagine being so upset I'd need to go online to trash..anything. I try to think of the big picture, probably provided tons of jobs and someone got to live out thier dreams. I see this as a total win.
Totally agree Heath! Star Trek, Star Wars and Doctor WHO are totally dead and I will not watch anything they do now. They have been destroyed and I agree with you that they should not be given any oxygen. No need to waste time on them when there are so many brilliant titles from the past. Physical media and shows like yours are the way to go.
People always defend the movie corporations by stating that franchises and remakes existed in the Golden Age, too. This is true, but these franchises and remakes were rarely the most popular films of their year; instead, the defining motion pictures were more or less fresh or had a literary base. Instead of being based on novels and stage plays, the blockbusters are based on other blockbusters.
Agreed. The old series such as the Universal Monsters films of the 1930s-1950s also rarely worried much about continuity. Actors would change between movies, sequels would either ignore the events of the previous year's film or pay it lip service at best and not worry too much about contradictions. The old series were generally B-movies at best: studios didn't treat them as blockbusters. Too many films now are given blockbuster budgets when they would be more profitable on a smaller scale. In the present day, I'd rather have had five or six smaller scale Mad Max films, made along the lines of the first two films, over the last 25 years than the very expensive Fury Road and Furiosa, which didn't make much money.
The old remakes were, of course, often necessitated by the move to sound, the Hays Code making earlier films impossible to rerelease, then the move to colour. Had home video existed in 1941, I doubt the studios would have felt compelled to remake 1931's The Maltese Falcon.
I felt the same way about the Peter Jackson Lord Of The Rings follow up trilogy The Hobbit. It's just a money grab and totally unnecessary. Never approached the heights of the original trilogy.
Yeah, they’re brutal.
I've seen 47 movies this year. I've been to the theater at least 30 times (I saw INSIDE OUT 2 twice). 7 of the 47 movies were released theatrically that either did not play here or I didn't get around to seeing in theaters, so I watched on streaming. The remaining 10 were made for streaming. Some of those I enjoyed very much, like HIT MAN, SELF RELIANCE and SUNCOAST. I would have seen those in a theater. In fact, I just re-subscribed to Netflix so I could watch HIT MAN and (sadly) BEVERLY HILLS COP: AXEL F, which should be playing in theaters, even though I have little faith it will be any good. I want to go to the movies and see new movies made for movie screens. My top 3 of the year so far are IP (DUNE PART II, THE FALL GUY, and INSIDE OUT 2), but after that, only BAD BOYS: RIDE OR DIE and FURIOSA are in the top 20. I want new, original stuff. Most franchises belong in mothballs.
Well, of course there is new stuff. But (almost) by definition it is not in the franchise line of business. And luckily there are also many old movies that are so different from what is being made today, that they are new for me too. Brave old world.
So much for Bob Iger’s recent statement of producing “more quality over quantity.” Although there’s no question that the Star Wars and Marvel fatigue is very real, I think the true anger with the real fans is this continued insistence of corporate media (namely Disney) to “force feed” us with DEI at every possible chance. They frankly seem more concerned about identity politics than good storytelling, and people are sick of it.
DEI is a Trojan horse, the antithesis of the acronym
Bob Iger has lost the shareholders BILLIONS AND BILLIONS of dollars and yet somehow he still has his job.
Something is going on here that I don't fully understand.
Imagine going through life disliking anything where the main character is a different gender, race or ethnicity than yours.
I agree with most of what you are saying. I do think there are exceptions though. The James Bond films for example. I think it's possibly because the people who make them now evolved from the people who originally made them and they do it out of love as much as out of making money. A lot of them may have the same basic plot but because they are done by people who actually care and want to make films they would enjoy watching they work and are enjoyable for new and old fans alike. Also they aren't in your face all the time you get one new film every 3 years or longer.
How is the new Officer and Gentleman updating the story? Is the drill sergeant calling him "Vegan Mayonnaise?"
