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Why (modern) movies suck


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Guest route67

Every age seems to hearken back to an earlier, Golden Age, when life was simple, and, for example, movies (& later, TV) were just terrific, thank you very much - not like the dross we have to sit through these days, oh, no...

 

I guess it's a sign of getting older, and that we have been exposed to more (and, just as importantly, have actually lived through those times), that allows us to look back and say "Yeah, now that is when cinema/TV/music was the best."

 

Of course, we are wrong, just as our parents were wrong, and their parents before them.  Go back far enough, and you'll probably find someone complaining that cave paintings aren't what they used to be - too much sex and swearing.  "I remember when old Og used to paint lovely family scenes.  None of this nudity - and the language...  Well, I never... 'Ugg' this, 'Aagg' that - it's a disgrace.  Og gave us what we wanted, though - just good old-fashioned slaughter, disembowelling and dismemberment.  Ah, those were the days..."

 

We can, however, say that what we have now is generally sub-standard - certainly in the case of cinema.  The amount of rubbish that I have switched off after 10-15 minutes is waaaayyyy higher than it used to be.

 

Perhaps it's because movie studios are no longer run by people who understand that show business also requires a show, and that a show comes from the heart and not from some marketing fuckwit's focus group.  To give an example, on many an occasion it has become readily apparent that the focus of the film is on some child whose presence in the film is purely to satisfy the demands of some demographic.

 

It seems, also, that there is another reason why modern movies suck:

 

 

It's not the only reason, but it's a good one.

 

Good business is when a quality product is delivered to the customer at a reasonable price.  Good business is when the customer comes back again and again because he/she knows the quality of the product will meet  certain standard.

 

I would argue that the focus has shifted from improving/maintaining the quality of the product to lowering the expectations of the customer in order to get away with delivering an inferior product.  And that is why modern life - in general; movies are but a symptom of the malaise - sucks.

 

In Henry IV (Part 2, if I remember correctly), Shakespeare wrote 'The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers.'

 

I bet he would have added marketing execs to the list if he'd written that today...

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The Bard also wrote, "...there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so."  

 

Was Willy telling us that everything is neutral and the folly of good or bad is created in our minds...

 

No he was telling us what Thomas Gray would tell us again more than a century later, "Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise."

 

And when Willy wrote, "The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers,"  and had the moron Dick utter the line,  was he damning lawyers...No, just the opposite...He was defending lawyers as the keepers of the laws...The laws that stand in the way of chaos.....

 

That is not to say that today he would defend Hollywood marketing folks...........

 

I have said it before and will likey say it again...Hollywood and the film industry is not in the business of making art...That it does on occasion is both a mystery and a miracle...

 

Hollywood is in the business of making money...It always has been...Why that comes as a shock to folks I not know....

 

And that is not a "good or bad" or "kill are the marketing executives" thing...It is just "the way it is" thing...........

 

Sometimes maybe we just have to accept the way it is.....

 

Is art (in this instance films) a mirror of society????  Or does art/films shape society???

 

Who knows...

 

What we do know is that things change...Everything is constantly changing...The world and everything in it is dynamic...We have to look inside ourselves to find those truths that remain constant...And it is only in those truths that the past lives on....

 

......................................................

 

 

As an off topic aside...There is a marvelous little piece written by Yank anthropologist Laura Bohannan years ago titled Shakespeare In The Bush...Required reading for all young budding anthro students in the States way back when.....It teaches us Yanks what we know and most importantly, what we don't know about the Bard's Hamlet.....

 

Now of course it can be found online...

 

Give it a read......It is a short read and it is an entertaining read.........And perhaps it holds some truths even about today............

 


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And today Dustin kinda sorta agrees and doesn't agree with me...

 

But clearly agrees with Route67

 

Who woulda thought ........

 

 
 
 
The Hollywood Reporter
 
July 6, 2015
 
Dustin Hoffman: Cinema Is "Worst" it Has Been in 50 Years 
 
By Alex Ritman
 
Two-time Oscar winner Dustin Hoffman has criticized the current state of cinema, saying it's at its
lowest point in the half a century that he has been working.
 
