Movies over the years...

[tgpo]

Have Lost Their Splendor

[bazooka]

Aren't worth watching anymore.

[Sifaga]

thats why i enjoy some of the asian movies,

they dont always follow that hollywood formula

Saw MUSA last week and enjoyed it

[Capmaster]

Overall about the same. The older movies had to rely on a brilliant plot and line delivery to be a success. The stories had to be unique and captivating.

Today they can make hundreds of millions off animated drawings, or a lame feature version of a '60s sitcom or cartoon like Dennis The Menace, My Favorite Martian and ...yes, even The Flintstones

But ...the cg and other fx are brilliant in many movies. Thoughtful dialogue is replaced with exploding stuff. Cool, in its own way, but not likely to inspire anything more than an occasional "dude" :P

[only_emo_kid]

...name some good movies

[daamon]

...name some good movies

Very little from Holywood - especially recently. Most now rely on SFX to cover up a crappy story line. Probably some were even written for the SFX. More likely to find good movies from Hollywood if you go back a couple of decades.

The only decent SFX based movie in recent times was The Matrix - it was pioneering and the SFX were there to enhance the viewer's experience, not carry the plot (which, IMO, was a good one).

Lesser known but better are British movies (except, of course, the "Carry On" series - cheesy but funny enough...) - lower budgets means the plot and cinematography has to be good because there's little or no SFX to carry it.

Bollywood - Never seen one so can't comment.

Latest one that springs to mind is "Touching the Void". That's my 2-penneth worth...

[Poplar]

Haven't seen a good movie since American Beauty...

[NamPla]

Hollywood pulls.

[shelbyGT]

The Girl Next Door


okay, I'll shut it

[glockjs]

i enjoy todays movies...maybe not as of right this minute but in the last couple years there have been some really good movies.

top of the list:
fight club
american history x
lock stock two barrels and a smoking gun
LOTR
Matrix series
anything that has jet li or old school jackie chan, oh yeah i just saw HERO this weekend...that movie i must say is bad ass

those are just a few off the top of my head

[yoda313]

Hello,

It's been about the way it's always been... Some excellent movies and the rest.... Worthless.

Kevin

[Goober57]

only_emo_kid wrote: ...name some good movies


OLD MOVIES

Goliath Awaits
Panic in Year Zero
Dirty Mary Crazy Larry
Cops and Robbers
The Sound of Music
The Wizard of OZ
The People Under the Stairs
The Attic
Used Cars
Killdozer
W W and the Dixie Dancekings
Dixie Dynamite
Dog Day Afternoon
The Great Escape


NEW MOVIES

None so far!!!


...

[rhegedus]

Overall about the same. The older movies had to rely on a brilliant plot and line delivery to be a success. The stories had to be unique and captivating.

Today they can make hundreds of millions off animated drawings, or a lame feature version of a '60s sitcom or cartoon like Dennis The Menace, My Favorite Martian and ...yes, even The Flintstones

But ...the cg and other fx are brilliant in many movies. Thoughtful dialogue is replaced with exploding stuff. Cool, in its own way, but not likely to inspire anything more than an occasional "dude" :P

Agreed.

There are some newer films which when you first see them really take the breath away with either story or effects: Reservoir Dogs, Mission Impossible, Lock Stock....., The Matrix.

However, I still find myself going back to some of the older classics when story and acting was all that there was: True Grit, Zulu, The Enemy Below, Cape Fear.

The problem is that now, a lot of good films now (The Ring, Mothman Prophecies, Oceans Eleven) tend to be drowned out by a lot of hyped up dross.

[Faustus]

Hrm... I think its about the same as always. We tend to remember whats special and forget whats crap. In reality there have always been and always will be alot of crappy movies.

Overall a few gems still pop up from time to time even in the mainstream.

edit: some good movies mentioned in this thread, unless I missed it let me add Shawshank Redemption, I also really like the remake of The Manchurian Candidate, I thought they really added something to the movie over the original. (not that the orginal wasn't great also)

[NamPla]

It's all a matter of personal taste... Some folk here love all that CGI razzle-dazzle... Whereas I hate it, it looks dumb to me... Some people love "Titanic"... I would much rather watch "A Night To Remember"... Some people love "Gladiator"... I prefer "Spartacus"... etc etc...

