Genre Dominance

[Spun Lepton]

Genre films seems to rise and fall in popularity, the two big players being, of course, sci-fi and horror. It seems that when horror is dominant, sci-fi takes a back seat and vice-versa. At least, until recently.

50s and well into the 60s -- Sci-fi dominated.
Later 60s into mid-80s -- Horror dominated.
Late 80s through early 2000s -- Sci-fi dominated.
2000s -- Sci-fi and horror are pretty much even. Superhero movies have become the dominant genre type.

So, what genre will dominate when the superhero phase burns out? And how long do you predict the superhero genre to dominate?

I suspect sci-fi will become big again. It already looks like it's ramping up.

Also, how long will it be before somebody makes a video game adaptation that isn't balls? Will it be like superhero movies, where a new generation has to come in and show the old generation how it's done? Or will video game movies be forever scoffed at?

[Spinal]

I see no reason for someone to make a video game movie other than to cash in on the name recognition. That's probably why they are mostly bad. Do you adapt Doom because you have a story to tell? Or Tomb Raider because you want to offer a challenging, meaningful experience? There may be exceptions along the way, but I can't really see it ever being fertile ground for artistry.

[Spun Lepton]

I see no reason for someone to make a video game movie other than to cash in on the name recognition. That's probably why they are mostly bad.

Fair enough.


Do you adapt Doom because you have a story to tell? Or Tomb Raider because you want to offer a challenging, meaningful experience?

Maybe not currently, but who says it can't be done?

[balmakboor]

This may be an embarrassing admission, but the only videogames I've ever played are Pong and Pacman. So, as you can imagine, movies based on videogames have never interested me much. (Or, more truthfully, I'm often caught by surprise to learn that a movie was even based on a videogame.)

[Derek]

Maybe not currently, but who says it can't be done?

I think Spinal was... ;)

I agree that it's possible for a young, talented director to get behind one and make something interesting. I think it's highly unlikely because the studio's think of these simply as cash cows - they want them made cheap, fast and generic, so the opportunity for a director to even take chances in that situation will rarely be there.

EDIT: I should add that I do think the first Resident Evil was actually pretty good.

[Spinal]

I think Spinal was... ;)

I said there would be exceptions. Sure, it's possible. Just not very likely to happen on a regular basis.




EDIT: I should add that I do think the first Resident Evil was actually pretty good.

Me too.

[Derek]

I said there would be exceptions. Sure, it's possible. Just not very likely to happen on a regular basis.

Jeez, can't I be a smartass in peace? I agree with your first post, btw, particularly the last sentence.

[Dead & Messed Up]

I thought Tomb Raider was mediocre (re: not bad for a vg movie), Mortal Kombat was agreeable pulp nonsense, and Silent Hill had some interesting things going on. I hold out hope for a great one.

As for what genre will dominate...we are currently on the cusp of a veritable storm of board game / toy films. Battleship. Candyland. Stretch Armstrong. Monopoly. Ouija. Make sure the hatches are battened, and brace yourself.

[Spun Lepton]

I think Spinal was... ;)

:D

[Spun Lepton]

As for what genre will dominate...we are currently on the cusp of a veritable storm of board game / toy films. Battleship. Candyland. Stretch Armstrong. Monopoly. Ouija. Make sure the hatches are battened, and brace yourself.

Do you think they'll be successful?

[Dead & Messed Up]

Do you think they'll be successful?

I have no idea. My guess is that Stretch Armstrong and Ouija have the best chances. The former because they tabbed Taylor Lautner for the lead, the latter because ouija boards have spiritual connotations, which makes them a little more interesting than Monopoly or Candyland.

[Adam]

Dunno about board games, but just wait until I get my long in the works Grim Fandango film off the ground

[bac0n]

And what happens after the board game craze runs out of steam? Card game movies? I'd really love to see Guillermo Del Toro's interpretation of Uno, or The Coen Brothers' spin on Yahtzee.

[number8]

Making a video game movie is a waste of effort because you either take a retro game and invent your own story, which means you're only cashing in on a brand rather than really doing something for creative merit; or you adapt a modern video game which chances are is already plenty cinematic, strip it of the interactivity that today's generation prefer, and try to make it as profitable as the game, which already rivals most box office intakes.

