Author Topic: Do they even make decent movies anymore? (Read 11491 times)

zahc · « **on:** July 17, 2009, 12:52:51 AM »

Is Hollywood just done? Over?

It's just wave after wave of annoying, compressed storyline, one-liner, shaky-cam action outrage. I feel like I went to the theater and never noticed where the previews ended and the feature started (or ended).

I just got back from watching Public Enemies because I was hoping that Michael Mann (Heat, Collateral) could still make a movie that features a coherent plot, strong characters, AND believable (therefore impactful) action scenes where the viewer can actually view the action--all in the same movie.

Instead all it was, was a bunch of quick-cut, up-the-nose handheld closeup snatches of Depp and company interspersed with a bunch of spatially and temporally incoherent scenes of people shooting guns somewhere at someone, both intercut in a glaringly obvious way with handheld, noisy, shaky-cam video straight out of a '90's skateboarding video. Video bolded to emphasize how unsubtle it was to go from a normally lit scene shot on film to a scene shot on noisy, low-quality video with a completely different look to it. It's so bad I can't believe it passed quality control. They do have that, don't they?

But then, who cares about quality or standards, the idea that we should care about things like plot, writing, characterization, or competently directed and choreographed action is so old-fashioned in the Web 2.0 era where people think "cinema" is an old word for "YouTube".

Boomhauer · « **Reply #1 on:** July 17, 2009, 01:00:38 AM »

Taken was pretty good.

Oh, wait, it wasn't a product of Hollywood...

Uncle Bubba · « **Reply #2 on:** July 17, 2009, 01:18:35 AM »

I just read within the last couple of days that there's a remake of The Karate Kid in the works, starring Jackie Chan as Mr. Miyagi. The answer to your question, therefore and IMNSHO, is "NO!".

Fly320s · « **Reply #3 on:** July 17, 2009, 10:00:49 AM »

Movies are made by focus-group results to target a certain demographic that most likely will make a profit for the movie company.

Everything else comes second. That's why we get the cut and paste, jigsaw puzzle, movie by numbers, type films that all look like each other.

RoadKingLarry · « **Reply #4 on:** July 17, 2009, 03:47:51 PM »

When was the last time an original theme/premise/idea came out of Hollywierd?

Gowen · « **Reply #5 on:** July 17, 2009, 05:30:25 PM »

I think that only the stuff coming out of Pixar is the only things worth watching.

roo_ster · « **Reply #6 on:** July 17, 2009, 10:16:37 PM »

Quote from: scanr on July 17, 2009, 05:30:25 PM

I think that only the stuff coming out of Pixar is the only things worth watching.

Amen, brother!

The Incredibles, Up, and the like have more originality, plot, character development, & such than any dozen other flicks.

MicroBalrog · « **Reply #7 on:** July 17, 2009, 10:19:27 PM »

I enjoyed T-4, for what it's worth.

Perd Hapley · « **Reply #8 on:** July 18, 2009, 12:12:33 AM »

Seven Pounds FTW

Phantom Warrior · « **Reply #9 on:** July 18, 2009, 09:55:08 AM »

Thank you for posting that. I thought I was the only one in the theater going "Did they film this scene with a camcorder?! A CHEAP camcorder!?!?" Some excellent acting by Stephen Lang but yeah, overall the movie was pretty bad.

Scout26 · « **Reply #10 on:** July 18, 2009, 10:02:39 AM »

What are these "movies" of which you speak ??

(Keeps money in wallet and does donate to Hollyweird.....)

Uncle Bubba · « **Reply #11 on:** July 18, 2009, 11:48:43 AM »

Quote from: Phantom Warrior on July 18, 2009, 09:55:08 AM

Some excellent acting by Stephen Lang...

You can say that about anything he's in.

Desertdog · « **Reply #12 on:** July 18, 2009, 11:14:54 PM »

Quote

Movies are made by focus-group results to target a certain demographic that most likely will make a profit for the movie company.

If they really want to make money, they would turn out decent 'G' rated movies as they bring in up to 4 times the amount a 'R' rated movie does.

White Horseradish · « **Reply #13 on:** July 19, 2009, 08:44:08 PM »

Kevin Smith has a pretty good explanation of how Hollywood movies are made:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgYhLIThTvk

(Make sure the children are out of earshot)

Parker Dean · « **Reply #14 on:** July 19, 2009, 11:00:45 PM »

Quote from: White Horseradish on July 19, 2009, 08:44:08 PM

Kevin Smith has a pretty good explanation of how Hollywood movies are made:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgYhLIThTvk

(Make sure the children are out of earshot)

That was a riot. He's a better stand-up comedian than a lot that make their living at it. Those with sensitive ears won't like it though.

