 Matt Damon as Jason Bourne and Julia Stiles as Nikki Parsons. (Photo Credit: Universal Pictures) Every week, I answer a question from Monday’s Act Four live chat in this installment of my newsletter. You can read the transcript of the August 8 chat here, and submit a question for the August 15 chat here. This week, a reader is feeling down about a “lousy summer movie season.” I feel like this summer has been really lousy for movies. In particular, it seems that most of the “big” movies have been not only derivative (which is common) but almost always “less than” something else. “Finding Dory” isn’t as good as “Finding Nemo.” [The] “Ghostbusters” remake isn’t as good as the original. “Star Trek Beyond” is not as good as other “Star Trek” movies. “Jason Bourne” isn’t as good as the original three Matt Damon Bourne movies. That all adds up to a summer devoid of fresh ideas in my mind. I really hope fall brings something more interesting. Boy, do I hear you, although I should note I’ve been to a streak of disappointing non-blockbuster movies, too, so it’s possible we’re just in a bad year for movies, especially after a 2015 that set the bar high for both summer popcorn movies and more serious fare. I would not have expected that, through July, the best movie I would have seen in 2016 would be a documentary about Anthony Weiner’s self-defenestration. But there we are, and “Weiner” is terrific and you should see it. I think you’ve identified the blessing and curse of the franchise formula. If certain story beats, conversational styles and emotional arcs worked well, sometimes you want something similar in a subsequent movie. And the best franchises, including “Toy Story” manage to deepen their characterization and broaden their thinking about the big ideas that were there from the beginning. But if you can’t do that, if all you can do is hit the same notes over and over again, eventually people aren’t going to want another cover of the same song; they’re going to crave a different song entirely. I can’t promise you that anything coming down the pike will be substantially better than what’s come before it, though my critic friends are saying good things about “Pete’s Dragon.” So in the meantime, why not revisit something great from the past? Show a kid in your life “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home” and remember a time when “Star Trek” meant exploration. Revisit one of Nora Ephron’s great romantic comedies with someone you love who hasn’t seen one before. Pull out “Bull Durham” and you’ll almost be able to smell the grass even if you live far from a baseball field. Most of all, don’t let one dreary movie season, especially one that coincides with a dolorous political cycle, rob you of what you love about the movies. | 
Twitter
Facebook
No comments:
Post a Comment