Three Types of American Cinema

There are probably about a dozen different types of film-productions being made in America today. I went to the theater three times recently, and saw three distinct types of productions. I felt it would be helpful to briefly review each film and explain what I think the differences are.

Keep in mind that I have absolutely no insider knowledge or experience when it comes to Hollywood. Years of reading and watching films have just taught me a few things that I would like to articulate.

So for now, here are three broad categories:

Big-budget Hollywood Production

It’s summertime, and that means its big-budget summer movie season. It doesn’t get any bigger or greener than The Hulk. This film was exactly what I thought it would be. Entertaining most of the time. A bit tedious in between the action scenes, but each time Edward Norton became LCD-sized, it was invigorating enough to recharge the movie. I enjoyed watching this film in the theater, as did everyone else there.

This type of production is a pure money-maker for the studio. They know that everyone will go see the movie, and they do everything in their power to make sure that nothing in the film is too demanding or too different. No one wants to take any chances when they are spending hundreds of millions of dollars.

The money behind it certainly makes some great actions scenes, but the film is far from great. It’s a throwaway piece of popcorn entertainment, but it did its job. It got me into the theater.

Smaller Hollywood Production

The second film I saw was M. Night Shyamalan’s The Happening. This film was absolutely dreadful. The story of a mysterious event across the east-coast that is causing people to commit suicide, it goes from campy b-horror, to lifetime melodrama, to stupid comedy every few minutes.

With acting that is bad on a legendary scale, this is easily the worst film of the year. An interesting premise with an interesting message ruined by incompetent writing and directing.

This is a smaller budget Hollywood film. The studio realized that spending less money gave them the opportunity to try something a little different. Hopefully the public would take hold of it and it would become another underground hit.

This production is usually a combination of the directors vision, and the studios supervision. They will allow the director to make his or her film, but they will be in control of the final product. Changing and adjusting it so that it will make the maximum amount of money possible.

If the director is good, the film will usual work unless the studio makes a horrible mistake. If the director is bad, then you will get The Happening.

Independant Film

The best film of the three is The Fall. This is the brilliant tale of a injured stuntman in a 1930’s hospital. He befriends a little girl and tells her increasingly elaborate stories in order to get her to steal him morphine to commit suicide with. The stories are elaborate visual fantasies that star the members of the hospital. It’s all very inventive and beautiful, and the performance of the little girl, Catinca Untaru, is just amazing.

The director, Tarsem, made this film with his own money, and was able to bring his unique vision to the screen, un-altered. There was no studio intervention. He wrote, directed, and and produced it. This is why the film is so out there and so different. He did what he wanted to do, and was concerned about the film, not about the money it would bring in. The result is truly unique and inspiring.

The problem with the Independent film is that most people will never get to see it. There may be not enough money for the production value to be at a high enough standard, and there might not be enough money to give it a decent release. Companies may be scared to buy the rights because the subject matter or style is so different. Also, if the director is bad, there is no studio around to save the film. A poor artist will create a poor film.

On the other hand, the reason independent film can be so good, is that a great artist can create a great film, without someone else ruining it.