One hit wonder as a director. And that hit is American Graffiti, not Star Wars.

He's an ideas man, maybe one of the best ever. Ideas are important for a director, but execution is arguably more important, which requires the ability to listen to others

It was a Will Smith movie about a Superman-like superhero who became reviled and then became a bum. It was exciting because this was during the height of Will Smith's action career and it would have been the first high-budget serious superhero movie starring a person of color.

The original script reads like pure art and adrenaline from what I remember. The actual movie turned into some shit-fest that made a white PR Rep the main character and then shoehorned some weird love triangle with ancient beings and super-amnesia.

You read that right. Somehow, the first big budget gritty superhero movie starring a black man got turned into a milquetoast semi-rom-com starring a white man as a media specialist with no superpowers.

Being right and being wrong often feel the exact same until something actually challenges that belief

That story line was 100% the result of corporate board meddling

I think the biggest thing is they should be having artistically minded people consulting the artists. Not money minded people

Cheaper movies are exactly what we need. There are 5 major studios (Disney, Paramount, Universal, Sony, and Warner Bros.) and between them they release about 20 movies a year with budgets over $100mil. They need to be releasing about 5. In 2023 14 movies were released with budgets above $200mil and only one (Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3) broke even on box office sales.

Throwing money at it doesn't make a movie good. Some movies require big budgets to effectively tell their story but most don't and the more money a studio throws at a movie the less control the actual film makers have. The story and a film maker with a coherent vision are the two most important elements.

To prove it here are some iconic movies made for less than a million dollars: Mad Max, Napoleon Dynamite, Clerks, Paranormal Activity, Friday the 13th, Halloween. Between 1 and 2 million we pick up movies like Rocky and Saw. My Big Fat Greek Wedding cost $5 million.

Studios need to focus on 1 big movie a year and then take lots of small budget risks. The box office profits from the $5 million Get Out would pay for 25 $10 million risks. Find a decent script with a passionate filmmaker behind it, give them just enough of a budget to get the film made and stay out of the way. The overall quality of cinema would be vastly improved.

They used to be better. My prime example is This teaser for Thor Ragnarok.

Watch from about 1:09.

They just kept revealing the scene! How much better would that scene have been when you watch the movie if we didnt know who was going to come out that door?

Would you show the hulk? I wouldnt. Thats an amazing scene everyone who left the theatre would have been gushing over if it was a surprise.

This never would have been the trailer in previous years but today seems to be all about showing the juiciest parts of a movie just to get people talking about going to see it. Then the movie be utterly disappointing because you have already seen the best scenes and all the bits between just arent as interesting. Its like telling all of the best jokes in a movie before you go see it. Sure it gets butts in seats. Im just surprised it STILL gets butts in seats