Hoo boy, the old is strong in this thread.
I’m so emotionally dead that I require explosions, overwrought melodrama, and bone rattling orchestral scores to spark the barest glimmer of human feeling in my cold husk of a body. Audiences are wracked by alienation in a post-industrial society and gaze upon the screen like a cow waiting for the thud of the bolt gun. Ah, sweet relief.
The nice thing about old movies is you can take a nap and not miss anything. Oh, and the casual misogyny.
Actually, whenever I watch old movies that are three or more hours long I dread the experience, but they’re usually well paced and skip right along.
Weird – I’m more used to hearing obtrusive, unnecessary music in older movies compared to recent movies. Especially in comedies or romances, say.
I have to comment here.
No offense , Everything is Not Spider-man, Batman, Superman or some other comic book.
Seriously, I can’t believe you actually believe that.
According to Box Office Mojo Hollywood released 729 films in 2016.
That’s 729. Of those how many were “comic book” films? Maybe 10? 12?
I’m so tired of hearing people say that all the movies that are released are special effect comic book films. There are so many different types of films released every year. Something for everybody.
I’m 56.
I LOVE movies.
Movies from all decades.
I can sit and watch a movie from the 30’s and than watch one that came out last year and enjoy them both. It doesn’t matter to me. Strong script, strong acting, strong directing. It doesn’t matter when it was made, if it has all that then it’s worth watching.
True, but how culturally relevant are they? Take a gander at 2016’s top grossing movies.
That list made me realize there’s such a movie as Ice Age 5: Collision Course, which grossed $400 million with a 15% RT. Lovely.
Newer isnt always better.
Their misogyny was so lame. If only they had that Straight Outta Compton group to mentor them.
Neither is older.
And things weren’t always better in the old days. Most of the time, they were much worse.
Older movies are slower and have the disadvantage that they are the cliches that the newer movies (and esp the great newer tv shows) are riffing on. So watching old movies seems regressive sometimes.
I was a film student and have seen boatloads of classic and art movies. These days they need to be in the top percentile classically or artistically for me to take the time. There’s not many left that I missed.
And yes the movies are basically being made for kids these days. Anecdotally there are many kinds of flicks, but we can see how the culture is by looking out at it. The economic model for filmed dramas has shifted. I don’t think there’s any looking back.
There are still mainstream movies that rely on character, story and dialog. Here are some from just the past few years:
Moonlight
Manchester by the Sea
Hell or High Water
Fences
Hunt for the Wilderpeople
Sully
Hidden Figures
Spotlight
Carol
Room
Steve Jobs
Boyhood
Gone Girl
Whiplash
Nightcrawler
The Imitation Game
American Sniper
Foxcatcher
The Theory of Everything
Mr. Turner
Selma
I’ve deliberately omitted movies that rely on special effects or animation, or that have a more modern feeling (such as The Martian, Kubo and the Two Strings, Ex Machina and Birdman).
My point is that movies are still being made that don’t have what the OP considers flaws. As I look at today’s movie listings I see Beatriz at Dinner, The Hero, My Cousin Rachel and Past Life. I haven’t seen these yet, but I doubt they have a lot of CGI, loud music, shaky cam, oversaturated colors and audio effects.
I want you two to stand up in front of an audience at a TCM event and make these statements, if you have the guts. Be sure to wear rotten-tomato-proof clothing. Don’t be surprised by all the under-40s who still have good pitching arms.
Incorrect. Today’s movies are heavily influenced by the international market and are made as vanilla as possible. Regional and niche cinema is non existent to the big studios. These were also the minor leagues of filmmaking and allowed the behind the scenes talent to get experience, learn their jobs and develop new techniques. Today artistic diversity is all but extinct.
I blame the Cineplex for some of this. They charge the same admission for all films. If they could charge less for smaller films it might revitalize the market. And with the death of the independent theater came the death of the foreign film in America. Instead of an international buffet of film flavor we are now a McDonalds of movies where the product is developed to appeal to the least common denominator.
Hey, those were the days when men were men and sheep were nervous! People didn’t believe a lot of the crap they blindly accept today.
Yeah, a lot of old movies suck because the studios simply had to crank out **X **number of films a year to meet the demands of cinemas and movie-goers. Of course most have faded into oblivion; for every Casablanca there were hundreds of “Gee, that’s swell!” and “Let’s put on a show!” features.
Still, if you compare the production standards of those films to what’s around today, I think you’ll find they’re at least as good and often much better, simply because everyone at a studio knew what they were doing. They were producers in the true sense of the word, not investors who expected a quick return on their money.
Much obliged.
No, you’re incorrect.
I know you are but what am I?!!
Old?
Star Trek isn’t the new Plane 9; Birdemic is.
It’s the sound! I’ve been saying this for a decade, so since my late 20s…so many theaters/films/whatever have the sfx blaring but I can’t parse the dialogue. It can’t totally be the theaters, either, because I’ve had a great time at home whenever I can watch anything with subtitles. And I’m talking, English subtitles with English films. I’m addicted to it now. And as far as I can tell, my sight is far worse than my hearing, so you tell me.
The last film I recall understanding and enjoying in theater without aid was Sweeney Todd, which was…2006 or so?
I usually do ok with drive-ins, too, for whatever that’s worth. I think the radio equalizes the sound a bit. (I’m in a rare area where we still have nearly as many drive-ins as indoor theater, so that’s fun for summer films)