John Cassavetes - Hollywood SUCKS!

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What a sales technique. Calling himself and his cronies the most terrific people , that no one cares about his poor actors trying to work so very hard ( as opposed to who- cops and coal miners?) , that Hollywood is a ' sissy town' ( very enlightened term, even for 30 years ago) and tv sucks. And if you, the audience , aren't manipulated enough by this pompous loudmouth to go see his movie, then you are a stupid, corporate owned sissy.

Good lawd ! I'd much rather watch some great tv of the era he's whining about- Carson and Letterman, the Practice, Becker, Mad About You , etc , etc - than anything J C is promoting here.

And FYI John did a guest appearance, probably a few years after this odiius interview , on Columbo. Guess he became a corporate owned sissy after all.

Phew. We'd have no energy crises if you could harness the gaseous verbal output from this guy- there's enough hot air to power the state of California.



And FYI John did a guest appearance, probably a few years after this odiius interview , on Columbo. Guess he became a corporate owned sissy after all.

1. Columbo was high quality TV back in the day
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1466074/awards

2. Peter Falk was like his best friend



Hollywood sucks because it s preffering quantity over quality, more money, less artistic films



Hollywood sucks because it s preffering quantity over quality, more money, less artistic films
But it's the audience who wants to see those type of films. Producers will make whatever people want to see.



You mean me? Kei's cousin?
I never seen Columbo.
Wow. I don't mean to be that guy but I'm stunned that someone older than me has never seen Columbo. But what the hell? Learn something new every day, huh?
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He may be bloating it out but he makes a very good point. That's why his films with his friends are so unique, because of what he is talking about. I don't think there's anything wrong with acknowledging your own power. His points are righteous. Hollywood has continued to suck worse ever since this 1978 interview. It's probably better he's not around to see it. He'd choke on his dinner talking about it. I cannot compare movies to coal miners or police work..it's a different debate altogether. TV does suck for the most part. Broadcast tv. Hollywood is way more cash happy than it was back when this interview took place. It's just gotten worse. JC's movies survived on the charisma or mental anguish/abusiveness of the actors, completely committed to their craft. Take it or leave it but it's not sissy stuff. Pure passion.



Wow. I don't mean to be that guy but I'm stunned that someone older than me has never seen Columbo. But what the hell? Learn something new every day, huh?
I might have seen bits and pieces of it first run, but we watched some other show that was on another channel, as back in the day we had only 1 TV. Come to think of it, I still have only 1 TV



He may be bloating it out but he makes a very good point. That's why his films with his friends are so unique, because of what he is talking about. I don't think there's anything wrong with acknowledging your own power. His points are righteous. Hollywood has continued to suck worse ever since this 1978 interview. It's probably better he's not around to see it. He'd choke on his dinner talking about it. I cannot compare movies to coal miners or police work..it's a different debate altogether. TV does suck for the most part. Broadcast tv. Hollywood is way more cash happy than it was back when this interview took place. It's just gotten worse. JC's movies survived on the charisma or mental anguish/abusiveness of the actors, completely committed to their craft. Take it or leave it but it's not sissy stuff. Pure passion.
I would say that Hollywood has become more compartmentalised in the years since. In Cassavetes day artier more ambitious cinema tended to either sink or swim, it could every so often become a mainstream success but if it didn't they it had not much else to fall back on with no real independent/arthouse scene. That probably explains a lot of the hard sell, it was an era were you needed to be noticed to keep your head above water.



