"I paid for this?": The decline in movie making

[arcticphoenix95]

Whoa there turbo, I never saw either of the Transformer movies in theaters, I have only seen the first one on dvd once.

Overall though I agree with you OP, many movies these days don't seem to be as great as they used to, although it could also be nostalgia too don't you think?

No. Not really.

I'm sure many people would agree that comedies which have been released in the past few years aren't as funny as some other movies like Young Frankenstein.

I guess I agree with you. Spaceballs is my favorite comedy, if it wasn't already obvious, and the only comedy lately I think had a chance to even come close to it is The Hangover. I liked The Hangover, but to me it doesn't have a chance against Spaceballs.

spaceballs was hilarious, don't let others tell you differently

 

[The Rockerfly]

I have never watched an action film in the last 7 years bar the super hero films which nearly all were good

I never saw a single transformers film or twilight and Avatar is a good film so I went to say that but I'm here to argue. Also with Avatar, take in mind with the 3D glasses purchasing and 3D film effects made tickets cost about twice as much. Finally I have never paid to see a saw film in my life and whenever a friend wants to see it I tell them why it's shit

With this whole supply demand thing of shit films I don't think the escapist really is part of the problem. Most of here hate mainstream games, films, books, music or any form of medium (sometime not justified but each to their own)

If you really want to stop this utter drivel from coming out of Hollywood then you will have to argue with the mainstream audience. A sea of idiotic reasoning, stupid opinions and the need for mediocrity. It's impossible to reason with these idiots and as long as a film has a big budget for marketing to these fuckwads then these big budget films will keep spewing out

It's sad but true, however there will always such as Steven Spielberg (and more, I can't think of any more, it's 4 in the morning here) making films with decent scripts, acting and stories.

However I think you are looking through rose tinted glasses because there were probably loads of shit films to come out during the same time as all these classic films came out. This also applies to the film industry presently because there about as many classic films coming out now as there was 20 years ago.

Just my opinion but my God that Twilight scene was an embarrassment, like awkward teenagers first time and accidentally jizzed his pants

EDIT: Also 300 was a pretty fun film to watch, again it might not be intelligent but you can't deny it was well made and a great example of cinematography

 

[Mr.Pandah]

What was wrong with Avatar? Not understanding why that would be brought up as a negative. If anything, people finally spoke out and said that there was finally a good movie.

And the Hurt Locker...what was so great about that movie? Sure it was tense, but once I realized that I didn't really care for any of the characters except the younger guy in the squad (and don't even get me started on that god awful sniper scene), that movie was nothing special.

Shit films will always come out. How many classics do we have nowadays? You only know about the classics because those were the movies that actually stood out from the rest of the shit back then. Regardless of how we "vote" with our dollars, there will always be the "___ Movie".

300 was great by the way. I don't care what anyone says.

 

[Dags90]

It's nothing new, big budget action movies with meaningless throwaway plots have been part of American cinema for decades, see the James Bond and Indiana Jones franchises. Some movie critics say that the increase in remakes and adaptation movies is from the current financial times. Movies cost big bucks, people trust well known franchises. Avatar made no small mention of its relation to Titanic (a much, much better movie).

I don't think all movies have to be artistic in order to be entertaining. It certainly is nice when they coincide, but they're not exclusive. I saw Avatar for the 3-D effects, I wasn't really expecting much in the way of plot.

 

[The Rockerfly]

Also 300 was a pretty fun film to watch, again it might not be intelligent but you can't deny it was well made and a great example of cinematography

I can deny it. The dialogue was embarrassing, the film as a whole was boring as @#!$ and creepy as hell.

The dialogue was better then any film that has come out in the last 10 years because it was epic and that is the point of the film.

Granted some of the action seems a bit pointless and can drag on as a result

However I don't understand that it was creepy if you mean dudes in swim trunks, go to your local leisure centre and you will see the exact same thing.

 

[MellowFellow]

Whoa there turbo, I never saw either of the Transformer movies in theaters, I have only seen the first one on dvd once.

Overall though I agree with you OP, many movies these days don't seem to be as great as they used to, although it could also be nostalgia too don't you think?

No. Not really.

I'm sure many people would agree that comedies which have been released in the past few years aren't as funny as some other movies like Young Frankenstein.

I guess I agree with you. Spaceballs is my favorite comedy, if it wasn't already obvious, and the only comedy lately I think had a chance to even come close to it is The Hangover. I liked The Hangover, but to me it doesn't have a chance against Spaceballs.

spaceballs was hilarious, don't let others tell you differently

Yes it is. May the Schwartz be with you.

 

[arcticphoenix95]

also......."prepare ship for ludicrous speed"!

 

[NBSRDan]

I tl;dr'd when you cited Citizen Kane as "an example of film making at its best."

 

[The Rockerfly]

No, the dialogue was a crap, tasteless attempt at being epic by people who know nothing of what this means. That kind of thing can be done well. Gladiator did it well. 300 did not.

