Film Blog 5 - The Blockbuster Generation

                The term blockbuster has been steeped in mystery.  The original, it is believed, to be a military bomb that was able to destroy an entire city block that the WWII newspapers called.  However, the term blockbuster then entered the film industry sometime in the fifties.  It is often used to indicate a hot-selling book or high grossing films.

                The “first” blockbuster film considered to be Jaws (1975) even though Gone with the Wind (1939) easily passed Jaws in ticket sales alone.  Regardless, the 1970s brought on what is known as the Blockbuster Era of film.  During the 70s, many what we consider classics and the best blockbusters were introduced; Star Wars (1977), Superman (1978), and Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979).  Many considered the highest-grossest films and the high budget films to be blockbusters; however, there have been a number of low-budget blockbusters, including Blair Witch Project (1999).  Though blockbusters did help shape many American classics, they helped pave the way to directing and creating more blockbuster films from the early 90s to the 2010s.

                Most of the blockbusters for recent years have been directed and/or created by a culmination of writers, directing students, and the experienced blockbuster directors like Steven Spielberg.  Many attribute the correct balance of drama, comedy, plot thickness, and suspense to making a blockbuster film for today.  Ironically, some of today’s blockbusters are action packed with a touch of drama and comedy.  This change in the production of a blockbuster shifts with time and the changes in audience.  Due to the change in audience, even the marketing of a blockbuster film has changed to reel in not only the old movie-goers and the younger generations.

                Blockbusters in other countries learned what their audiences wanted.  For example, in India, the 1975 film of Sholay has an American-feel to the whole film.  The content and plot resembles an American gangster film and the film itself was a huge success.  Rated the number one film in Bollywood history, Sholay helped modern Indian film.  Another country’s blockbuster is the popular Enter the Dragon (1975).  Though American directed, Enter the Dragon was a huge success with Hong Kong’s audiences.  Thanks to the martial arts used in the film, this film later set the precedence for later films in Hong Kong, China, and even Japan.  Most of Chinese films are either related to martial arts or their old plays written by notable Chinese writers.  Japan’s filming scene was heavily influenced by Chinese and American film directors.  This connection helped bridge the Pacific together.  While many of Japan’s films were action packed, their plot lines and their material usually involves the thousand year history that the country holds.  Thanks to these films, modern filmmakers in Japan learn from those masters and learned how to make blockbuster films by listening to their teachers and their audiences.

                This increase in the production of films and blockbuster hits helped stimulate economy around the world.  With the current movie of Avatar (2010) topping the highest grossing film in 2010, one can only imagine what films await us in the future. 

Film Blog 4 - Woody Allen and the New Hollywood

 

Woody Allen is one of America’s best known producer/writer/director/actor.  Many of his films have been characterized by the New Hollywood standards, if one also adds his eccentric style along with it.

Woody Allen, though born Allen Konigsberg, has been accepted as one of America’s greatest directors (though the author of this blog thinks his style is a bit too eccentric).  With his mind, it is amazing how he can work so many jobs in so little time.  In one year of his career, he was directing 4 films; a challenge not matched to this day . . . yet.  Though his directing style is definitely unique, one may say he is also something of a “Renaissance man.”

Regardless of his many talents in the writing of plays and film, he himself has actually made a number of great contributions to what is now known as the Renaissance of Hollywood, “New Hollywood.”  This concept of using the counterculture-bred film students to create the films for the younger audiences they were losing.  For the first time since the film industry in America began, film became a more accessible art to the new generations.  Using new technologies in color and the overall film as well as content material, New Hollywood became more youth oriented.  Using plot material from Korea in the film MASH (1970), some psychopathic material in the ever-creepy The Shining (1980), and the ever-so-popular modern franchise Star Wars (1977), New Hollywood paved its way to help America get more and more younger crowds into the theatres and interest them into taking film to the future.

Woody Allen’s contributions were mostly miniscule in comparison to many of the other notable directors.  However the case, Annie Hall, considered being Allen’s greatest work, really set the modern stage for romantic comedies.  This is due to Diane Keaton’s performance of the character of Annie, with her crazy style in clothes (the masculine clothing, such as the tie in the cardigan), which actually sparked a minor fashion trend after the movie was released.  This “Lubitsch” comedy has been placed in the AFI 100 Best Films list at #35 due to its comedic touch.

Woody Allen’s comedy affection started early as he too is a comedian.  Though a comic, his comedy and psychoanalysis-themed films shined through in another film; it was done a bit earlier, Sleeper.  His quirkiness to develop a comedy on time-travel and using several popular books including George Orwell’s 1984, gave Allen another classic film.  Sleeper, though not a huge success, did have a positive effect on current films as well in the 80s-early 90s films; the popular sci-fi comedies.  It was once said that Mel Brooks’ Spaceballs did get some inspiration from Woody’s Sleeper.  It was believed that even the college-favorite Hot Tub Time Machine (2010) had some inspiration from Allen’s Sleeper.  Regardless of these, the AFI placed Sleeper at 80 in the 100 Years, 100 Laughs list back in 2000.

Allen Konigsberg is one of America’s best directors and his influence to start two new sub-genres in the romantic comedies and sci-fi comedies were pivotal back in the 70s.