Hollywood - Friend or Foe?

In recent years, Hollywood has become stuck in a rut. Following a pattern as formulaic as some of its sorry excuses for entertainment, the movie year begins in March. This is the preseason. The big studios release low budget action titles, romantic comedies just in time for Valentines Day, and long shots, hoping for lightning in a bottle. Without the imposing mega-budget hits to compete with, one stand-out could earn a bundle of cash. Recent examples of the springtime hit include action flop XXX: State of the Union, romantic comedy Hitch, and who could forget Constantine.


The next Hollywood season is summer. As everyone has now realized, summer is the time of year Hollywood throws a ton of "blockbuster" releases out. Each weekend, a new title is carefully wedged into release in a careful plan to be the #1 movie for that week. Of course, only 2 or 3 movies hold onto that spot because a bigger and badder blockbuster is always ready the following week. Of course, each movie comes complete with a fast food tie-in, action figures for sale at Toys-R-Us, and a video game. The goal of the studios is to create the Holy Grail of the film industry, "The Franchise." A big enough hit means sequels and more money! This list is long, but this summer offered us The Revenge of the Sith, Fantastic Four, War of the Worlds, and Jennifer Aniston's fav Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

After the summer season comes the worst time of the year, late summer. These are the pseudo-blockbusters that were so bad, the studios knew they couldn't compete in the summer. They usually were pushed back from an earlier release date and most should have been pushed back to NEVER! This year offered The Dukes of Hazzard, The Cave, and perhaps an all-time worst nominee Stealth.

A brief pause in the year ensues before 20 horror genre flicks are released leading up to Halloween. The big winner this year was Saw 2, but only because Freddy Kreuger, Jason Voorhies and Michael Myers have overstayed their welcome with 26 titles between them!

Finally, the winter movie season arrives with the "Oscar contenders." The studios rush to release the artsy hits critics drool over and swing their Oscar compaigns into high gear. This year the competition is tough with Munich, Syriana, Walk the Line, and The Producers all tying to be the next Million Dollar Baby. The season concludes with the Oscars in February hosted by either Billy Crystal or a complete boob.

However, every once in awhile we do get a surprise. One of the best movies ever shocked the world with a Spring release, The Matrix. Warner reimagined the Batman franchise in style with Batman Begins this year. Scream almost single handedly brought the horror genre back to life. Finally, winter is the season for Peter Jackson's annual release - King Kong this time around. That guy is golden.

So why do I bring this up? Every once in awhile, a movie captures the imagination. The build up makes you mark opening day on your calender. You brave the crowds to see the show that first night. Then, the movie actually delivers! In the upcoming year, some big releases are planned. Mission: Impossible 3, Pirates of the Caribbean 2, The Da Vinci Code, X-Men 3 and Transformers. However, I defy you to show me any trailer that makes your hair stand on end like the teaser for this one. Will it deliver? I don't know, but I'll be there June 30, 2006 to find out. Click the picture below to see this one. Yes, that's Brando. Yes that's John Williams score! AWESOME!