"I think right now, television is the best that's it ever been, and I think it's the worst that film has 
ever been - in the 50 years that I've been doing it, it's the worst," he said in an interview with U.K. 
newspaper The Independent.
 
Hoffman's cinematic issues appear to stem from the increasing financial demands on directors to complete 
their films more quickly, pressures he says weren't there when he first started out in the industry.
 
"It's hard to believe you can do good work for the little amount of money these days," he said. "We did 
The Graduate and that film still sustains. It had a wonderful script that they spent three years on, and 
an exceptional director with an exceptional cast and crew, but it was a small movie, four walls and actors, 
and yet it was 100 days of shooting."
 
Having made his directorial debut in 2012 with Quartet, the British comedy-drama starring Maggie
Smith and Billy Connelly, Hoffman added that he hadn't yet found another project to sink his teeth into.
 
"I'm looking at everything that comes to me, I'm not getting much as far as directing is concerned," he 
said. "I don't think that has anything to do with whether you are good or not, it's just about
whether your films make money or not."
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Even though I download movies quite often I hardly watch any of them, they just gather digital dust on my HDD. Perhaps I'm subconsciously stocking-piling for times when the internet is down.

 

I believe the modern internet world and easy access to all-things offered online have shortened people's attention spans, certainly for younger generations who may barely know life before the internet and smartphone age. Evidence abounds on fora where questions are asked showing little or no evidence of any prior searches. Time apparently too precious and quick relief with regard to almost anything is in evidence. The same goes for movies, both in production and from a viewer's perspective.

 

However, I do find a fair number of TV series to be incredible. They're more like mega-movies spread over seasons with their high-quality productions. With reference to attention spans above I believe mine has now shortened too, where 50 minute bites are more favourable than setting several hours aside for a movie.

 

For a long time I've been tired of seeing movie sequels, prequels, remakes, and super-hero movies from old comics appearing. It's as if they cannot come up with any new ideas.

 

I watch more of my old favourites than I do new when it comes to movies, only occasionally stumbling across something thoroughly worthwhile I haven't seen before. There are still great movies out there, we just need to find them and make the time to watch them.

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Interesting that both movies and music "were so much better when I was young". I remember reading something about brain research that supported the idea that we connect with music (and probably film) on a deeper level in our adolescent, teen and early adult years due to brain chemistry and hormones. Thus there is an actual physiological reason behind this belief (harbored by pretty much everyone everywhere) that "it was so much better back in the day". 

 

I try to avoid that trap by remembering how my parents and grandparents sounded when they bitched about the music I listened to and how it couldn't hold a candle to the "real" stuff they listened to in their youth (and continued listening to the rest of their lives). 

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I have hundreds of movies, mostly old. The effect discussed on tht youtube vid I first noted in Total Recall. No soul. CGI got better and the effect became more profound. It's my belief there has been a concerted effort to make people/cattle/lemmings more and more stupid so it's easier to sell increasingly shoddy and shitty things for more and more money.  The kids accept this crap. It wows them, it's THEIRS. I also agree with Hoffman, tho subject matter on TV has gone to shit too. Vampires, sexy vampires, zombies, ghouls or all sorts, dark depressing death dealing shit. OR "reality" TV. Even worse. Soap operas the both of them.

 

I'm currently downloading The Quick and the Dead. NO, not the one most know about with the bad bad Hackman, etc. The one based on a Louis L'amour novel made in 1987 with Sam Elliot. I read this thread in the commercial breaks while watching Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. They won't even TRY to top that kind of movie. And maybe that's the big problem. The college whiz kids movie types now KNOW they can't make stuff like To Kill a Mockingbird, et all. So they don't even try. Plus the lemming herd would raise a loud HUH???? wtf if they were fed something substantial. Oddly the great movies and TV shows were made for a giant group of simple, and maybe not so bright folks. I mean I Love Lucy ain't very brainy now is it? They managed to craft things all kinds of people would and could enjoy.

