[smudge981]

Kyle Smith's blog from the NY Post. Agree or not, it's a pretty funny read. Story here:
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion...zp0MCHGvIVyH/0

 

[RoyGBiv]

I saw it yesterday. Not only is it amusing, but it is mostly right. And, unfortunately, so is the premise, that movies "suck." In the article he talks about people being hard on critics for not liking more movies. In my opinion lately they have been giving too many movies a pass.


SMK

 

[PooperScooper]

Good article. This cracked me up:


"The upcoming “Red Dawn” remake just digitally switched the villains from Chinese to North Koreans. The North Korean army couldn’t conquer the Purdue football dorm, much less the entire center of the country. How convincing a movie is that going to be? If they’re going to do a comedy, they might as well go all the way and imagine the heartland being ransacked by Luxembourgian paratroopers."

 

[Tulpa]

Someone asked me why they were licensing the rights to the Battleship game for the movie. Page 4 under "marketing sucks" is the answer. Brand awareness.

 

[sb1]

It all boils down to the audience. Loved this all too true segment:


"If the crowds demand cinematic Funyuns, someone is going to produce them, and get rich in the process. Audiences get stuck on “No Strings Attached,” go with “Just Go With It” and sail away on “Stranger Tides” at “World’s End.” You want better movies? Be a better audience."

 

[GoCaboNow]

And a rip on my 49ers Alex Smith. Sweet!

 

[oink]



Quote:
Originally Posted by pooperscooper /forum/post/20766002


good article. This cracked my up:


"the upcoming red dawn remake just digitally switched the villains from chinese to north koreans. The north korean army couldn't conquer the purdue football dorm, much less the entire center of the country. How convincing a movie is that going to be? If they're going to do a comedy, they might as well go all the way and imagine the heartland being ransacked by luxembourgian paratroopers."

+1:d

 

[adpayne]

And no bad films were made in previous decades?


You could make the same argument about music, TV, etc. People look back at the past with nostalgia, and ignore the crap from back then too. I'm in my 50's and still can enjoy modern film, music, television, etc. I don't live in the past. I guess that's why most of my friends are much younger than me. I no illusions of how much better it used to be.

Art

 

[RobertR]

Hey, Sturgeon's Law (99% of everything is crap) wasn't stated recently. It's been around for a long time.


I think the article is basically spot on.

 

[David James]

I think the article should have put "* You Suck" first as without the revenue, none of the other excuses come into play.


Having said that, I don't confuse the phrase "I didn't like it" with "the movie sucks", my ego isn't that big.


People are paying to see them. Either they are being forced, they like them or are willingly seeing movies they don't like. I would bet on a mixture of the latter two choices.

 

[smudge981]

I look at it this way. Not everybody can have a degree in the arts, let alone take a course in film appreciation. But I think things have changed. Although we've always had pop culture going back to the Dark Ages (and before), I think we can agree the unwashed masses have given up trying to take art, music, etc. to the next level and simply wallowing in mediocrity presented to them. Please...somebody point out I'm full of crap and give me an example where things are improving because I'm personally not feeling it.

 

[lwright84]

If you look just at the box office, I would partially agree. However each and every year people are complaining about how "this year is awful for movies", and every same year I am constantly experiencing new and amazing films.

 

[Brad Horstkotte]

I'm not quite as jaded as "99% of everything is crap" - maybe closer to 90%. But even then, not everyone would agree on what 10% constitutes the 10% that isn't crap. I liked Transformers for example. And Transformers 2.

I'm fine with 90% of movies being crap, because I still find 10% that I enjoy - that's why I'm here at AVS: I like movies (some of them). Fortunately, enough movies are constantly churned out that 10% of the total is still a pretty good number to keep me occupied.


Sadly, The Smurfs Movie apparently tied for first in box office receipts over the weekend. Someone apparently thought that wasn't part of the 90%. Go figure.

 

[RobertR]



Quote:
Originally Posted by smudge981 /forum/post/20766991


I think we can agree the unwashed masses have given up trying to take art, music, etc. to the next level and simply wallowing in mediocrity presented to them.

I agree.

The good movies that are made are good in spite of the system, not because of it.

 

[Mpray1983]

At least chris Nolan comes out with good stuff.

 

[smudge981]

Don't get me wrong. I love my movies but the majority are for entertainment purposes...pure and simple. There are, however, only a few that I cherish. These are the ones that touch me on an emotional, almost spiritual level. In their own way, they call out to your altruistic side (does that make sense?) Wish they were more the rule than the exception.

 

[lwright84]



Quote:
Originally Posted by RobertR /forum/post/20767304


I agree.

The good movies that are made are good in spite of the system, not because of it.

That's because the system is broken, not the artists wanting to use it.

 

[Tulpa]



Quote:
Originally Posted by lwright84 /forum/post/20767793


That's because the system is broken, not the artists wanting to use it.

The system is geared towards making money, which it does. It's up to the artists to make it work for them. Some can, most can't.

 

[lwright84]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Tulpa /forum/post/20767839


The system is geared towards making money, which it does. It's up to the artists to make it work for them. Some can, most can't.

That's why it is broken.

 

[Tulpa]

Fair enough, although it's always been broken about making money. It just happens to be particularly good at being broken making money right now.