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Visualization: Movies Are Getting Worse

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Re: Visualization: Movies Are Getting Worse

#21

Post by SandB0x »

barrkel wrote: post #8

Two things: * I don't think polarization is a good signal for poor quality; I would rather suggest it means a more niche product, more highly focused. That the niche being served is largely adolescents is unfortunate. * I think big-budget movies have been getting more conservative and predictable, but I would hazard a guess that it's due to financial industry turmoil and consequently less desire for risk taking.

"That the niche being served is largely adolescents is unfortunate"

Ever seen the Poochie episode of The Simpsons? The producers try to boost the ratings of Itchy and Scratchy by adding a ridiculous character designed to appeal to everyone. Near the start of the episode they hold a focus group (text from snpp.com):

Man: How many of you kids would like Itchy & Scratchy to deal with real-life problems, like the ones you face every day?

Kids: [clamoring] Oh, yeah! I would! Great idea! Yeah, that's it!

Man: And who would like to see them do just the opposite -- getting into far-out situations involving robots and magic powers?

Kids: [clamoring] Me! Yeah! Oh, cool! Yeah, that's what I want!

Man: So, you want a realistic, down-to-earth show... that's completely off-the-wall and swarming with magic robots?

Kids: [all agreeing, quieter this time] That's right. Oh yeah, good.

Re: Visualization: Movies Are Getting Worse

#22

Post by huangm »

bostonpete wrote: post #19

> The key, we think, is to look for movies that some love and some hate, which is the likely profile of a bad movie that's "safely" manufactured for an existing fanbase. But according to the graph, Toy Story 3 was the least polarizing movie of 2010 and that seems like a prime example of a movie "safely" manufactured for an existing fanbase.

I'd argue that looking at polarization is a good way to detect such movies, but that not all such movies are polarizing.

Re: Visualization: Movies Are Getting Worse

#23

Post by rlmw »

Its a really interesting article, but their methodology doesn't support their conclusion. I'm willing to accept critical rankings as a measure of quality, since I can't think of a better way of mapping the subjective notion of quality to a quantitative measure. There are still some dodgey things being done here though:

1. Polarization as a measure of quality 2. Choice of the top 20 movies as a selection measure.

The article should really be title: "Popular movies are becoming more polarizing". Though I concede that blogs like this are written to attract hits and "Movies are getting worse" is probably more likely to achieve that.

Re: Visualization: Movies Are Getting Worse

#24

Post by keeptrying »

I think its more that no one is taking the time to write great and compelling stories.

It takes time and patience and a lot of effort to create a story like the The Lord of the Rings. And the movies that are really good are ones with a great story behind them.

Hollywood seems to be just mining stories from the past. Its gonna run out at some point and all we'll get are sequels.

There needs to be some infusion of creativity. "Contemporary" creativity. Ie new but compelling and interesting stories. It seems to be a lost skill.

Re: Visualization: Movies Are Getting Worse

#27

Post by bostonpete »

huangm wrote: post #22
bostonpete wrote: post #19

> The key, we think, is to look for movies that some love and some hate, which is the likely profile of a bad movie that's "safely" manufactured for an existing fanbase. But according to the graph, Toy Story 3 was the least polarizing movie of 2010 and that seems like a prime example of a movie "safely" manufactured for an existing fanbase.

I'd argue that looking at polarization is a good way to detect such movies, but that not all such movies are polarizing.

OK, then what about The Blair Witch Project? One of the most polarizing movies on the graph, but not exactly what you'd call "safely" manufactured for an existing fanbase.

Re: Visualization: Movies Are Getting Worse

#28

Post by haploid »

foulmouthboy wrote: post #12

Why would extremely polarizing movies be an indicator that movies are getting worse? If anything, more polarization would seem to mean that critics are finding movies more difficult to come to consensus on, which could mean that movies are getting MORE complex and nuanced in their storytelling, which in tern could be taken to mean that movies are getting BETTER.

Good point. Sparkly vampire movies produced and marketed with the express intent of playing on the hormones of teenage girls tend to be extremely complex and nuanced.

Re: Visualization: Movies Are Getting Worse

#29

Post by anigbrowl »

pg wrote: post #2

Interesting. I'd just been thinking about this. The last two new releases I tried watching were so bad that I couldn't finish either of them. I know this is only 2 data points, but they were both bad in the same way: they were completely predictable. That's something you commonly see in a declining medium. People recycle old ideas instead of having new ones. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spolia

How much of this is a failure of the medium, though, rather than of individuals' jaded palates coupled with the availability of almost all hit movies from the past for instant home viewing? We tend to glamorize earlier generations of the movie industry because some of their products have stood the test of time so well, while overlooking the abundance of terrible films that came out around the same time.

I do think that plotting, which is only one element of a film, tends to get more predictable as viewers age. There are only so many basic dramatic situations, and nowadays genre tropes are so well-defined and well-known that almost anything is going to look familiar and derivative to somebody, and be blogged about in such terms. On the other hand, a good film can be enjoyed repeatedly, despite the element of surprise being gone after the first viewing; the pleasure is in the quality of the execution rather than in the novelty of the story development.

Re: Visualization: Movies Are Getting Worse

#30

Post by rexf »

dawgr wrote: post #26

Some recent good movies: -Animal Kingdom (Australian crime film) -True Grit (Western) -How to train your dragon (Pixar film)

The 3rd one is by DreamWorks http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Train_Your_Dragon_(film)

Pixar is currently in the sequel game. Toy Story 3 last year, and Cars 2 scheduled for this year. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Pixar_films

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