captainsolo said:
I thought for the longest time that modern audiences could no longer appreciate great works of the cinema. Roger Ebert once asked: "Do modern audiences have the patience to wait for Harry Lime in The Third Man?" The answer is: yes. I started a Film Appreciation club at school, and people actually get engrossed by classic film again. So, there really is hope in the world when college students sit in rapt attention for THX 1138, Barry Lyndon, Once Upon a Time in the West, and The Third Man. I want to break out Lawrence of Arabia and Once Upon a Time in America now just to see the reaction.
But you're comparing apples to oranges if you think GI Joe is comprable to The Third Man.
Compare meaningless entertainment like Joe (which I reather enjoyed for what it was) with classic meaningless entertainment, not with classic great films.
"GI Joe" should be compared to "Tiger Woman: Perils of Darkest Africa" not "Lawrence of Arabia."
Sci-fi schlock like "Transformers" shouldn't be compared and found wanting next to "Solaris." It should be compared to "The Blob."
It would be like saying that old movies were no good by comparing "American Beauty" to "The Mole People."