Why most movies are garbage

Isaiah990

Member
Here's why most movies are garbage now. 1) The story-telling is unoriginal. It's the same formula like heroes defeat villains. Same themes like "Believe in yourself" or "you must save the world." No one wants to cross boundaries anymore for fear of getting canceled. No one wants to make movies with unique themes that impact you. Movies have become mindless entertainment like amusement parks. 2) The visuals are trash. Directors can't even do that right. Things like CGI look so fake. Movies look like they're just made to make money.
 
Art house and foreign are usually better bets.
We in the US tend to romanticize "foreign films." Sure, there's some good stuff, but lots off it is garbage just like ours. Have you watched a Bollywood movie all the way through? Superficial romance and hero themes, from start to finish.

In my view, all of the creative work has moved to streaming series productions. The Hollywood movie has become laughably mono-syllabic, but the streaming series are full of surprises and satisfaction. Fortunately, Hollywood is finally catching on and funneling more and more funds and talent in that direction instead of into a dying movie industry.
 
That's what I watch nowadays for the most part. Indie movies do much better than mainstream movies. What are your favorite foreign movies?
Most of what I watched was in the 90s, before my kids were born. I watched a wide range of French and German film mostly, with a good smattering of Russian, Japanese, Spanish and Canadian. Favorites are tough. Herzog and Fassbinder; Kurosawa, Besson, Claude Berri, Almodóvar, even Peter Greenway sometimes.
 
Would point out movies are largely a product of their time. For every great film, there is plenty of trash in this history bin. Some folks believe The Three Stooges movies where the height of great movies, others things it is Citizen Kane, others thing Grid House films were wonderful, etc. etc. and that is true even for overseas films.

Now one difference between modern day filming and historical market is cost. It is WAY cheaper to shot, edit and deliver a film then historical as the pipeline has moved to digital. This allows for more low to mid $$ tier films to be made and "made for TV/Streaming" films. Blumhouse features are a great example. Rarely spend over a million and usually double or more their total cost of production. Disney's billion dollar train was great escapism but COVID might have put a delay in that track but as @FallenAngelina is pointing out, going to streaming services too.

Overtime, for every FF21, Final Destination 9 or Pirates of the Caribbean 6 people love there will be The Green Knight, Moonlight or Soul. Just now, people can make some real money off of familiar names like the old studio system use to but still find a home to make money (break even as rarely do the books of film companies show a profit even if they made one) of the more nuanced films too.
 
Recently the movie "Sound of Metal" came out. It's pretty decent. A somewhat older film that I like a lot is "Traffic."

A good foreign film (2010 I think) that also happens to be poly, is called, "Three."
 
Would point out movies are largely a product of their time. For every great film, there is plenty of trash in this history bin. Some folks believe The Three Stooges movies where the height of great movies, others things it is Citizen Kane, others thing Grid House films were wonderful, etc. etc. and that is true even for overseas films.

Now one difference between modern day filming and historical market is cost. It is WAY cheaper to shot, edit and deliver a film then historical as the pipeline has moved to digital. This allows for more low to mid $$ tier films to be made and "made for TV/Streaming" films. Blumhouse features are a great example. Rarely spend over a million and usually double or more their total cost of production. Disney's billion dollar train was great escapism but COVID might have put a delay in that track but as @FallenAngelina is pointing out, going to streaming services too.

Overtime, for every FF21, Final Destination 9 or Pirates of the Caribbean 6 people love there will be The Green Knight, Moonlight or Soul. Just now, people can make some real money off of familiar names like the old studio system use to but still find a home to make money (break even as rarely do the books of film companies show a profit even if they made one) of the more nuanced films too.
What are your favorite movies?
 
What are your favorite movies?
Some really good points in there. Places like Netflix are highly predictable. Some recent good films by me would be...
Trespass Against Us
Atomic Blond
Moonlight
The Girl With All the Gifts (anything with Glen Close actually)
In Bruges
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Anything with Ralph Fiennes
I'll still watch Terry Gilliam doing almost anything (but not Tideland :p).
 
