With Johnny Depp recently becoming a laughing stock with the release of Mortdecai, culminating a string of poorly received films, I was thinking what are the reasons an actor becomes a shadow of their former selves and begins appearing in one poor film after another?
Obvious candidates include Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, Marlon Brando, Eddie Murphy among others.
Possible reasons: -Bad luck. -Poor decision making. -Financial troubles. -Difficulty getting good roles at a certain age. -They just don't care anymore. -Personal lives spiraling out of control.
Although an interesting topic, it seems kind of harsh to write about why we think these actors picked bad movies or "went down hill" because when it comes down to it, everyone you named is a legend. Just my opinion though! – samcel10 years ago
I agree ^ I think this could be a good idea potentially if you changed your list of actors. Maybe you could change the topic a bit to be more along the lines of "how actors remain legends even after doing crappy hills later in their career." Johnny Depp still has a long career ahead of him, though...just because he acted in a recent poorly-received film doesn't necessarily mean his career is going to go downhill. I feel like your possible reasons and your idea are original, but I'm sure you could find better examples. – Felicia10 years ago
I think another reason not mentioned is that some actors (once established and able) might choose to work on projects that they personally feel connected to or feel they can express themselves through, as opposed to those which are likely to be a box office success - I know Al Pacino has talked about this. – jodiequinzel2 years ago
There are a lot of good Native American actors like Wei Studi and Rodney A. Grant. So why don't we see them as much in films now-a-days? Why don't we have more diverse roles for them besides typical tribal indians of the past? Why does Hollywood cast white actors like Johnny Depp to play an Indian charter?
Yes, i think that this is a very onteresting topic. It might be worthwhile noting that it probably comes down to the same thing as everything ekse Hollywood - lack of 'sellable' NA plots/characters/story. Looking at well-known films with NA actors in would be good - off the top of my head, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Warpath (?) in X-Men, Free Willy and (unfortunatly) Twilight. – Francesca Turauskis10 years ago
This is a really good point. There's so much to explore about the Native American narrative both past and present and the roles are relegated to Dances with Wolves and Pocahontas. You might want to look at Irene Bedard and Gil Birmingham who are among the more high-profile Native American actors who play the roles. – Kristin Ronzi10 years ago
Johnny Depp is of Native American descent, but he does not look the part. He was cast on that fact and, of course, because his name sells tickets. Many television shows like Longmire use Native American actors and are very successful, so how do we transition that to films without needing a big name actor? – Liz Watkins10 years ago
The recent film 'Kingsman' was marketed as a tongue-in-cheek James Bond movie, with the gadgets and quips that have been missing since the reboots staring Daniel Craig. Has Bond been too serious recently? And if so, what would be the best way of 'de-booting' it again? Would Craig be the actor to do it, or are there younger actors to take his place.
Interesting topic. The reboots with Daniel Craig have been much more serious compared to previous films. Skyfall deviated from the normal pattern of Bond films: the tone was much darker and the gadgets very minimal. There might be a shift back to Bond's origins, as M is a man again, Money Penny has returned, and I think the next Bond film will reintroduce SPECTRE. I think there is potential for Craig's Bond to bring back a bit of the humor and gadgets, but the tone of the reboots is already much different that the originals. – S.A. Takacs10 years ago
Apparently he was originally signed to do an hour-long documentary about Lennon, but that was whittled down to 2 videos. Still got $10,000 for 3 days' work. Apparently Peckinpah was intrigued and excited by the video editing equipment, similar but also different from the equipment he had first used working in TV in the 1950s.
And of course, Martin Scorsese directed Michael Jackson's 'Bad' and John Landis MJ's 'Thriller'.
So what would be the topic? Will it note that the directors are versatile in their style to suit the song or does their style remain the same? – Ryan Errington10 years ago
Cool idea... maybe discuss why they decided to direct music videos or if their are noticeable traits from the director in the videos? – samcel10 years ago
Interesting topic. I think it would also be interesting to explore how famous filmmakers shoot commercials as well, especially in the perfume industry (Martin Scorsese for Bleu de Chanel for instance). Their aesthetics are always more powerful than usual ads. It'd be interesting to try and find the aesthetic qualities we usually associate to a director in the commercials they shoot. – Rachel Elfassy Bitoun10 years ago
Kill the Messenger was recently released in the UK to little publicity. Based on a true story regarding CIA corruption, it is a film which can educate people but seems to be largely ignored. This topic could explore similar films during specific periods in history where the social climate refused to be disrupted.
