Have Films Gotten Worse or Better?

[darkknight575]

For sometime the media has been reporting on the recent drop in revenue generated by the theatre going public. This year films in theatres have not made as much money as they have in past. So it stands to reason that we question whether films have gotten better or worse over the years. Studios have always generated a model, a set of rules they follow that helps them determine whether a film will be successful or not, but when that model has been inaccurate so many times it stands to reason that that model needs to be rethought. But have we seen a decline in quality in films as of late or have these films been better, or just as good as the films of the past? Thoughts?

[judex]

It's pretty much like it has been since the beginning of film.

5 % Good
5 % Bad
90 % bland as toasted white bread with no butter.

[GiGi]

Overall worse in my opinion. "Formula" movies, I call them, are so done to death. It's like a recipe with the same ingredients sans one spice or food coloring. haha. It's the same old shit made over and over again, thinly disguised as something else. Then you have the cheap shock attempts going on, which is boring, and stars who sometimes are people that should have never been allowed near a soundstage.

But then, technology has allowed us great things like the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. If it was done in the 70's, it probably would have sucked.

[Furious D]

What's needed is a shake-up, similar to the one that happened in the 60's & 70's, where the big studios kept pumping out overpriced bland or outright awful movies to declining audiences until the next generation of filmmakers came along and brought in the Age of the Blockbuster.

Right now we're in the mad decadent waning days of the Blockbuster Age. Like a crumbling Roman Empire, Hollywood's trapped in a cycle of attempting to recapture past glory even though those attempts prevent them finding new paths to success.

Studios have to learn how to make films that aren't as expensive and be willing to take the occassional risk. They have to connect with the audience, not the focus group and get people excited about movies again instead of just doing the same-old same-old.

[truepictures]

I don't necessarily think studios are in it to make intelligent cinema. I think they're in it to attract a tweenage MTV crowd because we know, through revolutionary shows on like "My Super Sweet 16" that tweens/teens are spoiled and absolutely retarded in their choice of consumption of the media.

More films starring Nickelodeon stars will continue to be made and it will ruin everyone.

The new filmmakers like Jim Jarmusch, Paul Haggis and Wes Anderson have definitely made films worth watching but they'll not be completely understood by the tweens and not wholly swallowed by adults who are still used to the blockbuster formula.

This is definitely a period of crap but some of the best films ever made such as Crash & Million Dollar Baby have also emerged out of this pile of cat poo. I see a time with polarized films coming out for at least the next couple of years. Mostly crap and something completely sublime on the other end.

[gege]

But then, technology has allowed us great things like the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. If it was done in the 70's, it probably would have sucked.

100% right, just compare Star Wars with The Phantom Menace that was made 22 years later.
The special effets do make the film x100 better.

[Pete Vonder Haar]

But then, technology has allowed us great things like the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. If it was done in the 70's, it probably would have sucked.

It was. And it did.

[bronsonseven]

It was. And it did.


That cartoon does suck it, but I love how it looks. I watch that movie occasionally with the sound turned down while I am rocking out to the Elephant Riders album from Clutch. It almost makes it good.

[AmaiStina]

It was. And it did.


wasnt there a The Hobbit cartoon too?


and is there a director or film studio somewhere thinking "we should remake The Neverending Story w/ cgi! instead of puppets" or "Dark Crystal w/ cgi! instead of puppets"

[bronsonseven]

and is there a director or film studio somewhere thinking "we should remake The Neverending Story w/ cgi! instead of puppets" or "Dark Crystal w/ cgi! instead of puppets"


Some cg-abusing asshole probably just read your thread and is now full steam ahead with getting the rights going.

[Rory L. Aronsky]

wasnt there a The Hobbit cartoon too?

1977, done by Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Jules Bass.

[AmaiStina]

Some cg-abusing asshole probably just read your thread and is now full steam ahead with getting the rights going.


booo.

maybe this one would be a better film...w/ cgi cops instead of real ones.


‘Ninja' prompts helicopter search in McKinney
By DANNY GALLAGHER McKinney Courier-Gazette

Police K-9 units, a Texas Department of Public Safety helicopter and a teenage boy got everyone in one local neighborhood ready for Halloween early.

McKinney Police Capt. Randy Roland said police had to set up a perimeter complete with police officers and a helicopter around 9 p.m. Saturday for a 911 call from a woman walking in the 3200 block of Hudson Crossing who said she thought she was being followed by a man dressed in black with a machete.

But it turned out to be a 13-year-old boy playing ”Ninja“ in a costume with a plastic sword.

McKinney Police Capt. Randy Roland said dispatch received a 911 call about a suspicious person at 9:18 p.m. Saturday from a young woman who was walking her dog down Hudson Crossing.

