Why are modern movies so bad?

[BritManToo]

I've just got a new 4TB hard drive, and decided to copy all the movies I thought worthy of watching again onto it.

To my surprise I've ended up with a large number of movies from the 70s, 80s, 90s, but almost nothing later than those.

 

 

Have I become locked in some 'old man' nostalgic black hole (I've avoided the elderly white foreigner 70s rock music trap), or are movies made in the last 20 years mostly completely worthless.

Edited February 22, 2020 by BritManToo

[ianezy0]

Go to the movies and watch 1917, excellent movie.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood sounds like a good movie. I really like Tarantino movies.

Jumanji is good for comedy.

 

Of course its all down to personal taste.

It looks as though you have some good ones on your hard drive.

I have only just started going to the movies again on my own. You don’t feel like such a dirty old man as you would in OZ and the UK!

Edited February 22, 2020 by ianezy0

[SteveK]

Nope you're dead right. Same thing with modern computer games. It seems that 99% of modern movies are complete trash.

 

People don't have any real imagination any more, they just thing that if they use the latest technology and special effects the movie will turn out great, but usually the opposite happens.

 

Take a look at the Star Wars franchise. First three films produced 1977-1983 all well written and well produced and great movies.  Roll forward to the new Star Wars movies which kicked off with the Phantom Menace - unwatchable garbage! Terrible dialogue, awful writing and wooden acting, far too much reliance on modern CGI.

 

Or the Aliens Franchise. First two movies produced 1979-1986 two of the best films ever. The modern cash-ins, however have almost all been trash. Why they even bothered with those Alien vs Predator movies is anyone's guess.

 

Sometimes it is mind-boggling - they throw tens of millions of dollars at a movie, hundreds of people contribute to it's production, but it seems that nobody ever bothered to sit down and watch the movie all the way through.

 

Some of the best films of all times came out in the 1980s - Aliens, Platoon, Stand by me, Indiana Jones, Back to the Future, Terminator, Scarface, Blade Runner, Full Metal Jacket, the list goes on. I just watched Parasite which is supposed to be the best thing since sliced bread but wasn't that impressed TBH.

 

And Martin Scorsese has produced some of the best films of all time. However his most recent production, The Irishman, is all about the CGI and it seems they spent too much time on that and forgot to write an interesting script. As a result it's three hours of not very much at all happening.

Edited February 22, 2020 by SteveK

[Vigilante]

I'll throw in a few reasons...off the top of my head

 

Too much CGI

Shallow acting and script.

Everything has been done to death in a 100 years of movie-making, resulting in predictable plots etc

Factory mentality..directors are rarely around during editing...many bloopers

Movies targeting the 'lowest common denominator' crowd..and it shows.

 

 

I never watch movies anymore..even from the 'Golden Era'

The newer ones ,seriously insult my intelligence.

Hollywood needs to die a quick death.

 

[moldresistant]

It's cuz the film makers are just competing to show how woke they are.

[4MyEgo]

Some modern movies are just downright in your face, I mean who wants to see same sex couples in movies kissing on camera, almost threw up when I saw that, yeh whatever, gay rights and all, but for F sake, perhaps they should consider taking hetrosexual couples out of kissing scenes, so we don't have to show we are equal, because it just sickens me.

 

Don't bother criticising me, it's just something I can't stomach, will publicly say it.

Edited February 22, 2020 by 4MyEgo

[CharlieH]

Some interesting recommendations and thoughts in the "what are you watching now" topic.

That said, Movies like music is very much a personal thing, I didnt like the latest Tarrentino movie , I thought it was boring.

 

Too much budget restraint and CGI, no real locations, decent actors etc, its all manufactured conveyor belt stuff and re-booted story lines from previous incarnations. There are a few out there but few and far between in my book.

[Vigilante]

4 minutes ago, moldresistant said:

It's cuz the film makers are just competing to show how woke they are.

Get woke, go broke

[SteveK]

10 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

Some modern movies are just downright in your face, I mean who wants to see same sex couples in movies kissing on camera,

Actually, Brokeback Mountain turned out to be a good film, I watched it last month. Like you I put off watching it all these years for the very same opinion.

[observer90210]

Today much of the movie industry has become a fast-food of grade B entertainement.

