5 Awesome Emerging Cinema Trends and 5 That Suck

By Ron Reynolds /

Cinema is an ever-evolving, ever-changing beast. At any point in film history, there have been numerous trends that coexist, and when taken together, they form a full picture of where cinema is at the time. Some trends have stuck around for good (CGI), some have come and gone (CinemaScope, Smell-o-Vision), and others come and go so often (3D) that they're like the herpes of the film world - once you think it's gone for good, it just comes roaring back. As with any other point in the history of film, there are currently several trends at work in film, all with varying degrees of success and popularity and today, we'll explore five emerging trends that are awesome and five that suck and which should go away for good. Some of the things on this list might surprise you, especially when I cheat a little. First up, the 5 Trends That Suck...

1. Sucks - "Spoof" Movies

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You know the ones I mean - Epic Movie, Disaster Movie, Date Movie, Meet the Spartans, Vampires Suck, etc. - films that deserve to be called "films" far less than they deserve the title of "home movie level of quality that some exec thought was funny for some inexplicable reason and therefore assumes everyone will love it when the reality is far different". I guess that wouldn't fit on the poster very well, so they just pick some genre, or adjective and slap it in front of the word "movie" and BAM - they have a title (except in the cases of Meet the Spartans & Vampires Suck, but the less said about them, the better.) These movies have nothing to offer anyone: no original ideas, nothing witty to say, no social commentary to make. Nothing. Back in the good old days, parody films were actually funny, and more focused on skewering one particular movie, or genre. Think Airplane, Hot Shots!, Naked Gun, Don't Be A Menace to South Central While Drinkin' Your Juice In the Hood, or even Scary Movie. They all stayed on point, for good or bad, and produced actual laughs. But all that is now gone. These current "spoof" movies are just a collection of endless sight gags and pop-culture references, with no characters to relate to, or even remotely engage with. And you can forget about an actual story or plot: these movies wouldn't know a plot if it kicked their main characters in the testicles just like that random YouTube video that the directors saw that one time and decided to parody. It should be no surprise that all of the movies listed at the beginning of this entry were created by the same two "filmmakers", that I shall not name here, since they don't need any further exposure. These films need to die, now. Today.