According to an e-mail written by McKinney Assistant Police Chief Rex Redden that was sent to several city and police personnel, she said she thought she was being followed by a male suspect dressed in all black and carrying what appeared to be a machete. She was able to stop some other people for help. They were watching the man who turned and ran through a nearby apartment complex.

Some officers were dispatched to the scene who began searching for the man. Another witness said they observed someone with a similar description jumping the fence of the apartment complex and heading towards Gabe Nesbitt Field. Police established a perimeter with additional officers, and called in K-9 units and a DPS helicopter since the search area was large and filled with heavy woods.

Nearby residents came out of their homes to see why a police helicopter was circling over their houses. Monika Arris said nearly everyone on her block was standing outside.

”They were just trying to see what was going on,“ Arris said. ”The helicopter circled overhead for 45 minutes to an hour. You couldn't see what was going on. The traffic back there at Hudson Crossing, there was quite a bit of it. There was more there than normal for that hour.“

Collin County spokeswoman Leigh Hornsby who also lives nearby said the traffic caused by the 20 drivers she counted brought out the carelessness in some of them.

”There were so many residents who got into their vehicles trying to find the source of the incident traveling through my neighborhood, a couple of them even made U-turns through my lawn as they were looking for source of this,“ Hornsby said. ”That was my point of my frustration .“

Douglas Vining who lives on Drake Circuit said he also heard the helicopters but he wasn't worried about their reason for being there.

”It's not first time it's happened,“ Vining said. ”I wasn't locking my doors and hiding by any means. I have protection.“

Redden said in the e-mail that one of the K-9 dogs found a scent but eventually lost it. He also said the helicopter searched the wooded area with a ”Forward Looking Infrared“ or thermal camera but no one was found.

Just as police were about to call off the search, officers received a dispatch call from a man who said his 13-year-old son had been playing with his Ninja sword in the area and believed he might have accidentally scared the lady. Officers went to the man's home had ”a nice little chat with the father and his son,“ Redden said.

No charges were filed and no arrests were made. Since no report was filed on the incident, the young woman, the father and the 13-year-old could not be identified, Roland said.

Hornsby said a lot of residents were concerned about the helicopter search. She e-mailed McKinney Spokesman Steve Hill about the source of the call who passed her note on to Redden. She said everyone got a good laugh from it.

”When we learned what it is, we got mostly humor out of it,“ Hornsby said. ”It was a very humorous situation, and I'm glad it wasn't anything serious but it certainly prompted folks to get out into their vehicles to determine the source of this.“

Roland said even though this was a false alarm, the McKinney police and DPS departments did a superb job of working together and responding to the call.

”There was some good cooperation with the DPS' helicopter,“ Roland said. ”If this had been a serious incident, then those type of resources at hand are very valuable. But we didn't need them because it was all a misunderstanding.“
Copyright © 2005 The Courier-Gazette. All rights reserved.
P.O. Box 400, McKinney, Texas 75070 · managingeditor@courier-gazette.com
phone: 972-542-2631 · fax: 972-529-1684


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source:
http://www.courier-gazette.com/articles/2005/10/14/news/news02.txt

[Mr B Natural]

and is there a director or film studio somewhere thinking "we should remake The Neverending Story w/ cgi! instead of puppets" or "Dark Crystal w/ cgi! instead of puppets"

I wouldn't mind a re-edited Dark Crystal, cutting out about 20 minutes to move the story along at a reasonable pace. Seemed to me that the filmmakers couldn't bear to cut their amazing puppetry to serve the plot.

I know this is a bit of a dissention from this thread, but I just couldn't help myself.

And I think Judex has it right: the proportion of good to bad to bland films has remained a constant throughout film history; their may be small times where the number of good films goes up, but they are rare.

[AmaiStina]

And I think Judex has it right: the proportion of good to bad to bland films has remained a constant throughout film history; their may be small times where the number of good films goes up, but they are rare.

the same could be said about music & fashion, yes?

[Pirate Duck]

the same could be said about music & fashion, yes?

I believe it works for just about anything, films, music, fashion, the meals I eat, People, businesses... you name it and the 5/5/90 works its way pretty well.

[Mr B Natural]

I believe it works for just about anything, films, music, fashion, the meals I eat, People, businesses... you name it and the 5/5/90 works its way pretty well.

What about people you eat? I've noticed that 5 percent taste great, 5 percent taste terrible, and 90 percent need barbecue sauce.

[Pirate Duck]

What about people you eat? I've noticed that 5 percent taste great, 5 percent taste terrible, and 90 percent need barbecue sauce.

