Book and Film Deal for doing NOTHING!!!

MsManhattan said:
His English teacher deserves a lashing (quote from article):
"I just intuitively thought, `This is brilliant!'" said Carol Spaulding-Kruse, an associate professor of English. "I wasn't quite sure why, but it just sounded like a really good idea."

She "intuitively thought" ???
Click to expand...

Yeah, it sounds like his English teacher shouldn't be allowed in a classroom. Whoever would think a stunt like this is brilliant, especially in the context of lieterature/journalism, seriously hasn't read a good book recently.
 
I suppose rook is right. It has the potential to make a lot of money, but it's really just an all-time-low for American cinema. The idea is dumb, and the fact that they optioned it is even dumber, but it probably will make money, which I suppose is the dumbest part of it all.
 
oneinfiniteloop said:
Yeah, it sounds like his English teacher shouldn't be allowed in a classroom. Whoever would think a stunt like this is brilliant, especially in the context of lieterature/journalism, seriously hasn't read a good book recently.
Click to expand...

Actually, doing it properly would be a good thing.

But that means doing more than just hanging out there. It's not flagpole sitting, after all.
 
dj200423 said:
but it probably will make money, which I suppose is the dumbest part of it all.
Click to expand...
True that. Double true! :)

If our goal is simply to "make money" then we will never grow and evolve into our full potential. We must push the envelope, struggle, and fail in order to grow. But these easy ideas and easy solutions do nothing but stall our evolution or take us down a notch.

It's easy to make money. We could use our DVX cameras to make porn, upload it to the net, and be profitable overnight. We could create a fake charity fund and ask for donations. :) There's lots of things we can do to make money. But we don't because we want to push ourselves to be the best we can be.

Ideas like this one and TONS of other ideas for movies, tv shows, music, products, etc. are the "last resorts." Basically, they occur when we get too lazy, or when we dont want to struggle, or can't come up with any actual good ideas. So the people creating these ideas get lazy, the people watching it get lazy, and then the idea makes money so the producers want to be lazy all over again. Their goal was to make money ...and they succeeded. But as a society we failed.

Money makes us do crazy, stupid, and awful things. There are people in my building that do some of the worst things you can imagine, just to make money. I'd hate to think that making money is the only thing people care about. That's all businesses care about (they must to survive) and these ideas are easy money for them. But the world is controlled by people/consumers, not businesses. We all have the power to demand better so we can grow and reach our full portential. But if we keep buying their crap then they'll keep selling it.

A lot of good ideas make money too. I'm not against making money. I'm against how some businesses choose to make their money. And I wish we'd stop rewarding them for what they're doing.

How's that for over-analyzing a minor news story?
 
I don't think that you're over-analyzing the story at all PK. In fact I agree with almost everything you are saying and think that more people should look at things that way. If we'd stop going to bad movies they'd make less bad movies. Plain and simple.

A producer once told me that if people wanted to see shakespeare 24 hours a day then that is exactly what they'd get. Hollywood responds as quickly and as accuratly as they can to the demands people give them.

Hollywood films are not about art. They are not in the business of pushing the envelope artistically or creating films to make people think and react.

Occasionally those kinds of films get made in hollywood but ONLY when it looks like there is a profit to be made.

Do not look to hollywood films for art. You will just be disappointed. It's not that they are incapable of it. They could do it easily. The finest artists in the world work in hollywood. But remember, they are not working there because that is where art happens. They are working there because they can make a lot of money.

When people wake up and get tired of sloshy garbage cinema and demand something else, then and only then will we see a change.

Until then, mexico, russia, england, south america, australia and asia are all putting out artistically sound provacative films. Watch them instead. I do and I'm much happier.

-rook
 
It's all part of The Man's not-so-secret plan to promote mediocrity in this country.

Now if you'll excuse me, i have to go back to watching American Idol...
 
rook said:
Until then, mexico, russia, england, south america, australia and asia are all putting out artistically sound provacative films.
Click to expand...

Are they?

Or are those types of films the only ones that get imported? After all, no sense in importing subtitled schlock, is there. Got enough homegrown.
 
Good point GenderDan,

I'm sure there is trashy cinema coming from every country.

In fact I'm certain there is.

-rook
 
It's just too easy.

I have to give it to Andrew Jenks, a 19 year old who decided to make a documentary about life in assisted care facilities. He moved into one in Florida for five weeks, getting to know and befriend the elderly residents. He was rewarded with great human interest, real-life drama, some good social commentary, and a lot of new friends.

To commit that much time to a project, to really live the life, I respect that. I know many documentary filmmakers have spent much, much longer on projects. I just respect a young guy who thought to do such a thing.

The film, Andrew Jenks, Room 335, is just starting to hit festivals and won Best Feature at the Phoenix Film Festival. Check this one out, it's for real. If the WalMart story disgusts you, this one will uplift you.
 
Joshua - Thank you for that link. Looks like a cool idea. A young man hanging out with senior citizens trying to figure out the meaning of life. Excellent.
 
I've been watching a lot of avant garde stuff lately and there's a certain brilliance to the idea. Reminds me of Andy Warhol's Empire:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0196530...TAwfGNvPTF8aHRtbD0xfG5tPTE_;fc=11;ft=267;fm=1

A lot of avant garde stuff is just a bunch of abstract colors, shapes, and motions that work on you subconciously, but a lot of other stuff takes easily identifiable objects from pop culture and mixes them in absurd ways. Some stuff is just old movies cut together in ridiculous ways. Instead of assigning new meaning to everything, this approach makes everything seem absurd and arbitrary and instead of having the raw effect of a flicker film or something it has the opposite effect that you're flooded with associations out of context and can't make heads or tails of them so they're reduced to something meaningless, absurd, and a little bit depressing.

I can totally see a great movie like that being made from this concept but this would make a horrible Hollywood film. Walmart is sensory overload for sure, and after 41 hours I can see it being a total fever dream where you're just surrounded by so many different people, so many different brands, so many price tags and promotions that it all loses meaning and becomes at once abstract and also infuriatingly specific. I know I sound like a pretentious ass (and I don't even like art films and am a huge fan of conventional filmmaking and blockbusters) but there's something there for sure.

And yes, my friends all hate the avant garde and make more fun of me for liking it than for liking Michael Bay or Paul Verhoeven.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top