Why the hell are movies so bad?

[H1ssss]

I can think of maybe 3-5 really good movies that have come out at all recently. Is it people don't care about that art form? I don't think so because certain movies are making millions of dollars. And the only good ones are indie.

 

[Crypto]

Yeah unfortunately hollywood and blockbusters are built for the average person. The average person doesn't really want to be surprised all that much, they just want a movie that will make them feel good. This is why trailers almost show the entire movie. Ad companies noticed customers didn't really want to be surprised and would avoid movies they didn't know much about. So they started making trailers that showed almost the whole movie so consumers would know what they where getting into.

Of course if you go for enjoying the art of filmmaking you would want to avoid any spoilers possible. This is why I pretty much avoid all trailers for anything I'm interested in seeing.

You are right though, most films that come out just cater and are feel good movies, none really ask big questions or pose big ideas. I can think of a few directors that consistently create big budget big idea movies, but they are a dying breed. Christopher Nolan comes to mind as probably the biggest.

 

[//vokz]

Legit, I know what you mean. Especially when it's just Hollywood (or any moviemaker really) rehashing still relatively relevant movies in superhero form or to make a political statement or something, or just rebooting older franchises and keeping them on life support. If not those then they'll try and take a book or video game series or some shit sometimes, but that's hit or miss.
//

Coen Brothers have always been pretty consistent for me when it comes to their filmography, it's all pretty solid. Tarantino, Kubrick, and Spielberg as well.

 

[Placeholder]

For me, the contrast between movies of the past and now is the lack of charisma in the actors being hired. I'm unable to think of any modern actors on the same tier as Charlton Heston and Jimmy Stewart, who have the 'it-factor' it takes to give a character on-screen presence. That weight that current actors are missing make most new movies boring for me, and it feels like everyone brought on are the winners of the casting's beauty contest.

 

[niuenso]

View: https://youtu.be/yaXma6K9mzo?t=842

Matt has an interesting explanation to a similar question. Link should start at the right point, if not it's at the 14 minutes mark.

 

[Jessica3cho雪血⊜青意]

That's all very subjective. The massive money Hollywood makes would suggest that "maybe 3-5 really good movies that have come out at all recently" and "And the only good ones are indie" is not true in the slightest.

It all depends on what you believe a "good movie" is.

 

[1980Miami]

This is true of all major media, I hate the argument that people spout about how mainstream media is bad because it has to be mass appealing. There was a time where the biggest movie/gaming blockbusters were a lot better and took more risks than they do now. I mean when was the last time there was a comedy smash hit on the level of Superbad, 40 Y/O Virgin, Borat, Step Brothers, etc?

 

[Overgrowth]

I think a lot of this is just the shitty movies of the past being lost to time. It's easy to glorify a previous decade when all anyone remembers anymore are the few good films. Marvel shit is saturating the current blockbuster scene more than any single trend may have before but there's still good films here and there. Most blockbusters have sucked for decades.

 

[Pangolin]

Chyna is to blame. They don't want anything controversial in the films. China is now the biggest film market and as a result they create the films with China in mind. So they often film in some location in China, cast Chinese actors, or have some sort of tie-in to China.

 

[H1ssss]

I think a lot of this is just the shitty movies of the past being lost to time. It's easy to glorify a previous decade when all anyone remembers anymore are the few good films. Marvel shit is saturating the current blockbuster scene more than any single trend may have before but there's still good films here and there. Most blockbusters have sucked for decades.

But before Disney dominated the Movie scene, people who wanted to make movies independent for pre existing brands, could do it. Now even if you are able to make the movie, marvel and disney are making to so you can't see them because the movie theatres only want to show what will make them money, and then you think you can just put it on a streaming service, and even then you have to work around their censorship, and it is likely to get lost in enormous amount or content on these services, but mostly the public doesn't want to be challenged, they want to see the same movie 3000 times and never think about it again.

 

[1980Miami]

Chyna is to blame. They don't want anything controversial in the films. China is now the biggest film market and as a result they create the films with China in mind. So they often film in some location in China, cast Chinese actors, or have some sort of tie-in to China.

This is a good point that I forget about pretty often. As much as I don't like Marvel movies, I assume they'd be quite a bit better if they didn't have to appeal to China

 

[H1ssss]

Chyna is to blame. They don't want anything controversial in the films. China is now the biggest film market and as a result they create the films with China in mind. So they often film in some location in China, cast Chinese actors, or have some sort of tie-in to China.

based

 

[satyre]

I can think of maybe 3-5 really good movies that have come out at all recently. Is it people don't care about that art form? I don't think so because certain movies are making millions of dollars. And the only good ones are indie.

name one thing mainstream in all art forms that is good

 

[satyre]

Chyna is to blame. They don't want anything controversial in the films. China is now the biggest film market and as a result they create the films with China in mind. So they often film in some location in China, cast Chinese actors, or have some sort of tie-in to China.

how is a direct result of capitalism, china's mistake? how is americans wanting more money therefore making movies appealing to china, china's problem, Pangolin?

 

[H1ssss]

name one thing mainstream in all art forms that is good

I don't know a lot about about a bunch of different kinds of art.

TV: The Sopranos
Movies: Shawsheen Redemption
Paintings: The Starry Night
Music: Ok Computer Radiohead

Tell me what forms im missing

 

[Pangolin]

how is a direct result of capitalism, china's mistake? how is americans wanting more money therefore making movies appealing to china, china's problem, Pangolin?

Sorry my post wasn't clear enough. American movies are primarily made with the chinese market in mind because they are the largest market for films. You can't have anything in the film that china would find controversial or the authorities will not allow it to play in local theaters. Even your actors must watch their statements or risk a ban for movie banned in china. It also doesn't particularly matter where the film is made, only that it doesn't contain anything the chinese overseers would find issue with.

A recent example is how John Cena said innocently and correctly said that Taiwan is an independent nation, but the adminstrators of china found issue with his statement and threatened to ban the movie unless he retracted that statement.

So yea, china has a say in the movies that play here because ultimately Hollywood wants to play them over there as well.

 

[1980Miami]

I just don't agree that mainstream media has to be simplistic and boring because the average American is too stupid now to handle anything different.

We literally just exited the "golden age of television" with shows like Mad Men, The Sopranos, The Wire, Breaking Bad, etc. These shows were highly rated by critics, and renowned for their risk taking and complex character motivations. The general public literally loved all these shows because of that. These all became money makers/cultural phenomena because they were challenging and different.

It's unfair to act like the general public can only handle Spiderman movies or CSI because they couldn't grasp anything better. They're not all morons

 

[H1ssss]

I just don't agree that mainstream media has to be simplistic and boring because the average American is too stupid now to handle anything different.

We literally just exited the "golden age of television" with shows like Mad Men, The Sopranos, The Wire, Breaking Bad, etc. These shows were highly rated by critics, and renowned for their risk taking and complex character motivations. The general public literally loved all these shows because of that. These all became money makers/cultural phenomena because they were challenging and different.

It's unfair to act like the general public can only handle Spiderman movies or CSI because they couldn't grasp anything better. They're not all morons

yeah but sooner than later if the general public is shown nothing challenging or complex, it will become the only thing they will be able to handle

 

[1980Miami]

yeah but sooner than later if the general public is shown nothing challenging or complex, it will become the only thing they will be able to handle

I don't disagree. I'm pro unique and challenging if that isn't clear. I don't like the direction media is going and I think pretending it isn't happening like people tend to do is cope

 

[deepfreeze]

For what it's worth, I am 100% maximum hyped for Dune. So, as always, most things are shit but not everything is shit.