Castanet

Thinktank wrote:This thread is about movies.

It will be about anything I want to say about movies. It is not about "Have you seen good movies?"

It will be about the big Hollywood studios and how they control things.
It will be about crappy movies and why Hollywood produces some crap for us to watch.
It will be about foreign movies.
It will b about - everything. Everything about movies will be "on topic" on this thread.


There is only one problem - I don't know anything about movies. I never watch movies.
But that won't be a problem.



Actually, on this thread I will be answering 'WHY' movies are like they are.

stay tuned

I have a love-hate relationship with Hollywood movies. A few of them I love but most of them, I actually detest. I've often thought (as have many other people who know more about this stuff than I) that a large percentage of them are pretty much propaganda masquerading as entertainment - and have been since the early days of film.

So... I'll bite. Why do you think "movies are the way they are?"

All movies are is couples hours of escapism (/entertainment) from reality, some work well while others not so much.


Those movies that say they are based on a true story = usually very loosely, if that.

Someone once said Russian movies are depressing. I only saw one Russian
movie - and it was depressing. But all the foreign movies I've seen are better
than Hollywood movies because they all tell some sort of story at least.

But Hollywood movies are usually just BRAINLESS.
There's nothing worse than a movie that is brainless. There's nothing worse than a movie with no story.

And why does Hollywood make so many brainless movies? I don't know. I was hoping someone else would know
the answer.


funny


depressing.

I've watched enough movies on Netflix which were once advertised as EPIC by the Hollywood media machine, to thank GOD I didn't get sucked in and pay full price.

We'll watch maybe two movies a year in the theater. Still have to see the third Hobbit installment, and looking forward to the next Avengers. We're fairly certain we'll like it. Anything else can wait until it hits dvd - or possibly netflix. We're still looking into the latter.

Thinktank wrote: the film (The Call) proved a commercial success, grossing over $68 million

^ All that means is Hollywood has a good system worked out to make money on bad movies.
That's called getting ripped off.

No, its called getting over it and move on to the next movie. If you like it, you like it ... if you don't, you don't.

So does your frame of mind carry over to books, music and other forms of art? If you don't like it ... you've been ripped off?

Thinktank wrote:There's nothing worse than a movie that is brainless. There's nothing worse than a movie with no story.

There is nothing wrong with a brainless movie ... its entertainment. As I've told you once before, sometimes you just need to shut your brain off, relax and put a smile on your face. Case in point, Expendables 3 - stupid, cheap CGI graphics and crappy movie ... but you know what? For 2 hours I get to watch some of my favorite 80s useless actors give bad one liners again and it puts a smile on my face just because its cheezy - that's what it was meant to do and it does a great job at it.

Animations:

I like 1% of animation movies. I'm always amazed at the high artistic quality - perfect.
The problem is this - the movie isn't produced by creative people to tell a good story,
but by greedy business people who want to sell you stuff. That's why it's almost impossible to tolerate
most animations - so simple, a seven year old would get bored and want to go play with some toys
instead of watch the movie.


Selling stuff to us is the purpose. Telling a good story is NOT the purpose. Their excuse - "it's made for kids."


one of the better ones.^


Artistically good. But intolerable to watch, even for kids.

Dispictable Me is a wonderful movie. Almost priceless! But I know you'll attach a dollar value to it.

However, We loved it and we're adults.

^ it was one of the better ones.

Thinktank wrote:Selling stuff to us is the purpose. Telling a good story is NOT the purpose. Their excuse - "it's made for kids."

Sharing a fun filled experience for a couple of hours with your kids is the purpose. Why should just daddy and mommy go to the movies. The little kiddies would like to go out everyonce in awhile too and get greasy fingers from popcorn.

You should head up on to Enderby one night when they're showing family movies at the drive in and watching all the little rug rats running around in their PJs with their eyes filled with fun ... then you might see the real purpose.

Thinktank wrote:This thread is about movies.

It will be about anything I want to say about movies. It is not about "Have you seen good movies?"

It will be about the big Hollywood studios and how they control things.

No movie companies have been in Hollywood since the 1930s. There's actually a bylaw against it.

P.S. The Book Thief was a great movie that I watched recently. You'd probably like it too since it's narrated by the Grim Reaper.

Somewhere back in the1990s I said "I'm not watching any more war movies"
Luckily 'Book Thief' is only a movie that happens during the war and isn't a
war movie.

One of my rules for watching movies is that I have to learn one new thing
that I never knew before - or else I won't watch it. Book Thief passed that requirement.
But that 'rule' is why I'll never watch an Adam Sandler movie again.

GordonH wrote:Those movies that say they are based on a true story = usually very loosely, if that.

^ This touching movie fails because it is a fairy tale pretending to be real.


http://www.jewishjournal.com/opinion/ar ... book_thief

Thinktank wrote:But that 'rule' is why I'll never watch an Adam Sandler movie again.

That I will agree with! His movies are just stupid.

Bsuds wrote:
That I will agree with! His movies are just stupid.

But some of them provide a much needed laugh from time to time. Everyone needs a little bit of stupid in their life now and then.