"Great" Artists on the Decline

[toddpolt]

I was going to title this "Directors on the Decline," but why not all artists: Filmmakers, authors, singers, bands, whatever? Surely we all think of a certain one of them being going downhill as we speak compared to past days of triumph. But could they be defended?

For example:

Steven Spielberg - Perhaps the most popular filmmaker to ever live (heck Life even named him the most influential person of his generation), 2000s hasn't exactly been that kind for The Beard. The Terminal was a slightly awful "comedy." War of the Worlds and Minority Report were forgettable. And geeks will never let him live down "Nuke the Fridge" in reference to a sequel to a beloved adventure franchise.

In Defense: A.I. has as many supporters as detractors (I'm a fan), though I can see why people have problems with it. Thought Munich was a tight good thriller if with some rather awkward moments that can't be excused. His only truely terrific movie of the decade that people associate along with the Beard's best?

Catch Me If You Can. Memorable soundtrack, iconic opening credits, very joyful cat and mouse / cop and crook narrative, DiCaprio proving he could survive after Titanic, and most of all....Spielberg was obviously having fun. Remember that?

James Cameron - What do his first movies in The Terminator, Aliens, The Abyss, T2 have in common? Sure good/great imaginative FX, action adventure, but also good solid decent stories. You cared about those people, whether a robot, Ed Harris, Sigourney Weaver, or Linda Hamilton and her mullet. I would even to an extent include his script for Strange Days.

His last few: True Lies, Titanic, and now Avatar. Cameron is still tops with the FX and action, but Jim what hapened to your writing? Its like you figure now that audiences don't care about stories or people ultimately.

Just get an outline with underdeveloped broad archetypes and lack plotting, and your gigantic (and very expensive) FX action spectacle will carry the weight. You know, like a Michael Bay movie but not dumb. OK, not as dumb.

I know for sure I'm not the only Crapper who thought with Avatar, never once cared for the characters or got hooked truely by that story.

In Defense: Titanic is the #1 box office hit of all time. Even Batman couldn't beat the boat. Avatar has been out for only 20 days, and already has made $745 million (!) around the globe. Will break a billion by the end of the month, and probably end up the #2 biggest hit. So you know, in spite of my crapping at Cameron, surely he must be doing something right when he makes the two biggest hits in history.

Suck it Transformers. ;D

[PaperStreetBrigade]

Metallica since Napster

[Ducky Momo]

Jan 1, 2010 4:05:03 GMT -5 PaperStreetBrigade said:

Metallica since Napster

Metallica since Cliff Burton and Dave Mustaine

[Deleted]

I haven't seen many of Spielberg films this decade but most of his movies of this decade has either been described as his best work or his worst work it seems. There is no middle ground with his movies this decade it seems.

[Bub (BLM)]

Cuba Gooding Jr. From winning an Oscar to starring in an endless stream of poorly reviewed direct-to-DVD movies. I honestly have no idea what happened to this guy's career post-Jerry Maguire.

[nickcave]

Yeah Cuba's career really sank quick.

[Mozenrath]

Jeff Goldblum was huge. I mean, I know he's on one of the Law and Order shows now and that's a decent gig, but it's definitely a step down from being huge like he seemed to be Pre-Jurassic Park 2.

[Ultimo Chocula]

Lindsay Lohan has to be up there. She went from being the most promising actress of her generation to walking punchline in less than a year.

[H-Fist]

Jan 1, 2010 5:00:15 GMT -5 Bub (BLM) said:

Cuba Gooding Jr. From winning an Oscar to starring in an endless stream of poorly reviewed direct-to-DVD movies. I honestly have no idea what happened to this guy's career post-Jerry Maguire.

He was just copying the career trajectory of the man I nominate: Eddie Murphy.

The 80s: SNL, Delirious, Raw, 48 Hrs, Trading Places, Beverly Hills Cop 1 & 2, Coming to America

The 90s: Another 48 Hrs, BHC3, Vampire in Brooklyn, Nutty Professor, Doctor Dolittle, Holy Man, Metro, Life, Bowfinger, Mulan [voice]

The 00s: Nutty Professor 2, The PJs, Shrek 1-3 [voice], Doctor Dolittle 2, Showtime, Pluto Nash, Daddy Day Care, I Spy, Norbit, Dreamgirls, Meet Dave, Imagine That

So sure, he made plenty of MONEY in the past 20 years, but compared to the awesomeness of his work in the 1980s, he has spent 20 years making remakes and sequels, doing supporting cast voice work, and starring in mediocre-to-terrible films that seem to get shelved to avoid a massive bombing at the box office. Sure, some of those films (Dreamgirls, Shrek) are plenty good, but so many of these are for kids, families, or idiots.

