# What dates a movie the most? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 25, 2011, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dates-a-movie-the-most/579707 "2011-04-25T20:49:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dates-a-movie-the-most/579707/21 "2011-04-26T19:05:15Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > You do know that most of the movie’s in color, right? 😃 Yeah, another thing I don’t like about it. Color or black and white- MAKE UP YOUR MIND! Though I did have a dream about it once. And _you_ were there… and Judy Garland was there… and man was she wasted, but gave a helluva show nonetheless. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dates-a-movie-the-most/579707/22 "2011-04-26T19:09:20Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > In my opinion, _The Ten Commandments_ was a bad movie to begin with. Some of the dialogue is ludicrous: I think its also hurt by the fact that Charlseton Heston’s eccentric, over-the-top acting style, kind of like William Shatners, has been spoofed so many times that its hard to take seriously when confronted with the real thing. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dates-a-movie-the-most/579707/23 "2011-04-26T19:09:46Z")
I think most of you guys are missing the point of the OP. I agree that \*10 Commandments \*is very dated (and was even when it came out), but it has nothing to do with changing technology. I think it has more to do with dialog, but not the way most people think. Dialog was delivered very differently back in the 30s and 40s, yet that doesn’t automatically “date” a movie. In fact, most of my favorite films are from that era. But there’s something very different about movies like \*10 Commandments, \*and it has something to do with dialog that indulges in artificial self-importance or profundity. It seems like the character were making “pronouncements,” rather than simply delivering their lines . . . especially the narration. It’s almost understandable to hear Moses or the Pharaoh speak this way, but it becomes comical to hear it out of the mouths of slaves. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dates-a-movie-the-most/579707/24 "2011-04-26T19:11:04Z")
> [@gallows\_fodder](#): > > This – it’s disorienting to watch a film ostensibly set in, say, Victorian England, and see all these women with bright red lipstick set to form bee-stung lips. I’m sure we do things like that now and I just don’t notice, but…I’d like to think we take a little more pride in being period-accurate in our higher-quality TV and films. Molly Parker playing Alma in **Deadwood** did wear make-up (where as in reality Alma wouldn’t have), but it was very subtle and you could tell the attempt was made to balance playing up Molly Parker’s features for the camera while remaining true to the period for the character of Alma. I can’t think of any pre-1950s period movie that attempts to keep actresses’ makeup period accurate (please correct me if I’m wrong – I’d love to see them!). Somehow it didn’t affect _Gone With the Wind_ as much. Actually the women’s hairstyles were alright, but the men mostly had 1930s haircuts unlike the beards most of them had in the book and the 1860s in general, but I suppose the period clothing and stellar sets did some offset. (Rhett is bearded in the book, but it’s almost impossible to imagine him in a remake without the Gable moustache.) _Dr. Zhivago_ has also held up well. I’ve no idea how accurate it’s look is but it’s sufficiently “someplace that’s not here” to not be as important. (Irrelevant aside: there was recently a decorating show that featured a woman’s odd desire to recapture the “ice mansion” look of the Gromeko’s[frozen country house](http://www.google.com/search?rls=com.microsoft:en-us&oe=UTF-8&startIndex=&startPage=1&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi&biw=995&bih=581&q=dr.%20zhivago%20ice%20palace).) ---
**Author:** ![PhiloVance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e19adc/32.png) [@PhiloVance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhiloVance)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dates-a-movie-the-most/579707/25 "2011-04-26T19:37:21Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > For me it’s that string of roman numerals at the end of the credits. I like you’re thinking. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![shy\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@shy\_guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shy_guy)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dates-a-movie-the-most/579707/26 "2011-04-26T21:57:43Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > - the music > - acting styles I think these are the big ones. The acting styles and obnoxious scores make it difficult to get into a lot of older films. Any one of them is jarring. I tried to watch _Last Temptation of Christ_ for the first time a few months ago, and the obnoxious mega-80’s synth score totally destroyed any immersion in the movie I might have had otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dates-a-movie-the-most/579707/27 "2011-04-26T22:25:08Z")
General editing and pacing styles, then hairstyles. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dates-a-movie-the-most/579707/28 "2011-04-26T23:04:51Z")
