Producing : Anything but super heroes by Luis R. Quintero

I haven't seen a great comedy in a long time.

I ditto the comedy. I love a good period piece. Mainly, I like a good story and I find I go more to the art and indie theater more than I do the mainstream theater these days. I want to see a damn good story. And yes, I'm sick of super hero movies. I'm also sick of these dark and dystopian tv shows on HBO, Hulu, and Netflix. I want to laugh. I also want to laugh thru tears.

Yes, comedy always has a market - but it's also damn hard to write well. Superheroes and zombies have worn out their welcome and the weepies, creepies and oaters are not likely to return anytime soon. It's getting time for a little more upbeat entertainment. Some good suspense in the Hitch style would be welcome (to me anyway).

I think the stuff Taylor Sheridan is doing is pretty engaging and "Hostiles" was not bad for a western action film. As a writer I'm not sure I could get fully engaged in a period piece. True Grit was one of the best ever in terms of a three dimensional portrait. Many filmmakers outside the USA are doing good work. Matthew Porterfield did a good job on Sollers Point which had a limited release.

Brad - you talkin' about the first True Grit or the remake (I worked on the 1st.)

A new Mousehunt :)

I'm a big fan of crime dramas and crime thrillers. My favorite genre by far.

I do miss those laugh out loud comedies. Which ones were your favorites?

Luis, Mousehunt, baby's day out and the money pit. I also loved the orginal Peter Sellers Pink Panther. In the 80s and 90s there was still a demand for those movies, but it seems to stop. A pity though. I would love to write something like that, even though comedy is hard as.

The Werewolf genre making a comeback.

Kendall - Oh, I hope not!

Love watching the classics, where all the derelicts and n'er do wells were dressed up just as nicely as the society girls... who always managed to get their man. You know, the leading lady!

Over time a pattern emerges that the trend in entertainment is the opposite of the general feeling of the society we live in. In good times there is an increase in horror genre pictures. In bad times lighter, happier themes come to the fore. Look back at the films of the Depression through the WW2 period and the proportion of comedies, romances and musicals is seemingly greater than in the late 50’swith its rise in horror. This does not mean all of the pictures coming out are in one genre but there is a trend in what is being made. The current rise in comedies and rom-coms follows that generalized pattern.

The comic book genre probably has more to do with the utter lack of creativity among the lawyers and MBAs that hire each other to run studios. Maybe memories from childhood when there was still some hope for them. Like all self propagating infections, they are unwelcome and will ultimately lead to illness or the demise of the host.