hellscape_navigator

SparkySywer said:

I don’t think anyone who thinks art is subjective is trying to make it immune from criticism.

Okay, but I have a feeling some people have argued that episodes 1-3 are not “bad” movies, just “different”, and that others have said, “no, they really are BAD movies and here’s why…”

Isn’t that where this discussion originates? Because some people have the unpopular opinion that the prequels are actually good?

I think the prequels are objectively bad, but that doesn’t mean someone can’t get enjoyment out of them.

I think I agree with Servii’s point that we can’t make all art pieces immune to criticism because “taste is subjective,” but I don’t think there’s been any shortage of critical voices trying to hold creators accountable for making bad art.

The problem is that in order for films to be made, a lot of money has to be invested in something that doesn’t exist yet, and the people putting their money up want a return on their investment. Those same people have opinions about what “works” and “doesn’t work”.
So a lot of bad art gets made because it’s the result of so many compromises and promises and meddling.

People keep showing up to see these lame superhero movies, and they keep getting made because people show up.

Does bad art get made because the people making it lack talent, vision, and inspiration, or does the audience genuinely want bad art and the creators are merely providing an expensive service of schlocky entertainment?

Is there a difference between art and content?

I’m disappointed that Criterion couldn’t hold onto The Man Who Fell To Earth. I waited too long on buying it and now it’s out of print. After Bowie died, someone rushed out a bluray, but the transfer was bad. I think the Criterion edition is going for a whole lot online now.
If you haven’t seen the film, I’d put it up there with the best sci-fi art films (Blade Runner, Alphaville, THX 1138…)

So actually what ended up bringing me to this site in the first place was trying to find Trekkies. It seems it’s been digitally disappeared from all rental and streaming services. I didn’t check some of the newer ones, but I thought it was odd that I couldn’t even rent or buy it on Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, or Playstation. Maybe it’s about to be rereleased in HD?

Anyway, I ended up watching The People vs. George Lucas instead in which someone who founded this site was interviewed.

But anyone know what’s going on with Trekkies? I’d love to see it again, I thought it was a great documentary. And I want to show my girlfriend before we watch Trekkies 2 which is still widely available.

Let’s not get Fact confused with Truth. If it’s Truth you’re interested in, the philosophy class is down the hall or whatever Dr. Jones said.

I think the people I work with have terrible taste in music. I think they don’t know the difference between good music and bad music because they haven’t really considered what makes a piece of music worthwhile or meaningful or “good”. Or maybe they haven’t been exposed to enough music to have had transcendent moments which make them realize “wow, this is an achievement.”

I don’t really know what’s behind their taste in music. Maybe they have a different reason for listening to music altogether than I do. To me, it sounds like they just put on some generic crap that they can pretty much ignore while they scroll social media for memes or whatever it is they do.

So if their relationship to the medium has an entirely different purpose and meaning than mine, I can’t expect them to understand why I think their music is crap and why the music I like is superior in every way. These people have probably never bought a piece of physical media, never purchased an album by an artist they like. They just put on a curated playlist of whatever and maybe press the heart button when they hear something that temporarily relieves the anxiety of having to be incessantly processing information.

Maybe, regarding cinema, some people have a completely superficial relationship to the medium and want something that merely looks cool, or seems like it’s interesting or emotionally affecting or “good”.

Maybe some people are more interested in consuming content for its novelty and then immediately moving onto the next disposable crap dangled in front of them by an algorithm. Isn’t that how it should ideally work these days if consumers behave the way they’re trained?

What’s driving the creation of “content” is not the same as what inspired great works of art. Maybe that’s why all we get are sequels, reboots and remakes: there is measurable data on the “success” and “viability” of those projects and the people with the money will be able to make big gains on their investments.

Maybe we should work on drawing a distinction between art and content instead of the subjective/objective thing or trying to pin down “truth”.

Hi.
I grew up watching a VHS tape with all 3 films recorded off HBO in SLP mode (terrible quality). I later graduated to a VHS trilogy box set and then another VHS trilogy box set (remastered?) and then went to see the Special Edition versions in the theater which would foreshadow my disillusionment with the prequels. I naively thought surely the original theatrical cuts would be preserved for future generations.

Well, I fell out of love with Star Wars, got obsessed with Blade Runner (again through VHS), watched that too many times, and rediscovered THX 1138 which I was too young to appeeciate the first time I saw it. Now I’m less concerned with the OT being lost, but the original cut of THX 1138 which appears to be out of print. I have what appears to be a VHS rip or maybe laserdisc rip on a harddrive, but I feel it needs a loving restoration without the extraneous low-quality additions Lucas made.

Anyway, I signed up here after watching The People vs. George Lucas in the hopes of finding other people who care about THX 1138 as much as I do. I still love the Star Wars trilogy and always will. Those films are etched into my subconscious and are fun to revisit once in a while when it’s possible to avoid the Special Editions.

Anyway, I don’t exclusively like sci-fi, I like all kinds of great cinema and I’m a music lover.

This has been my introductory post. If any other THX lovers out there want to direct me to the proper discussion thread, please do. Otherwise I’ll just browse and read and maybe chime in.
Thanks!