 

Though there are now and then some masterpieces.

 

It goes with the trend of the moment.

 

Fast, quantity and mainly profit. Quality comes, well...maybe.....

 

And yes, you have aged. But in a good way, as the more we age, the less s**T  one takes .

[pgrahmm]

They've taken the humanity out....

Big explosions, car chases & crashes, gun fights, physical violence, unrealistic superheroes, blood, guts, and gore seem to be the copycat order of the day....Over amped and audience numbing.....

Feelings and emotions = not so much....

[Robins]

I thought it was to stop piracy, make <deleted> not worth stealing, though Midway was a damn good movie. 

[pgrahmm]

There's a graduate study of the art of cinematography right here.....

[Airalee]

Because they cater to the lowest common denominator...stupid people.

 

Here’s a few post 2000 movies that I’ve watched recently that aren’t on your list.

 

Cohen Bros.  ‘No country for old men” and “a serious man”

 

Brad Pitt ‘Inglourious Basterds’  and ‘once upon a time...in Hollywood’

 

Documentary ‘searching for sugar man’

[SteveK]

5 minutes ago, Robins said:

 though Midway was a damn good movie. 

But only 42% on Rotten Tomatoes.

[BritManToo]

2 minutes ago, SteveK said:

But only 42% on Rotten Tomatoes.

I thought it was garbage too.

[ivor bigun]

Because they think that they are making movies for the 'modern generation" and they are trying to be so inclusive ,its the same on tv ,i know the usual suspects will just say i am racist ,but some of my favourite tv shows and movies have black actors ,

these days every series has a black and white couple ,a gay couple and in the case of the new series of The Split a black and white gay couple,very Woke . and having black innkeepers in the 1700s in London ,the list goes on  just trying to show how inclusive they are ,the result most of the latest series and movies have the lowest ever viewing figures .

[cyril sneer]

because blacks

 

the revenant was the last decent movie i've seen

[OneMoreFarang]

I agree. There are exceptions like i.e. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. But it seems these exceptions don't happen too often anymore.

 

Star Wars is also a wonderful example. The original had the sentence "A long time ago in a galaxy far far away" on the poster. Like a fairytale. And that is what it was at that time. A nice story and some exotic galactic fighters and creatures. And not every second 3 cuts. I am sure the newest film had at least 100 times the amount of action and I guess also 100 times as many cuts. But does that make it a better story? Obviously not - at least not for people who are used to movies with a story and not just with action.

 

I wonder how young people today would react if they see old movies like i.e. Hitchcock movies. Would they be bored because "nothing happens"? Or would they like it? I don't know.

 

Obviously some old movies are not good anymore 20 years later. Once I had in mind looking at all the 007 movies in chronological order. I gave up. Sometimes it was just funny but sometimes not even funny anymore with all those "modern" inventions.

 

But there are other old movies which are still great. Some of my favorites are The Life of Brian, Dead Poets Society, Back to the Future, Indiana Jones. I prefer to see those one more time compared to most new modern movies.

[Lacessit]

My attention span for films is about one hour, so I tend to watch TV series instead. Plenty of recent good ones around, "Justified", "Suits", "The Wire" "The Commons"

" Game of Thrones" etc.

Some older good ones too, such as "Foyle's War" or "The Last Detective".

IMO the TV series format has overtaken the film genre in terms of quality.

 

 

 

 

[bkk6060]

As huge fan of the TV show, I certainly thought the extension of Breaking Bad El Camino was good. 

And, just read another BB related movie is shooting soon.

I guess the movies can be synonymous to bargirls demise.  Difficult to find young, sexy with giving attitudes.

Things just change I guess.

[SteveK]

3 minutes ago, bkk6060 said:

And, just read another BB related movie is shooting soon.

 

Have you watched Better Call Saul? I thought that off-shoot was better than the original Breaking Bad by a long way.

[ChouDoufu]

53 minutes ago, SteveK said:

Actually, Brokeback Mountain turned out to be a good film, I watched it last month. Like you I put off watching it all these years for the very same opinion.

sure, broke back was a good movie despite the final preaching scene.

it was original, had a good plot, good acting, good directing.

it's not that people, with the possible exception of those who believe it's a sin, are put off by 'alternative' lifestyles.

it's the constant forcing it into books and films where it's not needed and adds nothing to the story.

not to mention the constant re-birthing of established and popular characters into virtue-signaling puppets along with the condescending attitude of our hollowwood betters.