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We in the US tend to romanticize "foreign films." Sure, there's some good stuff, but lots off it is garbage just like ours. Have you watched a Bollywood movie all the way through? Superficial romance and hero themes, from start to finish.

In my view, all of the creative work has moved to streaming series productions. The Hollywood movie has become laughably mono-syllabic, but the streaming series are full of surprises and satisfaction. Fortunately, Hollywood is finally catching on and funneling more and more funds and talent in that direction instead of into a dying movie industry.
Maybe I am getting jaded. I am seeing a lot of Netflix series looking like foreign copies of Lost (Katla, Sisyphus, Dark). I am deep into Outlander, but it can be painful at times. Still, five seasons of GOT were good.
 
I highly recommend "Traffic." Syriana is probably good too, but I haven't seen it yet.
 
What are your favorite movies?
That is a pretty broad question so I will break it down in a few categories. ( I like a lot of films)

If I am sick: Princes Bride, Labyrinth
If I am in the mood for stupid Romance: Un peu, beaucoup, aveuglément (Blind Date in english) or Love Actually (one of those so bad its good)
Great movies but can't watch regularly: Pan's Labyrinth, Moonlight, Hotel Rwanda, Saving Private Ryan, Schindler's list
Inspiration: Hoosiers, Rudy, Shawshank Redemption
Movies I have quoted a lot: Labyrinth, Forest Gump, Muppets Take Manhattan

And so many more. I like a lot of diverse stuff except Gore/Horror or Exploitation films which I tend to want to know the stories but not watch the actions (Saw is a good example). The Furthest I go towards the horror genre would suspense like Seven
 
That is a pretty broad question so I will break it down in a few categories. ( I like a lot of films)

If I am sick: Princes Bride, Labyrinth
If I am in the mood for stupid Romance: Un peu, beaucoup, aveuglément (Blind Date in english) or Love Actually (one of those so bad its good)
Great movies but can't watch regularly: Pan's Labyrinth, Moonlight, Hotel Rwanda, Saving Private Ryan, Schindler's list
Inspiration: Hoosiers, Rudy, Shawshank Redemption
Movies I have quoted a lot: Labyrinth, Forest Gump, Muppets Take Manhattan

And so many more. I like a lot of diverse stuff except Gore/Horror or Exploitation films which I tend to want to know the stories but not watch the actions (Saw is a good example). The Furthest I go towards the horror genre would suspense like Seven
Choose Me is a good wacky Romance. Kieth Caradine is always brilliant.
 
That is a pretty broad question so I will break it down in a few categories. ( I like a lot of films)

If I am sick: Princes Bride, Labyrinth
If I am in the mood for stupid Romance: Un peu, beaucoup, aveuglément (Blind Date in english) or Love Actually (one of those so bad its good)
Great movies but can't watch regularly: Pan's Labyrinth, Moonlight, Hotel Rwanda, Saving Private Ryan, Schindler's list
Inspiration: Hoosiers, Rudy, Shawshank Redemption
Movies I have quoted a lot: Labyrinth, Forest Gump, Muppets Take Manhattan

And so many more. I like a lot of diverse stuff except Gore/Horror or Exploitation films which I tend to want to know the stories but not watch the actions (Saw is a good example). The Furthest I go towards the horror genre would suspense like Seven
Hotel Rwanda was an intense movie. It was messed up too.
 
Some of them are overdone, like they want to inundate your senses, and honestly, I think the trailers kind of ruin things, like they basically give away the whole movie.
 
I think the trailers kind of ruin things
If there is a movie or TV show I am excited about I tend to work my hardest to avoid all trailers or basic internet chatter. Especially if the movie was released overseas first. While I don't think this makes the movie any technically better (nothing will fix to much shaky cam or bad sound design), the emotional weight would be more accurate to the writers/actors/directors/producers goal IMO.
 
Like the trailer gives away the whole plot. It's like a (poorly-done) plot summary. So if you've seen the trailer, why bother with the movie itself?
 
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