He is soooo right. But nothing has changed. Hollywood has a formula and you don't change that formula. Also, people don't want to see a movie that makes them think. They just want bubble gum for the mind.
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people still make the mistake of thinking something in this world isn't a business
like in the movie only lovers left alive that is saw recently:
eve : i'm sure she'll be very famous.
adam : god, i hope not. she's way too good for that.
being famous is the end of any artistic freedom and creativity
that's why indies are starting to bomb the market, thank god for that



The movies suck because people have been pistol whipped into being correct and safe. Thats why grown men spend money on comic book movies now and animation - something a child watches - because, aside from the snarky and ugly hatred for mankind and themselves, it's the only thing to keep the child alive - movies that cater to a child. Forget thinking, forget adult time - so many ppl hate adults because being an adult demands thinking about things outside of the realm of fantasy land, and that irritates a lot of ppl. People sometimes would rather be challenged by an insignificant pattern or illogic than challenged by mortality and/or real human emotion. I think one of the biggest challenges is finding that equator of tolerance and pride in being able to celebrate joy and belief in humankind. That's usually way too close for comfort, and that's why it's seldom done, and when it is done - it's done poorly.



Well said Joel. This is spot-on prophetic:
It's the only thing to keep the child alive - movies that cater to a child
Very true and that idea of making movies for the child in all of us has taken hold and almost become the norm in Hollywood. That then has killed off the kind of adult emotional and moral explorationial movies that use to be made in the pre-Spielberg days.

People sometimes would rather be challenged by an insignificant pattern or illogic than challenged by mortality and/or real human emotion.
Escapism sells...In this day of equal diversity in Hollywood movies one problem still exist: ageism. A huge segment of our older population is not being represented in the themes of current movies. Just like any other form of discrimination it's a problem that needs to be addressed. Hollywood blockbusters are made for a certain young demographics which by the absences of movies geared towards older people is a form of discrimination. #OscarsSoYoung



Escapism sells...In this day of equal diversity in Hollywood movies one problem still exist: ageism. A huge segment of our older population is not being represented in the themes of current movies. Just like any other form of discrimination it's a problem that needs to be addressed. Hollywood blockbusters are made for a certain young demographics which by the absences of movies geared towards older people is a form of discrimination. #OscarsSoYoung
Agreed. I still consider myself youngish and defiant, especially towards a lot of the "internet-smart" younger crowd who these movies are usually clamoring to. I find the themes and lack of charisma boring and annoying. It's like everyone seems to be frying their voice and a graduate of the Seth Rogen/Sarah Silverman school of acting. The horor story there is that both of those dunces are older than I am. lol



I also want to say that even when I was a 10 year old kid - I preferred movies aimed at adults. The world was sophisticated and not necessarily challenging for digesting the film - but made use of my imagination which was still developing. It seems now that the art in film doesnt stand on its own and that is because with the advent of photoshop style apps and cyber marketing - EVERYTHING is art now. But even ppl like Diane Keaton arent safe from making asses of themselves in old fogie movies where the dialog is written with Kevin Smith in mind.

For the ppl approaching mid-life we have the new WoodyAllen movie, or the new Jim Jarmusch movie with the exceptionally dull Tilda Swinton and Adam Driver.

Somebody just end me already lol.

Tilda Swinton - that lady who is approaching 55 in every movie for a couple of decades.. An old Salem alumni. Witchy woman.



Well said Joel. This is spot-on prophetic: Very true and that idea of making movies for the child in all of us has taken hold and almost become the norm in Hollywood. That then has killed off the kind of adult emotional and moral explorationial movies that use to be made in the pre-Spielberg days.

Escapism sells...In this day of equal diversity in Hollywood movies one problem still exist: ageism. A huge segment of our older population is not being represented in the themes of current movies. Just like any other form of discrimination it's a problem that needs to be addressed. Hollywood blockbusters are made for a certain young demographics which by the absences of movies geared towards older people is a form of discrimination. #OscarsSoYoung
I think you could argue that's been true for as long as cinema has existed, the degree has tended to vary somewhat with time given how great studio control has been.

Again I think whats really shifted since the era of this interview is that cinema has become more stratified. In some ways you could argue this is a positive as an arthouse scene does exist to give more challenging cinema funding and an audience. On the negative side though it means that challenging cinema is rarely pushed into the mainstream.

I would argue that the most obvious shift in the last 20-30 years isn't the entertainment blockbuster its the rise of Oscar bait cinema. Cinema that is nominally aimed at an adult audience and often looks to claim political/dramatic weight but is often actually quite empty and unchallenging to its audience.