I do NOT understand Hollywood's insistence on "re-making" every goddamn worthwhile film in cinema history...(and some not so worthwhile!?)... It's a sad reflection on our cultural decline, in my opinion.

Cheers.

[glockjs]

one movie that is an old movie that will never be touched is the GOOD, the BAD, and the UGLY. thats the movie right there

[NamPla]

Just wait, Glockjs!

The Good = Brad Pitt
The Bad = Nicole Kidman
The Ugly = Robin Williams

COMING SOON TO A THEATRE NEAR YOU!

:P

[glockjs]

Just wait, Glockjs!

The Good = Brad Pitt
The Bad = Nicole Kidman
The Ugly = Robin Williams

COMING SOON TO A THEATRE NEAR YOU!

:P

hey hey, it could happen.....maybe next box office i paid alot for this movie but it bombed because of no plot and too many stars HIT

[Rookie64]

movies from the '60s and '70s were far more daring and original...especially the ones made outside the Hollywood System.
However, those movies weren't huge box office hits.

Art films have a hard time making it in a competive commercial industry...therfore, less are made nowadays than in the past.
Because it costs more to produce a film today, studios won't take risks or gamble with original ideas - it's always safer for them to stick with formula.


Movies in recent years seem to lack personality and often suffer from lousy writers.
Effects and makeup improved but without clever writing and personalities, you lose some of the essential ingredients to make a good film.


I tend to like older movies - there's plenty out there to discover and/or rediscover.

[cal_tony]

Without any lectures, let me say that movies, as a 100 year old art form, are better than they have ever been. True, with so many out there it's hard to find what you want sometimes, but good movies are everywhere. See Sundance or IFC. This webesite is dedicated to digital video and it is growing because of the easy accessibly of our members to make, copy, and edit our movies. Spielberg started with a 8mm camera, just imagine what he could have done if he began with digital. I do agree that there is so much junk out there, but every now and again I'll see something that was made on digital equip. for 10 to 20 thousand dollars that was excellent. In time, these new digital movie makers will move into the mainstream and be less constrained than their predecessors.
Here comes the lecture part, as an art form ,Books are about the story, paintings are about the visual, movies are about both. It's been said that one of the greatest paintings ever is the Mona Lisa. Damn, she's ugly and she's wearing to much clothes to suit me.
So I guess in the art world, greatness is very subjective and unless you look closely you may miss it completely

[NamPla]

I do agree that there is so much junk out there, but every now and again I'll see something that was made on digital equip. for 10 to 20 thousand dollars that was excellent.

Sure, but you're talking underground cinema, not Hollywood.

There's a lot of cool underground filmmaking going on, outside the corporate "establishment".

Just go have a look at "Dirtbags" (http://www.thegrimoire.com/dirtbags.htm) -

"Misogynist: The Movie"
"Lesbo A-Go-Go"
"Come Get Some"
"Cthulhu" ......

[Elrik]

There isn't exactly an option that I would've chosen. I went with "Have gotten worse" but it needs clarification. IMO, the MAJORITY of modern movies are utter crap. However, a select few and rare ones that ARE enjoyable have gotten better. If you compare an excellent modern movie with great story and acting to an older movie with the same attributes, the modern movie will also have much higher technical standards -- clearer and better audio, much better colors and clarity, less artifacts/noise, less shaky camera etc.

In other words, the BEST of TODAY is better than the BEST of YESTERDAY but there are too many crappy talentless movies nowadays.

[SLICK RICK]

...name some good movies

I'll name one....

Shawshank Redemption.

[only_emo_kid]

American History X, Evil Dead 1,2. Army of Darkness, Lost in Translation, Requiem for a dream...

[SLICK RICK]

The Godfather, Scarface, and Blow.

[The_Pioneer]

The majority of movies have always been bad. Now that we have more films being made and "Dawsons" everywhere, there are a greater number of bad films being made.

In percentage terms though, the no. of quality movies remains constant.