I just had a week off work. Usually go to the movies at least a couple times. I had to settle for the new Godzilla joint. More of the same. Just felt seeing something 🤷♂️
Despite all of its evolutions, I still very much connect with all of the Fast & Furious movies, probably because the people who make it are the ones who love making it
It won't ever stop because even if the old audiences don't watch it, the new audiences will watch It. And at some point the old stuff will lose its sacredness. Also merchandising still works very strongly, especially with children
I’m not attached to any franchise at all anymore. I just try to discover great movies. If I’m attached to anything, it would be a particular director.
I think the issue here is that people have a tendency to cross the line between passion and obsession. It's a very thin line, I grant you, but there's clearly an addictive personality phenomenon that's swept a lot of fandoms over the last decade. Whether it's Star Wars or Star TREK, there's always a section of the fanbase that completely LOSES themselves to whatever franchise/movie/video game they love and they feel the need to defend it by going to war.
I'm a huge fan of Star Wars. Have been since I can remember. I love the Original Trilogy, I enjoyed the Prequels, I loved a bunch of the older video games. But I also enjoyed some of the newer Disney stuff like The Force Awakens, Rogue One, and the Jedi games. But I've gotten to the point where I no longer obsess over the franchise. I pay attention to what's going on, but I keep my eye on other things as well. As such, I haven't touched Disney's Star Wars shows since Kenobi and Boba Fett. There's stuff coming in the next couple of months that I can't wait to see, like the new Alien Romulus movie. I'm a fan of that franchise as well, but again, I'm not crossing into obsession about it. I think certain franchises should continue while others should at least take a break.
I think there was a type of child like I was in the 1980s - bookish, bullied, introverted - that George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and co spoke to very directly in the 1980s. These movies were a kind of cathartic escape. A lot of us probably latched to these older series in a manner that was, in hindsight, probably less than healthy and due to the rise of home video and all the books and comics: we maintained our childhood attachment throughout adulthood. However they spoke to a particular type of person at a particular time, based within a specific culture. Outside of the culture they were born in, these new films and series can't be more than reheated leftovers. The corporate rightsholder films have made some of us belatedly 'grow up'. Suddenly we see the series we love is no longer really for us anymore and we are finally moving on. Sadly it took corporate asset strippers ruining those series to make that happen! 😄
I loved the OG Star Wars but since Rise of Skywalker I haven’t been able to go back and I never watched any of the Disney plus shows
I do admittedly watch the Star Wars and Marvel stuff but I don't like most of it. I keep up with it because I have friends that want to talk about it. But 95% of my viewing is older movies. This week I watched Caddyshack, Cat-Women of the Moon, The Brain from Planet Arous, Power Rangers and Murder She Wrote. An eclectic mix but creativity has died in Hollywood and there is plenty of older content I've not yet seen that I don't need to or want to see a lot of the newer stuff.
Disney has pretty much killed Star Wars for me. First it was the Last Jedi. Then it was the oversaturation. Then I thought it was briefly saved with Mandalorian and Boba Fett and now it's firmly lost. The shows feel like stuff that belongs on the CW and they are desperate to remake Star Wars for a new audience instead of the core fans. One thing I hate is that I dislike "Star Wars" as a brand so much that it's starting to make me even dislike the old stuff. It's guilt by association. Obviously the original trilogy is untouchable but I hate that I think of today's Star Wars and all of the baggage that it holds when I watch them now.
I’m right there with you. All I have to do is see the name Star Wars and I cringe.
Out of the total number of movies released every year, Marvel movies, Star Wars movies and franchise sequels make up a tiny proportion, but they get the most discussion and buzz (good or bad). I don't think streaming is making money, hence why they are pushing it so hard. Really wish the movie studios would understand there are three markets; cinema goers, physical media buyers, and streaming viewers. Some are all three, others are content with physical or just streaming, but all 3 make them money. They don't make money when you just dump something on streaming days after the cinema release.
