Have We Lost Trust With The Movies?

[Twitch]

Lizzie makes a good point too. I maintain that a cinema experience is one in which folks need to let go of reality for a couple hours and immerse themselves in the fantasy. King Kong is a good example where I felt it easy to relax be entertained while others were "on guard" making comparisons with the original and looking for tell-tale signs of computer generated visuals so they can carp on it for no particular reason other than to illustrate that they feel cheated somehow.

I used to review entertainment software- all sorts of games, simulations and such. The immersion factor is an important aspect here as well. As a reviewer I had to often look past mediocre graphics or other minor faults and become one with the title. Like movies, entertainment titles have to have a soul that transcends any shortcomings to give an overall positive experience. If the game or simulation doesn't have a good theme format core realistic-looking scenery will not cover it up.

This can go for movies too. No one thing can outshine another aspect to prop up the film. It's a blend of acting, script, visuals and cinematography that must be present to create a well-rounded film.

Plots and storylines on TV or movies have to be the foundation and frankly it's all been done before. Creativity in familiar plotlines must be well-written in order for me to not say, "oh, this is like xyz movie."

Because Hitchcock or Serling were the masters of ironic plot twists doesn't mean they can't be done now. It's just that they aren't new. If done well they are surprising and welcome in any circumstance. But some plots are so transparently copies of previously done work it is bewildering at times.

This is why TV has gone to "reality" so strongly. It's cheap to produce and there's no real need to come up with a unique story as with drama or comedy.

All ideas run their courses. We had westerns until we all said, "oh, just another western."[huh] The same cycles have occured with lawyers, doctors, cops, sci-fi, quirky family comedy, and all the rest.

Most movies have some redeeming aspect that make them even minimally acceptable to view. It's just that more people today can't seem to find anything worth watching in their perspective. They go in knowing they're going to disscect it to death and probably not enjoy it. And that's sad indeed.

 

[hatguy1]

Is originality really lost?

Considering how many movies Hollyweird makes anymore that are just rehashes of the previously successful films and the lack of credible plot lines in the rest that just attempt to wow you with CG and other special effects at the expense of good writing/plots, I have to say...yeah; I think it's pretty well dead.

 

[Stanley Doble]

Lots of things come to mind. But 2 things I would like to say. From what I hear movie company executives today know nothing about movies or entertainment. All they care about is what will sell or make money.

And movie fans are stupid. I used to wonder why they made so many boring, disgusting moronic movies. Then I saw a young couple in a coffee shop watching a movie on their tablet, laughing their brains out over the biggest piece of crap I ever saw. I don't know what it was, but it made Adam Sandler look like Shakespeare's ghost.

So you have greedy bastards making movies for morons. If you get one good movie a year you are lucky. It's a wonder they ever make anything worth watching.

Before you accuse me of hating everything I saw The Artist and thought it was great. Not perfect but much better than I expected. They can still make decent movies if they want to.

 

[Two Types]

A vast amount of what shows in the cinemas is dross. I struggle to find much I want to see.

That said, it's probably always been that way. I worked in cinemas in the 1980s and that was truly dreadful. You might think of 'classics' like ET or the Indiana Jones films, but I think of 'Starflight' with Lee Majors - which had 13 customers in the week we were showing it. I'm sure that if you look objectively at any era you will be able to find plenty that was derivative and uninspiring.

 

[herringbonekid]

TT, agreed. there was dross made in the 20s-50s (some of which you've been watching for your cinema blog ) but i also think cinema's cultural standing has fallen significantly in recent years with the amount of other media such as computer screens and large TVs that you can now watch films on. 'going to the cinema' just isn't such a big deal anymore.

one big reason for this (as i mentioned in the Peaky Blinders thread) is that many shows on TV today have film quality production values, sometimes even higher than film in the case of a show like Boardwalk Empire. i've been to the cinema in recent years and thought "this doesn't look any better than a TV series, except on a big screen. i'd rather just watch it at home than in a half empty cinema".

probably one reason why the big budget action movie is still one of the main genres in which studios put all their money year after year (do you sense a certain desperation in it ?)... they're one of the last remaining areas where cinema can do something bigger, louder, faster and with more CGI effects per minute that TV can.

 

[Two Types]

HBK: I see you've read my blog and have noticed the awful 'quota quickies' that the British often churned out.
I agree on the point about desperation: the endless stream of action movies (in particular the comic book adaptations - a subject in which I have almost no interest) is perplexing to me. But they have an audience, which is a good thing. I still believe the cinema is the best place to see a film. I actually stopped going for many years after i stopped working in cinemas (apart from trips to see art-house films - I was always a Scala regular) I suppose I found it diffuclt to think of paying to watch a film after years of getting to see everything for free.

My time working in cinemas also made me rather cynical. My view of many films is warped by the experience of the times. For example, I disliked Gandhi intensely. We had vast crowds of the types of people who seldom came to the cinema. It was a very upper middle class audience that complained about everything they could think of. I recall one man saying the prices were too high and my drunken manager responding 'Well, if you came here more often we wouldn't have to charge so much.' Another night I had to get the police to eject an argumentative couple who wanted their money back.
Another film that annoyed me was 'Chariots of Fire'. I still get frustrated by hearing about what a great success that film was: it flopped when we showed it. The place was empty! Then it won some oscars and got re-released. Then the crowds came in. What people forget is that the re-release was a double bill with Gregory's Girl. Had it not been for Gregory's Girl a large chunk of the audience would never have turned up to see Chariots of Fire - oscars or no oscars. I remember plenty of people walking out of Chariots of Fire - no one walked out of Gregory's Girl.
So mine can be a rather oblique view of the cinematic experience.

I still enjoy going and think walking home from the cinema chatting about the film i have just watched is one of life's great pleasures. Watching television just doesn't have that effect.

To be honest, I'm rather looking forward to retiring (seventten years and counting) and being able to spend lots of time going to the BFI to watch lots of old obscure films.

 

[Matt Crunk]

Home theater equipment keeps getting bigger, better, and more affordable while movie theaters have gone from the opulent movie palaces of the past to cheap megaplexes with bland auditoriums, stadium seating and smaller screens, to which they charge $12 admission. And they wonder why there's a decline in moviegoers.