I would consider if our lack of interest in these types of films has anything to do with our media culture. We can look up and follow news at all hours now, so why pay money to see a film about it? Or it could be we are just less interested. – Liz Watkins10 years ago
The Jurassic Park franchise is known for it's astounding use of technology creating a hyperrealistic cinematic experience as seen in previous films. From what we've seen of the upcoming film "Jurassic World," it is evident that Spielberg has moved to more digital means of bringing his dinosaurs back to life. Critics have pointed out how this use of technology actually demerits the new film because it lacks the grit of the original films thereby distancing the audience from what is suppose to be an immersive experience. Still, while these early previews may be less than impressive, it is undeniable that the marketing for the film has done amazing work with secondary media. This is extremely well exemplified in the Jurassic World website with a very realistic interface that boasts live cams of the park, and details right down to current temperature making the fictional park seem as real as Disney World. This would be an analysis the different uses of technology, what it enables, and it's possible faults in anticipation of "Jurassic World."
I like this topic. I think it would be worthwhile to examine any other remake or sequels that have switched to using digital/computer graphics and have been less successful than the original. – Liz Watkins10 years ago
This would be a neat topic. The increased use of digital or computer graphics in movies is a trend, one that is unlikely to slow down. In terms of sequels that have used more graphics, it might be helpful to compare The Hobbit trilogy and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. It seems to me that the LOTR movies are "grittier" than The Hobbit movies. – S.A. Takacs10 years ago
I think this is a very interesting topic. I think the suggestions from Liz Watkins and S.A. Takacs are all great to follow, and maybe if you are going to focus on how Jurassic World uses secondary media to promote the film, maybe you could look into how other films like The Hobbit use similar tactics with its marketing. – Seth Childers10 years ago
"Dark City", although it's more linear than surreal, always struck me this way–and I believe Proyas said he wrote it based on some nightmares. The hero wakes up in a strange world with no memories or context for anything, he's completely alone in his troubles, the landscape morphs around him to make it feel like he's going in circles, it's a never ending night… and did I mention the group of pale, vaguely inhuman figures stalkers who are always one step behind him?
Let's add "Eraserhead" and "Jacob's Ladder" in the mix too.
'Mulholland Drive' and 'Berberian Sound Studio' would also be great films to look at in relation to this. – Pottig10 years ago
'Lost Highway' (1997) and Ingmar Bergman's 'The Hour of the Wolf' (1968) would also be great choices. – Ryan Errington10 years ago
'Memento' is great because the audience begins just as lost as the main character. 'Shutter Island" is a great one, too. – Liz Watkins10 years ago
'The Machinist' would also be good. – dannyjs10 years ago
'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari' would be a great film to follow; it has a very dark gothic atmosphere that looks and feels like something out of a nightmare - something enforced even further by its unforgettable ending. – Seth Childers10 years ago
There was a really weird film I watched with my parents when I was young called 'Pi' don't remember much but this guy was trying to find Pi's end and couldn't so put a drill to his head.(that makes my parents seem like they are sadist, but they aren't!!) It was kind of similar to Terry Gilliam's 'Zero Theorm' but much darker. 'Twelve Monkeys' or 'Brazil' by TG would also be good... – Francesca Turauskis10 years ago
No big blockbuster is complete without a fully realized villain. But does the villain need an origin for his or her evil? Of particular interest would be the Star Wars prequels and Maleficent.
It could be interesting to analyze common themes of villains' "evil" between multiple movies. Are there common origins of "evil" between different villains (such as traumatic family events - as one potential example). Have they always been "evil," or is this "evil" something that developed over time? Are there differences in representations of male villains and female villains? Just some questions to consider while exploring the topic. – aileenmaeryan10 years ago
It would also be interesting to see this discussed in relation to villains. You have superhero villains , who often are given a back-story and then villains in movies like Die Hard or action movies like that. From their you could compare and contrast the necessity of each origin and, as Aileen said above, look into common themes. – Tyler McPherson10 years ago
In modern films, villains surely need an origin because fully realized villains are more valuable than villains crammed just for the sake of competition to the hero. You can analyze the various potential kinds of origins. One being traumatic family events, as aileenmaeryan put. Another can be the situations of growing up and yet another personal morals. Especially those villains who are likeable in their own right, like Joker or V will make a good read. You can also analyze the good cases like Megamind, who wasn't really evil at all but embraced evilness explicitly as a profession. – Abhimanyu Shekhar10 years ago