[Assurancetourix]

It is a restrictive question;
you only speak about  movies in English;
Korean cinema, I don't speak the language but I watch films in VOSTEN or VOSTFR when this happens (rarely);
Japanese, Chinese, French, German cinema ...
What do you think about these movies  ?

I agree with Britmantoo on the significant drop in quality of current films; but it is also very subjective, we have grown old, we no longer have the same way of watching a film as when we were a kid or young teenager ...
and then we go much less to the cinema because we can watch them at home on very large screens, sometimes curved ...

The series I like are, maybe ,  not the ones you like; I keep a few om my externl HD but I watch them regularly

Banshee, Preacher, Billions, Seal team, Strike Back,
Engrenages which is an excellent French series that you will find in English under another name: Spiral
The Rookie,
Versailles
and GOT

I watched a bunch of others but I didn't keep them.
And what I like above all is riding a mountain bike and taking photos;
the days being only 24 hours ....

[UbonThani]

Film and music died in 2010. It's over. All been done.

 

Just enjoy the 1960s to 2010. You have 50 great years.

 

 

[UbonThani]

16 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

My attention span for films is about one hour, so I tend to watch TV series instead. Plenty of recent good ones around, "Justified", "Suits", "The Wire" "The Commons"

" Game of Thrones" etc.

Some older good ones too, such as "Foyle's War" or "The Last Detective".

IMO the TV series format has overtaken the film genre in terms of quality.

 

 

 

 

They are even worse.

[Enki]

Americanisation .... or the stupid edge cases of capitalism.

 

What is a cinema? It used to be a house with one or two "rooms" where they showed a movie.

 

Now it is 15 or more theaters in one building, with three diners, two pizza shops and a cocktail bar. And a dozen sites where you can buy taccos with cheese, popcorn and a soda or a beer for inside the theater.

We used to have a good half a dozen cinemas in my town in Germany (300k inhabitants), now there is one as described above, and two more that survived the onslaught.

So how do you get your kids into cinema? With a car, perhaps half an hour, perhaps one hour driving. Is that worth it for a 90 minutes movie? Two hours driving back and forth? 

So, you don't want to go to a movie and afterwards into a restaurant. You want the "all inclusive package". With SO and two kids you already spent $40 on the tickets, so with the driving in mind, and parking issues you eat and drink in the cinema, too.

So what kind of movie does attract a family with a 6 year old and a 10 year old and a couple age of 30 - 35? <deleted> like transformers or the marvel movies ... enough fireworks so the kids like them, not to kid focused that the adults can watch them. 

It is like elections: you craft something where a huge deal of visitors "can cope with". But no one really likes it.

 

The last movie I saw and liked was on an air plane: "Made in China", about an north african and a vietnamese/chinese couple of friends living in Paris. Great watch, great story, watched it in french with english sub titles.

[Kinnock]

I think the production costs are so high now, the backers want a guaranteed return, so sequels, remakes and movies based on books or computer games so they have ready made fan base.

 

But Green Book managed to sneak through - and that was excellent.  Just hope they don't make Green Book 2 ..... or a prequel.

[Peterw42]

I would agree, I think Parasite winning best picture is a push back against all the no story CGI rubbish. A step in the right direction.

 

To many Comic movies, Avengers, Xmen, Thor etc, or to many fantasy CGI epics Lord of the rings, harry potter.

 

The good movies are still out there but living in Thailand you can miss them. As others have mentioned, the major products nowadays are adult serials, GOT, Breaking bad, The Wire etc, at the expense of movies

 

Slumdog Millionare, The departed, Inglorious Bastards, The Grand Budapest Hotel are a couple of good movies from the last 10-20 years

 

[SteveK]

In the UK now, for a family of 4 to go and see a film, the cost of tickets alone is £40-50. Parking is £4+, and food and drinks in the cinema are ludicrously priced. If you take you family to watch a film then have a Nandos afterwards it's going to be over £100.

 

Or you can download something, watch it in your living room with all the food and snacks and spend under £10.

Edited February 22, 2020 by SteveK