Warbler said:
generalfrevious said:
Its become too competitive nowadays for a film like Easy Rider or Midnight Cowboy to revitalize the industry because no one in Hollywood can't take risks anymore.
I know, I'd like to see someone take the risk of making a black and white 4:3 silent movie. But you can't take that risk. Oh wait . . .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Artist_%28film%29
I agree with Warbler. I think the state of modern films isn't as dire as a lot of people make it out to be.
I'm willing to bet there have been more great films made in the last ten years than any ten year period prior. I think your perception is made by a variety of factors, one of which is you know Citizen Kane of 1941, because it was a great film, but all those crappy films of 1941 are long forgotten. You remember the Godfather of 1972, but the mediocre to crappy films of 1972 have been forgotten. It is easy to go back and watch every memorable film of previous decades and think, Wow, movies were so much better back then! You don't take into account all those B movies and serials that kids used to go see on Saturdays for one weekend only before being shipped off to the next theater, or films that weren't as well made, or simply just didn't resonate like Citizen Kane did.
Those have essentially been replaced with comic book movies and dumb action blockbusters. Which brings us to another factor in the perception of movies having gone to shit. More of these types of films are made, because they are so marketable, they appeal to a wide audience, bring in droves of movie goers, and sell scores of toys and merchandise. But you still have guys out there like Danny Boyle, Darren Aronofsky, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Wes Anderson, the Coen brothers, Guillermo del Toro, to name just a very small number off the top of my head, who are still out there making meaningful, well written and preformed films.
I used to belong to the, We're all doomed! Film isn't what it use to be! camp, but after taking a step back and looking around, I don't feel like there is really much to complain about. I have more highly acclaimed films I think I will probably really like on my to-watch-list than I have time to watch, with more inevitably on the way. There are still so many good movies out there. It wasn't like in the 1940's you could walk into a cinema any day of the year and see a Citizen Kane or Casablanca. We're in the same boat we've always been in, only now film making is more prolific than ever, and inevitably, there is going to be a lot of chaff to sift through. Whether or not you should avoid a movie is a no brainer. It isn't like you go to see a film like Iron Man 3, The Hangover 7, or The Bourne Identity 5 expecting to see some cinematic masterpiece, and if you are, there is your problem right there.
Here an exercise for you, take an actor you really love from that "golden age of Hollywood", find as many films staring them as you can from their most popular period and have yourself a marathon. I'll use Bogart as an example, because he was pretty awesome IMHO, you'll find he plays the same damn role over and over again, sometimes in some pretty mediocre to awful films. The small handful of films he is in that pretty much everyone has heard of, you'll find to be his best, which is why pretty much everyone had heard of them. Those ones you've never heard of are going to be hit or miss, and more often miss.