Why is MTV Making More Terrible Movies Instead of Awesome Reality Shows?
I'm so old, I remember when people used to complain that MTV didn't play music anymore. Glad we live in the present where everyone realizes MTV's greatest gift is an affinity for finding reality stars with spunk (Snooki), criminal levels of self-absorption (Heidi Montag), and insanity (Ryan from last season's Real World). So why is MTV turning some of its better-liked reality shows into movies and not focusing on making reality series? Let's cringe at the network's new direction.
Not only does MTV debut its reality-spinoff movie My Super Psycho Sweet 16 Part 2 (a scripted horror romp based on the admittedly incredible My Super Sweet 16) this weekend, but the network just announced two more original movies: Worst. Prom. Ever. and a Spring Break caper called The Truth Below. Both of those flicks indirectly play off the appeal of the network's unscripted series Made and, to a certain degree, those Spring Break summer romps of yore. I'm confused.
What's the endgame here? Or better yet, what's the point? We want scripted versions of purportedly real programs? Anyone else reminded of the network's 2002 cinematic non-gem The Real World: The Lost Season, about "an obsessed fan, who has been rejected during the audition process numerous times, [who] kidnaps the cast and brings them to a new house"? Or what about that other middling retread of Real World antics in Pedro, the Dustin Lance Black-penned film that suffered from scathingly unconvincing performances? Chris Linn, the executive vice president of MTV production, said in a statement, "With the success of The Hard Times of RJ Berger, we've been trying to add more balance to our air between reality and scripted." But based on the poor performances of similarly pseudo-real shows (My Life as Liz comes to mind), what's with the push for genre-twisting? If you're going to go fake, go unabashed: In the sometimes-addictive world of warped reality, it's The Hills or bust.
· MTV Takes a Break from Reality [Gawker]
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Comments
If there comes a point where Snooki is 60 ft tall and in 3D, is there any way I can distance myself from the human race?
Uh, most of what was reported above isn't even remotely true. MY SUPER PSYCHO SWEET 16 used My Super Sweet 16 as a starting place, then spun an original slasher story off of that. In no way did it attempt to portray the events as real or even as a fake reality show. PART 2 goes even further from the Super Sweet 16 source, choosing to follow the original characters and story from PART 1 rather than spoof a reality show (which, in all honestly, is kind of un-spoofable; how can you make these spoiled kids look any worse?). WORST PROM EVER and THE TRUTH BELOW have nothing to do with MADE. They are 100% scripted films that use things an MTV audience knows well (Prom and Spring Break, respectively) to tell original stories. There was a MADE movie that premiered earlier this year; that movie was, in fact, based on the series, but, as with the other movies, it did not try to pass itself off as "real". MADE and MY SUPER PSYCHO SWEET 16 did extremely well for MTV, rating higher than even the network expected, so to tout the poor performance of these types of movies is incorrect. What MTV is doing is using their own shows, which already have huge fan bases, as inspiration for fully-scripted original movies. If the movies suck, feel free to criticize them. But as a "journalist", you should at least do a little research (it's as easy as Googling these things and reading a few of the results or, God forbid, going so far as contacting the source) to make sure your facts are correct before calling something you haven't even seen "terrible". To suggest that a cable network should only stick with what's working right now and not try to break out of that mold isn't just stupid, it's professional suicide. Movieline apparently is more interested in whipping up "hell yeah!" responses than reporting facts. Nice work, ace.
I can tell you the point and you should try watching the latest MTV movies before you start putting a general label on them all. The MY Super PSycho Sweet 16 movies which are horror themed and only loosely inspired from the Sweet 16 reality show are a lot better then you think. Tune in on Friday at 10pm and you will see. A few reviews that have already popped up have been positive.
The first movie which was done with style and some great gore brought in the Network's highest ratings in 2 years when it aired last year making it a huge success fueling a sequel. The movie "THe Truth Below" is actually a cool thriller where 4 friends get trapped in their SUV after a Avalanche hits them burying them under the snow. MTV plans to keep making some really cool original scripted movies that just arent only content based from reality shows.
MTV is planning their new direction which is 2 year ahead of the audience. So instead of jumping on the Lets just bash MTV band Wagon why not just reserve judgement and wait until you actually check these films out. You may actually be surprised. This is a new direction MTV is going and the movies will only get better with time.
Here is the trailer for My Super PSycho Sweet 16 part 2 http://www.mtv.com/videos/misc/576055/my-super-psycho-sweet-16-part-2-trailer.jhtml
"MY SUPER PSYCHO SWEET 16 used My Super Sweet 16 as a starting place, then spun an original slasher story off of that."
That's exactly what I'm saying! Lame!
"That's exactly what I'm saying!"
And...that's exactly my point. Most of what you're saying is wrong. I don't mean, that's my opinion. I mean what you're saying is factually incorrect. Like, all you did was (quickly) read an article that someone else wrote and then you incorrectly regurgitated what you misinterpreted as the facts. Throw "Lame!" around all you want, but what's really lame are your skills as a "journalist". But then again, I'm not your boss. Apparently your editors at Movieline don't mind that the great Louis Virtel is writing most of his stuff on an iPhone while standing in the line at Starbucks. "What's that? Yeah, I'll take a grande. Sorry, just trying to finish a Movieline piece I was supposed to research and write last night."
In other news, you are the voice of a generation. Just keep at it, man. Keep putting big words next to each other and one day it won't sound like a freshman in J-School wrote it.
It's all good. Call the Psycho Sweet 16 movies (and any of the many upcoming flicks) LAME all you want meanwhile they will continue to get the HIGH ratings as already proven by the fans who tune in to watch. It's funny to me how people can judge a movie without merit of having even watch them films in the first place. You want to be taken seriously as a reliable source of information but yet don't take the time to actually research or even watch the content you so quickly want to put down. I guess that's why this is as far as your "cough, giggle"career will ever go, a simple blogger and a poor one at that who does this as side job.
Hey readers if you want to read up on sites that actually have seen these films check this out
http://fangoria.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2305:my-super-psycho-sweet-16-2-film-review&catid=50:movies-tv&Itemid=181
You certainly can't blame a network for going where the ratings are. And with the success of their scripted RJ Berger series and the Psycho 16 movies it only make sense for them to continue to produce more. Worst. Prom. Ever. stars Daryl Sabara who has received very favorable reviews in a slew of indie films after he broke onto the movie scene in Spy Kids. Haley Ramm has been cast as the lead in WPE and she is a darling of the Hollywood Reporter critics who loved her performances in both Bond of Silence and The Wheeler Boys. The director of WPE garnered rave reviews for a 2009 film at The Sundance Film Festival. I have to hand it to MTV, they are hiring strong talent to helm their new movies and star in them.
I'm in the movie, WORST PROM EVER, and I've read the script.. I could tell you right now that it in no way relates to the series MADE.