Everything wrong with people/films these days!

[criterionmaster]

Feel free to rant about how much you hate film fans who think just because movies are old they suck. Or films that are coming out these days that do nothing new at all with film, just doing the same things over and over.

A discussion would be nice, I know this has been touched upon in other threads, but now we can bring it into this thread. Just throw any thoughts you have out there.

[ie]

I hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate (did that until I made a typo) it when stupid goddamn people make uneducated generalizations. Fucking "oh, all modern movies are crap!" And fucking "oh, all old movies are crap."

Generalizations can work. For example, I've seen five+ movies by a director, they all seem about the same, so I can generalize what the rest of that directors movies are.

But not when they are based off of a few examples. If you, the person who is reading this, says "all new movies are crap!", you are probably frustrated with Little Man or something, but you're probably also making a generalization based on about three movies that you don't like. Then your argument comes out looking like shit, but only thing is, we can't laugh at you because chances are, things have been slow and all the cool and elite underground directors everyone loves haven't pooled together to release something in Hollywood in a while, so there's no banner you can raise saying "hey, what about this movie?"


Another thing, Hollywood puts out some pretty bland and generic crap, but that's not all they do. Occasionally, something decent comes out. And even if a movie is bland and generic crap that you've seen a hundred times, can't you just loosen up and have a good time, even if it is crap?


Also, the whole "remakes suck!" argument is so full of crap that whenever I post my counterarguments, people either ignore what I said or go back to saying the same bullshit over and over again. The concept isn't new. There was a movie released in 1900 (that would be 107 years ago) called the Kiss, which was a remake of a movie made four years earlier. See? This concept isn't new... jeez. And tried and true the Wizard of Oz? Remake. Now, not all remakes are great, I can understand that, but don't go flying that "remakes suck!" flag, because that shit just doesn't fly.

[Clark Nova]

i don't wanna talk about it, it pisses me off too much to see what kids my age like these days.

[ie]

This thread just caught me on a bad day, so I'm willing to rant and rant to vent some frustration.


Taste is another thing.

Just because someone likes the Fast and the Furious, does that mean they have poor taste? How about you try to look at it from this perspective: I have a friend who likes the movie. He likes it because he really likes cars of all types. So he doesn't watch the movie so much to see bad acting, poor dialogue, or whatever bullshit. He watches it to see a hobby he enjoys being shown on a big screen.

This also means that you can enjoy movies that are flawed, if only because they are endearing. For example, I like the Wizard, that slice of Nintendo pie made before there was even a hint of the SNES. It has all of these flaws, but it's just an enjoyable movie for me.

Also, taste is all about the palette.
If we think in terms of food, well, there's the caviar, the health food, and the junk food. Caviar might be like the really obscure foreign classics that criterionmaster drools over. The health food might be like the classics and the favorites. And the junk food would be like the flawed yet endearing. Not everyone likes caviar; it's an acquired taste. But as long as you stay healthy, what's so bad about going to McDonalds and ordering a veggie burger without the veggies?


I mentioned this before, somewhere, probably a long time ago, so I'll mention it here.

I think that anyone has decent taste in movies, so long as they are willing to watch and enjoy movies that aren't just popular contemporary favorites. I mean, sure, I like some people's tastes in movies more than others, but if you're interested in movies, isn't that the most important part?

Also, no matter how much popular opinion may dictate people's opinions, no movie is untouchable.
If watching the Seven Samurai causes every orifice in your body to bleed, then, um... go to a hospital before you die and stuff. And, I hope you feel better. Even if I disagree with you. Still, that's your opinion, and no matter how much I might hate you at the moment for it, it's still your opinion, and so long as you get to have your opinions, I get to have mine.


Oh yeah, this one's directed at the directors of certain movies: why do you have to make movies that are so goddamn un-stimulating? Why do you hate us? I don't need explosions or anything like that to get me through a movie, and I can enjoy slow paced movies, but I just need something to stimulate my mind. Be it the visuals, the "visuals" , the plot, the dialogue, the scenery, just something to get me through. Is that really so hard for some movie directors to comprehend?


And, I'm pretty much diffused at this point. Calm like a bomb.

[lordofdance]

I hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate (did that until I made a typo) it when stupid goddamn people make uneducated generalizations. Fucking "oh, all modern movies are crap!" And fucking "oh, all old movies are crap."

The way I look at is, films from each decade have certain characteristics that show up frequently. There's a unique amalgam of influences, styles, sensibilities, ect. Movies made in the 80's are much different than those made in the 60's. Now, what makes 60's movies distinctive is more appealing to me than what makes 80's movies distinctive. Most movies made after the the mid 70's don't appeal to me because I don't tend to enjoy the amalgams that came together in following decades. Of course, I do enjoy movies made in the 80's, 90's, 00's, but overall those decades lack characteristics I find appealing. Nobody can flat out say, "Old movies suck" and have any credibility. But, I can understand someone not liking the particular characteristics of films from earlier decades. There are always films that stand out, both old and new, but many are simply products of their time.