Futile, really.

[Ezee E]

Is Monopoly still happening? Ridley Scott was in charge and he's moved on to other stuff.

[Pop Trash]

The Clue movie is and probably will be the masterpiece of board games into movies. Tim Curry!

[Fezzik]

I'd still like to see someone try and tackle a movie based in the Half-Life universe. There are some real possibilities there. Get Cuaron to direct.

[Qrazy]

I see no reason for someone to make a video game movie other than to cash in on the name recognition. That's probably why they are mostly bad. Do you adapt Doom because you have a story to tell? Or Tomb Raider because you want to offer a challenging, meaningful experience? There may be exceptions along the way, but I can't really see it ever being fertile ground for artistry.

OK there Ebert.

[Spinal]

I'd still like to see someone try and tackle a movie based in the Half-Life universe. There are some real possibilities there. Get Cuaron to direct.

Why would he do that when he's already made Children of Men? Why do we need a movie version of Half-Life when the games are already an exhilarating cinematic experience that is interactive?

[transmogrifier]

I'd say biopics trade in on name recognition just as much, if not more, than video game adaptations, and we don't have threads bemoaning those.

I'm a cynic about biopics, of course, but I can't preclude the idea that a biopic could be a launching pad for a superbly personal, arresting, creative film.....but it just doesn't happen enough, because the filmmakers are too much of a slave to the "facts" of their source. At least with video games, there's a greater license for freedom of expression on the part of the filmmaker (or should I say screenwriter, seeing as the look of the film will often be pinned down already by the video game itself), and thus I would argue a more fertile ground for the art of cinema.

Of course, this hasn't happened, but unlike 8, I don't think cashing in on the name (yes, it happens) and having creative merit are mutually exclusive in video game adaptations.

[Qrazy]

I think you could make a sweet movie from the Myst series mythos or at least a spin off. In fact I think a film is being made although I doubt it will be a good one.

[Derek]

I'd say biopics trade in on name recognition just as much, if not more, than video game adaptations, and we don't have threads bemoaning those.

I'm pretty sure plenty of people here, myself included, have bitched about the vacuity of biopics.

[Watashi]

I can't wait until they start adapting movies out of product mascots.

Coming Soon:

Apichatpong Weerasethakul's The Burger King.

[Spun Lepton]

I can't wait until they start adapting movies out of product mascots.

Coming Soon:

Apichatpong Weerasethakul's The Burger King.

They attempted to make the Geico cavemen into a TV show with ... embarassing results.

[Grouchy]

I thought this was a thread about BDSM.

Not much else to say. I agree with Spinal it's hard to take a game movie seriously because it's created to cash in with a popular name.

[eternity]

I see no reason for someone to make a video game movie other than to cash in on the name recognition. That's probably why they are mostly bad. Do you adapt Doom because you have a story to tell? Or Tomb Raider because you want to offer a challenging, meaningful experience? There may be exceptions along the way, but I can't really see it ever being fertile ground for artistry.
There are many video games that could warrant a film adaptation, if only to transfer the feelings that the games evoke onto the screen. There's no reason a Halo film or a Half-Life film or a Metroid film couldn't be spectacular.

[Heidi]

not much a of a video game player, but to me the idea of making films based on games is just an exercise of 'going through the motions' so to speak. imagine a serious emotional take on the main character of grand theft auto. the performance would just make me laugh.

[lovejuice]

Apichatpong Weerasethakul's The Burger King.
among his "projects" is an adaptation of this cultish Thai cartoon, hesheit.

http://sqweez.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/shapeimage_1.jpg

probably never gonna happened now.

and I'm impressed that you take an effort to write down his full name.

[D_Davis]

not much a of a video game player, but to me the idea of making films based on games is just an exercise of 'going through the motions' so to speak. imagine a serious emotional take on the main character of grand theft auto. the performance would just make me laugh.

The main character of most of the GTA games is the player - the character himself is more of a blank slate, and so the filmmakers would have to create something from scratch, which would then be nothing more than another generic crime film.

They've made great movies based on books, people, comic books, and truth, so I see no reason why they couldn't make a great movie based on a video game. They haven't done this yet, but they probably will at some point. Personally I couldn't care less about a movie based on a video game, and I don't really see the point with all the creative writers out there, but I don't doubt that, at some point, a great movie will be made based off of a video game.