 

In the end I blame the souless, empty creatures to whom money is the only way to measure things and the mindless consumers for whom inteillectual stimulation is not even a consideration (hmm, not like think, hurt brain).  Money and eye candy sugar rush, that's what millions of years of evolution have come to it would appear.

 

Johnny Carson or James Cordon? Please, only the brain dead Petri dish creations of the Wall Street mad scientists would pick the later.

 

I'm with ya DC. I've got an almost full 1 TB of old TV shows alone. Watch how much stuff they crammed into 25 minutes of Have Gun Will Travel some time. Another 3/4 of a TB of movies AND documentaries. Docs, won't be long before that's a dead art huh?

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So many years and so may cheap Thai DVDs......

 

I had an entire drawer filled with DVDs from Thailand that wouldn't play in my DVD players or played so poorly that it was painful to watch them........

 

I finally went through them all the other day and sent them off to DVD heaven....Actually I just leave them on my community mail box for others to either enjoy to find their own frustration....They will all play on a computer....I just can't watch a film on a computer....

 

So slowly I have been replacing those few that I want to watch once again...............

 

Today I bought a copy of Good Will Hunting at Target for $4..........

 

I truly forgot how great a story it is...........

 
Not a perfect ending.........................
 
But just maybe the ending is the perfect beginning.........
 
And ain't that what we spend out lives longing for............
 
I feel so very sorry for those who are unable to find that joy in life or in a simple film........................
 
Maybe despite it all I am lucky............
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  • 2 weeks later...

Seems we have a lot of movie lovers here, or at least guys who sometimes prefer the company of a good book or great film to yet another night of aimless boozing, not that there's anything wrong with the occasional overindulgence...

 

I saw the obit the other day for Alex Rocco, you know, the guy who played Moe Green, casino owner in The Godfather & countless roles in movies & tv. Watching his scene with Pacino whet my appetite & later that evening I watched The Godfather again. It had been a long time since I had watched it uninterrupted for the whole 3 hours, bloody wonderful. Along with G II a real epic story. 

 

It also seems some of us film fans are on a tight budget these days & reading about all this dvds & downloading... if I can suggest to the US guys (Canada too?) drop the cable & buy a small antenna $39, a Roku (refurb Roku 3 1080p currently $62 includes shipping) where there are tons of old movies & tv shows on all sorts of apps & Netflix $9/mo. Then get a VPN, I use PIA & am very pleased with it for about $2.50/mo & with it you can access the live programs & archives for BBC, ITV, Channel 4, ABC Australia, CBC, etc... if you hook up your 'puter to a TV. (Buy a used Mac mini on eBay with a HDMI out if you don't have something.) 

 

That's about $12/mo + internet fee... no discs, no overloaded hard drives.

 

When your vpn is set up & running then check out popcorntime.io   Just about most movies you can think of & a lot of tv shows & docs on here, I guess it's technically torrents but with a great interface & netflix ease of use, they actually claim to have a built in vpn too.

 

I'm settling back to catch The Friends of Eddie Coyle later on it, good flick, recommended...  

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  • 3 weeks later...

A friend of mine was into taping.  He had about 2000 bulky VHS tapes but it was taking over his small apartment so he whittled it down to about 100.

 

tape degrades horribly, in not many years. Wish it were not so. The Furniture Guys shows were fun, but likely all I'd see now is snow. FIRST I put em on disk, then onto the hard drives. Imagine what 2 TB of movies and TV series would look like stacked up in VHS format? My bro got a gizmo that'll convert em as he was like yer bud. He should probably do that. Save him gobs of time trying to find stuff to torrent, and now the torrents are mostly huge too. I've actually seen 20 gig ones. Must be 3D or some such.

 

 

 

My brother uses that Roku rig, loves it. Personally I want the movies in my possesion. To watch whenver I feel like. For years, and years and....quirky I know. Good info tho :)

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  • 3 years later...

