THE HOBBIT ON THE ROCKS IS CRYING (A RANT)

FRODO: I'm going to Mordor alone, Sam.
SAM: I know! And I'm coming with you.

Rewatching The Lord of the Rings, now a quarter century old, I was struck by how human these films are, and how universal and timeless their values: friendship, loyalty, courage, duty, honor, sacrifice. There is nothing in the LOTR movies which has aged a day or will not be equally valid a century from now.

Modern movies tend to suck in large part because they are unable to produce memorable dialog or relatable characters we actually care about. They don't instruct; they condescend. They don't make music, they make noise. The bar for storytelling is not low; it is on the ground. Writers who might have once, generously, been allowed to sharpen pencils on a studio lot are now making millions to give us shit that could have been written by AI. And by AI, I mean the sort of AI which once opposed me in a game of "Pong."

In Braveheart, William Wallace tells Robert the Bruce, "Your title gives you claim to the throne of our country; but men don't follow titles, they follow courage." Not only is this a great line, it's also true of Hollywood: the title gives it claim to our attention and money, but people do not follow titles, they follow stories. And good storytelling is dependent on basic principles. Almost every movie I've seen in recent years is...content. Not art. Not even good popcorn entertainment: content. Disposable and forgettable. They differ from the bad movies of yesteryear in that they do not even try to be good. Nor is there any real attempt at originality. I can hardly think of an A-list, theatrical release movie I've seen in recent years which had any new ideas in it at all. On the other hand, I have seen almost every major legacy franchise and many minor ones desecrated out of recognition by reboots, spin-offs, remakes, sequels, prequels, and "re-imaginings" that attempt to "fix" what was never broken in the first place.

Making a great movie is not easy, but the principles that drive great movies are easy to understand. Audiences want to be entertained, sure, but they also want to be inspired and have the deeper values of humankind affirmed...after being put to a harsh test. From Rocky to Harry Potter, Luke Skywalker to Bilbo Baggins, it's all about the journey.

There and back again.

Modern movie writers need to understand why people go to the movies in the first place.