I'd prefer they increase the movie release window to streaming from 3 months to at least 9 months, or even a year. Get the physical release out in 6 months. Having a narrow release window just kills the box office, although movie ticket prices are doing that well enough.
How are these properties, any different than what comics have been doing for decades? Reboots, sequels, prequels. How many different Superman story lines are there in comics, TV, Movies? Or novel series like detective novels, that have the same character running for decades. We go to a concert for an older musician, and we only want to hear their hits from the past. It feels like there is an endless appetite for nostalgia, and until people stop consuming it, it will never stop.
Comics are periodicals that take 5-10 minutes to read once a month and are made my a small group of people. They're serialized soap operas. The investment is small, both financially and in terms of time.
Then again, very few people have been reading the same storyline without interruption for decades. It will be interesting to see what happens when Superman and Batman go into the public domain.
Agreed. I've been a Doctor Who fan since I was a kid in the 70s, but had to let it go this year...I just can't deal with the new singing/dancing/Bollywood-style Who. So I stopped watching it. Still a fan of of the show I loved...but not the show now. And I'm not thrilled with Disney's idea of a "whoniverse." More is not always better.
Doctor Who is utterly unrecognizable from what it once was. I love watching classic Who (I watched Spearhead from Space two nights ago) but your statement “more is not always better” rings true.
Growing up, I used to watch the original Star Wars trilogy regularly. I was in line to see the Phantom Menace in theater the day it came out. It was disappointed and I just waited for the sequels to be watch them at home, and didn't even care for the wait. When the new movies came out, I just waited again and after that first one from JJ Abrams, I just stop there with the movies. I tried the Mandalorian, but I barely cared enough to finish the first season. The thing is that I also didn't rewatch the original trilogy since that the new one came out. The constant SW talk is just boring me and I think I just don't want anything to do with that on a subconscient level. I don't know. I also tried the relaunch of Jurassic Park and give up after the first one. I didn't even try the Ghostbusters. It's for a new audience and I just goes on with my life without all that. The one that hurted me though, was Matrix. That 4th film was just plain bad and it came from the original creative team! I didn't see it coming.
Maybe this is way too blunt of a thing to say, but I feel like this whole conversation about reboot culture and letting go of childhood properties would be a lot easier if adults watched more things... for adults. I get that it seems like movies, specifically, are all reboots and sequels and junk, but it's really only like that in the genre space. It sucks that there aren't more original sci-fi or fantasy movies out there, but I don't know a time when that mass market genre fare wasn't dominated by corporate greed. Hell, the Star Wars trilogy is a TRILOGY for a reason!
I'm a way younger guy than I assume a majority of your audience is, so my perspective on this whole conversation is a little skewed. I grew up falling in love with the second or third iterations of a lot of things, especially Transformers and TMNT. I'm used to picking and choosing which versions of the thing I like to actually give the attention to. It is overwhelming when a thing you like no longer sparks joy in you, but I think the easy solution is to move on. Find different things to be in to! No one has watched every movie ever. Maybe it'll be good for everyone to expand their palettes and check out what's happening in the indie scene if big genre movies aren't giving you your fill. Again, I get that if you're a sci-fi or action or horror fan, watching indie dramas and comedies might be a tough sell, but it could help reset expectations when the next shiny blockbuster reboot releases.
Yeah but Newer generations (Like myself) are discovering these Franchises.
They're there for discovery, whether there's a new installment or not. That's the great thing about movies: they're a permanent record. The Godfather, Dirty Harry, James Bond, and everything else is there, waiting for new audiences to watch them for the first time. I think that's a beautiful thing. Find some classic film channels and podcasts that you connect with and go nuts!
Man I hope cinemas last. I haven’t let go of the video store !
As a kid in the 60’s I would have been over the moon to see so much franchise activity for James Bond as we have now for heartfelt, imagination inspiring series. Then again the intentional waiting created such a fun, albeit frustrating, anticipation that I think I would have missed had it all been so saturated as today’s franchise milieu. What do you think?
