Movie Talk (New Films, Old Films... doesn't matter) (52 Viewers)

[Völler]

There are, surely. Only reason I still bother to watch them, even though most of the time it ends up disappointing. Hope never dies I guess.

And yes, more original ideas, less remakes and sequels. It's not much to ask for. And yes, Indie/foreign cinema is what still keeps the art alive.

Those BFI Lists are top notch btw.

It's also pretty interesting because you're able to see who voted for what. So you can see what movies Martin Scorsese, Bela Tarr, Francis Ford Coppola, Guillermo del Toro etc. voted for.

A bit, yes. Normal tablets I think are LCD but you can always adjust brightness and whatnot.

The kindle also has a much longer battery life (I only charge it once in a lifetime pretty much). Another difference is, say you're directly under sunlight... on a tablet you wouldn't see shit, on a Kindle you do. But then why would I want to get tanned while reading?

Personally I'd get a tablet for everything else it offers. And the LCD screen doesn't bother me since I only read a couple of hours at a time. Now if you're going to be doing a daily 6-hour straight book marathons then get a Kindle.

 

Buy on AliExpress.com

[Enron]

See @Post Ironic, shit is good!

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It can't be about the movie if one haven't seen it. It was rather about it's rating and position in the top best movies of all time list from the biggest movie related website out there, which I strongly refuse to believe it's deserving, seen it or not. But whatever, don't care anymore.

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Not quite. Let's do a little comparison, shall we? Those are the highest grossing movies of each decade.

Actually I take it back, not even the 80's were that bad. At least there were some truly original even if silly, ideas like Indiana Jones, Terminator, E.T., Ghostbusters and etc that made to the Mainstream... Now look decade by decade how the mainstream kept getting rid of original ideas in favor of Superheroes and animated movies.

I'm sorry, Ocelot, the 00's is by far the worst decade in art, in general. It's as if People don't want to be challenged anymore as they once did, a movie that doesn't hold your hand and goes just a little outside the box is label as boring, pretentious and will not sell.

I think these rankings show that every decade had it's fluff. Before it was things like Beverly Hills Cop, Smokey and the Bandit, various animated films, James Bond etc. Now that fluff happens to be the fucking Marvel Universe.

 

[CrimsonianKing]

Count the number of sequels/comic book based movies in the 10's and compare it to any other decade. What happened to new and fresh ideas? Or the better question would be why has it got to a point where it's all in indie/foreign cinema and can't make to the big maistream anymore?

I stand to my initial point that society in general, artistically speaking, has hit a new low.

 

[InterMerda]

Most movies as of late are shit! Deadpool is a funny movie but just that, I liked ant-man more tho (more creative imo). You don't get movies like The Shawshank Redemption or La vita e bella nowadays. Last movie I really really liked was Limitless (2011).

 

[icemaη]

I heard a regular tablet and a kindle can't be compared when it comes to books reading.

I had an iPad (still have it actually), and I found reading on it distracting.

I really don't know anything about this, but isn't a paperwhite tablet a lot more comfortable for your eyes?

The Paperwhite is awesome. The battery and weight (or lack of it) is great.

 

[Post Ironic]

Count the number of sequels/comic book based movies in the 10's and compare it to any other decade. What happened to new and fresh ideas? Or the better question would be why has it got to a point where it's all in indie/foreign cinema and can't make to the big maistream anymore?

I stand to my initial point that society in general, artistically speaking, has hit a new low.

The answer is pretty obvious though... Hollywood studios are less and less willing to bankroll fresh and original new ideas in cinema. They're in the business of making money, and they consider it too much of a gamble... Studios have far more power now in terms of input with directors and what they'll allow into the films they're bankrolling. Gone is that freedom of the 60s-early 80s when a lot of directors basically had complete autonomy with the films they were making. They could do anything.

Definitely a part of it is hollywood studios seeing their targeted audience as, for lack of a better term, stupid. There's a real lack of faith (justified or not) in the average film-goer and what they're willing to sit through. A lot of incredible festival films never get picked up for cinematic release or distribution just because no one has faith the average movie-goer will be capable of enjoying it. It's not some conspiracy or "dumbing down" of the average American (as Harold Bloom once put it when lamenting the current state of popular literature; that fucking blowhard ), but it is Hollywood really showing a terrible lack of faith in the intelligence and capability of the average person... Vicious circle too, as the more these films and their originality disappear from the mainstream, the less likely they will ever make a comeback with a large audience who will eventually be unable to process them just due to lack of familiarity. Myself, I think the average filmgoer is far more capable in terms of enjoying unique and original content in cinema than they are given credit for... I mean, not way the fuck out in left field arthouse stuff... but good, solid, provocative cinema.

