I think Hollywood is deficient in originality. I can recall a time when sequels were few and far between NOT already being thought of and produced the day after the first one opens. And if they can't do a remake or a sequel...let do a VS movie and bastardize the entire franchises of BOTH. Horror is practically dead...Comedy? I haven't laughed in a theatre in a long time. The Thriller is doing ok. The Action Movie has been dead for years. Romance...don't even get me started.

Anyway, this isn't about that...but I'd like to discuss the original movies that are out there...those that defined cinema. You know the ones...they set the standard for everything that came after it.

Ones that come to mind...

Wizard of Oz
Star Wars
Spirited Away
Momento
Pi
Open Water

Nothing before or after came close to these...though there were some that tried.

Anything by the Coen Brothers.

superspaceboy said:

doctormcmeekle said:

2the9s said:

Have you seen the sequel? Pi 2: The Wedding.

There's this one guy and he drinks piss.

doctormcmeekle said:

doctormcmeekle said:

Yeah! I pitched that movie starring Cloudbuster!

2the9s said:

But he's not meant to like it.

doctormcmeekle said:

He told me he used the Stanislavsky method.

2the9s said:

(mcmeekle types "staniswhatsky" into google..... )

2the9s said:

The stories are original..I'll give them that. And they are good at what they do..pretty much all of their films are of good quality. But I'm not sure if their movies were highly original. I mean there are just some movies that really capture the imagination and take you to places you hadn't been before.

I mention Pi and not Requiem of a dream (by the same director) for a few reasons. The story is like no other. A man obsessed with this number that everyone else is obsessed about as well. Where as Requiem dealt with addiction...in a way I'll never forget, but that story has sort of been done before.

originality allright...

Xavier23 said:

original BULL SHIT that is!

i sorta disagree with Open Water & Memento.....Memento was not the first film told in reverse. and Open Water was just a retelling of Alien but in water.



id throw in the following:

Blair Witch Project (Although I hate this film I can not deny its use of the internet to build its mythology)


Breaking The Waves (brought the whole handhelm cam to the forefront and was the prototype for all of Lar's "angel" films to follow....Dancer In The Dark, Dogville and Mandalay....anyone else remember when Dogville was supposed to complete Lar's "angel" trilogy? with Dancer & Waves? not its its own trilogy...cant wait for Mandalay....)

Holloween (It created the slasher genre...although one might consider replacing this with Assault On Precent 12 (original version) )

Night Of the Living Dead (need i say more?)

WestSideStory- (Broke the mold for musicals and probably ruined the genre for a while after...All the silly song and dance numbers that were the mainstay of the musical paled in comparison..It took Dancer In The Dark many many years later to do it right again. (no, i dont consider Evita as the start of the musical resurgance....that movie was rot and a critical and commerical flop.)

Snow White- (The one that started the disney magic.)

Labyrinth of Passion- Pedro Pedro Pedro..The only director. The only director ever to get gay characters onto the big screen and *not* make them walking cliches.....This is where he brought out his zany slapstick style..the strong female roles..the strong gay male roles...its all there and its a hoot....Too bad the american gay cinema is utter crap. Pedro personifies everything our film scene should be here in the states. Mainly well written characters with interesting stories.

I think the fact that Hollywood tries to cover such a broad audience with their movies is the problem....They water down good or great concepts to fit a PG13 or some inbetween rating...Also the cause IMO is the politcally correct society we now live in...No chances are taken in movies unless independent....So to me there are a lot of factors...That is why I thought Sin City was a like a breath of fresh air...A comic movie that actually stays true to the comic...no watering down or drawn out explanations...

sosgemini said:

I think of marketing the least when I think of The Blair Witch Project. Being made with a low budget didn't distill its quality at all. It's probably the last movie that genuinely scared me. The strength of it is the raw emotion, which horror movies don't have a drop of anymore. But if we're to discuss originality, how about early films that defined what an epic is:

Metropolis
Ben-Hur

All effects created by sleight of hand. As far as musicals, nothing was shot like the Golddiggers movies in the 1930s.