By: michael J. wilson

michael J. wilson — Fri, 16 Sep 2016 08:13:53 +0000

You are so right. Utter indecent insufferable garbage, most of them — and okay, Oh My God, I wrote — okay, TRIED TO WRITE — one of them — the last Ice Age — yeah, try servicing all those characters — I CREATED three KILLER characters and a baby in the first one — this last one has like, what? nineteen???? — KILL ME!) LOOK I NEEDED THE WORK. I HAVE FIVE KIDS. MILK IS EXPENSIVE. But the dumbing down of the family film marketplace and the overall death of cinematic narrative — subjugated to superhero “everything is at stake” claptrap in spandex– it is just incredulous to me ——–STUPEFYING —– What the hell is going on? Superman Vs. Batman???? Ant Man? Minions? PETS? PANDA? ACCCHHHH!!!!! WHAT IS THIS CRAP????? IS ANYBODY WATCHING THIS STUFF??? SHOULDN’T SOMEBODY BE ARRESTED FOR PRETENDING THIS IS WRITING??????? Where Is The Narrative???? I had more emotion and behavior in the very first Ice Age — which I am quite proud of — than fifty superhero or contemporary family movies put together — but look the path that studios have chosen to squander down down down with each subsequent mindless retching sequel and prequel and hey lets make a MOVIE OUT OF A CLARK BAR, ITS GOT PRE-AWARENESS, AND HAVE YOU HEARD MY PITCH FOR THE BIT O HONEY SEQUEL??? —- makes me shudder — makes me VOMIT — I know, I know, grow up, these are the conditions that prevail, you want control, write a book, get a dog — and I am doing enough on other creative cinematic fronts — with NO KETCHUP — to sleep well at night knowing I am NOT defined by a studio — or a marketplace — that talks so far down to its audience you can’t even hear or feel a pulse or a heartbeat anymore. I also find it interesting that the heartless mindless animated studio CGI world does NOT honor WGA contracts — therefore they do NOT pay minimum DVD and merchandising residuals. Bizarre? No. Predictable! Classic Unfair Helpless Exploitive Manipulation! I think it is literally criminal to have to walk into a Barnes and Noble and have your characters and your ideas in stuffed animals and books and they don’t have to pay a dime to the creator???!! WTF???? They don’t even put the writer who had the blank page — his name — anywhere in these spin-off books! And have you noticed they never list the writer in the ads or posters in animation either? Why should they? They think anybody can do it. THEY ARE WRONG. As if there weren’t enough out there in the pot of gold at the end of the box office rainbow for everyone???? CAN’T STEVIE WONDER GET A PEEK? CANT AN ANIMATION WRITER GET A DVD PENNY????? It is telling that these studios DO NOT SHARE. THEY DO NOT KNOW HOW TO SHARE. THEY NEED TO SIT IN A CORNER AND WRITE I WILL SHARE FIFTY THOUSAND TIMES. Meanwhile…. I love love love that you mentioned Little Prince. I have watched it over and over with my twin nine year old girls and two year old son and it is — in the words of Waldo Salt and Norman Wexler’s ‘s Serpico (from the Peter Maas book) — “Uniquely Unique” — so smart — such a great first act — brave — brilliant in fact. Listen — in all seriousness — what the hell is going on out there? Why do I feel over time that next to Dog Day Afternoon, The Verdict and Best Years of Our Lives that SANDLOT is still simply one of the greatest achievements of all time? Why aren’t our kids getting a fair shake anymore? Why is everybody so out of their minds? Why is everybody on their phone? Why does nobody look at anybody anymore? Why do I feel weird reading an old fashioned FLAP BOOK to my little boy knowing everyone else I see out there has their kid on a SCREEN in a grocery store shopping cart — so they will what, just SHUT UP AND MINDLESSLY TAP TAP TAP???? YES!!!!!! NOBODY WANTS TO TALK TO THESE KIDS. EVERYBODY IS ON THEIR PHONE. THESE POOR CHILDREN!!!!!! BUT. BUT. LISTEN TO ME NOW: I am still relentlessly and brutally in awe and wonder of God and love and the power and potential of children to change us all. Mine do. They change me and my wife and catch us and bust us and nurture us and protect us and teach us. They are Scout on the courthouse steps saving Tom Robinson’s ass! They are our future! Please I beg you — get them off the iPad! AND. AND. I know deep in my heart that it will all come back. The ET of it all. Elliot. Elliot! MY GOD! I LOVE ELLIOT. And ….the utter insanity and power and greatness of the following line from Sandlot: “You’re Killing Me Smalls!” So. So. Here’s some hope for you Don. I am currently working on several family films that aim so high it leaves me breathless and proud and hopeful. Will they get made? Why not? I got paid and the producers are bright and respect the blank page and not everybody is a moron! That is not possible! But — but — that is not enough. I pray pray pray that NARRATIVE will come back. I have terminal chronic hope. I have hope because as you so rightly pointed out, The Little Prince is fantastic. And that is inspiration and heart and potential and PROOF — PROOF I SAY!!! — that All Is Not Lost. Onward! Onward! In the words of the late great Tennessee Williams — “I Have Always Depended On The Kindness of Strangers”. And somewhere somehow someday out there is a stranger who hates Minions and all the moronic family garbage peddled like so much lumpen manure and shoved into our children’s eye sockets and that stranger — he is holding the keys to a wonderful portal that will– dare I say it??? — open our children’s beautiful innocent eyes — and minds — and take them away from video games — and mindless stimuli — and parents who no longer look or talk to them — and these movies will once again teach them NARRATIVE. CHARACTER. EMOTION. BEHAVIOR. PRINCIPLES. LOVE. TRUTH. BEAUTY. GOD. Long Live The Little Prince! Long Live Scout! You’re Killing Me Smalls!

Comments on: On Kids’ Movies…..

By: michael J. wilson