James Bond was always one of those film series that you knew would get a new installment every few years, but there weren't dozens of other movie series like James Bond clogging up the cinema. Looking back, I'm a little bit amazed that we have as many of those films as we do. Once they started rebooting things, I lost interest. I never even watched No Time To Die. In today's environment, none of these things hold any weight anymore. They all feel disposable to me. When everything is a franchise, nothing feels special anymore.
I dunno... Spaceballs II: The Search for More Money (which better be the title dammit) could be good... if it's done by people who authentically want to pay homage to Mel Brooks. It could also be good as a clever commentary on the very state of things you mention in this video. But the chances of that happening are sadly slim. It'll probably be more of a Spaceballs II: Electric Boogaloo.
I like your idea, a kind of meta parody.
Or Mel could do it himself; he’s still alive and kicking!
@WaverBoy Heck yeah! Mel doing it himself would definitely be ideal!
My copy on it way, I usually find for these older classics 2 channel is excellent. Shame they used smaller disk size 😮.
First thanks Heath!
How long before we get the next installment of Sergio Leone’s The Man with No Name done by AI? I wouldn’t be surprised, just disappointed. Or a remake of Dirty Harry (Only with Dirty Harriet maybe)
Movies are dying because it’s all been done. We’ve seen the best years ago and there’s nothing that can better the old stuff. Except maybe going back to basics,better stories lower budgets shorter running times.
1000%
The other day I realized I prefer to watch re-runs of Seinfeld on Netflix rather than new movies or series… Im tired of being disappointed with the crap they produce.
If you become a fan of obscure indie films, you won't really run into this problem very often
Until A24 turns those into franchises too.
I am looking forward to Beetlejuice 2. I haven't heard much buzz about the new Beverly Hills Cop sequel. Also, apparently, Mel Gibson is directing a new Lethal Weapon sequel. So many 80s and 90s franchises getting sequels after decades long gaps.
Spoiler alert, they are going to be bad. After Coming 2 America, i dont even wanna watch BHC4
@@HollywoodByTheNumbers Bill and Ted Face The Music was enjoyable
All of these unecessary sequels are exactly what I’m talking about. I thought Bill and Ted 3 was abysmal, but I’m glad you got something from it.
Why do people even expect to enjoy the same films and tv media in their forties that they enjoyed in their teens? No-one expects to enjoy the same books!
BTW, my son was a child in the 1990s, and Disney were "mining their IPs" with sequels (Hunchback of Notre Dame II, anyone?) or prequels (baby Jungle Books characters) even back then.
I totally agree with you about diminishing returns. Also, that there is now little space for new art to make its way to an audience.
I canceled D+ after the 3rd Season of Mando, I have plenty of movies and shows available for me to watch or purchase to watch, I feel no need to "hate watch" flaming hot garbage.
it's hard but you should see other types of films.
I have to admit that I find some of your thoughts about the modern IP blockbuster era hard to relegate with your love of genre filmmaking of the past (such as Westerns and Noir) as every era is derative of itself to the point that we can discuss the tropes of that era. It's okay that you don't seem to like or connect with the IP era films, but how is what is happening today any different than when the Western dominated the box office in the 1950? Would love to hear your thoughts.
@residentobi-wan3190 I was raised on IP. It's not IP itself is the problem, it's the fact that IP represents 90% of what's being made today. We're drowning in it, and the people making it are cranking it out with such disaffection that it has lost all power. The films I love from the past--westerns, noir, serials, adventure films, sci-fi, dramas, you name it--bear the fingerprints of their creators, their actors, the writers, the directors. They were almost always small films, made quickly and affordably. They run 80 minutes. Even the series of westerns, such as Red Ryder, are small in scope and feel very personal. Modern IP has no humanity, nothing to say; it's made by executives (Bob Iger and Kathleen Kennedy co-conceived the sequel trilogy plot) and the creators better keep their mouth shut and do what they're told or they'll be removed from the picture like Lord and Miller were from the Han Solo movie. Poor Gareth Edwards had to play ball with a new director coming in and reshooting extensive sections of Rogue One. The movies I love are approachable and feel like they're made by humans, not machines. They're not video games, they're little stories that I can relate to, even if they take place in a far away galaxy. At some point in the last 10-15 years, the movies lost their soul. We get a handful each year that were made by auteurs and visionaries--the rest are candy bars that only exist to sell us things we don't need.
