Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings
Tax the Rich
Movie Monday
Woody Allan said that producers today only want to spend $100 million in order to get a $500 million return. Therefore, they have no interest in "little" movies in the US.
There has always been something wacky about the US and when movies became the popular form of entertainment outside of the home, they reflected this wackiness. Take for example the review I did a long time ago of the US movies during the economic depression of the 1930s. They really weren't an indictment of the rich (Oh, they did throw a few very bad rich to the lions; usually in the form of Edward Arnold.) but rather they were the gatekeepers for the rich; that is, their protectors. In My Man Godfrey, we're given the frivolous rich but no one except the mean sister Cordelia even comes close to getting her comeuppances. Why, even the butler turns out to be rich. The same with Holiday, The Philadelphia Story....... it's a long list.
So I guess I can't be surprised that over 80 years later, Hollywood is still taking giant steps away from everyday reality. Hollywood has never been good at nailing the reality which happens after their swelling denouement music.
This was all brought home this weekend when I watched Priest, so bad as a movie that it's almost mesmerizing in its stupidity. I have to assume Priest is based on a comic (forget the graphic novel crap.) A popular comic I hope because I shudder to think that some screenwriter pitched this story as his original idea.
Priest has everything and nothing. The everything is: unrequited love by a priestess for a priest (priests and priestesses are superheros who fight vampires); a niece who is really a daughter; doomed love between a priest and a "mere mortal"; super weapons; funky motorcycles; really, dripping-looking vampires, the frantic search by the priest for his daughter/niece to save her from vampire-hood and, of course, the music.
It was the music which got my attention fast because really nothing happens in Priest without this stirring music. Whether it's blowing up a train or riding a motorcycle, the music informs us that this is important. For crying out loud, the priest prepares for his journey and then goes to get on his means of transport and............ it's a big motorcycle! Cue the music.
What surprised me about this movie was the religious theme. It sure looked like a Roman Catholic or high Anglican church which controlled this futuristic city and its inhabitants. The church in Priest is controlling a 1984 world, complete with slogans for submission.
But the mantra repeated often by our priest and priestess heroes is that you don't need a church to communicate with god. Was this movie aiming at a fundamentalist religious message? Why did they take a simplistic man vs. vamps, good guys vs. bad guys, hunt for the virginal maiden (well, virginal in that she wasn't a vampire - yet) themes and tack on a religious message?
If you strip away the religion, you're left with the typical story of the authorities who don't believe there is a danger of vampires ("Vampires were wiped out ages ago."), the lone warrior priest who knows they're wrong and starts his vampire quest, and finally the presentation of vampire evidence to the authorities. Of course, Priest, probably eying a sequel, has the movie end with the hero priest's story being rejected by the authorities in the church So, with fellow priests, he continues the search for the queen vampire.
I just described a cheesy SFT3000 movie plot. Did they think a religious theme was going to uplift it? Or, was there really a religious message in Priest?
It's a lousy movie but a good knitting one. You can look up occasionally and see all you need to follow along. Paul Bettany and Karl Urban are brave and ruthless from their different moral perches. Maggie Q has a perfect beauty but has only one scene of honest emotion. Cam Gigandet, the ugly vampire, James, in Twilight, cleans up very nicely and looks handsome as the lover of the kidnapped girl.
On the IMDb discussion board, there is a topic on the religious tone of this movie. Priest had a budget of $60M and grossed $78M worldwide with $49M coming from abroad; not the 1:5 ratio Allan was talking about.
Final note: Rent The Searchers with John Wayne after you see Priest. I'll say no more.
There has always been something wacky about the US and when movies became the popular form of entertainment outside of the home, they reflected this wackiness. Take for example the review I did a long time ago of the US movies during the economic depression of the 1930s. They really weren't an indictment of the rich (Oh, they did throw a few very bad rich to the lions; usually in the form of Edward Arnold.) but rather they were the gatekeepers for the rich; that is, their protectors. In My Man Godfrey, we're given the frivolous rich but no one except the mean sister Cordelia even comes close to getting her comeuppances. Why, even the butler turns out to be rich. The same with Holiday, The Philadelphia Story....... it's a long list.
So I guess I can't be surprised that over 80 years later, Hollywood is still taking giant steps away from everyday reality. Hollywood has never been good at nailing the reality which happens after their swelling denouement music.
This was all brought home this weekend when I watched Priest, so bad as a movie that it's almost mesmerizing in its stupidity. I have to assume Priest is based on a comic (forget the graphic novel crap.) A popular comic I hope because I shudder to think that some screenwriter pitched this story as his original idea.
Priest has everything and nothing. The everything is: unrequited love by a priestess for a priest (priests and priestesses are superheros who fight vampires); a niece who is really a daughter; doomed love between a priest and a "mere mortal"; super weapons; funky motorcycles; really, dripping-looking vampires, the frantic search by the priest for his daughter/niece to save her from vampire-hood and, of course, the music.
It was the music which got my attention fast because really nothing happens in Priest without this stirring music. Whether it's blowing up a train or riding a motorcycle, the music informs us that this is important. For crying out loud, the priest prepares for his journey and then goes to get on his means of transport and............ it's a big motorcycle! Cue the music.
What surprised me about this movie was the religious theme. It sure looked like a Roman Catholic or high Anglican church which controlled this futuristic city and its inhabitants. The church in Priest is controlling a 1984 world, complete with slogans for submission.
But the mantra repeated often by our priest and priestess heroes is that you don't need a church to communicate with god. Was this movie aiming at a fundamentalist religious message? Why did they take a simplistic man vs. vamps, good guys vs. bad guys, hunt for the virginal maiden (well, virginal in that she wasn't a vampire - yet) themes and tack on a religious message?
If you strip away the religion, you're left with the typical story of the authorities who don't believe there is a danger of vampires ("Vampires were wiped out ages ago."), the lone warrior priest who knows they're wrong and starts his vampire quest, and finally the presentation of vampire evidence to the authorities. Of course, Priest, probably eying a sequel, has the movie end with the hero priest's story being rejected by the authorities in the church So, with fellow priests, he continues the search for the queen vampire.
I just described a cheesy SFT3000 movie plot. Did they think a religious theme was going to uplift it? Or, was there really a religious message in Priest?
It's a lousy movie but a good knitting one. You can look up occasionally and see all you need to follow along. Paul Bettany and Karl Urban are brave and ruthless from their different moral perches. Maggie Q has a perfect beauty but has only one scene of honest emotion. Cam Gigandet, the ugly vampire, James, in Twilight, cleans up very nicely and looks handsome as the lover of the kidnapped girl.
On the IMDb discussion board, there is a topic on the religious tone of this movie. Priest had a budget of $60M and grossed $78M worldwide with $49M coming from abroad; not the 1:5 ratio Allan was talking about.
Final note: Rent The Searchers with John Wayne after you see Priest. I'll say no more.
No comments:
Post a Comment