When did movies just stop trying???

lilwing88

Was watching the movie "Deck the Halls". Wasn't expecting much, but there was nothing else on to veg out to. But then, they tried to convince me that this:



....was married to this:



......amd produced these:



I mean, c'mon! Seriously????

robbyras

and to think i almost didn't scroll down once I saw the first pic... that was a close one

sightunseen

It's the American dream.

Diamondog

Am I the only one here thinking thats a mom daughter combo I'd like to see?

bigharpoon

Which one's the mom again???

j0z3r

I recognize Shrek up there, but who are the other three?

JCizzle

IMO Hollywood movies have been sucking since the late 80s. I've been impressed with maybe a handful in the past 20 years.

Sandman1am

Don't hate Marty I've got a super model GF. She just doesn't know it yet....& dont none of you tell her either!!!!

Hays

Diamondog:

Am I the only one here thinking thats a mom daughter combo I'd like to see?

+1 to the motherfrakkin Nth degree...

ejenne87

JCizzle:

IMO Hollywood movies have been sucking since the late 80s. I've been impressed with maybe a handful in the past 20 years.

I completely agree with you here. The block buster movies since the mid-late 80's have been a let down for the most part. They are a few that I have really enjoyed, and I am really in to indie movies lately as well (most of them from the early 90's though). One recent movie that I was actually really impressed with though in Scott Pilgram vs. the World. I thought that movie was extremely well done. But overall, I think most movies made in the last few years have been pretty much trash, or a remake. No originality and no effort coming out of the movie world lately.

Sandman1am

ejenne87:

JCizzle:

IMO Hollywood movies have been sucking since the late 80s. I've been impressed with maybe a handful in the past 20 years.

I completely agree with you here. The block buster movies since the mid-late 80's have been a let down for the most part. They are a few that I have really enjoyed, and I am really in to indie movies lately as well (most of them from the early 90's though). One recent movie that I was actually really impressed with though in Scott Pilgram vs. the World. I thought that movie was extremely well done. But overall, I think most movies made in the last few years have been pretty much trash, or a remake. No originality and no effort coming out of the movie world lately.

Evan I liked that movie and it was very different. Did you see Kick Ass? It was worth a chuckle. I would agree many of the movies I've seen lately sucked. There have been few that I was thinking man I have got to see that one over and over again.

dennisking

since when does a Holiday themed movie constitute a "good movie". sure there are exceptions like Polar Express and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation but most are a joke. there is truly one exceptional holiday movie though, A Christmas Story. You're gonna shoot your eye out kid.

ShotgunJohn

dennisking:

since when does a Holiday themed movie constitute a "good movie". sure there are exceptions like Polar Express and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation but most are a joke. there is truly one exceptional holiday movie though, A Christmas Story. You're gonna shoot your eye out kid.

You mention NL Christmas Vacation and a Christmas Story this goes back to the arguement of no really good movies since the 80s.
Movies nowadays are trying to profit from children of the 80s trying to tap into nostalgia with movies like A-Team/Transformers/GI-Joe.
Hell I just saw a commercial for a live action computer animated Yogi bear and the Smurfs this summer. Hollywood is out of ideas.
Like it was said before some gems come out of Hollywood, but the majority are indie films.

Vulchor

Hollywood used to care about substance first and money second-------Now its money...money...money...ego...jump on the bandwagon.....then substance. Thats the problem. Well----that and actors like Nick Cage, Ben Affleck, and Keanu Reeves being considered "top notch"

ejenne87

Sandman1am:

ejenne87:

JCizzle:

IMO Hollywood movies have been sucking since the late 80s. I've been impressed with maybe a handful in the past 20 years.

I completely agree with you here. The block buster movies since the mid-late 80's have been a let down for the most part. They are a few that I have really enjoyed, and I am really in to indie movies lately as well (most of them from the early 90's though). One recent movie that I was actually really impressed with though in Scott Pilgram vs. the World. I thought that movie was extremely well done. But overall, I think most movies made in the last few years have been pretty much trash, or a remake. No originality and no effort coming out of the movie world lately.

Evan I liked that movie and it was very different. Did you see Kick Ass? It was worth a chuckle. I would agree many of the movies I've seen lately sucked. There have been few that I was thinking man I have got to see that one over and over again.

yea Kick Ass was great! Not what I was expecting at all, but it was still pretty enjoyable. I am loving most of the adaptations of graphic novels that have been coming out.

kuzi16

ejenne87:

Sandman1am:

ejenne87:

JCizzle:

IMO Hollywood movies have been sucking since the late 80s. I've been impressed with maybe a handful in the past 20 years.

I completely agree with you here. The block buster movies since the mid-late 80's have been a let down for the most part. They are a few that I have really enjoyed, and I am really in to indie movies lately as well (most of them from the early 90's though). One recent movie that I was actually really impressed with though in Scott Pilgram vs. the World. I thought that movie was extremely well done. But overall, I think most movies made in the last few years have been pretty much trash, or a remake. No originality and no effort coming out of the movie world lately.

