Same as it ever was…

Hollywood redundancies will keep the film rudimentary and lacking in social, philosophic and aesthetic meaning. A new mind is needed to work upon the rudiments and extend them. Hollywood will not supply that new mind. Hollywood is vested interest. Hollywood is uninspired competence–at its best. Hollywood is empty facility.

I’ve been reading through my copy of American Film Critics for a piece recently, and I stumbled across that quote from Harry Alan Potamkin…in 1929. The next time someone complains about the juvenile stuff coming out of Hollywood and praises the indie directors, the European and Asian directors, the people working outside the system…think of that quote. Critics have been complaining about Hollywood since the dawn of film criticism. I’m not going to say it’s a complaint that’s entirely without merit, but come on. Let’s find a new line of attack, shall we?