Arts and Enter-tainment

Has the entertainment industry gotten a little lazy lately? Could that just be my own speculation? Well, if you look at it from a certain point of view, such as the summer hit Pineapple Express, where the movie is just a waste of money, then where exactly is the movie industry going?

For those who haven't seen Pineapple Express, it involves a man whose job is to serve his clients and smoke weed. Not an appropriate movie for some people, and an uncomfortable topic for others. The other character sells weed for a living. Together, these two go on an adventure to save themselves from two shady Asian killers. (That's honestly what they are!) And in the end, a building blows up and everybody dies except the pot smokers.

Believe it or not, this is the extent of the movie. The majority is filled with jokes about weed or someone getting their face thrown into a wall. This is the sad thing: This is where the movie industry is going. Movies are not focusing any longer on actual entertainment or cleverly written scripts with talented actors. Instead, we get two humor-obsessed actors striving to get that one last laugh.

This is not a new phenomenon either. This has been happening for quite a few years. If a movie is not a smash-hit in the first weekend, then its nothing. And this creates the problem with the way we as a society are living. Why is it that we idolize the actors who go out there and make fun of others for a living? Is that really something we want to be able to brag about?

When Superbad came out in 2007, it did amazing in the box office sales because it was a new type of movie, when in fact, it was just the start of a trend.

However, the actors are not always the problems. Sometimes, the director is the one making the bone-headed moves. The reason is simple: They messed up on a different film and instead of calling it quits, they have to try again. Steven Soderbergh had little luck with one film, so instead of learning from it and making changes, he creates another film that does not change his appearance to the public.

So where is the industry headed? Although 2008 had some record hits with movies such as Batman: The Dark Knight, the entire year was not as successful as they had originally predicted. If the industry relies on movies such as The Pineapple Express, then viewers are going to get tired fast.

According to Katie Hansen, she feels that the movie industry "is getting more artsy. Movies are going back to visualizations and clever stories, such as The Mysterious Case of Benjamin Button. Pixar is at its most sophisticated level yet, and Disney is going to go back to their original works. The industry as a whole is going to flourish, but the live action movies are going to get old."

Let's hope the movie industry does change, for the better, and movies are once again what they should be! Artwork as it is supposed to be; brilliant writing and actually storylines. The cheap pot-head movies are okay, but I would go for The Wizard of Oz anyday!