Sunday 15 February 2009

Action and Sex flicks are ...

... Hollywood's equivalent of Bollywood formulae!:)

It isn't really criticism about movies for men or women and who's winning- just about quality of scripting - we're all losing in these action/sex stereotypes.

For example, I wonder when Hollywood will get over their teenage obsession with one-liners and move on to two- and three- ... both 'action' and sexed up 'modern girl'ie movies are totally dependent on banter.

I've got two good one-liners that have stuck in my head - one from an action ("I'll be back"- T2) and one from a girlie flick ("Tomorrow is another day" - GWTW) - but I can't remember a single other as memorable.

They're packing entire scripts with quick repartee in an increasingly standard format to appear intelligent. But it's predictable, shallow and boring.

How much better to see two people talking like they have all the time in the world - even in a 3 hour movie. Good Will Hunting, Titanic and other movies managed that. Even Bollywood manages to pack a mean speech on dying and before dancing. What degree of attention deficit disorder are these western writers presuming us to suffer?

3 comments:

Ilango said...

Hi Yoda,

Have you forgotten the "Make my day" by Clint Eastwood and in Hindi "Mere paas Maa hain" in Deewaar.

There are movies like "Scent of a woman"(Al pacino)(There is no prosthetic for an amputated soul)and "shawshank redemption" (Tim Robbins) which have some powerful lines, unfortunately the Public prefers.."I will be Back"..

Best regards.

ilango

Lee said...

Hello Yoda,

I for one have very very little opinion about Bollywood movies...Maybe coz I donno Hindi :)

But one movie that jumps to mind is BLACK in Hindi...Amazing movie. Cant think of anything else worthwhile in Hindi :P Donno why.

English - The best movie is my book is the Shawshank Redemption...What an amazing movie...If you havent seen it, do so now :)

I do like action flicks now and then...Its worth the escape from reality :)

Regards,
Lee

Local said...

Nice picks, Ilango. I'd forgotten "make my day"! lol - it's been so long.

Yeah, I think I'm forgetting some really good one-liners - there are some great ones out there - I couldn't think of any for about 2 hours before writing.:)

Some of those scripts have given us a way of expressing feeling in succinct word, changing the way we respond to situations: defiance, courage, hope. And that's wonderful!

But volubility is educated, maybe even feminine, quite lovely as well. Vivian Leigh in 'A Streetcar Named Desire', 'Gone with the Wind' and even in the Laurence Olivier style. It isn't valued as highly as the monosyllablic male these days. Seems to be a drive towards almost-silent movies again.

Well ... it's an observation just meta-analysing trends.:)

Shawshank Redemption was a hot fav of mine too, Lee. I've got to download it sometime.