Do you think any studios will get their balls back and make something relatively original again? Or are we stuck in this loop of remakes and superheroes for another decade? π
The last film I saw that I found exhilarating to watch was Hotel Mumbai, about 2 or 3 years ago.
Films just don't get me excited for their release like they used to.
No, they won't make anything original or talented.
Save your time, and watch movies from the 1930-70s.... foreign, low-budget, classics, non-classics, etc etc
Iβm with that formula but add the 80βs to it. I gave up on modern mainstream films years ago.
shareI think the 70s to the 80s was the biggest dip in quality (movies and music).
Aki Kaurismaki is the only one I can think of who started in the 80s and actually made great movies. "Shadows In Paradise" is a favorite of mine. Minimalist, focused on characters, the everyday man, with a little bit of humor.
The last film that really engaged me was this, several days ago, https://moviechat.org/tt2249221/Zulu While a single brutal murder leading to a larger conspiracy looks like a typical Hollywood premise on its surface, how the film was crafted against the backdrop of South African culture, made it appear "relatively original" to me.
shareThanks, I've not heard of this film. I'll give it a watch if I can find it.
shareIt was a surprise find for me also. After watching it, I put it into Trending and it receded into obscurity within a few minutes. I saw this thread as another opportunity to get it out there. :)
shareFree on Amazon Prime (with commercials.)
It's got Forest Whitaker so I'm in.
from the link (similar movies):
Similar Movies: Elephant White, Deadfall, Unlocked, Blood Ties, Our Kind of Traitor, Zulu, El Traspatio, The Gunman, Pride and Glory, Les rivières pourpres 2 - Les anges de l'apocalypse, The Crimson Rivers, Seraphim Falls
There seem to be interesting "indie" (not sure what the term really means since some of these production companies seem like an arm of the larger ones) films being made, but they appeal to a relatively small amount of viewers. Stuff like Frozen River, Never Rarely Sometimes Always, The Lighthouse, etc.
Is Hotel Mumbai a Mainstream Film? Is Once Upon A Time In Hollywood? The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel? Slumdog Millionaire?
that's it. frozen river knocked my socks off.
share'Indie' is a confusing term snepts, very good point
Frozen River, the Lighthouse and OUATIH were all great, indie or not...I didn't see the others but fair point for you Mr.π
There is so much nepotism and favoritism in Hollywood that any newcomer with a novel idea has little chance of receiving any recognition. And the studios want guaranteed returns on their investments, so they stick with past proven formulas. Add to this the fact that audiences are so easily offended by anything these days, so any plot or topic that's even slightly controversial may not get greenlighted.
That's why there are so many remakes, reboots, prequels and sequels.
i don't really think it has much to do with balls or bravery or original ideas.
i think the market has changed a lot, and film just doesn't occupy the central place it did in the entertainment world. there was a time, most prominent in the 60s and 70s i think, when theatre attendance was likely the main form of entertainment adult americans participated in. the average person would likely go out to a film at least once a month, sometimes with kids to a family thing, sometimes as a couple to a more mature movie.
that has been eroded by lots of things. by multi-channel cable packages, by video games, by lots of things. and the result is that those adults aren't the primary audience going to theatres now. in the 60s and 70s, you could make a weird movie like bob and ted and carol and alice, directly made for adults, and it would be one of the top grossing movies of that year. the audience for that doesn't exist now, or if it does, those people are watching it as a serialized drama on prime or hulu.
with the decline of theatre going as an adult activity, that has left the primary theatre-going audience to be teens & young adults, packed in by the big budget films that dominate the movie houses.
movies are super-expensive to make, even relatively cheap ones, and i wouldn't expect anyone, big studios or small independents, to spend a lot of time and money making things and putting them in theatres when there's no real chance of making money or breaking even.
i still think there are tons of fun, enjoyable films coming out every year, but i think the mid-budget adult-oriented film that gets a wide release in theatres and is seen by lots of people is pretty much a thing of the past. that stuff exists on streaming now, and i think there's still lots of it to be found.
or at least that's what i think. what do i know? nothing, really.
That's a really good point. I'd not factored in the streaming side of viewing.
Too much choice at home = no fresh films in the cinema.
I think movies were even bigger, meaning more prominent as entertainment in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s before TV was a thing.
I think you're spot on with streaming and how it has minified the number of theater goers.
good point about the 30s through 50s. i bet that's right.
& the other thing is that at that time, there truly was a shared culture. people all watched the same stuff, had the same cultural experience in a lot of ways.
EVERY SINGLE WORD YOU TYPED...PERFECT...100% AGREE,BECAUSE IT IS TRUTH.
sharewe are at a low point in the history of movie making.
shareI honestly freaking love Superhero movies & shows. But I'm gonna be real, in my opinion, they're gonna be their are own downfall. They're gonna be the snake that eats itself. Especially in the long run.
It was so fun when you got two or three comicbook films a year but going forward, each studio is gonna be releasing up to FIVE Comicbook film each year. Imagine that, Disney, WB, Sony & maybe Netflix & whoever else joins in, releasing a combined 10+ Superhero movies each year.
And that's NOT even including ALL the dozens of comicbook shows on tv. That's a bit much imo. And that's coming from a HUGE comicbook fan. I got a bad feeling that they're gonna oversaturate the market & kill the whole Superhero thing.