Also, the whole "remakes suck!" argument is so full of crap that whenever I post my counterarguments, people either ignore what I said or go back to saying the same bullshit over and over again. The concept isn't new. There was a movie released in 1900 (that would be 107 years ago) called the Kiss, which was a remake of a movie made four years earlier. See? This concept isn't new... jeez. And tried and true the Wizard of Oz? Remake. Now, not all remakes are great, I can understand that, but don't go flying that "remakes suck!" flag, because that shit just doesn't fly.

Again, many remakes simply can't reproduce the unique characteristics of films made at an earlier time or from a different culture. Very often, American remakes of international films completely miss the point of the original, or lack what made it special. This applies to remakes of older films as well. Not all remakes suck, this is true. But so few really add something new or distinctive. And considering the explosion of remakes coming out these days, the good ones seem fewer and fewer in number. If they must put out a remake, how about doing something interesting and fresh with it? Don't just take a good idea and give it a mediocre presentation, or just assume the success of the original will give the remake credibility.

Also, taste is all about the palette.
If we think in terms of food, well, there's the caviar, the health food, and the junk food. Caviar might be like the really obscure foreign classics that criterionmaster drools over. The health food might be like the classics and the favorites. And the junk food would be like the flawed yet endearing. Not everyone likes caviar; it's an acquired taste. But as long as you stay healthy, what's so bad about going to McDonalds and ordering a veggie burger without the veggies?

I think that anyone has decent taste in movies, so long as they are willing to watch and enjoy movies that aren't just popular contemporary favorites. I mean, sure, I like some people's tastes in movies more than others, but if you're interested in movies, isn't that the most important part?

This is very true. It is pointless to question other people's tastes. But some do indulge in way too much junk food.

Also, no matter how much popular opinion may dictate people's opinions, no movie is untouchable.
If watching the Seven Samurai causes every orifice in your body to bleed, then, um... go to a hospital before you die and stuff. And, I hope you feel better. Even if I disagree with you. Still, that's your opinion, and no matter how much I might hate you at the moment for it, it's still your opinion, and so long as you get to have your opinions, I get to have mine.

Some people seem to latch on to certain movies, maybe because a Top 100 list ranked it highly, and assume that there is no one on Earth who could possibly not think that it's amazing. Others are so fanatical about a particular film, probably because they need to get out more, that they can't comprehend why others don't worship it. This is insane. I hold no ill will against anyone who doesn't enjoy a film that I do. We all come from different backgrounds and have different perspectives. As long as their reason for not liking it isn't totally off base, I don't care.

[criterionmaster]

I think sports is one of the main reasons why people like such terrible movies these days.

[captainofbeef]

My god, that is a dumb statement. I like sports and movies. They only connect through bad sports movies, not through bad horror, bad comedy, or mindless action films.

[sacrilegend]

...and sports aren't even to blame for bad sports movies.

[ie]

I agreed with lordofdance enough to not comment and such.

criterionmaster said:

I think sports is one of the main reasons why people like such terrible movies these days.

It's the distinct lack of the Seven Samurai that has caused popular culture to go crazy...


It's a cultural thing, really. People don't go to the movies to watch intellectually challenging movies, especially because some of them are pretty goddamn hard to sit through, even for an intellectual. Most of these people want fun, easy, mindless entertainment, that takes them away from their dull lives and transplants them into a two-hour reality in which if you band together with your loser friends, you can achieve your goals; even if they consist of drinking the most alcohol, getting it on with an attractive member of your preferred gender, and whatever else this vaguely defined yet omnipresent genre of movies we're talking about that causes people to choose Step Up over the Seven Samurai and perhaps unintentionally so.


Also, sports have been watched for ages.

If you would have said MTV, that would have been a more accurate assessment, although still further, it wasn't the advent of music videos as much as the corruption of these channels, where MTV is no longer about music television, rather, it is about playing teen reality television shows and shows that lack intellectual value. Teenagers watch TRL instead of Jeopardy!.

[ie]

If only I had been quicker on the draw there...


Oh, and I think C-Dan the criterionmasterman forgot about Raging Bull when he wrote that.

[criterionmaster]

MTV and sports go hand and hand for me, I feel both make people dumber than they are. Not in all cases (beed, etc.) but in a lot of cases it would seem. I am not saying all time sports, but now they just seem so flashy, and just seem very much the cause of why people go to the theater to see mindless films that tend to suck. Maybe not as bad as other things (rap, mtv, etc.), but still effecting people. Posted this because it is the way I feel, and I figured people would be on both sides of this. I have more thoughts on this but I will let people say more before I go into how much I hate rap, sports, and other things.

[captainofbeef]

Sports are not flashy at all. I have one sport for you to watch, baseball. If you think baseball is flashy, you have serious problems. The only sport that really has MTV connections is the NBA and I will admit that the NBA is the worst sports league in existence today. Either way, sports has no connections to movies other than the fact that they are both forms of entertainment. Commissioners of pro sports are not the ones promoting bad movies, directors of big Hollywood firms are the one promoting them.

[sacrilegend]

I agree with captainofbeef.

But if you want to start a tirade against rap, go ahead. I'd love that.

[criterionmaster]

Well I was actually agreeing with a point that was made by someone on a commentary. I think she was coming from the view of people caring about sports so much and not caring about things that are actually important, like films and things that go with them. She was also pissed that people take them seriously. So I was basically bringing in a point I agree with.

Baseball is a sport?

[nonfiction]

Sports OWN. I'd die without hockey.