Last Year's Model Dept.

A comment I made on Twitter earlier (yeah, I do that from time to time) deserves revisiting here in depth.

Hollywood's mania for sequels makes sense in light of how forgettable the films are. With no follow-up, who would remember they even exist?The inherently disposable nature of the films is a design feature, not a flaw. That's how they get you to buy next year's model.

What's puzzled me about this approach is how it runs contrary to some of the professed aims of the industry. When Hollywood...