Assignment 1-4: The Hollywood Formula

I consider myself a big fan of movies and like to stay current on new releases, but I don't understand why the same formulas always work.  Every year we are inundated with trailers for the next "can't-miss actionthrilleromanticomedydrama" blockbuster, and every year I'm disappointed with the unimaginative offerings by Hollywood.  Granted, I enjoy buildings being blown up, bad guys getting shot, good guys getting the girl, and fart jokes just as much as the next guy, but sometimes I'd like a movie to challenge me intellectually.  In this age of instant gratification Hollywood is just giving the masses what they want.  I mean, it's not as if there isn't a precedent; look at the hundreds of thousands of Romans who used to enjoy watching men be torn to shreds by tigers in the Coliseum.  Now we turn out in the hundreds of thousands to watch modern day gladiators tear each other and their knee ligaments to shreds for our enjoyment.  But I digress.  

The fact is that Hollywood follows a very strict formula and very rarely are we given anything worth watching.  When movies such as Little Miss Sunshine, Gran Torino, and History of Violence come out briefly in theaters (near Oscar time) they are lauded by critics and people like me as breaths of fresh air, yet are soon pushed aside to make way for the Sex and the City sequel and seventh installment of Die Hard.  I believe this entire phenomenon is an excellent example of pop culture in that the basic formula remains the same, while the next "it" actor/actress is plugged in for the aging one who must now wait a few years until a role comes along that will allow them to finally grab the "lifetime achievement" Oscar for their role as an aging boxer/soldier/policeman who takes an at-risk youth under their wing and shows them the right way to live.  Well, that's all I have for now - there's a Die Hard marathon on Spike TV I need to go watch!