The mainstream entertainment press can't hide what is happening. From Variety: California Tried to Jumpstart the Film Economy. Production Keeps Falling.
The state of California and the City of Los Angeles have tried to work around the margins, but the film industry in California isn't hurting because of the margins. Production levels in LA dropped 3.7% in the third quarter, despite the efforts.
California’s $750 million bet on Hollywood has not reversed the overall decline in production, according to data released Wednesday by FilmLA.
Instead, production levels fell 3.7% in the third quarter — even as the share of projects receiving state subsidies continued to rise. Location shoots remain well below the five-year average.
And why would productions film in LA? Los Angeles was once a beautiful town. Today it is plagued by homelessness. From Christian Toto at Hollywood in Toto: New Films Give L.A.’s Homeless Crisis a Shocking Closeup
'Animals, 'Misty Green' can't hide what Democrats have done to city
The homeless are plagued by drug addiction, mental illness, and the violence that accompanies those two things.
How can you work under those conditions? Why would you want to?
Both of these articles make mention of the film credits that the state has on offer, but California is not the only state offering credits, to say nothing of places like the United Kingdom.
Things will need to get a lot worse in California, before they even recognize that they have a problem requiring more than tinkering around the margins.
Over the years, I became a fan of the MCU, starting with the first Thor and Iron Man movies. Before that, I'd gone to the Superman and Batman movies, but not like every superhero movie. They've certainly had some lows over the last "generation", basically since Stan Lee passed away, but they mostly have brought escapism and entertainment. As they should. I watched far more MCU movies than DCU.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you've noticed how much they're building toward the new MCU with RDJ as the bad guy instead of Iron Man. Basically, I'm having a hard time envisioning but I expect to go see it. As a result, I haven't looked at much of promo buzz going on. I expect that they'll probably have enough budget to avoid the crapola that is Hollywood.
All of which is to ask if you've heard anything about Doomsday? Especially anything you consider a warning?
I won't spoil it for you, but the stuff coming out of the new MCU (Avengers: Doomsday with RDJ as Doctor Doom) isn't looking good. But then it was never going to be good. They fired everyone in Hollywood - the old white men - who knew how to write a heroic story
DeleteI wasn't a comic book geek like the folks who show up on Friday Night Tights, but I did like superheroes. I saw Blade in the theater in the late 90s. It was probably the 1st comic book movie to take itself and its audience seriously. Then the Sam Raimi Spider-Man movies - at least the 1st two - are probably the best superhero origin story we will ever get. (There were applause in the theater when the first Marvel logo ran at the opening of Spider-Man)
Iron Man was good. Avengers was good. Thor, and Captain America, were too long. I gave up on the MCU after Age of Ultron... they were starting to go by rote at that point.
Then 2016 hit and Hollywood lost its freakin' mind
Thanks for the update.
DeleteI forgot to mention having watched the Sam Raimi version of Spiderman, the trilogy with Tobey Maguire. I think of those as the first of the modern MCU, and Maguire was my favorite Spidey. I don't know about now. Tom Holland has grown on me, and I think he might be the best of the four. If I'm not mistaken, the Raimi movies were before Kevin Feige got into the top of the Marvel production.
I guess we've got about two months until Avengers: Doomsday starts up. There's not much else going on around here this time of year. (that was a bad joke) I'll keep an eye out for info.
Tom Holland is good as Peter Parker, the problem is that they turned Spider-Man into Iron Man
DeleteBut then DC had Batman fighting aliens. Batman was created when DC comics was still Detective Comics. Batman is best when he is a crime-fighter. He shouldn't be fighting aliens. There are plenty of stories to tell under those restrictions.
Spider-Man is best when he is grounded in NYC, fighting crime, and struggling to pay his bills. And dealing with J. Jonah Jameson. He should definitely not have all of the Tony Stark gadgets including the AI Jarvis.
But I could accept most of that if they knew how to write a heroic tale. They came close with No Way Home and Brand New Day. He had to sacrifice, and work in obscurity.