OK, I'm not a movie expert or junkie but I like to rent a DVD or go the cinema every now and then. In last month I saw several movies that made me believe that there is something seriously wrong with the industry. So, what were they?
The new James Bond. I understand that everybody wants to make money but blatantly shoot a movie just to prepare for the sequel is insulting and dumb. I mean, nobody I have spoken had any idea what the plot was about or simply assumed there was none.
Blood Diamond. What kind of a movie were they trying to make? Most of the time there's these two guys running around while somebody else is shooting and throwing hand grenades at them. These parts are quite boring by the way. Then there are poor villagers oppressed by bad guys; a lost son (found later on); a brave American reportress with perfect makeup and hairdo in the middle of the bush; a tough guy whose good side that gradually emerges. Finally, a moral message that our society is buying blood diamonds while it shouldn't is stapled to all this, not all that convincingly. Seriously, the audience wants to watch only one movie at a time.
The Last Kind of Scotland. This movie could have been really good. Unfortunately, somebody decided that the story should be made preposterous. Such was achieved by various means. The most disturbing was having the main character (a white skinny teenage doctor) sleeping with a president's wife (the hottest one).
There's little story behind the affair, she just humps him in the middle of a party (only he seems to be hammered). Obviously, they just needed to get the main character out of Uganda so the movie could end.
Just for the record, the real Amin's wife (Kay Amin) did have a love affair and died during a botched up abortion. But the guy definitely wasn't some pubescent tourist.
So what's the message for the film industry? Don't try to cram all possible, or impossible, things in one movie. There is something called a movie genre, look it up in the dictionary!
If, by any chance, you want to make an action movie. Please do watch Die Hard I and II (several times) first.
