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Visualization: Movies Are Getting Worse

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Re: Visualization: Movies Are Getting Worse

#81

Post by gnaritas »

light3 wrote: post #73
gnaritas wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think its more that no one is taking the time to write great and compelling stories. Seriously? Pick up a book, that's so far from true it isn't even funny. > It takes time and patience and a lot of effort to create a story like the The Lord of the Rings. Sure, and there's a ton of them already out there in the form of books. > Hollywood seems to be just mining stories from the past. Its gonna run out at some poi…

Watching old movies like Star wars, Indiana Jones, old Bond movies, you get the sense that a lot of work was put in to creating the scenes. It must have been very expensive to make, was it because revenue was very high back then?

Movies used to be the only game in town; now there are actual games and the gaming industry surpassed Hollywood a while back. Besides, blockbusters have always been profitable, but with so many other entertainment options these days, viewers have choices they didn't in the past.

That Michael Bay movies continue to make big bucks is a travesty, but that's today's market. I'd much rather watch Man from Earth than any movie he's ever made, but one can't deny his movies make execs lots of money by being dumb and going for every cheap laugh, big explosion, overdone effect he can think of.

Re: Visualization: Movies Are Getting Worse

#83

Post by burgerbrain »

commieneko wrote: post #49
Splines wrote: post #14

People recycle old ideas instead of having new ones. IMO this is a weak argument - you could say the same thing about startups. When it comes to creative work, it's all about the execution. Just because a story is being retold doesn't automatically make it bad. Similarly, just because a story has been told before doesn't mean you can't tell it again.

Robert Heinlein once wrote (On the Writing of Speculative Fiction) that, gimmicks aside, there were only 3 stories that were about people: Boy meets girl. The little tailor. The man who learned better.

Which is Die Hard?

Re: Visualization: Movies Are Getting Worse

#84

Post by derefr »

pjscott wrote: post #36
SandB0x wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"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 y…

> So, you want a realistic, down-to-earth show... that's completely off-the-wall and swarming with magic robots? That actually sounds like the first few seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I would have given any of several other examples, but you specified that there must be "magic robots", which narrows things down a lot. The kids' desires aren't actually contradictory, if you've got the writing skills to pull it o…

I would say that Buffy isn't so much evidence that two opposed motifs can exist at the same time in a show, so much as that they can exist in close quarters, alternating in a schizophrenic-but-enjoyable fashion. I don't recall many moments where I was thinking of any of the characters as both teenagers and gothic-fantasy-world occupants (even in, say, The Body, you're just watching a well-plotted drama about a teenager; the vampires, though serving as setting elements, could be traded for mobsters or hospital patients or needy pets in that episode without affecting the theme.)

Re: Visualization: Movies Are Getting Worse

#85

Post by robryan »

apu wrote: post #37
asr wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, writers have been doing this for a long time... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakespeare%27s_style#Similarit... Did you watch The Social Network? Did you like it? I think we all knew how it ended, it was the writing, cinematography, etc. that account for its popularity. And the fact that the writers stretched the truth so the story would be somewhat fresh :)

And the fact that the writers stretched the truth so the story would be somewhat fresh Actually I'd argue that they changed the story to make it less fresh, but more understandable/appealing to the non-tech audience. After all, who doesn't understand jilted love as a motivator? Whereas the "hacker's ethic" -- try something to see it it'll work -- is tougher to convey to a general audience. (For the record, I thought…

Ehh, I haven't seen more geeky hacker stuff references in a movie so while it was given broad appeal at leas they retained a decent amount of the hacker feel to it.

Re: Visualization: Movies Are Getting Worse

#86

Post by derleth »

sigzero wrote: post #68
derleth wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> True Grit is a remake So was the 1939 Wizard of Oz. > Inception isn't ever going to be a classic a la The Matrix. And you know this because...

He is using his own subjectivity like the OP did. Just because they get Oscar's doesn't guarantee anything at all. True Grit while good was such a pale movie compared to the original John Wayne version.

> True Grit while good was such a pale movie compared to the original John Wayne version.

And in the reviews I read, it was better than the John Wayne movie, because it was more of an adult film.

Re: Visualization: Movies Are Getting Worse

#87

Post by jacques_chester »

burgerbrain wrote: post #82
jacques_chester wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your kids expect to see the overpriced 3D version though. That'll be $20 per ticket, please.

Learn to say "No."?

Agreed. This worked for my parents. They were essentially immune to pleading for ice-cream.

Re: Visualization: Movies Are Getting Worse

#88

Post by commieneko »

burgerbrain wrote: post #83
commieneko wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Robert Heinlein once wrote (On the Writing of Speculative Fiction) that, gimmicks aside, there were only 3 stories that were about people: Boy meets girl. The little tailor. The man who learned better.

Which is Die Hard?

The man who learned better.

Re: Visualization: Movies Are Getting Worse

#90

Post by burgerbrain »

commieneko wrote: post #88
burgerbrain wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which is Die Hard?

The man who learned better.

How so? Seems to me it's just "the man who kicked lots of ass". He certainly didn't learn better, since John McClane proceeded to find himself in similar situations 3 more times :P
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