Evan I liked that movie and it was very different. Did you see Kick Ass? It was worth a chuckle. I would agree many of the movies I've seen lately sucked. There have been few that I was thinking man I have got to see that one over and over again.

yea Kick Ass was great! Not what I was expecting at all, but it was still pretty enjoyable. I am loving most of the adaptations of graphic novels that have been coming out.

i watched those moves for the first time back to back the other day. saw SPvsTW before kickass. I loved SPvsTW. it kinda made Kickass look bad IMHO.

the last 20 years have produced some of my favorite movies though i feel that the over all quality of movies has dropped oof since the late 80s.
some of my favorites have included:
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
American Beauty (1999)
Amelie (2001)
Fido (2006)
anything from Kevin Smith (1994 - present)
that being said, there are tons of movies that are before 1990 that i feel will out do most of the modern films. movies were more looked at as art then. yes there are directors out there that still look at things as art but the artistry of many of the old films is gone.

the other day my wife and i were watching The Wizard of OZ and we were discussing just this topic.
one of the things that we talked about in said discussion was the lighting and use of color in this film. keep in mind that the movie came out in 1939. when you watch that movie today the colors look so well planned out. it reminds me more of stage productions than anything. simple yet very warm colors. the colors in that movie stand the test of time. they will always look warm and inviting. yet, if you look at some of the more modern movies where color is taken more for granted, very shortly after the film is released, the colors look outdated.
take the movie The Sound of Music - a timeless classic movie that will pretty much always fall in the top 100 movies of all time. even the color in that classic movie looks dated. it doesnt have the timeless artistry that the color in The Wizard of Oz does.


here is another thought...
in time, all the bad movies that are never going to end up as "classics" will fade from memory. we tend to look at the past and want to remember the good movies. movies like Gigli that are still almost fresh in our mind will be known in the future only as a listed movie in J-lo's listings. the few that saw it will not fess up or encourage others to see it. it will fade away. this is not a new phenomenon. are there are just as many **** movies in the past as there are now? maybe. we just dont care to remember them.
im not sure movies are getting worse. i just think more movies are being put out.

dennisking

Wizard of Oz was hand colored and actually filmed in black and white if I remember correctly.

JCizzle

I agree with the comments posted here. There certainly are exceptions, as everyone has noted and listed. Amelie in particular I enjoyed.

I did a lot of literary and cinematography research in my graduate studies, and I have read of theorists that say there are only X number of plots possible in literature and film. However, you can still do something interesting with these plots; it's all about how you present it, twist it, make the reader/viewer think. This is where Hollywood has stopped being interesting to me.

I see more and more re-makes, which I'm kind of tired of seeing, and I see more and more simple plot rip-offs. Even if the movie title is original, I can usually pick out and predict the plot quite easily.

That being said, I know Hollywood is in it for entertainment these days, not for cinematographical value. There is nothing wrong with that, but when people try to pass of these new blockbusters as ground breaking or mind blowing, I have a problem with that.

I have gravitated more towards underground and indie films, not to rebel against Hollywood, but because there are a lot of great filmmakers that make movies as an artistic expression instead of for sheer entertainment and ticket sale. There are a lot of indie filmmmakers that make quality films that have a message or actually make me think, as opposed to explosions and naked chicks (which there is nothing wrong with either, at the right time and place).

Rant over, sorry for the length.

LeftFive

kuzi16:

here is another thought...
in time, all the bad movies that are never going to end up as "classics" will fade from memory. we tend to look at the past and want to remember the good movies. movies like Gigli that are still almost fresh in our mind will be known in the future only as a listed movie in J-lo's listings. the few that saw it will not fess up or encourage others to see it. it will fade away. this is not a new phenomenon. are there are just as many **** movies in the past as there are now? maybe. we just dont care to remember them.
im not sure movies are getting worse. i just think more movies are being put out.

This is exactly right.

Dennis is right about The Wizard of Oz as well. The colors were likely planned so well because of the monumental task of coloring each frame after the fact.
Speaking of colors in movies, I love the color in late 70's and early 80's movies. It felt like a warm autumn all the time, and the film quality was nice too, just the right amount of fuzz on it. I'm sure there's a healthy dose of childhood nostalgia in there, but I really enjoy movies from that decade.

cabinetmaker

lilwing88:

Was watching the movie "Deck the Halls". Wasn't expecting much, but there was nothing else on to veg out to. But then, they tried to convince me that this:



....was married to this:



......amd produced these:



I mean, c'mon! Seriously????

see more Very Demotivational

Nick2021

robbyras:

and to think i almost didn't scroll down once I saw the first pic... that was a close one

ROFL, +1