There are probably thousands of comic books, with hundreds of heroes and villains. Surely, getting new iterations of Spiderman and Batman for the third time (for Spiderman, the third time in the last two decades, the last one being in 2014) isn't really necessary nor is it pushing the boundaries to new ideas. Why are we getting new iterations? Is it because the general population will only pay to see superheroes they know? But with the increasing superhero overdose, wouldn't studios make more money if there were new superheroes with new villains and new powers being put on the big screen?
I would be careful of the use of the word "remakes" because if you look at Christian Bale's Batman vs. Ben Afleck's Batman, the characters have distinct differences between them, with different stories and elements highlighted. In this case, I feel that the word remakes might not be the best fit. Maybe "new iterations" would be more appropriate for what you are discussing. The topic is very interesting and relevant overall! – SeanGadus8 years ago
Good point, but check the wording in the second sentence. More specifically 'necessary of interesting'. I'm not sure what you were going for, but I feel like you can word that part better. Other than that, you are good to go. – MikeySheff8 years ago
I think Batman especially represents a lot of interesting aspects of the human subconscious, which is possibly why he is so enduringly popular, but I do think that with nearly 100 years of mythos in Batman, the filmmakers could do more to integrate the entirety of the comics. For instance, the only Batgirl we've gotten was in the terrible Clooney movie, which is not at all representative of Barbara Gordon. We haven't seen anything of Jason Todd, a hint of Nightwing at the end of Dark Knight Rises, but there's so much more to Batman than just Batman, and I think that's being really underutilized. – rmwalker8 years ago
In the wake of the massive success of "Deadpool," many other films (mostly superhero movies, a la "Logan") have decided to also jump into R-rated waters. Is this transition going to have an overall positive impact on the industry, or is it just a needless aping in an attempt to make lightning strike twice?
Intriguing topic, considering how often films have wanted to avoid an R-rating for the purpose of appealing to a much wider audience. Defining what "positive" means in relation to the film industry will be key. Does that mean more profits? Better content? Should super heroes be adult themed? What kind of effect does that have on the younger audience, specially if they can't view these films without parental consent? – mazzamura8 years ago
Interesting topic. Although I don't think filmmakers coming out with R-rated films (or deliberately aiming to receive R ratings) is really anything new, since the R rating has been around and in popular use for a long time ... unless you mean to specifically focus on R ratings in superhero movies? – OBri8 years ago
I suppose the heart of this issue is that they are limiting the potential of an entire demographic (i.e. children) from being patrons to these films. Traditionally, children have been the primary audience for superhero movies, with even more profits coming from the expansive merchandising than the box office. However, when filmmakers pander directly to the action-figure market, we wind up with Schumacher's Batman movies. Since circa 2005 to 2008, when Nolan revived Batman with a gritty, semi-realistic reinvention of the character that was most certainly not targeted toward children (regardless of whether or not they saw and enjoyed it), it inspired a more adult-oriented trend in the superhero genre. Deadpool, then, took this further by replacing the darkness and brooding with raunchy comedy, thereby expanding the market in a new direction. Time will tell whether this newfound adult audience will be sustainable enough to compensate for all of the children being excluded by these R-ratings. This shift in demographic targeting should make for a worthy investigation. – ProtoCanon8 years ago
I think it should also be noted these rated R movies are only succesful because the material itself where it originates from is for a matured audience, so it really depends on what kind of material is being adapted to a R-rated film and whatever the material has a loyal audience. – cgclass8 years ago
I think the key will be content. Are movies adding unnecessary additions just to get the R-Rating? Or does the content actually call for it (such as Deadpool)? – alijulia878 years ago
It may be worth noting the reason for the rating? I find myself somewhat skeptical when a movie I thought would be rated R is, in fact, PG-13. I worry that the film will be limited by that rating, that something which should indeed be gruesome, adult, serious, or otherwise "mature" will be watered for the sake of potentially young viewers. In that case, it borders censorship. But, I also find the notion of making a movie rated R, or incorporating uselessly ostentatious deaths without true benefit to be equally as unsettling. – Josh8 years ago
How can the issue of cultural and linguist translation be tackled? Can it even be tackled at all? While a film may be able to translate the language, some cultural references are usually lost, especially when taking into consideration a unique language and culture like Japanese for example, and attempting to translate the language and culture relevance to an American audience. No easy feat.
