Sequels, Prequels, Midquels, Remakes, and Reboots

There's no movies this summer that are calling me to the theaters. Everything this year seems to be a spin-off of something else! And it all seems to be something I don't really care about.

You got "X-Men Origins: Wolverine": a prequel, you got "Terminator: Salvation": the sequel no one asked for, and "Star Trek": which someone explained to me in such a complicated fashion, I had to finally figure it out and say, "It's a sequel, a prequel, and a reboot?" To which they replied, "Yep!"

And yeah, there's other sequels out there now, but I'm not going to pick out every single one. It's like, every movie is a remake, a sequel, a prequel, a midquel (meaning it takes place during another movie or story), a reboot of a long-dead series, or a re-hash of an idea that feels like it's been done a million times.

Just about the only movies that feel original are either not from this country, or are actually based on a book that went without a movie adaptation until now.

This leads me to ask: where is the creativity in Hollywood? No one has it! You remember seeing an old movie, then found out it was based on a book, and then you found the book, read it, and discovered that it was almost completely different from the movie? At least that shows some originality!

Now, there are some original movies out there. Those Christian movies like Facing the Giants and Fireproof come to mind, but they have a problem... they feel underdone. (And in the case of those Christian movies, just a bit too preachy and Sunday School-ish.)

And on the chance someone does make an actually good original movie, it either flops, or does well and gets buried by terrible SEQUELS! I don't know about you, but when I hear a movie has a long list of sequels, I tend to avoid it. Because, if you see one, you feel obligated to see the rest. (It was only my serious lack of interest that the original Friday the 13th was the only movie from that series I watched.)

Just about the only movies with original stories that do well are these Disney/Pixar movies, and other family fare. The thing is, I'm not a kid anymore, I don't have kids, and these tend to get sappy.

And don't get me started on those parody movies! They're all terrible!

The industry is wondering why YouTube has such a large appeal. Here's the reason: homemade videos are usually original, and if they're not, they're short, and didn't rob you of $7-20 for a ticket.

I miss the good old days when movies were made to be quality entertainment, and not just to make money. Sure, back then, making money was an aim, but they would also strive to make a quality product. It just goes to show...

...They don't make them like they used to.