Ah the magic of moviemaking huh? You go to the movie theatre, 
every single time hoping to be surprised by something other 
than the usual parlor trick. Generally, it's the same routine. 
Ordinary guy caught in a big dilemma with a bunch of bad guys, 
beats them at their own game and proves once again that nice guys 
always finish first. How many versions of the same thing can 
studios produce?

Not many. And that is exactly why every movie that seems to come 
out these days is an exact clone of the previous. Films studios 
are no better than large factories that keep churning out the 
same product with slight alterations so that the consumers are 
kept at close distance. Subconsciously, we are all aware of the 
strong similarity of the films that come out but we keep going 
without really knowing why.

There were films that have come out recently that were acclaimed 
as the best anyone had seen thus far, including Peter Jackson’s 
Lord of the Rings series. But on a large scale, just how 
different was that from Harry Potter and all the movies that 
cloned the original? Many moviegoers, whether they would admit 
it or not, were often confused between the two because both 
franchises offered the same locals, similar story lines along 
with wizards and sorcerers. 

The problem with Hollywood is that it never takes the initial 
risk of making an original film. It always waits for a small-time 
producer to bet the farm on a project and see it go big. Once it 
hits big, Hollywood jumps on the boat and uses the filmmaker, the 
style, the plot lines until they run dry.

Naming just a few examples, no one wanted to produce Quentin 
Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs until Harvey Keitel put down his own 
money because he so believed in the project. Once it gained 
popularity in the independent film circuit and won some major 
critical acclaim, Hollywood came roaring in. Quentin Tarantino 
quickly signed on to make Pulp Fiction and the horror film that 
he co-wrote with Robert Rodriguez called From Dusk Till Dawn.

Similar films followed like Very Bad Things and Go but they were 
not able to replicate the magic of the first two. Some people say 
that Quentin Tarantino wasn’t even able to duplicate the thematic 
complexities that his first two films had because he had become 
too Hollywoodized.

These days, we keep going to see these films that the big studios 
lay out in front of us, when we would be better off boycotting 
the box-office until independent films come out that remind us 
how genuine Sideways made us feel, or how pure Napoleon Dynamite 
was, and the thrilling intoxication of Machiavelli Hangman. 

Sue Menke is a full-time novelist and part-time columnist.
She knows something most people don't know; she knows 
that Machiavelli Hangman is going to be one those 
ground breaking films that Hollywood will soon be 
racing to duplicate:  http://www.hangmanmovie.com