Take a film like Miyazaki’s “My Neighbor Totoro” as an example – there’s something culturally amiss in the translation, so much so that more than one English version has been released since the original Japanese release in 1988.
There’s much room for exploration of what makes a film translation either good or bad, and this would make for an interesting project particularly if explored by bilingual folks who are fluent in both the linguistic and cultural nuances of the original film and its subtitled release.
Some ideas and subtexts are impossible to translate because those concepts may not exist in another culture. – Munjeera8 years ago
Each language has its own set of nuances, in the way that the the dialogue is written, which can be lost in translation. In some Bollywood movies, this is sometimes remedied by referring to cultural aspects commonly found in US/English culture as an equivalent, so that the viewer has a general idea of what is being explained. However, there are some historical figures or cultural aspects that would require more than one line to explain, which is not possible in most cases. Additionally, there can be multiple dialects of the same language, which can say a lot about a character that can explain where the individual comes from. Such information may not be available to the viewer who does not understand the particular language. This would definitely make for a interesting article! – vaidyadoc8 years ago
Film audiences love plots centered on time loops, time travel, body switching, and similar phenomena. From Groundhog Day to Freaky Friday, to the myriad of specials where a character wishes it were Christmas every day, we can't seem to get enough of this type of plot device. Why though, when we know by rights, these devices should be stale?
A few reasons come to mind. Perhaps it's because characters in a time loop or body switch are doing what we want to do–get another chance at doing something, or see how the other half lives. Perhaps it's because we want to reassure ourselves time is dependable and thus, these things could never happen. Of course, these are only two possible explanations.
Consider expanding the topic to include literature, or connect this trope with how we view these films and how the films progress. – SarahKnauf8 years ago
Good idea, although I'm not as familiar with time travel literature. :) Does anyone out there have suggestions? – RubyBelle8 years ago
Interesting topic. I think that looking at the Harry Potter series use of time travel would be interesting. It was only really used in the third book, and they brought it back for the recent play (which most seemed to not enjoy from what I heard). – Daonso8 years ago
Cool topic. I'm sure there's a lot of research in psychology and communication out there that could be useful. And actually, while I think it's good that your topic is specific, I'm just going to throw out it there that this angle could be applied to really any of the plot devices we see over and over again. Any of it could make for an interesting study. – OBri8 years ago
Yes, it could. I think it was Shakespeare who said there are only what, 13 plots? And yet writers manage to make old plot devices original all the time. I'd love to see someone examine the most popular devices--not only time loops but others. Some are even genre-specific, like the plot where two business rivals end up in a romantic relationship, or the one where the murderer looks like the most innocent person alive. – Stephanie M.8 years ago
A topic I would most certainly like to read on. I could think many related titles in animation and comics but would be interested in hearing more from film. – dekichan8 years ago
I've been asking myself for a long time what made minions from the movie series Despicable Me get so out of hand in merchandise and web presence. With the third movie soon coming out this topic could get a lot of attention. People tend to be in one of two categories: they love minions or they hate them. But, why Minions? There are plenty of slapstick sidekicks in cartoons but none have blown up to quite such proportions. There's a lot of them, they aren't identified as individuals, and they don't talk, but until they became mass-produced cringe inspiring merchandise, they contributed a heartfelt dynamic to the family image in Despicable Me and that's now been forgotten. Did they catch fame so quickly because of their central role in the movie or was it just their slapstick humor that caught people's attention… or was it something more subtle? From memes to merchandise Minions are presented as androgynous. Is this what made them so marketable? A non-gender creature appealing to anyone? In a world with so much gender controversy, maybe Minions were the solution to a time full of uncertainty and a need for PC? Study the marketing strategies presented for Minions, and perhaps on a anthropological level, explain their success.
