The 80's & my long ramblings on exposition, plot complexity & pacing

I mean, you just don't get films like this any more.. nowhere near.

Taking a look at what is currently on at the cinema - Last week of October 2016 in the UK.

So, i the fantasy/wonder/kids excitement genres we have; 'Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children', 'Trolls' and JK Rowlings 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them'. While I don't doubt that they are probably good films, well written and modern polished CGI and SFX - that's kinda the problem in creating modern classics. Beetlejuice is just bizzare, totally nuts. It's full of weird plot points that have no relevance or the story advances with no logical explanation as to the mythology or 'why' of the afterlife and the things we are witnessing. For example - they wait for Juno their 'afterlife caseworker' (lol!) in the waiting room of.. well, its not explained. Perhaps the land of the dead. Anyway.. when they return - 3 months have passed and the entire house has been redecorated already. What is Beetlejuice trying to get by offering his services - because his advert in the newspaper says 'Free' ? So it's not money.. perhaps time off his sentence, whatever that is. There seems to be 2 afterlives, Adam and Barbara need to spend 125 years in the house before they can move on, it's not explicietly stated where that is.. but nevermind.

SO...my point is - it doesn't matter! Not one bit. I think scriptwriters worry too much about perfection, in which case. films can become seriously bogged down in origin backstory or explaining the why of the world in the film.. meaning you get a lot of shorthand where techno gabled mumbo jumbo is used to explain an element of the plot. Okay, so I just watched Doctor Strange at the cinema this week - an exmpple of filling in back story - the magic amulet/necklace he wears, Wong explains to him that it was created by the last 'Elder One' in order to contain the energy of something something.. I don't even remember!! Alternatively, in a film where there is a necessary amount of techno-stuff in a science related film, Ghostbusters for example, the entire universe of science is made up for the film - Ectoplasm, PKE Meter, Proton Stream, Positron Slider.. not to mention Ray's constant references to events; A 'fullfold PKE Crossrip' or 'The biggest interdimensional cross rip since the Tunguska Blast of 1909.' its constant.. but it fits because nobody knows what it means in the audience, so it sounds sciencey enough to work. Star Trek is a bit less fiction and sounds more plausible, which is why the geeks love it, but in the end, none of it is possible.

So.. films like Beetlejuice and other 80s style movies are just not possible any more thanks to the polish that Hollywood applies to its scripts (It works to produce a coherent movie, but they all feel very samey) As I mentioned, I went to see Doctor Strange. As a stand alone film, it is absolutely wonderful - You simply couldn't make a movie like this years ago because you wouldn't have the computer power to do the CGI, which is cutting edge, absolutely stunning. it added a huge amount to my enjoyment of the film (and CGI rarely does that for me) but if you just write out the plot, it's a Marvel Origin film again and again and again.
As I said, as a standalone film, it's amazing. But taken in context with the rest of the Marvel universe, its virtually the same basic plot as every other Origin Story movie..


Man finds himself in a desperate situation, but after almost breaking and resorting to putting in all the effort he can muster, he acquires skills (which slowly and continually improve through the movie) and although he doesn't see himself as a hero, he is convinced to do the right thing and uses his new powers to defeat the ultimate bad guy at the end.

'Replace 'man' with Iron Man, Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant Man, Captain America, Spiderman... Get the picture?)

And that's what I worry movies are these days. They are so polished and hit all the right emotional buttons, pacing is perfect, the actors all look super sexy even at 4k, the Hollywood machine has been tuned to perfection, you actually have to take a step back and wonder if the film you're watching is terrible or you're being tricked by flashy visuals. Jupiter Accending is like this.. Critics hated it, but it was by the people that brought you 'The Matrix' it looked stunning and had top actors and actresses in it. By all rights, it should have been awesome. Unfortunately, the script was terrible and it wasted most of its running time explaining back story, legends the history and mythology of the movie universe. So, take a lesson. Trst your audience to believe in the world you create with your writing, randomly inserted exposition explaining *everything* is totally unnatural and ruins the pacing.

I have to say, sadly, modern Tim Burton is simply awful! What happened?? More budget I guess, trying to be more flamboyant and missing the point. His Alice in Wonderland's remakes did NOTHING for me.. I hated them. It lacked charm. It didn't know what it wanted to be. It was too cartoony yet it was covered in Hollywood polish, the colours were kinda pastel and muted as a result of spending too much time colouring it to perfection. The Disney version is the definitive classic when it comes to any Alice animation.

But with the machine turning out hits more often than not, sticking with the way of making money they've hit upon, they're unlikely to change it. So, that's why you'll never get weird, quirky classics like Beetlejuice again.

A plot like that would never be green-lit! It just sounds too weird, who are we going to sell it to!? Who is it aimed at?? For once, take more chances, stop doing 'marketing research and polls' and let a film be made because it might not have an audience and needs to find one. Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas is very much a movie like that. Terry Gilliam wanted to make it and DAMN FINE job he did of it too, but it became a cult classic because nobody knew how to market it and nobody understood what they were going to see or what they were watching (to be honest, the first time I saw it I didn't know what I was watching. I had to read the book and then watch it again. It's supposed to not make sense, as explained somewhat in the book, because they're in Las Vegas for all the wrong reasons, getting the call from his editor while drunk and high, he thinks he is looking for the American Dream - which is total nonsense! He's actually there to report on a race and write a piece for his magazine. It's a mad, esoteric, psychedelic hodgepodge of crazy, and I love it. But it fought opposition from studios, critics didn't know what to make of it, but the cult of people that 'got it' really got it! It's even in my top 5 films of all time.