I actually found gladiator to be fairly dull and only one line from Gladiator really sticks in my mind. While I think Gladiator was more tasteful, that does not make it better.

It even horribly misused direct quotes from the historical material. "We will fight in the shade" is delivered as the punchline to a ludicrous sequence that could only be taken seriously in a heavy metal video. The Spartans in general -- who gave us the word "laconic" for a man of few words and pithy wit -- had verbal diarrhea. Was this all in the Miller comic? Well, that was shit, too; it was the Miller who was shortly to give us "Are you retarded? I'm the goddamned Batman!" It's a joke.

Well I have no idea if they are actually quotes from historical context so I can't really make an argument here. Some of the Spartans lines were stupid but other lines are so quotable and memorable that I am willing to say the majority of the writing is good. You may disagree with me but you are not going to change my opinion on the writing as some of the best lines stick in my mind

I mean praise of hate instead of courage. I mean eugenics as a basic part of the plot, and the Persian as deformed orcs. I mean subplots revolving around the ephors' arrogant attempt to limit the President's, oops I'm sorry I mean Leonidas', warmaking powers. I mean the Spartans spouting Objectivist gobbledygook about "mysticism" in place of anything they might actually have said. I mean it was shit.

That is a form of motivation though. If you hate something you'll work as hard as possible to get rid of them.

I will give you that some of the creatures were unrealistic and felt out of place though

 

[Timotei]

I tl;dr'd when you cited Citizen Kane as "an example of film making at its best."

I hope you enjoyed my trap then.

 

[ethaninja]

I enjoyed Avatar.

Sorry man, I did.

I like to think I have good tastes in movies otherwise though.

Aye same here. I guess its the music in the movies that gets my opinion motor revving. And epic soundtrack for an epic scene is great.

 

[cmstewart87]

Yes this is unfortunately true. I work in the industry, and due to the youtube, some extensive pirating of films, and lack of people going to theaters for anything other than blockbuster films, The industry is only going to keep spiraling downward into a repeat of the same slapstick comedy film with different highly popular actors.

I work in the industry today and getting investors to invest in any film is getting to be damn near impossible. Big studios will only produce the big crap that looks amazing but is nothing new story-wise, and the little guys will produce their 3 minutes wig out sessions that get millions of hits for free. Thus leaving anyone in the middle out on the cold.

So before you download that latest film, just realize you are attributing to the decline in artistic expression in filmmaking.

 

[Yureina]

Not really my problem, since i've seen only like 2 movies in a theatre in the last 3-4 years. I will just stay at some and enjoy my movie collection that is shock fukk of awesome classics and a few decent films from the present that have come to me with high recommendations. I let other people watch everything in the theatre so that they can sort the crap from the quality for me.

It's the only way to roll.

I am confused, what is your point with all of this ranting?

Are you saying:

Older movies are better? Newer movies don't try hard enough for your tastes?

Defendor, 500 days of summer, Coraline, Doubt, Gran Torino, In Burges, Let the Right One in, Pan's Labyrinth, Moon, Session 9, Sunshine, and The Crazies, have all been (as far as I'm concerned) great motion pictures that fans of cinema might enjoy. These are newer movies, and I as a fan of cinema am greatful I am alive in this time when such great movies are created.

I can list other movies I have thought have been great besides these, but I fear this thread is more about your tastes than mine. So I ask you, what are you really trying to say?

I agree with your statement that it's better to watch movies at my home. But does that mean these movies are not worth seeing on the silver screen? I would say not.

I think you may have confused me with the OP.

What I meant was that I let other people go to the theatre for me rather than spending my own time and money. If a large majority tell me a movie is good, then I may check it out. That goes for old and new stuff. I'm picky across the board. ;P

 

[Zhukov]

So... basically, lots of people don't like the movies you like and this makes you grumpy.

Huh.

Well, for what it's worth, I sort of agree with you.

 

[octafish]

Timotei... have you even SEEN Citizen Kane? Do you know just how mind-numbingly boring it is? It doesn't even stand up by modern standards.

But other than that, good post. Really I'm not too concerned though. Like anything, cinema is dominated by the popular shit - and I mean shit in all senses of the word. That's just the way it goes. Look at the music industry that lets Justin "Baby" Beiber run amok.

So yeah, it's the shit that earns the money and is thrown at us for our viewing... er, pleasure... but come on. The same year we were "treated" to "Twilight", vampires were also reinvented in the form of a little girl, (who'd rip whats'isname Sparkly's throat out for fun,) with the brilliant film "Let The Right One In". The same year Michael Bay waved his willy in our face with "Transformers 2", Pete , (sorry, Sir Pete,) Jackson and Neill Blomkamp got together for District 9.

So yeah. I think that, while idiots may determine what the popular films are, good films are still being made.

Let the Right One In, little girl? Did they change it from the book?