@@CerealAtMidnight I agree with a lot of what you say here about the "feeling" of modern content, but I think your impressions of the studio system back then are a little a-historical, the actors were under contract, and for the most part couldn't even pick which project they were assigned to work on (until stardom), and while the directors may have had a little more room to move on set because they were judged more often by the finish product rather than the day to day PR surrounding the film, most were hardly auteurs and were still referred to as studio directors. And while I can agree that sequels feel repetitive, so does every John Wayne Western to me. So I guess I'm just asking, is this a new problem or something that has been with us since the beginning of the studio system and just feels more pronounced now that consolidation has left us with maybe 10 primary production house/distributors that control the whole market? And how might that effect how we view and discuss these films. I'm just saying that your commentary in this video me feel like you are saying that what we are experience is "new" and some how there was a utopia in the past we have lost, that might not be the signal you wanted to send, but that is the one I got from it.
@@TheVid54 I agree saturation is key to this and I also think that to a degree production houses view this as being about two specific audience (the general audience and the cinephiles) and when it comes to what they package as their Blockbuster, they target the general audience and expect cinephiles to go along for the journey even if they end up feeling unsatisfied and then they try to serve the cinephiles on alternative platforms (Streaming, VOD, etc.). I'm not saying it's correct, but it does seem to be a natural evolution of the studio system as they gain new platforms to subdivide the audience and track their response rather than something new that we are seeing for the first time.
I'm not sure I understand the question. Franchise filmmaking is not new, it's been around since the dawn of cinema. But the movies were always balanced with all sorts of genres: comedy, action, romance, science fiction, horror, melodrama, mystery, biography, you name it. There were many, many films made each year. They were usually crafted on smaller budgets and turned around fairly quickly, with a few exceptions. I'm actually a fan of the studio system. Monopolies aren't good, but the people within those systems were often very competent (Joseph Pevney, John Farrow, etc)
Now there are fewer films made, and the ones that are made are rubber stamped by executives who meddle in every aspect of the production. Studios have always had control, but they've never wielded it so irresponsibly as they do now, nor have we ever had so many studios devouring each other at such a rapid rate. Soon there may only be three major studios. In five years, will there only be two? This problem is absolutely new.
Hope is not lost, but we need to support other kinds of films besides franchise fodder. Tonight I went to see The Bikeriders, a 40 million dollar film from an independent studio that isn't based on any existing IP. It's the kind of movie that made me love movies when I was a teen in the 1990s. If more people would support smaller fare in addition to the big spectacles with spaceships and flying cars, things would start to get improve. A little IP every now and then is fun, but that can't be all we live on. The entertainment literally cannot survive if things don't change.
@@CerealAtMidnight I think we are speaking about very similar things but seeing the root problem, the inciting incident as it were, differently. I agree that the general market is less varied today, but I don't blame IP for that as genre film making isn't gone, it exists inside of IP films, take Disney as an example - Captain America: The First Avenger is a jingoistic War Film, while The Winter Solder is a pretty clear Spy Thriller, The first two seasons of The Mandalorian is a Western, while Andor is a Political Drama. From what I am hearing you are referring to a feeling of sameness and control, a result of the consolidation you mentioned, and when I hear that I don't focus on the audience but instead the companies. For me the problem isn't one that can be fixed solely with the consumer trying to withhold revenue from the producers because they are providing films backed by IP, or by supporting independent films, we should also advocate for the breaking up of the consolidation. I've got a much better idea of where you were coming from in this video now, there just must have been something in your delivery in this particular video that made me read it as "Things were better before.........why does now suck," and that didn't match up with what to me is a heightening of a problem the industry has faced since the 1920s rather than a new development. Thanks for listening. I appreciate the comments back and the clarity.
