I hate the fact that people and mostly critics LOVE movies with RELEVANCE. I don’t like to watch movies that have so much “relevance” to real life.
A movie that focuses on the living conditions of a minority in a certain period of time? SNORE
A history piece about some royal family, but with some fictitious content so that people don’t fall asleep? I’M GONE. Mixing facts with fiction, NO THANK YOU. If I want the truth, I’ll read a book.
A movie about a guy who’s girlfriend is killed, so he snaps and hunts them down, killing them one by one? YES PLEASE!
A completely fictitious movie about two people falling in love and their story? SURE!
A 4 hour biopic about Hitler? I’M OUT.
A comedy musical about Hitler? YESSIR!
Why do you think dramas, biopics and historical pieces win Oscars so damn much? Because our western society and the critics are obsessed with movies that have RELEVANCE. (See WW2 movies for example) Too many people are still hung up with this high culture / pop culture bullcrap. Well if there are really only those two, I know which side I am on.
What’s your opinion?
I watch films to escape reality… not contemplate it… not really… i like the stuff i watch to mirror reality…
Jesus ate crackers, stop bitching and let people watch whatever they like and keep watching whatever you watch. Opinions are like buttholes, everyones got one.
I have to say I don’t see much logic in your categorizing. Plot and subject are totally irrelevant to me (if you read my reviews you can see I only write about the plot when I’ve ran out of other things to write about…). It’s always the experiences and emotions that I’m looking for. A Hitler biopic or the new Rambo, they’re both standing on the same starting line. The fact that the Hitler film is based on true events (well, so is Rambo, to some extent) doesn’t make it any more or less valuable. The only thing that matters is what they achieve in the end, which is the amount of enjoyment they give you. But that of course can be achieved in different ways, and also depends on the person.
You have to realize that many people don’t like realistic movies just because of the fact that they are realistic, but because they get huge kicks out of seeing a movie that is extremely realistic. Just like some people get kicks out of seeing amazing fantasy movies. They don’t like those movies out of principle, but because they really do dig that sort of moviemaking.
However, you are right about there also being a huge amount of people that think that realism automatically makes a movie more valuable and respectable than a movie that has no connection to reality.
Kenneth, congratulations, you’ve created the only two interesting topics we’ve had in the past 6 months.
[quote=“Hung Fist”]
However, you are right about there also being a huge amount of people that think that realism automatically makes a movie more valuable and respectable than a movie that has no connection to reality.
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yeah, that pisses me off.
"The only thing that matters is what they achieve in the end, which is the amount of enjoyment they give you. But that of course can be achieved in different ways, and also depends on the person."
Very well said and I can 100% agree with that.
"Kenneth, congratulations, you’ve created the only two interesting topics we’ve had in the past 6 months."
Thank you. It’s the easter holidays and I have way too much time on my hands.
My way of looking at films:
If its interesting, I like it. If its boring I dont. I never have based my interest in movies on their social/political relevance OR box office takes. As Ive said many times before, it can be a really low budget B movie, a smaller A studio film or a mega budget flick, if I like it, its because I was entertained/affected and enjoyed the actors/directors work. PERIOD.
The intellectualizing is gobbledy gook for high brow critics who want to show how smart they are. What does that have to do with simply loving a film because it was well told/ enjoyable?
I would watch significantly less movies if I went by whats considered “pure entertainment”, because to me its not. The 4 hour biopic on Hitler? I’d love it. Not because I need to prove something to anyone else, but because I enjoy reading and watching things about history. I love documentaries on almost anything, especially history and nature. And hell, even about something ridiculous like bigfoot, because to me thats more about pure entertainment on a documentary level.
I don’t care what critics say. I’ve always been a fan of movies that got terrible reviews. I remember when I was 13 getting so excited to see Xmen, because I loved the 90’s cartoon as a kid. All the reviews in the local paper were by 40 some year olds who talked about character development and how it failed to engage. But these adults weren’t exactly the target audiene, were they? I loved the movie when I saw it. I don’t care much for it now, but I’m a lot older now and I enjoy different things. I’ll still watch it from time to time though, its still somewhat entertaining. As far as I’m concerned what a critic says is irrelevant unless I happen to find what they’re saying to be interesting and honest.
I totally agree about the Oscars or critics only recognizing dramas. I love Dramas the most, but a lot of movies out there are just for fun, but because of this they rarely get recognition. All these critics and organizations that claim to love movies so much should really widen their appreciation to other types of films.
My favorites range from films like Citizen Kane to Rear Window to The Godfather to Superfly to Blazing Saddles to Annie Hall to Roadhouse to Showgirls to Spider Man to Into The Wild. I really dont discriminate when it comes to movies. If I like it, I like it.
[quote=“PutneySwope”]
My favorites range from films like Citizen Kane to Rear Window to The Godfather to Superfly to Blazing Saddles to Annie Hall to Roadhouse to Showgirls to Spider Man to Into The Wild. I really dont discriminate when it comes to movies. If I like it, I like it.