[QUOTE=shy guy] I tried to watch _Last Temptation of Christ_ for the first time a few months ago, and the obnoxious mega-80’s synth score totally destroyed any immersion in the movie I might have had otherwise. [/QUOTE] I thought the synthesizer music was obnoxious when I saw it in the '80s even (though I loved some of Peter Gabriel’s non-synth instrumentals for the soundtrack) but not nearly as much as Willem Dafoe’s whining and Harvey Keitel’s “Jesus, it’s da cops!” accent. There’s a scene where Jesus (non-canonically) pulls his heart from his chest that had some audience members chuckling, and then one said in a Monty Python drag accent “That’s not a heart, that’s his kidney!” which totally wrecked the scene. If it hadn’t been for the protesters outside it wouldn’t have made a dime. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dates-a-movie-the-most/579707/29 "2011-04-27T00:23:33Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > SIrrelevant aside: there was recently a decorating show that featured a woman’s odd desire to recapture the “ice mansion” look of the Gromeko’s[frozen country house](http://www.google.com/search?rls=com.microsoft:en-us&oe=UTF-8&startIndex=&startPage=1&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi&biw=995&bih=581&q=dr.%20zhivago%20ice%20palace). Did you ever think about how long it would take (and how much fuel it would take) to warm that place up to the point where it would be habitable? And how much of a mess it would be? And yet, in the next scene, they’re all sitting around the fire nice and toasty. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dates-a-movie-the-most/579707/30 "2011-04-27T02:54:57Z")
> [@shy\_guy](#): > > I tried to watch _Last Temptation of Christ_ for the first time a few months ago, and the obnoxious mega-80’s synth score totally destroyed any immersion in the movie I might have had otherwise. _Last Temptation of Christ_ is a dated movie? Am I really that old? ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dates-a-movie-the-most/579707/31 "2011-04-27T04:46:24Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > _Last Temptation of Christ_ is a dated movie? Am I really that old? Well, the thing that dated it for me was the scene where Jesus fought those ninjas in the Jerusalem temple. You only THINK I’m kidding. ---
**Author:** ![GreedySmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a698b9/32.png) [@GreedySmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreedySmurf)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dates-a-movie-the-most/579707/32 "2011-04-27T05:27:30Z")
A somewhat more modern problem is the mention of technology, and more specifically computer systems. I recall a nineties movie, with one of the Baldwin’s in it, who quotes specifics of his really sweet system. Little more than 3-4 years later and that quote is hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dates-a-movie-the-most/579707/33 "2011-04-27T05:42:27Z")
I’m trying to remember what 90s movies I saw the other day where the guy takes out his cell phone and pulls up the antenna. In any case, it was a funny moment. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dates-a-movie-the-most/579707/34 "2011-04-27T06:41:37Z")
Was flipping through channels today and got a little laugh and blast from the 70’s when I saw a brief Charles Bronson scene in what I think was Death Wish. His brother or a friend or somebody is coming into Bronson’s apartment for dinner and notices the brand new psychedelic harvest orange paint job that he has given the apartment and mentions that, “It’s a litlle bright isn’t it?” Bronson replies that he thinks “it’s cheerful.” Then Bronson says, “We’re having Liver and Spaghetti for dinner, how do you want your liver done (Rare, medium, well)?” ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dates-a-movie-the-most/579707/35 "2011-04-27T15:13:33Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > I think most of you guys are missing the point of the OP. I agree that \*10 Commandments \*is very dated (and was even when it came out)… Brings up a good point. I saw _The 10 Commandments_ in the theater when it premiered. Lest you think “That silly generation…what were they thinking?”, the answer is: “Oh, man, listen to Ol’ Chuck Heston chew up the scenery, and look at Annie Baxter’s modern makeup! Who do they think they’re fooling? Hardy, har, har! Oh, well, pass that popcorn with real butter and the giant Milk Duds we paid a whole quarter for.” A lot of the films mentioned were cheesy from the get-go. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dates-a-movie-the-most/579707/36 "2011-04-27T15:20:29Z")
The computer games in **War Games** and **Big** really dated them to specific years. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dates-a-movie-the-most/579707/37 "2011-04-27T17:43:36Z")
I agree with what a lot of others have said w/r/t makeup and hair styles of the day being shoved into the movie. I can’t watch any Western made before, oh, 1990 without being totally taken out of the movie by the actresses’ hair and makeup. Not for nothing, I’ve been wondering for some time now whether the braided pigtails of the young lead in 2010’s _True Grit_ would have been in style for a 14-year-old girl 1880’s Arkansas. Anyone know? ---
**Author:** ![FordTaurusSHO94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@FordTaurusSHO94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordTaurusSHO94)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dates-a-movie-the-most/579707/38 "2011-04-27T19:18:38Z")
The film stock throws me off. 80’s and early 90’s movies just have that certain look to them. Movies today are cleaned up a lot and use a much finer grain or something. ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dates-a-movie-the-most/579707/39 "2011-04-27T21:04:31Z")
> [@FordTaurusSHO94](#): > > The film stock throws me off. 80’s and early 90’s movies just have that certain look to them. Movies today are cleaned up a lot and use a much finer grain or something. This reminds me of something, I hope this isn’t too much of a hijack. Why is it that 80s music sounds so 80s? It is to me identifiable by sound more than any other decade. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dates-a-movie-the-most/579707/40 "2011-04-27T21:10:07Z")
> [@mr.jp](#): > > This reminds me of something, I hope this isn’t too much of a hijack. Why is it that 80s music sounds so 80s? It is to me identifiable by sound more than any other decade. This thoroughly deserves a thread of its own, because my first reaction is to ask which 80s music you’re talking about: Prince? Def Leppard? The Police? Salt-n-Pepa? Run-D.M.C.? Paul Simon and Ladysmith Black Mombazo? The Eurythmics? 'Cause if all that sounds the same to you, I got nothin. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dates-a-movie-the-most/579707.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dates-a-movie-the-most/579707.md?page=3)