Handmade Tales

Why Movies Need a Return to Real Art by Real Artists.

My caricature of replicant Roy Batty.

I’m currently sitting in the Chicago ‘burbs, having taken a couple of weeks off to visit my American in-laws, and to accompany my wife to a book talk. But I brought my Protestant work ethic with me, so I’m writing this post to keep it happy.

To kill some time this morning, I was thumbing through reviews of the latest Superman movie on my phone. While I’m delighted for the masses, who seem generally pleased with it, I can’t remember ever wanting to see a movie less in my entire life. The trailer suggests that it’s the usual reheated, high-calorie, low-nutrient, CGI-heavy pap that studios think will entice audiences back into cinemas, and I just can’t stomach it any more.

There was a glorious time when movie-makers took risks, and when an effects-heavy film still had personality due to its visionary director taking the script by the scruff of the neck, and bending it to their will, with compelling results. Peter Gabriel once said that the worst thing you can do to a creative person is give them too much freedom. They need boundaries they can transgress. Big budgets and CGI now mean that a director can put any damned thing they can conceive on screen. But is that a good thing..?