That's the thing; they're still doing the remakes and sequels even though no-one asked for them, and we're not watching them, but still that's what they keep doing...
Star Wars is dead. I said goodbye to it years ago, but it's still difficult seeing Disney murder something you love, seeing them dig up it's bloated, rotting corpse and abusing it for yet another attempt at a cash grab.
They couldn't keep losing that kind of money, so there's something else going on...
P.S. l am NOT watching product produced by Disney. Nothing. And l feel fine.
yep...haven't given Disney a CENT for years!
Still dig Mickey though, all the way back to Steamboat Willie. That great mouse will always be magic!
the only new film i have seen this year is Godzilla Minus One. I wont watch the new bad boys, beverly hills cop, any of the new star wars, or spaceballs 2. i am tired of the studios remaking or reimagining the older stuff. i only watch and buy older dvds and blurays of stuff i liked and rewatch those so i feel something for what i watch instead of going ugh this again
Board of Directors and Hollywood CEO Vampires 🧛♂️....they do exist, it true They Live, new after life and live forever....Until no more Victims.
The Bikeriders looks interesting
Just got back from seeing it. It's good!
there hasnt been a great star war smovie in 41 years. if tapping out did work it wouldve worked by now. star wars has too many fans willing to take whatever they can get
Hey Heath will Hollywood ever stop cranking out nostalgic centric entertainment and start creating original ideas for movies TV shows and other forms of entertainment again anytime soon
That's the ten thousand dollar question. We have to stop supporting it, and then maybe they'll have to stop with the firehose of garbage.
@CerealAtMidnight Disney Pixar and other studios are still gonna be coming out with new content but from existing franchises such as Monsters Incorporated Incredibles Inside Out Nemo Toy Story Despicable Me Jurassic Park and more and we need to tell them to stop it with this nostalgic resurrection and give us something new original unique and different from what has come before and whatever
Best way to do that is not to watch those movies. Or at least not when they're new and studios are watching the box office returns ands streaming numbers.
@CerealAtMidnight Why is Hollywood even cranking out so many nostalgic centric movies TV shows and other forms of entertainment I mean come on Hollywood give us something new as in something original
Fascinating video. You have said a lot with which I agree, and a lot with which I don't.
It's true that a long running property ( I get hives with the word 'franchise') changes, but that's not just 'corporate overlords' ... that's time, and the fact that each new generation that attaches to it is going to be different. A generation that is loving Star Wars/Trek/Doctor Who/hell, Superman, is not going to be the same, in terms of viewpoint, likes, attitudes, as their folks who loved the earlier incarnation. That's been happening for a long time. Happened to James Bond. Sherlock Holmes did his stuff on Baker Street and then, via the Overlords at Universal, fought Nazis in WWII. So thank you for pointing out that, if a work stops speaking to you, it's time to get off the boat. Will the 'franchise' be starved? I doubt it, because there will always be a new generation, short of the Apocalypse. (I grew up with Charlton Heston movies so don't get me started there.)
I haven't seen the latest Ghostbuster movies; the hate towards the female-led movie, which I like very much, left too much of a bad taste in my mouth. OTOH, I can't wait to start THE ACOLYTE; the positive word of mouth (Yes, there is plenty of that, too) has me intrigued.
And, yes,I would love to see more potential Cormans out there, putting their money where their mouths are and showing that their superior 'creativity' is not limited to the level of (often misspelled) profanity on their hate screeds.
The trailer for the new Alien movie has a recreation of the most famous image from Alien 3 and that makes me lose some interest in it. The same thing happened with the Flash movie. I was interested in Michael Keatons return until i saw the trailer. When i heard him say, "I'm Batman," my interest went down. Then i saw another preview where he was repeating the "let's get nuts" line and i lost all interest. That's what they brought him back for? I still haven't watched it.