Now your talking Pdoggg. I love classic movies. 

It's strange, I spoke to someone a while ago who professed to have a great love of old movies. When I asked some of their favourites they stated Predator, Terminator, First Blood. 

When I said The Third Man, The Big Sleep, and Ice Cold In Alex he seemed totally lost.

 

Last year I recommended Raiders of the Lost Ark to a young Thai fella who loves movies. He couldn't believe how good it is. Wouldn't stop going on about it.

 

That reminds me of another fucking excellent American movie often overlooked. Star-studied cast too:

"First prize, Cadillac Elderado. Second prize, set of stake knives. Third prize ... you're fired!"

Anyone know? Pdoggg, you know.

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4 hours ago, redrockrevival said:

 

 

That reminds me of another fucking excellent American movie often overlooked. Star-studied cast too:

"First prize, Cadillac Elderado. Second prize, set of stake knives. Third prize ... you're fired!"

Anyone know? Pdoggg, you know.

I love that movie.  I was flipping channels here in Cambodia and caught it from the beginning. 

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I spend a lot of time on airplanes-often on long flights as a passenger.  I definitely gravitate to the "classic" usually movies I have already scene.  Some of these multiple times.  I think the last time i actually went to a theater was in bangkok to see Argo.  that was, what, 6 years ago maybe more.

On my recent travels the only "latest releases" I bothered to watch were 1) Bohemian Rhapsody and 2) The Green Book.  both were excellent and I enjoyed them very much.

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Not many great movies made these days. Seems like Pacino, De Niro, Nicholson, Walken, imo the greatest generation of actors, stopped making movies.

Some gems can be found though. Coen brothers are always interesting.

I'm surprised they showed Argo in Bkk as they usually pick Avengers/Superhero-movies.

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  • 4 months later...
On 5/21/2019 at 11:09 PM, seven said:

Not many great movies made these days. Seems like Pacino, De Niro, Nicholson, Walken, imo the greatest generation of actors, stopped making movies.

On November 1st the Irishman opens for a very limited release.  Directed by Scorcese, staring DeNiro as the Irishman, Pesci as a Mafia boss, and Pacino as Jimmy Hoffa. In December it will be on Netflix and won't be in theatres anymore.

 

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9 hours ago, Pdoggg said:

On November 1st the Irishman opens for a very limited release.  Directed by Scorcese, staring DeNiro as the Irishman, Pesci as a Mafia boss, and Pacino as Jimmy Hoffa. In December it will be on Netflix and won't be in theatres anymore.

I'll definitely watch The Irishman at some stage, but not at a movie theatre. Other people can be irritating and distracting, I'd rather download it and watch it solo in peace and quiet at home. I barely watch movies these days, if I do it's movies I've usually seen before and thoroughly enjoyed. So much junk on offer these days which seems to cater for a much different and younger demographic than me.

Most of my home screen time is spent watching some of the excellent TV series' which exist. There are so many and at any given time you only need to commit yourself to 45 minutes or an hour at most. As opposed to a movie which can often run into several hours, which is a lot of time to set aside in one sitting. 

With the internet in general, Youtube etc., our attention spans have reduced and our tolerence for dedicating several hours for a movie have passed. Certainly for me, I think. However, TV episodes I can watch multiples on the bounce, but those hours are taken in 45 minute or hour chunks so at any given time I don't feel like I'm committing too much time in one go, as you do for a movie.

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5 hours ago, dixon cox said:

I'll definitely watch The Irishman at some stage

Of course I'll watch this one.

Also, I read about this 2 months ago, and while it wasn't a given, it will be showed in a theatre for a month.

Coppola says himself, this is the best version.  One of my favs of all time:

Why Francis Ford Coppola decided to make a third cut of his masterpiece on its 40th anniversary — and why this version is, in his mind, the best

https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-features/apocalypse-now-final-cut-review-coppola-870292/

 

 

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