I have a beef. Of course, when I start Landsharking, I normally have some sort of a beef. So I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. And neither should you.

I love movies. So much of my commentary focuses on the media in our world that it pretty much goes without saying. One of my first real memories was going to see The Black Cauldron in the theater with my parents. Since then, I’ve amassed a pretty sizeable collection of flicks.

And if you’ve been reading this baby for a reasonable period of time, you should know that I have a fond respect for originality in all forms of art and entertainment. There’s just something beautiful about an original idea that takes shape and develops into a full-fledged medium. I truly love that process.

Having said that, it should be duly noted (and quite obvious) that I have a deep-seated loathing for unoriginality. Especially in the form of plagiarism.

Now let’s not get plagiarism confused with inspiration. There is a difference. When George Lucas borrows the opening title sequence to every Star Wars movie from a sci-fi serial he used to watch as a kid, that’s inspiration. When Paul Auster makes references to William Wilson in The New York Trilogy, that’s an homage to Edgar Allen Poe’s character of the same name. And when Bruce Campbell is given the magic words “klaatu, barada, nikto” in Army Of Darkness, that’s a sly reference to the words used to control Gort in The Day The Earth Stood Still.

That, my friends, is a kindly tip of the hat to one’s predecessors. Nothing more.

However, plagiarism, outright copying a film’s core premise is, to me, an inexcusable crime.

A crime that Dreamworks SKG has violated for the last time, in my eyes.

Why, you ask? OK, here are four films released by Dreamworks in the last six years. All film descriptions are courtesy of the Internet Movie Database.

Deep Impact. Original Release Date: May 8, 1998. Unless a comet can be destroyed before colliding with Earth, only those allowed into shelters will survive. Which people will survive?

Saving Private Ryan. Original Release Date: July 24, 1998. Based on a World War II drama. US soldiers try to save their comrade, paratrooper Private Ryan, who's stationed behind enemy lines.

Antz. Original Release Date: October 2, 1998. A rather neurotic ant tries to break from his totalitarian society while trying to win the affection of the princess he loves.

Shark Tale. Original Release Date: October 1, 2004. The sea underworld is shaken up when the son of the shark mob boss is found dead and a young fish named Oscar is found at the scene...

Now, compare the above to the following four films, all released by different production companies…

Armageddon. Original Release Date: July 1, 1998 (released by Touchstone Pictures). When an asteroid the size of Texas is headed for Earth the world's best deep core drilling team is sent to nuke the rock from the inside.

The Thin Red Line. Original Release Date: December 25, 1998 (released by Twentieth Century Fox). Director Terrence Malick's adaptation of James Jones' autobiographical 1962 novel, focusing on the conflict at Guadalcanal during the second World War.

A Bug’s Life. Original Release Date: November 25, 1998 (released by Walt Disney Pictures). A misfit ant, looking for warriors to save his colony from grasshoppers, recruits a group of bugs that turn out to be an inept circus troupe.

Finding Nemo. Original Release Date: May 30, 2004 (released by Walt Disney/Pixar). A father-son underwater adventure featuring Nemo, a boy clownfish, stolen from his coral reef home. His timid father must then search the ocean to find him.

Now, just stop and think for a second. Here we have four films by Dreamworks: a disaster movie, a war epic, a CGI kids’ film about bugs, and a CGI kids’ film about fish.

The remaining four films are: a disaster movie, a war epic, a CGI kids’ film about bugs, and a CGI kids’ film about fish.

Notice a pattern, here?

Before you jump to conclusions, yes, I am accusing Dreamworks SKG of stealing general ideas and pillaging them into their own creations. You’ll notice that in all the cases except for the Nemo/Shark situation, Dreamworks has trumped the competition by releasing their film as much as six months earlier. And even with the 18-month hiatus between Nemo and Shark, Nemo was such a huge hit that the memory still lingers fresh in the minds of most children.

I could excuse Saving Private Ryan, as war epics are plentiful. Besides, Ryan was a much better film than Line, and with Spielberg at the helm, you’d be hard-pressed to question his standard genius.

Well, except for A.I. We’d like to forget that. Forever.

But then we have two disaster movies. Well, even that may be a coincidence. Hell, Universal and Fox released Dante’s Peak and Volcano respectively within months of each other. Competition is hot amongst production companies, and disaster films are typically strong box office draws.

But now you have two kids movies that, in the general premise and atmosphere, are practically identical. This really pisses me off.

What pisses me off more than how blatantly Dreamworks has ripped off Disney and Pixar in this instance is the fact that these two films pretty much confirm the nasty truth that everyone in Hollywood is in it for the money. Why? Because these films are guaranteed to be modest to huge hits and they will draw kids in by the droves.

And what really irks me is the fact that this company was founded by three very prolific, creative guys in entertainment. Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen. You would think that with those founding fathers, the firm would have more innovative material coming out of the woodwork.

But no. What we get is just some very generic rehash. And that may really be the saddest part of all of this.

Creative juices wasted on someone else’s pre-existing ideas.

Goodnight, and have a pleasant tomorrow.