Unpopular movie opinions...

[Widebrim]

^^Thank you.

 

[rue]

Movies like those don't bother me anywhere near as much as living in a culture that produces movies like those does.

Well said!

 

[CopperNY]

Movies like those don't bother me anywhere near as much as living in a culture that produces movies like those does.

i'll have to +1 on that as well, thank you.

 

[cotillion]

Movies like those don't bother me anywhere near as much as living in a culture that produces movies like those does.

Why do you (or anyone) think American culture c.2010 produces such movies?


Personally I loathe the Saw movies and find them to be wanna-be intellectual rubbish (not even at the level of psuedo-intellectual rubbish). But I honestly wonder why our culture produces and consumes such rubbish?

 

[jamespowers]

Movies like those don't bother me anywhere near as much as living in a culture that produces movies like those does.

Perhaps I should have said how low can culture go. :eusa_doh: The movie industry is pretty low as it is. When people affirm their "art" and give them money for it then that is society at large's fault for having a demand. :eusa_doh:
Then again, they could have been fooled like I was about Hostel. I thought it would be like a Vincent Price film not a cross between Larry Flint and Sweeny Todd.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Well, I think the main reason our culture produces such stuff is that it's driven by vicious, cynical pinheads with marketing degrees. It doesn't matter what kind of rubbish it is, as long as there are people willing to buy it. And to get people to pay attention to their particular variety of rubbish, they have to make it stand out from all the other rubbish -- and the only way to do that is to make their own pile bigger and smellier than any other of the rubbish piles in that feculent global dump that is 21st Century civilization.

Not that I'm bitter, you understand. I went past bitter back in the '80s. Now I'm just tired of it all.

 

[rue]

I agree. I also really believe they are making these to bring in the kids too, their only audience these days. My daughter has seen all the Saw movies, not by choice (she hates them), but because they are played at slumber parties on a big screen TV.

 

[Undertow]

Well, I for one embrace all forms of "horror" or "violence" in movies. Doesn't mean I enjoy each film, but I base opinions on the merits of each one. Some of those movies are simply bad. Take the Friday the 13th films: as much as I like them for their campy feel, they're all quite redundant and poorly written (except #6, which was the only break from the originals I felt was fit for the silver screen). On the other hand, some of Dario Argento's horror work is pretty well done, and nearly as violent. Perhaps there's a difference between those who make a film to master their craft, and those who make a film to sell some tickets? I think most people, even teenagers, can see through that veil, and in the end it doesn't matter if the film is violent or not.

I've always been a rather unabashed fan of creativity, regardless of the boundaries or taboos it crosses. I wouldn't go as far to say that I accept "nasties" flippantly, but I certainly give each movie its chance. Once you get past all the make-up and fake blood, some movies are really pretty well made. On the other hand, some films are so bad, even the fake blood doesn't do them any good.

I'm also interested in the acceptance of certain "sacred cows" like Saving Private Ryan, The Thin Read Line, Braveheart, etc. - in other words, the modern day battle film. These are incessantly violent, almost grotesque in their fascination with death, blood and gore. Yet, I don't usually hear the gnashing of teeth when one of these films comes to market. Why not? Who cares what the film is about, people are getting mutilated aren't they? Violence is glorified? Death is wantonly dealt? So the characters are motivated by some "factual" force (war, duty, etc) - but is the film somehow "cleaner" than these slasher flicks?

On an aside, violence in media has been around for a very long time (long, long before the Golden era). Human beings seem to crave the vicarious death scenes that both titilates and horrifies. A more interesting conversation would be: what are the human motivations for this kind of entertainment?

 

[Packin' Heat]

Being an avid read of pulp fiction (1920's-1950's), I can't really impugn the filth in the films of today without doing the same to my favorite form of literature.

 

[LizzieMaine]

On an aside, violence in media has been around for a very long time (long, long before the Golden era). Human beings seem to crave the vicarious death scenes that both titilates and horrifies. A more interesting conversation would be: what are the human motivations for this kind of entertainment?

Of course. Some Romans paid good money to watch people get torn apart by lions, some Colonial Americans enjoyed pit fights between dogs and bears, Spaniards love their bullfights, and to this day you can find people slavering over cockfights and claiming it's "part of their culture." It's still repellent, no matter who does it and no matter when they did it and no matter how they justify it.

Sure, there's a psychology involved with relishing scenes of gore and brutality -- but it's also a psychology I can't begin to understand. Violence done in the style of Hitchcock is one thing -- you never see the knife go in in "Psycho" -- but a taste for the sort of movie violence that dwells on the *spectacle* of spattering blood and torn flesh is something I'll never comprehend. If I was inclined to speculate I'd suggest it was rooted in some sort of arrested-childhood revenge fantasy built on feelings of powerlessness and inadequacy, the same sort of thing that motivates a little kid to burn up ants with a magnifying glass or pull the wings off flies. I might further suggest that we've developed a culture that takes advantage of such fantasies by exploiting them for money and thus perpetuating them, rather than encouraging kids to confront those feelings in a constructive way and to eventually grow out of them. But I'm not inclined to speculate on such things.

 

[Undertow]

..Violence done in the style of Hitchcock is one thing -- you never see the knife go in in "Psycho"...