[Red Lion]

Jan 1, 2010 4:12:13 GMT -5 Ducky Momo said:

Jan 1, 2010 4:05:03 GMT -5 PaperStreetBrigade said:

Metallica since Napster

Metallica since Cliff Burton and Dave Mustaine

Er...you mean Metallica since The Black Album.

I'm going to stray into the uncool and say that Death Magnetic was actually a good upturn for them though.

I do believe that Linkin Park wins this by the way.

[biafra]

Slayer went from one of the top two or three bands in the world from 86- 92 ish and since have declined into generic bullshit.

[AriadosMan]

I'm really not putting Avatar down here. The thing has 8.8 on IMDB. Revenge of the Fallen has 6.1 (I think). Clearly, the audience likes one much more than the other. WC is such a small audience share that I don't think it represents a very diverse filmgoing opinion IMO.
Hell, if Jurassic Park was released during WC's existence, I guarantee WC would have endless "Jurassic Park sucks" threads.

[livetowin]

Jan 1, 2010 2:20:23 GMT -5 toddpolt said:

I was going to title this "Directors on the Decline," but why not all artists: Filmmakers, authors, singers, bands, whatever? Surely we all think of a certain one of them being going downhill as we speak compared to past days of triumph. But could they be defended?

For example:

Steven Spielberg - Perhaps the most popular filmmaker to ever live (heck Life even named him the most influential person of his generation), 2000s hasn't exactly been that kind for The Beard. The Terminal was a slightly awful "comedy." War of the Worlds and Minority Report were forgettable. And geeks will never let him live down "Nuke the Fridge" in reference to a sequel to a beloved adventure franchise.

In Defense: A.I. has as many supporters as detractors (I'm a fan), though I can see why people have problems with it. Thought Munich was a tight good thriller if with some rather awkward moments that can't be excused. His only truely terrific movie of the decade that people associate along with the Beard's best?

Catch Me If You Can. Memorable soundtrack, iconic opening credits, very joyful cat and mouse / cop and crook narrative, DiCaprio proving he could survive after Titanic, and most of all....Spielberg was obviously having fun. Remember that?

I'm not so sure I agree with this. Whereas Beard may not have had the super huge hits and franchise starters he had in the 80s and 90s, he's had a good solid decade. I didn't see Report or The Terminal, but I heard positive things from there.

Personally I believe his shining opus of his work this decade to BE Munich. I loved that film. I'm sure there was a reason it was nominated for Best Picture.

[ani]

Jan 1, 2010 16:14:03 GMT -5 Ultimo Chocula said:

Lindsay Lohan has to be up there. She went from being the most promising actress of her generation to walking punchline in less than a year.

She was NEVER going to be one of the most promising actresses of her generation. By that standard, Haley Mills should've been the top actress of her generation ;D

[AriadosMan]

Jan 1, 2010 18:14:29 GMT -5 ani said:

Jan 1, 2010 16:14:03 GMT -5 Ultimo Chocula said:

Lindsay Lohan has to be up there. She went from being the most promising actress of her generation to walking punchline in less than a year.

She was NEVER going to be one of the most promising actresses of her generation. By that standard, Haley Mills should've been the top actress of her generation ;D

Lohan didn't even give the best performance in Mean Girls, which was supposed to be her showcase. Rachel McAdams stole that movie from her.

[Will Has 'Til Five, Ref]

Jan 1, 2010 16:52:00 GMT -5 Red Lion said:

Jan 1, 2010 4:12:13 GMT -5 Ducky Momo said:

Metallica since Cliff Burton and Dave Mustaine

Er...you mean Metallica since The Black Album.

I'm going to stray into the uncool and say that Death Magnetic was actually a good upturn for them though.

I do believe that Linkin Park wins this by the way.

Linkin Park was great? I must have missed that day somehow.

[Lionheart]

I will defend Minority Report, by the way.

[Deleted]

Metallica since Ron McGovney left the band.

Seriously though, I've been disappointed by the last two Marilyn Manson albums. I haven't enjoyed any of them since The Golden Age Of Grotesque. I also thought the last two Fear Factory albums weren't very good, despite them being one of my top ten favorites.

[Kruton]

Bob Dylan:

[AriadosMan]

Jan 1, 2010 18:30:03 GMT -5 Lionheart said:

I will defend Minority Report, by the way.

And I'll defend War of the Worlds, if only because its the only cinematic version of the story that left the "we can live underground and fight off the Martians" crazy guy character in the narrative in some form.