That Ethiopian film I raved about back in the Autumn, Crumbs, and then rated a 7 or 7.5/10... it was the most fascinating and fresh concept for the post-apocalyptic, adventure, romance, etc genre I've seen in years, with very good acting, directing, excellent cinematography, brilliant atmosphere, even the special effects were far better than one would think.... but it was still quite obvious that the budget was $250,000. Hence the 7/10. I don't want to see it remade by hollywood now that it is out there, but I would love to see Hollywood studios taking a chance on making that kind of film, and these really interesting concept indie and foreign films having million dollar plus budgets instead of being sub 1 million always. The expression of such unique ideas with a more appropriate budget would have fantastic results in my opinion, and a very large audience that is craving fresh new ideas in film (even if many also enjoy current mainstream hollywood), would eat that up.

Just my two cents.

 

[CrimsonianKing]

I had an iPad (still have it actually), and I found reading on it distracting.

The Paperwhite is awesome. The battery and weight (or lack of it) is great.

Yeah, my advice is this. If you want something just to read books, the Kindle is a no brainer simply because you can't go wrong there, it's cheap and made for that purpose.

BUT if one is a casual reader and only reads 1 or 2 books a year then he's better off with a tablet/ipad. A computer would have much more use to that person.

 

[Völler]

Speaking of sequels:

 

[CrimsonianKing]

The answer is pretty obvious though... Hollywood studios are less and less willing to bankroll fresh and original new ideas in cinema. They're in the business of making money, and they consider it too much of a gamble... Studios have far more power now in terms of input with directors and what they'll allow into the films they're bankrolling. Gone is that freedom of the 60s-early 80s when a lot of directors basically had complete autonomy with the films they were making. They could do anything.

Definitely a part of it is hollywood studios seeing they're targeted audience as, for lack of a better term, stupid. There's a real lack of faith (justified or not) in the average film-goer and what they're willing to sit through. A lot of incredible festival films never get picked up for cinematic release or distribution just because no one has faith the average movie-goer will be capable of enjoying it. It's not some conspiracy or "dumbing down" of the average American (as Harold Bloom once put it when lamenting the current state of popular literature; that fucking blowhard ), but it is Hollywood really showing a terrible lack of faith in the intelligence and capability of the average person... Vicious circle too, as the more these films and their originality disappear from the mainstream, the less likely they will ever make a comeback with a large audience who will eventually be unable to process them just due to lack of familiarity. Myself, I think the average filmgoer is far more capable in terms of enjoying unique and original content in cinema than they are given credit for... I mean, not way the fuck out in left field arthouse stuff... but good, solid, provocative cinema.

That Ethiopian film I raved about back in the Autumn, Crumbs, and then rated a 7 or 7.5/10... it was the most fascinating and fresh concept for the post-apocalyptic, adventure, romance, etc genre I've seen in years, with very good acting, directing, excellent cinematography, brilliant atmosphere, even the special effects were far better than one would think.... but it was still quite obvious that the budget was $250,000. Hence the 7/10. I don't want to see it remade by hollywood now that it is out there, but I would love to see Hollywood studios taking a chance on making that kind of film, and these really interesting concept indie and foreign films having million dollar plus budgets instead of being sub 1 million always. The expression of such unique ideas with a more appropriate budget would have fantastic results in my opinion, and a very large audience that is craving fresh new ideas in film (even if many also enjoy current mainstream hollywood), would eat that up.

Just my two cents.

Good read. I just disagree on one thing; I don't think it's all on Hollywood not having faith in the average person's intelligence, the average person IS dumb as fuck, Hollywood knows it and is just taking advantage on that. Roll out the sequels and remakes, it's working, people are buying it...

Take pop music for example. Sure there were many exceptions in the past (and some today) like Michael Jackson, ABBA, Prince and so on...But most of it is just a big charade, now more than ever.

You could try and change someone's mind. You could tell them the group he's listening to don't even write their own material, it's a group of producers working together with the single purpose of making money. You could tell them it's all manufactured, they never met through their own volition it was all made up and how they can't sing live, it's all lip synched. Let alone play an instrument. You could tell them months were spent on autotune alone fixing the farce that's fooling him.

You know what would that change? Nothing. The dumb fuck is happy being a dumb fuck and will remain a dumb fuck that feeds off dumb shit. It's like being in a dark room for so long and then coming out, the sun welcomes you with "there's life out here, this is good for you" but sunlight just bothers you and you go back into the room, that's them. I guess you're much more optimistic than I am. I'm not, at all.

