Zachary Levi Wants You To Stop Watching Crappy Movies

Zachary Levi, the actor from TV shows like Chuck and movies like Shazam!, came out very hard on the kinds of movies Hollywood is making as of late.

The actor made an appearance at Chicago Fan Expo (via Entertainment Weekly) to let people know he was unhappy with what’s been coming out of the studio system and feels bad for the fans.

Levi said, “I personally feel like the amount of content that comes out of Hollywood that is garbage—they don’t care enough to actually make it great for you guys. They don’t.”

So, what kinds of movies is he rallying against?

Levi expanded on this idea. “How many times do you watch a trailer and go, ‘Oh my god, this looks so cool!’ Then you go to the movie and it’s like, ‘This was what I get? They know that once you’ve already bought the ticket and you’re in the seat, they’ve got your money. And the only way for us to change any of it is to not go to the garbage. We have to actively not choose the garbage. It’ll help. It’ll help a lot.”

While this was a bit of a vague characterization, I think he is onto something here. The trailer game has gotten so different in these past years.

We’ve seen major movies have trailers without scenes in the actual movie, trailers that dell a genre we don’t get, and many other annoying things.

I think the real issue here is the idea of voting with a ticket.

Levi is right. We buy tickets and sit down for movies because we expect them to be good. I don’t know almost any people who seek out that experience thinking they’re going to see something bad.

So how do we vote for movies we think are good in a world where marketing materials can make anything look good? What classifies as a garbage movie? Levi didn’t give us an outline, but I don’t need him to give me one.

I know what I like and what I want to see Hollywood make, so I try to buy tickets to as many movies that are emblematic of that. I try to see or rent at least one indie movie for every major studio movie I see.

I get that might not be easy for most people, but I think if we want to preserve art, we have to seek out films that may not be totally up our alley or that are small. Small doesn’t mean good, but I think it shows studios it’s okay to take chances on these titles that aren’t IP or tentpoles.

If it’s an original movie and it’s in theaters, I see it. Because I love writing original screenplays, and I want more of them to be made.

I’m also aware that this just gives these huge places more money they will probably use on more expensive movies. It’s a catch-22.

The best thing we can do is to tell people when we love something. Be a fan of films, big and small, and try to see as many as we can in all shapes and sizes.

Source: Entertainment Weekly