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imo that’s being a true movie lover, as opposed to being an average Joe moviegoer (nothing wrong with that though) or a film snob. (thinks that Hitchcock, Fellini and Kurosawa are the end of the line)
Usually I don’t like movies which are totally based on true events; when History becomes the plot, so to speak. I tend to get bored with them pretty easily. But I can appreciate it, if you have a ficticious storyline before the background of actual events. That can be a pretty fascinating thing, if done right. A good example for a movie with “Relevance” may be “Lord of Ward”: it’s so unbe-fucking-lievably ambivalent, that you could show it to a pacifist and a gun-lover alike, and both of them would get their kicks out of it. A movie that makes you think, but more about yourself, than about some possibly hidden message. And, by the way, one of my most favorite movie-experiences in 2007 was “Resident Evil: Extinction”. ;D
[quote=“Crazy Kenneth”]
imo that’s being a true movie lover
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Isn’t that the way most people are? I love to sit down and watch Full Metal Jacket or Of Mice and Men, but I also love Ace Ventura and Nacho Libre. To me thats how most people are, at least most people I know.
[quote=“plunderbunnie”]
Isn’t that the way most people are? I love to sit down and watch Full Metal Jacket or Of Mice and Men, but I also love Ace Ventura and Nacho Libre. To me thats how most people are, at least most people I know.
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not the people I know. Either they love mindless entertainment, sci-fi action or stuff that is considered more elaborated and mature, classics, etc.
at the risk of sounding like an ass, I must say I have never met anybody who is as versatile as me when it comes to movies which a widespread taste and appreciation for all kinds of genres.
some of my favourite movies of all time include…
The Sound of Music
Death Wish
Invasion U.S.A.
BMX Bandits
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
Puppet Master
Mononoke-hime
Starship Troopers
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
Dial M for Murder
Smokey and the Bandit
City Hunter
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
Spider-Man
Sideways
[quote=“Crazy Kenneth”]
not the people I know. Either they love mindless entertainment, sci-fi action or stuff that is considered more elaborated and mature, classics, etc.
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Most of my friends like variety. Some of them unfortunately won’t watch a movie more then 20 years old, but they still enjoy many genres and styles. Most of us have movies we like the most, but that doesn’t mean we don’t also like other genres.
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at the risk of sounding like an ass, I must say I have never met anybody who is as versatile as me when it comes to movies which a widespread taste and appreciation for all kinds of genres.[/quote]
Thats fine, I feel the same way with music compared to my friends music. However, I will respect anyones music taste as long as they genuinely like the music. It doesn’t mean the music they like doesn’t annoy me, but I respect the fact that they enjoy it.
I love all film; some favs
I Spit on Your Grave
Death Proof
Pulp Fiction
The 36th Chamber of Shaolin
Juno
Wild Strawberries
High Fidelity
Casablanca
There Will Be Blood
Ghost World
Rear Window
Dirty Mary Crazy Larry
Suspiria
Django
Psycho
Return of the Killer Tomatoes
Stagecoach
The Searchers
Once Upon a Time in the West
Seven Samurai
Hard Candy
Crank
The Good The Bad and The Ugly
The Ten Commandments
Coffy
In my opinion the biggest problem with new movies is that they are everything and they are nothing. Earlier many film makers would pick a single subject and make a film out of it. But now, almost all films are trying to please everyone and break every record how much content a single film can have. Simple example; Die Hard 4. It’s got car chases, shoot outs, computer stuff, helicopters, harrier fight, martial arts, one liners, father-daughter drama etc. And that film only takes place in a single city.
These kind of films are totally forgettable. They do a little bit of everything, but they do nothing memorably. Too much content.
A great opposite example would be some martial art film from the 70s (it doesn’t have to be a martial arts film at all, this is just an easy to understand example), say The Flying Guillotine II. It concentrates on that one single weapon and makes the most of it. It may not have a huge amount of variety, but 30 years later people still remember “ah, that was the movie about the flying guillotine”. And what was M:I:3 about? No fucking idea, can’t remember a single thing about it anymore.
“Too many people are still hung up with this high culture / pop culture bullcrap.”
What about “good” and “bad”?
what about them?
One thing I HATE is when some one say “that could never really happen” when something really cool takes place in a movie. Yeah, thats exactly why I watch movies. If I wanted reality TV I know where to look.
[quote=“Knoxville Kingpin”]
One thing I HATE is when some one say “that could never really happen” when something really cool takes place in a movie. Yeah, thats exactly why I watch movies. If I wanted reality TV I know where to look.
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Totally! Like, I LOVE to see people get splattered all over the fuckin place in a movie. Cos it’s totally guilt free. It’s not a real person, with real consequences, and a real family, and real friends. It’s a character. It didn’t “really” happen, but you still get to see it happen, and it’s so cool!
You watch some guy get killed in a drive-by shooting, and you think, “Shit, he’s someone’s Dad/Brother/Son/Friend”, and you feel really bad, because a real life has been taken. But in a movie, it’s all on, and it’s all fun.
Or, that’s how it should be. To me anyway.
Two kinds of movies Crazy Kenneth, good ones and bad ones. And bad ones should, generally, be avoided. Relevance keeps me from feeling like I’m wasting time.