 

[Enron]

Count the number of sequels/comic book based movies in the 10's and compare it to any other decade. What happened to new and fresh ideas? Or the better question would be why has it got to a point where it's all in indie/foreign cinema and can't make to the big maistream anymore?

I stand to my initial point that society in general, artistically speaking, has hit a new low.

To be honest, in the 1960s and 1970s just about everything was a new idea.

 

[CrimsonianKing]

To be honest, in the 1960s and 1970s just about everything was a new idea.

Agreed but probably not for the same reasons. Whats yours?

 

[Enron]

Agreed but probably not for the same reasons. Whats yours?

My what?

 

[CrimsonianKing]

My what?

Why do you think there were so many unique and fresh ideas for movies in those decades?

 

[Enron]

Why do you think there were so many unique and fresh ideas for movies in those decades?

Probably a number of things: new audience, technology, film was evolving creatively as all art does in time.

 

[CrimsonianKing]

Probably a number of things: new audience, technology, film was evolving creatively as all art does in time.

Scratch the last part and you described every decade.

 

[Enron]

Scratch the last part and you described every decade.

ok

 

[CrimsonianKing]

ok

It was them drugs, mane!

 

[Enron]

It was them drugs, mane!

That and people figured out they didn't need studios to make movies.

 

[Nomuken]

Most movies as of late are shit! Deadpool is a funny movie but just that, I liked ant-man more tho (more creative imo). You don't get movies like The Shawshank Redemption or La vita e bella nowadays. Last movie I really really liked was Limitless (2011).

Same here just don't know if it's because I'm getting older. You should check out Snowpiecer and everyone else here too.

 

[Post Ironic]

Good read. I just disagree on one thing; I don't think it's all on Hollywood not having faith in the average person's intelligence, the average person IS dumb as fuck, Hollywood knows it and is just taking advantage on that. Roll out the sequels and remakes, it's working, people are buying it...

Take pop music for example. Sure there were many exceptions in the past (and some today) like Michael Jackson, ABBA, Prince and so on...But most of it is just a big charade, now more than ever.

You could try and change someone's mind. You could tell them the group he's listening to don't even write their own material, it's a group of producers working together with the single purpose of making money. You could tell them it's all manufactured, they never met through their own volition it was all made up and how they can't sing live, it's all lip synched. Let alone play an instrument. You could tell them months were spent on autotune alone fixing the farce that's fooling him.

You know what would that change? Nothing. The dumb fuck is happy being a dumb fuck and will remain a dumb fuck that feeds off dumb shit. It's like being in a dark room for so long and then coming out, the sun welcomes you with "there's life out here, this is good for you" but sunlight just bothers you and you go back into the room, that's them. I guess you're much more optimistic than I am. I'm not, at all.

See, I agree with this in a way. And it's quite funny the end bit, because most friends I have think I'm cynical and pessimistic as fuck about the average person and his/her intelligence/abilities... but when I really think about it, I can't apportion the blame the same way you are suggesting. I don't see people as dumb as shit, I see people as poorly educated and ignorant as shit because of that.

I see a film industry and literary industry and music industry that have figured out that their cashcow really is this trash, mostly escapist, fast-paced, empty-minded schlock, because people find it easy, and a way to unwind at the end of the day without thinking much... but this isn't because people are dumb or pathetic, not at all... it's because the stuff is there and it's easy. And these things, films, books, music, art are a huge part of non-academic education as we grow up and shape our taste for life... so when the majority of it is mindless entertainment it's pretty difficult to escape the ride into the abyss. During the 50s, 60s, 70s, even the 80s, there wasn't so much of that nonsense, you weren't overwhelmed with options for that sort of fare, so if you liked movies, or you liked reading, etc etc, you would undoubtedly be exposed to some pretty damn good mainstream stuff.

Now that industries have moved so far into the trash direction as the rule, which is of course in part because of public demand, it's very easy to never be exposed to anything that makes you think in the arts, which is really fucking sad. What came first though? Audience demand, or corporate/studio/marketing shifts to create demand for such things? And as soon those initial forays into that realm (aided by technologies like special FX, CGI and higher definition digital film becoming more and more advanced) were met with fanfare and insane reception studios went all out in that direction and abandoned any sort of social responsibility/moral obligation one might suggest they should have to provide somewhat nourishing fare. People lap it up, but at this point is there much of a choice?

This is anecdotal (so not worth much), but I've had several acquaintances who never read at all, take up reading and decent stuff too, when easy access to technology is removed... people who work up north in the oil or mining industry...

It's interesting to think about just how insidious the accessibility to technology 24/7 is. On several levels... physical health, mental health, activity levels, sleep patterns, eating patterns, education, ability to focus, etc.