"Did he bring up the spider?" lmao

Thanks.

Perd Hapley · « **Reply #15 on:** July 20, 2009, 01:31:19 AM »

Seven Pounds

freakazoid · « **Reply #16 on:** July 21, 2009, 07:46:52 PM »

I just saw Public Enemies last weekend and thought it was awesome. We must not of seen the same movie or something. One of the best movies I've seen in a while. While there was a little shaky cam, it was no where near as bad as some of the other movies that use it. Although the only part that it did bother me on was when Purvis shot Pretty By Floyd, but even then it wasn't that bad. Other than that you could actually see what was going on on screen.

Jamisjockey · « **Reply #17 on:** July 21, 2009, 07:49:46 PM »

Shakey cam ruined what was possibly one of the best movies in a long, long time, The Kingdom.

LAK · « **Reply #18 on:** July 28, 2009, 06:48:42 AM »

Well; what are the benchmarks? IMO ten of the best movies ever made - or rather ten of the hundred best movies if I get to thinking about it - are:

Seven Samurai

The Hill

Alien

Patton

The Third Man

Tora Tora Tora!

The Searchers

Das Boot

The Lord of the Rings (I count the trilogy as one since it is really one story in three parts)

And yes ... The Sound of Music

Oooops make that eleven; Gladiator

Not necessarily in that order.

S. Williamson · « **Reply #19 on:** July 28, 2009, 07:47:38 AM »

I would've said (also in no particular order):

2001: A Space Odyssey
Ben-Hur
Metropolis (the Fritz Lang silent movie)
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
Saving Private Ryan
The Lord of the Rings
The Wizard of Oz
Snow White
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Superman

HankB · « **Reply #20 on:** July 28, 2009, 08:48:34 AM »

What gets me (other than the shakeycam filming and deliberate camera rotation ala Miami Vice) is a sound track that's either a) rap ~~music~~ noise or b) so loud it masks the dialog. In fact, some DVD players have "dialog boost" because apparently a lot of people would like to actually hear what the actors are saying, rather than listen to some gibberish that ought to be in the background.

For top 10 movies, here's my spur-of the moment list, in no particular order . . . would probably make a few changes if I thought about it longer.

Patton
Zulu
Forbidden Planet
Ben Hur
Spartacus
The Adventures of Robin Hood (Probably a hold over since I enjoyed this Errol Flynn movie so much as a kid)
Cleopatra (Mixed reviews - the Liz Taylor version for the sets, the Claude Rains/Vivian Leigh version for writing & acting.)
Saving Private Ryan
Alien (only the first two.)
Indiana Jones (the 1st & 3rd movies in the series.)

Honorable mentions to Quigley Down Under, To Hell and Back, Serenity, Gladiator, The Godfather (the first one), and, oh, heck, better quit now.

MechAg94 · « **Reply #21 on:** July 28, 2009, 10:02:55 AM »

IMO, to start listing top ten movies, you almost have to do it by decade. Otherwise, you skip over a lot of good stuff. Besides, Outlaw Josey Whales needs to be in there somewhere along with some of Eastwood's other stuff.

zahc · « **Reply #22 on:** July 28, 2009, 10:12:46 AM »

If we're talking action movies, Die Hard.

If we're talking Michael Mann movies, you have Collateral and Heat.

LAK · « **Reply #23 on:** July 29, 2009, 10:11:41 AM »

Zulu. Yes; I forgot that one too.

BlueStarLizzard · « **Reply #24 on:** July 29, 2009, 04:00:04 PM »

i notice that a lot of good stuff tends to fly under the radar and not stay in theaters for very long.

one of my recent favorites was (suprisingly to me) Speed Racer. beautiful special effects and lots of eye candy, but unlike Ultraviolet, it actually has a good plot, good acting and a good vibe to it which means you can watch it with the sound on. yes, it looks like a cartoon, but its SUPOSED to. i think people saw wakoski on the poster and thought it would be another matrix and then were too stupid to get that those guys aren't going to do the same thing over again and its a KIDS movie.

News:

Author Topic: Do they even make decent movies anymore? (Read 11491 times)