I think either Ralph Sepe or IHE (Youtubers) may have covered this in their Minions videos. It's partially based on the simplicity of the character design that emphasizes 'cuteness,' and the nonsense-speak achieves a similar result (I know they speak Spanish occasionally, but they also say fruits or whatever; it's not a language). Gender....really has nothing to do with it. Lightning McQueen was pretty marketable, as was Frozen's Olaf, and both were clearly male. And I doubt the Minion-loving crowd cares about anything being PC or not. [They have traditionally-male names/mannerisms anyways, I don't know how you drew the androgynous conclusion?] I'd definitely like to hear the gender-argument you're proposing, but I don't think it's built on solid ground so far. But like, definitely prove me wrong because I love analyzing kids' movies (Sorry if that sounded aggressive; if so, it was unintentional). – m-cubed8 years ago
I agree with m-cubed that I don't feel like their lack of stated gender really did much. I also agree with the points the aforementioned Youtubers made about simplicity both in design and in their nonsense speak. I think "mass-produced cringe inspiring merchandise" might be a little too heavy-handed since it veers on personal opinion (even if I agree). I think looking at why they inspire so much hatred in particular might also be interesting. If I had to wager I believe it's a counter-culture attitude. When something is so all consuming in products, media, and, in the minion's case, social media it generates an over-exposure annoyance. This "annoyance" I think was made worse due to the fact that their content is rather culturally base. It's nonsense speak and slapstick, which are pretty low on the cultural totem pole and thus easy to hate if you are outside the common denominator. By distancing themselves from this cultural phenomenon, it was seen as a statement of having higher standards and taste above the lowest level of the "cultural totem pole". – LondonFog8 years ago
Yes, you are both really informed on this (as I'm not, I didn't look into it ahead of time and just threw this up because of the trailer). Anyone who takes this article shouldn't get caught on the androgynous thing, it really was just a call for an article going into why they were so mass-marketed and why the reactions to them were so strong in either direction. Taking already analysis into synopsis and adding to them would make a fine easy piece of writing to get views for the upcoming film. – Slaidey8 years ago
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess that Kevin is a male minion. – Tigey8 years ago
Discuss the potential box office and/or critical draw the upcoming Wonder Woman film may or may not have. Will it improve DC Entertainment's cinematic standards? How will it affect Marvel and their plans for more diverse films? Could a Wonder Woman film help shape a more diverse landscape of superhero franchises, regardless of critical or commercial success? Consider previous failures like Elektra and Catwoman and why they might have failed.
I think the most difficult part of this topic is writing about a movie that hasn't premiered yet and thus makes it difficult to compare and analyze. It would be really interesting though to look at previous box office or critical failures and see WHAT they did wrong and then look at what Wonder Woman is potentially promising. – LondonFog8 years ago
This would be a great topic to explore now, as the film has been released and it clearly is changing the superhero genre/hollywood in general. – madsmcrae7 years ago
Speculating about future events and their immeasurable impact in society could also be a great topic for an article. – T. Palomino2 years ago
Analyze the depth and breadth of shows ranging from various genres that Netflix as a platform has facilitated. On the whole, the cultural products emerging from this Netflix Originals platform are daring and experimental with a progressive bent. Discuss this choosing a particular set of shows or genre. For me it is striking how many fantastic documentaries they are facilitating. Documentaries that otherwise wouldn't be produced or would be extremely obscure. The recent documentary on the 13th amendment is amazing, also the recent one covering the minimalist movement shows interesting aspects of countercultural realities.
You could also explore where this counterculture comes from and why. Many of the shows are British, but are they more inclusive, less? Is it based on creators? Age? Or even sex? This could all be explored in a study of the counterculture. – TheSwampThing8 years ago
It would also be interesting to look at the politics of such shows in connection to ist audience. Who watches which Netflix prodcut? Who is reached by Netflix/ Who can enjoy ist content? – Laura Jungblut8 years ago
Given the popularity for thrillers like Gone Girl to be turned into movies, did The Girl On The Train meet expectations? Did it live up the the standard set by the book? What makes a movie adaptations successful. Analyze how and why this female-driven thriller genre is gaining popularity.
Great topic! I read the book and saw the film and found a lot could easily be analyzed between the two! You could even ask about the differences in rhetoric in the movie and the book, did if give two different views or was one more convincing than the other! – brittanieclark8 years ago
