re: Anyone else think we're about to enter a cinematic dark age?

The only movie that changed not to offend the Chinese was Red Dawn and really it made more sense for it to be North Korea than China anyways.

If anything we are entering a better era of movies. Pre-60's it was all a producer's game producing the same box office draws in the same plots over and over and over again. The few standout films were either adapted from or based on novels.

I don't get why people shite on sequels. It's easy to come up with an original story that stands alone. It's hard to take that story and take it a step further in a great creative way.

Speaking of originality, let's take a look at the Best Picture nominees this year:

Zero Dark Thirty is a docudrama about real life events. Nothing original.
Argo is based on a declassified cia mission.
Lincoln is based on the last few months of a President's life.
Life of Pi was adapted from a book.
Les Miserables was adapted from a play.
Beasts of the Southern Wild is from a play too.
Silver Linings Playbook is from a book.

Only 2 of the 9 nominees are original ideas/stories. Meanwhile, comic book movies and comedies are shunned because they aren't snobby elitist films but are easily more entertaining and provide more bang for the buck than their wine and cheese counterparts.