Modern Movies Made To Look Old

[Fletch]

There's a good example. I saw that. It was quite cool but sad. There is something mean about the Coen Brothers that I cannot fathom. [...]
I just thought of another one. The Saddest Music in the World [...] The movie's heartless cruelty got on my nerves despite the visual brilliance. I'm sorry but amputations are not a fit subject for humor. Only horror (e.g. Hostel).

That hard black "humor" - way beyond laughability, really a pose of meta intellectual superiority by people who aren't fit to polish Mr. Mike's hobnail shoes - is what you do in the movies today to come off "sophisticated," because the business knows that true sophistication doesn't close deals.

The same stuff is also a convenient substitute for literate humor, which requires expensive, unreliable writers and makes you ineligible for awards.

 

[Dr Doran]

That hard black "humor" - way beyond laughability, really a pose of meta intellectual superiority by people who aren't fit to polish Mr. Mike's hobnail shoes - is what you do in the movies today to come off "sophisticated," because the business knows that true sophistication doesn't close deals.

The same stuff is also a convenient substitute for literate humor, which requires expensive, unreliable writers and makes you ineligible for awards.

I have seen a couple of things lately that have made a joke about amputation and I think it is not proper material for humor. I cannot remember the other thing but "The Saddest Music in the World," despite its visual merits, really sicked me out with that. I guess "Boxing Helena" might count but it wasn't being played for laughs.

 

[Haversack]

A sub-genre comes to mind in which the movies were filmed in black and white specifically to allow period footage to be integrated into the film: Movies of World War Two filmed in the 1960s. The two best examples I can think of are _The Longest Day_ and _Is Paris Burning?_. In the latter, the Liberation Parade with DeGaulle was necessary for political closure.

Haversack.

 

[Amy Jeanne]

The first few minutes of Man Of The Century (1999) are done in silent movie style. The rest of the film is in black & white.

Bettie Page: Dark Angel (2004) also has a very 50s look to it. The colours were amazing. And the little B&W Bettie loops were made to look authentic, too.

 

[LadyStardust]

Schindler's List and The Good German have both tried very hard to give an authentic performance of a film. There are a couple other films which are not in black and white, nor even a period film, yet give the feeling of an old movie. Something you've seen before a long time ago, but in a different voice.

This description also reminded me of the movie Chocolat. It's filmed in a very understated style, and to me exudes not precisely a vintage feel, but rather a timeless one. Like you said, it reminds me of something I've seen a long time ago, but I can't quite put my finger on it. [huh]

 

[Spitfire]

The man who wasn't there. Great film.
Goodnight and good luck. Even greater!

The beach part of Saving Private Ryan - had an authetic almost black and white feeling. And they also used cameras with old "shutter time" (Pardon my bad english) Just like spielberg/Hanks did again in Band of Brothers. Not everywhere but in some scenes.

 

[Mike in Seattle]

Young Frankenstein, Lost Skeleton of Cadavra and Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid immediately leapt to mind and I see Feraud beat me to the later.

And for campy 50's/60's spoofs - Psycho Beach Party and Die, Mommy, Die! are great.

 

[Dr Doran]

The first few minutes of Man Of The Century (1999) are done in silent movie style. The rest of the film is in black & white.

Bettie Page: Dark Angel (2004) also has a very 50s look to it. The colours were amazing. And the little B&W Bettie loops were made to look authentic, too.

Yeah, I liked Man of the Century. I tried to start up another thread specifically about Man of the Century and other movies and books with Stylistically Anachronistic Protagonists, but NO ONE responded [he sobs. he falls face forward into his beer ... the chair falls apart under him ... CURTAINS FALL.

 

[Dr Doran]

The man who wasn't there. Great film.
Goodnight and good luck. Even greater!
.

I forgot about Good Night and Good Luck. That's a perfect example.
Someone else brought up The Man Who Wasn't There. Good one, and I loved the Lolita references (one of my favorite books, and I loved both film adaptations) but it was so sad that I can't see it again. I get too depressed, unreasonably so, with stories with the following sorts of characters:
1. Insane
2. Terribly depressed
3. Developmentally disabled
4. Living a life in which they are disrespected, have a low opinion of themselves, accomplish nothing and amount to nothing

 

[MrBern]

 

[MrBern]

Notice the one on far left is the now poplular Dr.McDreamy on Grey's Anatomy

 

[Amy Jeanne]

Yeah, I liked Man of the Century. I tried to start up another thread specifically about Man of the Century and other movies and books with Stylistically Anachronistic Protagonists, but NO ONE responded [he sobs. he falls face forward into his beer ... the chair falls apart under him ... CURTAINS FALL.

Awww. I love Man Of The Century and I think it's one of the very best modern films (1970-today) out there!

 

[Dr Doran]

Awww. I love Man Of The Century and I think it's one of the very best modern films (1970-today) out there!

When I imagine the lives of some of the people who post at the lounge, it is with very fond amusement that I liken them to Johnny Twennies in that film. (Except unlike him, they presumably know that the world has, in fact, changed.)

 

[Amy Jeanne]

When I imagine the lives of some of the people who post at the lounge, it is with very fond amusement that I liken them to Johnny Twennies in that film. (Except unlike him, they presumably know that the world has, in fact, changed.)

Ya know, I do the same thing.

 

[Haversack]

What particularly appealed to me about _Man of the Century_ and made it all work as far as Johnnie viewing the world through 1920s lenses, was that his mother was also out of step with modern day. Only in her case, she saw the world through an 1890s lorgnette.

Haversack.

 

[Dr Doran]

What particularly appealed to me about _Man of the Century_ and made it all work as far as Johnnie viewing the world through 1920s lenses, was that his mother was also out of step with modern day. Only in her case, she saw the world through an 1890s lorgnette.

Haversack.

I did not think of that. I guess to her, Johnny was terribly modern and kind of vulgar.

 

[BegintheBeguine]

Is 1971 considered modern? The Last Picture Show.

 

[dhermann1]

There's a fine line between movies that depict that past effectively and ones that recreate the style of an old film. The latter category is much rarer. In that group I'd put Zelig, Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, Sky Captain and a couple others. Speaking of Woody Allen, his Radio Days is certainly evocative of the time. The one I've always loved was "Tucker, the Man and His Dream". What I liked about that was that every man was wearing a brand new 1947 style tie. Nobody had a 1945, or 1939 or a 1935. Art directors sometimes forget that the past existed in the past. Most people did not dress in the latest styles. But I still loved those ties in Tucker. And I want the Rocketeer's helmet!

 

[Miss Dottie]

I think Steve Martin's Pennies From Heaven is a good one.

Ah--Zelig! I'm going to add that to my Netflix account right now. Thanks for that!

 

[Pink Dahlia]

And for campy 50's/60's spoofs - Psycho Beach Party and Die, Mommy, Die! are great.

I caught Beach Party on TV one day and I kept thinking "what year was this thing made?" What a goofy flick!