It's a fair thesis but the reality is that films and most things are constantly getting a lot better because people are learning from the best
Constantly getting better at earning profit, maybe.
Enjoy the Best, Not the Latest, Media
81–90 of 136 posts
Re: Enjoy the Best, Not the Latest, Media
#82Earlier quoted context omitted.
Most critics are jerks, passing off attitude and masquerading opinion as deep domain knowledge. The comic book guy trope from the Simpsons or Sponge Bob. Roger Ebert [1] and Gene Siskel [2] were my introduction to analysis and argumentation. Watching two adults getting into a argument and discussing something using some sort of rules-of-engagement fascinated me. That they viewed a piece from so many angles, criticism…
Just want to say check out Life Itself, the biography film about Roger Ebert. It bring me to tears everytime but is also filled with so much joy.
Thank you! This looks excellent.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_Itself_(2014_film)
I have been wanting to join http://blog.scarecrow.com/ for awhile now, it is a Seattle based video rental place with lots of rare movies and videos. Years ago we rented 2001 on laserdisc and a laserdisc player. Not quite as cool as running a film projector but still a fun experience.
If it wasn't clear in my first paragraph, Siskel and Ebert were definitely in a class of their own in the professionalism and thoroughness they brought to film criticism.
Re: Enjoy the Best, Not the Latest, Media
#83As someone who apparently frequents much more pretentious online film circles than OP, the idea that the highest rated films and shows on IMDB represent the "best" of the mediums is kinda silly. The article uses Star Trek (2009) as its example of a mediocre film. Its IMDB rating is 7.9/10 from over 500k votes over 11 years -- surely this would place the film squarely in the "tried and tested" category. If I look on s…
Your mention of taste is interesting as https://www.criticker.com engine basically recommends movies based on other people who have liked and disliked the same movies as you liked other films and it’s really effective!
I've just imported 300+ ratings from IMDb into Criticker, and the recommendations it gave me seemed so far off that I didn't even feel like giving any of the movies a chance. Maybe I'm not watching enough classics, but it feels like the site hasn't really gotten to the long tail of movies.
In comparison, when I go rate movies on IDMb I'm rarely more than one star away from the average rating, so IMDb serves my needs quite well, anyway.
Re: Enjoy the Best, Not the Latest, Media
#84A similar sentiment from one of Haruki Murakami's characters in Norwegian Wood: The better I got to know Nagasawa, the stranger he seemed. I had met a lot of strange people in my day, but none as strange as Nagasawa. He was a far more voracious reader than I, but he made it a rule never to touch a book by any author who had not been dead at least thirty years. “That’s the only kind of book I can trust,” he said. “It’…
Thanks for the reference, didn't know Norwegian Wood at all but this seems like a great piece of writing.
Re: Enjoy the Best, Not the Latest, Media
#85Earlier quoted context omitted.
> but the average rating is a measure of popularity Not quite? Mulholland drive for example, was widely praised by critics and is remembered fondly by film nerds, but is not in most senses “popular”. I’m not arguing that ratings are perfect, I largely agree with you; just that they’re a weird measurement and not one largely of popularity.
> Not quite Goodreads is kind of a weird space which shows that the popular vote is kind of useless. It’s hard to find a good book based on ratings. Everything seems to be either 4+ stars or garbage. The Fault in our Stars probably has a better rating than print copies of Hamlet. Actually, all classics seem to hover around 3.68 stars. Never 2. In fact, I don’t think any books published in the history of the world hav…
Classics get lower scores because they have a more differentiated audience. People are made or feel culturally obligated to read them. So the Grapes of Wrath (3.97) has a lower score than Anarch (4.62) the 15th Gaunt's Ghost novel set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. This is because the only people who are likely to read the latter are people likely to enjoy it.
Clearly though, different movies and books server different purposes. Is Schindlers List a better movie than Airplane! Sure, but I'm not going to put on the former when I want a few laughs.
Re: Enjoy the Best, Not the Latest, Media
#86Earlier quoted context omitted.
> but the average rating is a measure of popularity Not quite? Mulholland drive for example, was widely praised by critics and is remembered fondly by film nerds, but is not in most senses “popular”. I’m not arguing that ratings are perfect, I largely agree with you; just that they’re a weird measurement and not one largely of popularity.
I would argue that it is a very popular film released by a major studio, and directed by one of the most popular directors in history. Mulholland Drive is not a film that only "film buffs" saw. I'm not sure if I've every met anyone who hasn't seen a David Lynch film, and I rarely meet anyone who hasn't enjoyed a David Lynch film. He's a multi-millionaire in high demand that entirely dictates his own work conditions.
We must not travel in the same circles. :-)
Of the people I know who have seen a David Lynch movie, I haven’t met anyone who enjoyed them. Speaking for myself, Mulholland Drive is definitely in the running for worst movie I’ve ever seen.
Re: Enjoy the Best, Not the Latest, Media
#87> If people are still talking about it after so many years, it must be really good. I disagree. If something is long-term popular, that doesn't mean it's really good, it means it hit the average taste pretty well. The average taste is very bland, because it's, well, average. You can't really deviate too far from the lowest common denominator if you want to hit the average taste and be super popular.
Can you name a book or film that is popular 20+ years after it was first released that is bland? Even Disney films - the most idealistic in many ways - can hardly be considered bland. The typical Summer bland film or airport book which really is bland and overladen with tropes is rarely popular after a few years.
Older disney films are as bland as it gets. Is that even serious question?
Re: Enjoy the Best, Not the Latest, Media
#88It's a fair thesis but the reality is that films and most things are constantly getting a lot better because people are learning from the best
I actually agree and am surprised you are downvoted. While I like some old movies, the generally accepted classic is too simple and boring these days .
Meanwhile, the series writing got much mutch better then it used to be and of one just can't compare.
Re: Enjoy the Best, Not the Latest, Media
#89A similar sentiment from one of Haruki Murakami's characters in Norwegian Wood: The better I got to know Nagasawa, the stranger he seemed. I had met a lot of strange people in my day, but none as strange as Nagasawa. He was a far more voracious reader than I, but he made it a rule never to touch a book by any author who had not been dead at least thirty years. “That’s the only kind of book I can trust,” he said. “It’…
Thanks for the reference, didn't know Norwegian Wood at all but this seems like a great piece of writing.
I wouldn't read it yet, Murakami is still alive ;)
Re: Enjoy the Best, Not the Latest, Media
#90Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm not a movie person, but films like Home Alone, Back To The Future, Ghostbusters etc come to mind. My impression is that they are super hits that span generations because they are so predictable, middle of the road, easy to digest and unable to offend.
They were not predictable when released, which is partly why they became so popular. While none of them are ground breaking avant garde art, they all tweaked what was conventional, accepted and "predictable" in film making of the time. They became middle of the road partly because they helped to define the road.
They were mostly novel is setup and formulaic in progression. Just because the formula wasn't documented in as much detail as it has been since Save the Cat, both general storytelling and film-specific formulae existed and those films are logically consistent with them.