RIDICULOUS QUOTES OF THE DAY – AT 8:29 A.M. ET:  Readers know that I've worked in what passes for the motion-picture industry, that shadow of what used to be. 

One of the hilarities of Hollywood is the public statements of movie "executives."  Now, there are some fine executives.  But many, as a well-informed industry friend of mine likes to say, are people who are in Hollywood because it's a bit more glamorous than Wall Street.  Movies?  Do we do that?

A common characteristic of the movie business is that, as the movies get worse, the quotes get more pompous.  The New York Times today runs a piece on trends in the movie business, and some of the executive quotes are just gems.  Consider:

“We think the future is about filmmakers with original voices,” said Amy Pascal, Sony’s co-chairwoman. “Original is good, and good is commercial.” 

I wept when I read that.  It reaches the soul.  There has been the discovery that good is commercial.  Now, I'd thought that MGM discovered that about 75 years ago, during the Golden Age of the 1930s.  Apparently, I was mistaken.  It has just been found out. 

Or this one, undoubtedly from one of the college graduates who now populate Hollywood, armed with English 101 at Princeton: 

“In years past,” said Sean Bailey, Disney’s president for production, “most live-action films seemed like they had to be either one thing or the other: commercial or quality. The industry had little expectation of a film being both. Our view is the opposite.”

Profound, just profound.  So, a live action film – meaning it isn't a cartoon, but a movie with real people – can be both quality and commercial.  You know, I feel I've been intellectually elevated by that concept. 

Oh, I think I'll send Mr. Bailey a DVD of "Casablanca," or "Gone With the Wind," or "An American in Paris." 

Another one:

“Movie marketing can’t settle for good anymore — it has to be great,” said Dennis Rice, a consultant who has held senior positions at Miramax and Disney, noting that he was not speaking specifically about Fox.

Right.  So order your staff to make "great" movies.  Hey, it can be done just by saying the word.  Can't it?

Our final selection, overflowing with insight:

“I believe there is a long-term danger to moviegoing if familiarity becomes too pervasive in the films we make,” said Chris Meledandri, the founder of Illumination. “The industry has a responsibility to its audience and to itself to make films that allow people to have a sense of discovery in the cinema.”

I can't take it anymore.  I feel I've been inadequate all my life, until reading these statements.  I know all of you feel the same way.

COMMENT:  The dirty little secret is that most people in Hollywood don't know how to make good movies anymore.  The skills and talent don't hold a candle to what studios possessed routinely from the thirties through the early sixties.  The industry came apart in the late sixties, like many other things in our society, and never was put back together again.  David Lean, the great British director of "Lawrence of Arabia," said it best just before his death:  "Hollywood forgot how to tell stories."  Darryl Zanuck, the guiding force behind the original Twentieth Century Fox, was once asked what made a good movie.  His answer:  "Story, story, and story."

Don't tell that to the current Hollywood crowd.  They wouldn't understand.

Ah, to have worked in Hollywood during that great era.  "Ready when you are, C.B."

December 28, 2010