All cinema is genre cinema - just like all novels are fantasies, some are just more honest about it (Gene Wolfe). There are dramas, comedies, action films, biopics, etc. Each of these is a genre. Classifying certain things as "genre" is just another way to marginalize populist entertainment.

[megladon8]

I thought this was a thread about BDSM.

Not much else to say. I agree with Spinal it's hard to take a game movie seriously because it's created to cash in with a popular name.


So are like, 90% of the movies out there.

I'm pretty much in agreement with Davis, here. I have yet to see a great video game movie, but I have no doubt that one will come around eventually.

[Winston*]

The problem with all these video game adaptations is that the games they're adapting tend to be a recycling of film cliches in an interactive format, so when they're adapted back to film you're getting a recycle of a recycle of a cliche. Not sure whether to reference Michael Keaton's Multipliticy or Human Centipede here.

[megladon8]

The problem with all these video game adaptations is that the games they're adapting tend to be a recycling of film cliches in an interactive format, so when they're adapted back to film you're getting a recycle of a recycle of a cliche. Not sure whether to reference Michael Keaton's Multipliticy or Human Centipede here.


I would see Michael Keaton's Human Centipede in a heart beat.

I always wished something would resurrect his career.

[Spinal]

I'm pretty much in agreement with Davis, here. I have yet to see a great video game movie, but I have no doubt that one will come around eventually.

Has anyone said otherwise? Sure, it's possible, but it will be the exception rather than the rule. I think we're all using different words to say the same thing.

[Heidi]

The main character of most of the GTA games is the player - the character himself is more of a blank slate, and so the filmmakers would have to create something from scratch, which would then be nothing more than another generic crime film.

They've made great movies based on books, people, comic books, and truth, so I see no reason why they couldn't make a great movie based on a video game. They haven't done this yet, but they probably will at some point. Personally I couldn't care less about a movie based on a video game, and I don't really see the point with all the creative writers out there, but I don't doubt that, at some point, a great movie will be made based off of a video game.

All cinema is genre cinema - just like all novels are fantasies, some are just more honest about it (Gene Wolfe). There are dramas, comedies, action films, biopics, etc. Each of these is a genre. Classifying certain things as "genre" is just another way to marginalize populist entertainment.

you missed my point
the character is a blank slate yes, however i cant imagine a seriously wild and emotional performance being attached to something that came out of a game like grand theft auto. i just wouldn't take it seriously. A character like that would most probably be portrayed in a Max Payne type fashion, which is just boring imo.

Anyways you're probably right, in the fact that i'm sure one day someone will make an amazing game movie and prove me wrong. Until then i will sit here and scoff at the idea.

[number8]

Elephant was a pretty rockin' video game movie.

[Qrazy]

you missed my point
the character is a blank slate yes, however i cant imagine a seriously wild and emotional performance being attached to something that came out of a game like grand theft auto. i just wouldn't take it seriously. A character like that would most probably be portrayed in a Max Payne type fashion, which is just boring imo.

Anyways you're probably right, in the fact that i'm sure one day someone will make an amazing game movie and prove me wrong. Until then i will sit here and scoff at the idea.

I think you have a little bit too narrow a definition of videogames right now. There are lots of games out there with quality stories. As I mentioned in passing... the visuals, atmosphere and mythos of the Myst games are better than the vast majority of films released this past decade. Trading in interactivity for something that works cinematically will always be an issue for videogame adaptations. However, making literature cinematic is also an issue for any literary adaptation. Any transition between mediums will present it's own set of challenges. Ultimately I'm with Tarkovsky in that I think by and large the most artistically successful films will be original works both written and directed by the same person. However if we are going to continue mining literature for movie ideas than I see no reason we shouldn't delve into the more interesting videogame narratives either.

[Heidi]

i like your reply

[D_Davis]

you missed my point
the character is a blank slate yes, however i cant imagine a seriously wild and emotional performance being attached to something that came out of a game like grand theft auto. i just wouldn't take it seriously.

It wouldn't be any different than something like Scarface, or any other rise-and-fall gangster film. I could easily imagine a performance based on this because it's already been done dozens and dozens of times.