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Why 90s Movies Feel More Alive Than Anything on Netflix

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Re: Why 90s Movies Feel More Alive Than Anything on Netflix

#41

Post by smallmancontrov »

throwaway894345 wrote: post #8
dosinga wrote: post #3

Also: Recency & survival bias. We remember what became the classics from the 90s and also what came out this year and was available on our last flight

When can I expect 2010s movies to feel as good as 90s and early 2000s movies felt 10 years ago? Is there going to be a future golden age when this decade’s churned-out Disney / Marvel / Star Wars reboots and sequels feel inspired?

It took ten years and twenty movies for the Marvel franchise to go stale and years more for hating on it to become cool ‡. That's an accomplishment by any metric not specifically designed to facilitate the latter.

You will never be 10 years younger again, but the kids who grew up with those movies will carry forward their fond memories of the good in them and when they find their voice on the adult stage they will reclaim them, making hating on them uncool again, just as we did for the Star Wars prequels. Whether you embrace or reject the backlash-to-the-backlash will be up to you but I'd like to put in a word for the psychological benefits of trying to see the good in things. It's much more fun than ruminating on the bad, both for yourself and those around you.

‡ Yes, I'm sure you were doing it before it was cool.

Re: Why 90s Movies Feel More Alive Than Anything on Netflix

#42

Post by chao- »

dubcanada wrote: post #37
mandevil wrote: post #18

A big part of this is that modern movies are carefully calibrated so that you can follow along while sitting on your couch focused on your phone. Movies in the 1990's didn't need to have so much clanky dialog explaining, in careful detail, why we were someplace. The writers and directors could presume that the audience was actually paying attention to the movie, and so would make the necessary inferences. Modern movi…

I don't particularly disagree with you, but do you have evidence that modern movies are calibrated and written to allow for someone to sit on their phones the entire time and understand? Largely seems like some movies are written to be mass consumed and some are not. No different then a movie from the 90s. Our attention span is decreasing a lot obviously, but it's never been that long.

I remember seeing something like that referenced a while ago, and went back and found it:

https://www.nplusonemag.com/issue-49/essays/casual-viewing/

>Several screenwriters who’ve worked for the streamer told me a common note from company executives is “have this character announce what they’re doing so that viewers who have this program on in the background can follow along.”

I don't necessarily agree that it means all movies (or even most) are doing this, but it is some evidence that at least some are.

Re: Why 90s Movies Feel More Alive Than Anything on Netflix

#43

Post by D13Fd »

dosinga wrote: post #3

Also: Recency & survival bias. We remember what became the classics from the 90s and also what came out this year and was available on our last flight

I think it’s more survival bias than recency. But I strongly agree. There were many bad movies in the 1990’s, we just don’t remember them or have forgotten how bad they were.

Two examples off of the top of my head are Johnny Mnemonic and Escape from LA. Both of these are sci fi movies that are mostly just awful throughout. I remember watching them at the time and thinking they were pretty decent, but on rewatching them recently, I could barely make it through them.

Compare that to The Matrix, just four years later (and still in the 1990s), which hits super hard and seems almost flawless even today.

Really I think the movies that have survived in people’s minds are the ones where everything aligned: an incredible director with a great story to tell and everyone involved performing at the top of their game.

Re: Why 90s Movies Feel More Alive Than Anything on Netflix

#44

Post by haunter »

I've seen many good films this decade too ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

There Is No Evil (شیطان وجود ندارد) 2020

Drive My Car (ドライブ・マイ・カー) 2021

The two Dune films

Alcarràs 2022

Suzume (すずめの戸締まり) 2022

Monster (怪物) 2023

Fallen Leaves (Kuolleet lehdet) 2023

The Holdovers 2023

Perfect Days 2023

The Substance 2024

Bugonia 2025 (even though it's a remake)

Re: Why 90s Movies Feel More Alive Than Anything on Netflix

#45

Post by mrits »

ToucanLoucan wrote: post #24
mandevil wrote: post #18

A big part of this is that modern movies are carefully calibrated so that you can follow along while sitting on your couch focused on your phone. Movies in the 1990's didn't need to have so much clanky dialog explaining, in careful detail, why we were someplace. The writers and directors could presume that the audience was actually paying attention to the movie, and so would make the necessary inferences. Modern movi…

My most "old woman yells at cloud" opinion is the fucking DISEASE of smartphones that is truly a cancer in our society. Don't get me wrong, I love mine, and they're completely possible to use in a way that coexists with the rest of your tech and life, but my god, the wide adoption of them has demonstrated the majority of our population has the regulation capacity of a fucking carrot. And my inner artist is absolutely…

"Commit to taking in ONE PIECE of art at a time you fucking dopamine junkies."

"in-game radio station"

You found a loop hole

Re: Why 90s Movies Feel More Alive Than Anything on Netflix

#48

Post by aeonfox »

ggambetta wrote: post #40
wingmanjd wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not related to the main conversation, but I'm still mad that the DVD menu of that movie gave away the reveal before the movie even started (showed someone limping and then suddenly not limping anymore as they walked down the street). There was no real twist ending since I knew the guy was lying about something. (Vagueness intended to avoid spoilers for that 1 in 10,000 someone who hasn't seen the movie)

That spoiler should be a crime.

A crime with all the usual... er

Re: Why 90s Movies Feel More Alive Than Anything on Netflix

#49

Post by chime »

dubcanada wrote: post #37
mandevil wrote: post #18

A big part of this is that modern movies are carefully calibrated so that you can follow along while sitting on your couch focused on your phone. Movies in the 1990's didn't need to have so much clanky dialog explaining, in careful detail, why we were someplace. The writers and directors could presume that the audience was actually paying attention to the movie, and so would make the necessary inferences. Modern movi…

I don't particularly disagree with you, but do you have evidence that modern movies are calibrated and written to allow for someone to sit on their phones the entire time and understand? Largely seems like some movies are written to be mass consumed and some are not. No different then a movie from the 90s. Our attention span is decreasing a lot obviously, but it's never been that long.

Could be from https://www.pcmag.com/news/netflix-is-telling-writers-to-dum... which mentioned https://www.nplusonemag.com/issue-49/essays/casual-viewing/

Re: Why 90s Movies Feel More Alive Than Anything on Netflix

#50

Post by phantasmish »

speedgoose wrote: post #14
throwaway894345 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When can I expect 2010s movies to feel as good as 90s and early 2000s movies felt 10 years ago? Is there going to be a future golden age when this decade’s churned-out Disney / Marvel / Star Wars reboots and sequels feel inspired?

Poop doesn’t get better with age. But you have good movies in the 2010s.

I have seen tons of great movies made after 2010, but must admit I’m having trouble thinking of any blockbuster-type movies that stand up to the best of the 70s, 80s, and 90s.

Does Fury Road count? I dunno. The closest I can get aside from that are a couple Tarantino movies. Jurassic Park, the first Mission Impossible movie, Aliens, Jaws, hell even Independence Day. Nothing’s quite up there. Lots that are a kind of janky B-movie sort of good, but nothing as solid as those. Almost all are marred by lots of CG that might look ok at the time but seem dodgy and very distracting within 5 years max, for one thing (to be fair, Jurassic Park suffers from that in a couple scenes, too)

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