Yes. EVERYTHING. (although I prefer mustard to barbecue sauce)

[Baron_Blood]

Movies have definitely gotten worse; but the whole theatre experience has declined too. Ticket prices are outrageous: Why pay thirteen bucks a ticket when you can buy the dvd for twenty just a few months later? Prices at the snack bar are equally insane. Sitting through ads for perfume and cola and cars totally sucks. Theatres showing movies with low wattage bulbs making the films too dark. Letting people pay for tickets with credit cards and debit slows the ticket line. Plus movies have for years been made for teenagers. Very few movies are made for adults anymore. Even horror films are PG-13 now. Plus, have you noticed that teenagers go to movies in packs of twenty and thirty? I think that older moviegoers stay away from theatres for fear of being swarmed.

[Rory L. Aronsky]

I think that older moviegoers stay away from theatres for fear of being swarmed.

We can't face mass stupidity.

[AmaiStina]

Letting people pay for tickets with credit cards and debit slows the ticket line.

or rather, not having designated lines for credit/debit cards. some theatre chains do have those ticket vending machine things for people who want to pay with cards, but theres never a "student" discount option. i like being able to pay for a movie with plastic. and im sure people who can incorporate how much they spend watching movies onto their tax forms like it too. b/c it's a way of keeping track w/o necessarily saving all your tix stubs.


Plus movies have for years been made for teenagers. Very few movies are made for adults anymore. Even horror films are PG-13 now. Plus, have you noticed that teenagers go to movies in packs of twenty and thirty? I think that older moviegoers stay away from theatres for fear of being swarmed.

interesting observation. what used to be the kinds of films that maybe youd have to see at a drive-in or a grindhouse theatre are now being shown at the multiplexes. so theres definitely the effect of pushing all the audience niches into one space.

the only separation that still applies is with art, indie, and foreign cinema.

[Rory L. Aronsky]

interesting observation. what used to be the kinds of films that maybe youd have to see at a drive-in or a grindhouse theatre are now being shown at the multiplexes. so theres definitely the effect of pushing all the audience niches into one space.

In a few reviews (or maybe it was only one), Ebert put it just as well: "B movies with "A" budgets."

[Joey Dixie]

IT was interesting when I was at our local film festival and I thought the Canadian films were better than the american films. I didn't see too many american films cause there was a focus on canadian content; but even in the short selection there was an american short with alan cumming and then a canadian one and honestly the canadian one was better.
Or even if (no offence) the damned americans would stop making re-makes of films that are successful in other nations and 'americanize' them ... I mean, let those nations shine and take credit for good filmmaking! Hollywood is dying its time to look to and embrace films from around the world and possibly understand other cultures better etc
So what if ppl have to read subtitles ..... I say its good for them and it forces them to use their brains a lil more!
(don't mind me I'm sick; and I tend to whine and not think too straight when I'm ill)

[darkknight575]

:mad: The sad thing is that the film industry is still a business. They make formula movies because those films have proven the most safe and have the best chance for a good return. The LOTR series was a major gamble by the studios because they agreed on a three pic deal as opposed to seeing how well the first movie did then deciding on another like Spider-man. Plus they already knew they had a solid fan following from the book. So with more teenagers going to the theatre than adults these days why make movies for adults? I know I hate seeing a film and dealing with some asshole using his cell phone or insane concession stand prices. (I sneak in my food dammit!) So what needs to be done for it to change and more people to start going back to the movies?

[Rory L. Aronsky]

So what needs to be done for it to change and more people to start going back to the movies?

Hookers. Many of them. If I'm to get fucked out of my money, it better be done right.

[Jagermeister70]

I honestly cannot say that movies have not gotten worse. Studio releases today are immascualted (see every horror film now versus every horror film twenty years ago) or lobotomized. Imagine a movie today like Network or Scenes From a Marriage. Intelligent, adult dramas cannot be made today because they are unprofitable. Why spend money on art when Doom makes just as much? The business has become too streamlined. Only profitable films get made, and everything moves toward the middle. Nothing new gets expressed, and everyone comes away slightly richer (without advancing culture). There is no reason to spend a lot of money on a big hit (i.e. Lord of the Rings ) when a small success (The Fog remake) has the same profit margin. There are exceptions, but they defy the rule. Or am I wrong? I would love to hear input...

[darkknight575]

Intelligent, adult dramas cannot be made today because they are unprofitable.

I gotta disagree to some extent here. The Constant Gardner, A History of Violence, and the upcoming Jarhead are films that are definitely dramas made outside the typical Hollywood formula. There are still studios out there that take chances on more intellegent films with depth and character development. These films don't make as much, but they don't cost as much as a film like Doom either. So if the return is higher than the cost it still stands to make money. The problem is that these films are few and far between these days. Studios are more interested in what is called a quick return. How much the film makes on openning weekend. That's all that matters to them right now. What Hollywood needs to realize is that the model they use to determine whether a film will make a lot of money or not is flawed.