How the movie industry lost its creative spark

I cannot possibly be the only one who sees movie after movie based on book after book and think "Don't they have any better ideas?" After seeing the Golden Compass today, I have to step back and wonder. In the previews (of which there were perhaps five or six (ever notice how it's hard to remember all the previews after you leave the theater?) there were two based on books: Inkheart (by Cornelia Funke, now with a sequel Inkspell) and of course the classic Dr Seuss, Horton Hears a Who. (I hereby pause this post to send a missive to Steve Carell: GET THE HELL OUT OF MOVIES). Sorry, but I absolutely despise Little Miss Sunshine. Dan in Real Life is decent, but not justification for Carell to have a career in film. Yes, I enjoy Office, but "lovably awkward" is the only character I see in Steve Carell, and I just don't see him as a good actor.

Anyways...back to the point. I blame New Line Cinema for engineering the shift away from originality in movies. In my limited experience of movie watching, the Lord of the Rings trilogy (which, I have to say, I enjoy very much, and I'm glad that Peter Jackson will be in control of a hopefully decent adaptation of The Hobbit. Goodness knows that the current movie versions are terrible...) cleared the way for many, many other movies based on fantasy/sci-fi books. Now we have had Hitchiker's Guide, Eragon, Golden Compass, Dark is Rising (The Seeker, in movie form), soon Inkheart, etcetera, etcetera...there's a rather LONG list here. And of course, which I just remembered, Harry Potter. Thanks to Rowling, children are reading again. And those of us who were reading the whole time are wonderfully immune (mostly) to the thrill of such books. Yes, they are good. Rather impressive, really. But I for one do not succumb to "Potter mania," having other books which I hold in higher esteem.

A minor digression: some of my favorite authors: Modesitt, Barron, White (of Arthurian fame), Tolkien (of course), Adams, and many others. If anyone knows of an author (or authors) that write similarly, please recommend, and I will give them a try. There are many, however, that I simply cannot recall, but then again, if I cannot recall them, then they are likely not my "favorites."

Back to the topic at hand: honestly, I don't quite remember where I was going with it. I seem to have given facts without opinion. That's how I think I'll leave it, in fact. I reserve judgment on the book to film phenomenon. When it reaches the point that every book that grosses above a certain amount in revenue is made into a film, then I say we're in a bad spot. Right now? I dunno. I'm looking forward to Inkheart despite myself. I can always hope.