(I have to say, I watched Dial M for Murder last night, and I think it was my absolute favorite Hitchcock film to date. Just loved it!That man had a real gift in making the highest quality films. I remember hearing someone say in an interview that he didn't like to glorify the blood because that would make his movies trash. He stunned audiences with their own imaginations. Truly a master!)

 

[rue]

I understand war movies. I think the public needs to know what it's like. However my husband is no longer allowed to watch Black Hawk Down because he was there and I witnessed the dead stare and shaking during the movie that he did, but the rest of the world should see it. I'm glad I did so I could understand what he went through.

As far as scary blood and gore movies, I know there are those that enjoy them and they're not my cup of tea, but they should at least be well written and not just for the sake of scare tactics. Personally I think the first Nightmare on Elm street and the first poltergeist were well done. They scared the pants off me, but there was a story behind them that was interesting.

As Lizzie Maine said, Hitchcock did violence very well, but the public needs more these days, because of the 24 hour news and seeing it every day. It's a sad state of affairs really.

 

[rue]

(I have to say, I watched Dial M for Murder last night, and I think it was my absolute favorite Hitchcock film to date. Just loved it!That man had a real gift in making the highest quality films. I remember hearing someone say in an interview that he didn't like to glorify the blood because that would make his movies trash. He stunned audiences with their own imaginations. Truly a master!)

LOVE that movie!

 

[Widebrim]

I agree. I also really believe they are making these to bring in the kids too, their only audience these days. My daughter has seen all the Saw movies, not by choice (she hates them), but because they are played at slumber parties on a big screen TV.

That concerns me greatly, when children are exposed to such displays of gratuitous blood-letting. I've often heard my elementary students speak of how they've seen such-and-such violent film, because their parents rented it or viewed it on cable, and I want to say to said parents, "Where are your brains?!"

 

[rue]

That concerns me greatly, when children are exposed to such displays of gratuitous blood-letting. I've often heard my elementary students speak of how they've seen such-and-such violent film, because their parents rented it or viewed it on cable, and I want to say to said parents, "Where are your brains?!"

I can't understand it myself. My daughter is fifteen now, but she has been subjected to films like that since she was twelve. She was always a semi-outcast at those parties because she left the room. I threw a thirteenth birthday party for her one year and the girls were really upset that we didn't rent blood and gore movies. Not to mention the fact that they were trying to sneak out the whole time and my husband and I had to stay up all night to make sure they didn't. I know this is so fftopic:, but it really was amazing to me that they were so bold at that age. We did some crazy stuff when I was a kid, but my God.... these kids are nuts.

 

[jamespowers]

That concerns me greatly, when children are exposed to such displays of gratuitous blood-letting. I've often heard my elementary students speak of how they've seen such-and-such violent film, because their parents rented it or viewed it on cable, and I want to say to said parents, "Where are your brains?!"

They have none. I have been through this with my son wanting to see some such things on Sci-fi. He gets mad when I change the channel----too bad.
I don't watch some things that I like in front of him because they are adult content be it language or behavior.
I watched Hostel late at night as a consequence. It wasn't worth the wait.
The difference between war movies and recreations of historical battles on film is quite the contrast. Getting shot or blown up in a battle scene is considerably different than someone getting holes drilled in their legs, head or burned with a blowtorch while strapped down and other such torture while some one is alive. I am just talking about a small part of Hostel here.

 

[jamespowers]

I can't understand it myself. My daughter is fifteen now, but she has been subjected to films like that since she was twelve. She was always a semi-outcast at those parties because she left the room. I threw a thirteenth birthday party for her one year and the girls were really upset that we didn't rent blood and gore movies. Not to mention the fact that they were trying to sneak out the whole time and my husband and I had to stay up all night to make sure they didn't. I know this is so fftopic:, but it really was amazing to me that they were so bold at that age. We did some crazy stuff when I was a kid, but my God.... these kids are nuts.

Yeah and?
I see plenty myself but not from personal experience. Friends have nuts for children but in fairness, they are the permissive parent who is asking for it. In one case the father wants to be tougher but the mother doesn't want him to hurt the kid's feeeeeeelllliiinnnnggggs. Just wait until he goes to school and meets up with some jackass bully who have not such worries. :eusa_doh:

 

[rue]

Yeah and?
I see plenty myself but not from personal experience. Friends have nuts for children but in fairness, they are the permissive parent who is asking for it. In one case the father wants to be tougher but the mother doesn't want him to hurt the kid's feeeeeeelllliiinnnnggggs. Just wait until he goes to school and meets up with some jackass bully who have not such worries. :eusa_doh:

I hear you. I can not believe the stuff that my daughter's friends ask for and get away with. I always tell her that I'd rather that she was an alive dork than a popular dead girl. Anyway, we are WAY off topic here and I apologize, but it's always James's fault lol

 

[jamespowers]

I hear you. I can not believe the stuff that my daughter's friends ask for and get away with. I always tell her that I'd rather that she was a dead dork than a popular dead girl. Anyway, we are WAY off topic here and I apologize, but it's always James's fault lol

It was actually Widebrim's fault as he brought up children and idiot parents.
Still the topic relates to unpopular movies opinions about what our children would watch if we weren't looking.

 

[rue]

It was actually Widebrim's fault as he brought up children and idiot parents.
Still the topic relates to unpopular movies opinions about what our children would watch if we weren't looking.

I can always count on you to make me laugh sweet man lol

Anywho...... carry on film critiques......