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The “Oscar movie” is dying

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Re: The “Oscar movie” is dying

#11

Post by prohobo »

It's not that people only go for theme park rides, they'll also go for "kino" movies. That's why Tarantino can still do it. His movies are all about completely immersing the audience in the movie's world and making use of tech and techniques that make for an epic viewing experience.

No one wants to go to the theater for a "basic" (maybe intimate?) movie where the cinematography doesn't really matter, the sound and visual effects aren't interesting, there's no grand cinematic vibe, etc. Don't get me wrong, it might be a great movie, but why would I want to see it in theater instead of at home?

People will go to theaters for Spartacus and 2001: A Space Odyssey, not for Life Is Beautiful or The Pianist.

A more modern example: I'm really stoked to watch The Whale, but I will absolutely watch it at home. I don't see any point in going to the theater for it.

Re: The “Oscar movie” is dying

#12

Post by cocacola1 »

One of my favorite subscriptions is Regal Unlimited. ~$25 a month and I can see as many movies in theaters as I want. Going to the movies is still something I do pretty often, and it’s certainly one of my greatest joys.

Re: The “Oscar movie” is dying

#13

Post by nsxwolf »

jdlyga wrote: post #6

Going to the movies was always a habit left over from an earlier time. Of course when all you have is a standard definition tube TV and VHS movies, going to see something on the big screen is exciting. But nowadays, large 4K HDR TV's are cheap now, and you can get almost everything on streaming. Covid really hit the big reset button and made people question a lot of their habits, including still going to movie theate…

The ability to pause, rewind and get up to go to the bathroom changes the experience for the worse. You just don't have to get serious about watching a movie anymore. You don't have to prepare to settle down, be quiet, and focus.

Re: The “Oscar movie” is dying

#14

Post by raydiatian »

I mean, one part of the problem I see at a local level is Black Panther 2 is currently occupying 50% of available projectors at all of my local movie theatres. I’m sort of just waiting and hoping the silly capeshit phenomenon will die out already. I think we need to see that the cinematic universe concept was a novelty and is extremely difficult to execute, especially when it’s driven by soulless profiteering.

I mean, it’s not at all difficult or dishonest to argue that the MCU was 80 years in the making. More importantly, it was made by people that genuinely cared about comic books and their characters, as opposed to caring about (and subsequently engineering for) shareholder satisfaction.

Re: The “Oscar movie” is dying

#15

Post by nayroclade »

jdlyga wrote: post #6

Going to the movies was always a habit left over from an earlier time. Of course when all you have is a standard definition tube TV and VHS movies, going to see something on the big screen is exciting. But nowadays, large 4K HDR TV's are cheap now, and you can get almost everything on streaming. Covid really hit the big reset button and made people question a lot of their habits, including still going to movie theate…

Cinema's latest brainwave, at least in the UK, is to run patronising adverts about how great the "big-screen experience" is, and how we shouldn't ruin films by watching on our TVs, laptops, phones, etc. Except, like the old anti-piracy ads, they run these adverts in cinemas before movies, to a group of people who've literally just made the decision to go to the cinema. Like a priest ranting at his congregation about the evils of not attending church.

Every time I see one of these adverts, I think that cinema deserves to die.

Re: The “Oscar movie” is dying

#16

Post by nonameiguess »

mc32 wrote: post #2

I wouldn't overdramatize it. The movie business didn't start with Oscar awards and it does not need them to continue. The Oscars are essentially a self-congratulatory award which often were at odds with the public. The critics and audience don't always agree. And now with less capture by the studios and cinema resulting in people having more choices of what to watch, people are choosing the more basic and entertainin…

The Oscars often don't agree with critics, either. I don't think anyone had Ordinary People, Dances with Wolves, Titanic, Shakespeare in Love, Crash, Green Book, even CODA at #1 on their year-end best of list. Best Picture is usually going to favor something that is at least serious enough that the voters don't feel like children for loving it, i.e. they're never going to award a tentpole or franchise entry, sci-fi, fantasy, horror genre-type stuff will only very rarely even be considered, but they're also going to favor relatively inoffensive, unchallenging, often feel good work that isn't particularly novel or ground-breaking, which is more what critics will lean toward. They also have a tendency to reward message movies and films about filmmaking and Hollywood itself, even if no one likes them.

Re: The “Oscar movie” is dying

#17

Post by actionfromafar »

nonameiguess wrote: post #16
mc32 wrote: post #2

I wouldn't overdramatize it. The movie business didn't start with Oscar awards and it does not need them to continue. The Oscars are essentially a self-congratulatory award which often were at odds with the public. The critics and audience don't always agree. And now with less capture by the studios and cinema resulting in people having more choices of what to watch, people are choosing the more basic and entertainin…

The Oscars often don't agree with critics, either. I don't think anyone had Ordinary People, Dances with Wolves, Titanic, Shakespeare in Love, Crash, Green Book, even CODA at #1 on their year-end best of list. Best Picture is usually going to favor something that is at least serious enough that the voters don't feel like children for loving it, i.e. they're never going to award a tentpole or franchise entry, sci-fi,…

Excuse me? Most if not all of these could easily end up on peoples year-end best of list. Some people don't even remember any other than Titanic from the 90s.

Re: The “Oscar movie” is dying

#19

Post by baandam »

mc32 wrote: post #2

I wouldn't overdramatize it. The movie business didn't start with Oscar awards and it does not need them to continue. The Oscars are essentially a self-congratulatory award which often were at odds with the public. The critics and audience don't always agree. And now with less capture by the studios and cinema resulting in people having more choices of what to watch, people are choosing the more basic and entertainin…

I quite enjoy the type of movie they are referencing and have almost never watched a super hero movie but The Fabelmans looks like a total bore. That is even with wanting to see Julia Butters acting evolve.

We will see with Nolan's Oppenheimer next year.

This is all over dramatized. Butters will probably be the biggest actor in the world in 10 years making "serious" dramas.

Tarantino has even talked about how this goes in cycles and we have been going through a boring time like in the late 50s.

Re: The “Oscar movie” is dying

#20

Post by sheepdestroyer »

prohobo wrote: post #11

It's not that people only go for theme park rides, they'll also go for "kino" movies. That's why Tarantino can still do it. His movies are all about completely immersing the audience in the movie's world and making use of tech and techniques that make for an epic viewing experience. No one wants to go to the theater for a "basic" (maybe intimate?) movie where the cinematography doesn't really matter, the sound and vi…

Don't say "No one".

Usually the sound of action movies is too strong for me in theaters and I hate the experience ; I also never got the argument about special effects being better there. I can see them as well detailed on my computer screen, unless you're going to one of those ultra rare 8k laser room.

However, I genuinely really enjoyed seeing Michael Moore and Woody Allen movies in theater. I also loved seeing Lost in Translation on a big screen (and it's opening!, but you could argue that scene was going for the cinematic experience :p)

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