Good news for cinema goers....
Discussion
This is good news.
I run my uni radio show on the premise that people say they don't like some more independant/alternative/older music simply because they haven't heard it and it isn't agressively marketed on MTV.
This will hopefully work on a larger scale in a similar way - if you fancy going to the cinema with your mates, the fact that you're more likely to run into a more individual film, rather than 'Hollywood slow motion gunfights, cheap laughs and pointless explosions albeit done on a massive budget and you only watched it because you fancy Keira Knightley/Johnny Depp anyway - IV', can only be a positive development.
I run my uni radio show on the premise that people say they don't like some more independant/alternative/older music simply because they haven't heard it and it isn't agressively marketed on MTV.
This will hopefully work on a larger scale in a similar way - if you fancy going to the cinema with your mates, the fact that you're more likely to run into a more individual film, rather than 'Hollywood slow motion gunfights, cheap laughs and pointless explosions albeit done on a massive budget and you only watched it because you fancy Keira Knightley/Johnny Depp anyway - IV', can only be a positive development.
Twincam16 said:
This is good news.
I run my uni radio show on the premise that people say they don't like some more independant/alternative/older music simply because they haven't heard it and it isn't agressively marketed on MTV.
This will hopefully work on a larger scale in a similar way - if you fancy going to the cinema with your mates, the fact that you're more likely to run into a more individual film, rather than 'Hollywood slow motion gunfights, cheap laughs and pointless explosions albeit done on a massive budget and you only watched it because you fancy Keira Knightley/Johnny Depp anyway - IV', can only be a positive development.
Yup.
I just hope it doesn't sound the death knell for independents. My local "art house" cinema do some really good seasons with guest speakers and sometimes free food and drink! Somehow I can't see some of the bigger chains doing that.
Twincam16 said:Each to his own is what I say.
This will hopefully work on a larger scale in a similar way - if you fancy going to the cinema with your mates, the fact that you're more likely to run into a more individual film, rather than 'Hollywood slow motion gunfights, cheap laughs and pointless explosions albeit done on a massive budget and you only watched it because you fancy Keira Knightley/Johnny Depp anyway - IV', can only be a positive development.
I enjoy a good individual movie with soul and some basis for intellectual and critical viewing, but at the same time I perfectly enjoy the shoot-em-up action blockbusters churned out by that industrial machine in LA.
And I don't preclude or have the tenacity to judge that anyone who isn't exposed to the former is "missing out" in any kind of significant way.
Also, you make it sound like your average blockbuster isn't worthy of your critically acclaimed tastes - in my humble opinion the vast majority of said mass-produced kitsch-cakes are actually created by people who genuinely care about the art and not just the bottom line; and even if this isn't represented visually in the movie, if it's entertaining it's good enough for me!
Troglodyte.
-DeaDLocK- said:
This will hopefully work on a larger scale in a similar way - if you fancy going to the cinema with your mates, the fact that you're more likely to run into a more individual film, rather than 'Hollywood slow motion gunfights, cheap laughs and pointless explosions albeit done on a massive budget and you only watched it because you fancy Keira Knightley/Johnny Depp anyway - IV', can only be a positive development.
Each to his own is what I say.
I enjoy a good individual movie with soul and some basis for intellectual and critical viewing, but at the same time I perfectly enjoy the shoot-em-up action blockbusters churned out by that industrial machine in LA.
And I don't preclude or have the tenacity to judge that anyone who isn't exposed to the former is "missing out" in any kind of significant way.
Also, you make it sound like your average blockbuster isn't worthy of your critically acclaimed tastes - in my humble opinion the vast majority of said mass-produced kitsch-cakes are actually created by people who genuinely care about the art and not just the bottom line; and even if this isn't represented visually in the movie, if it's entertaining it's good enough for me!
Troglodyte.
Oh, don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good action flick as much as the next bloke, but when summer/Easter/Christmas comes around, it seems the studios just try and outdo each other to see who's got the biggest stars, explosions, special effects and so on, and in this race to 'out-spectacle' each other, the better films get lost from view.
A good example is the case of The Thin Red Line and Saving Private Ryan. Ryan was released literally a few weeks before Line, but the way it marketed itself as 'the greatest war movie ever' and the way it kept plugging the beach landing scene meant that no-one really bothered going to see The Thin Red Line when it came out because they'd seen the one that got advertised on the telly and weren't up for another bout of war, and unfortunately it disappeared from view.
This was a problem because it was a vastly superior film to Saving Private Ryan - it was deeper, the story was a lot more convincing, the whole piece was exquisitely shot and in effect far more moving and meaningful in a way that made SPR look like a Hollywood shoot 'em up action movie. The ultimate effect it, Saving Private Ryan is only lauded to the extent it is because of the way it was marketed and released.
Also, broadly speaking, British films don't do too well in America whilst we get flooded with American films. Isn't it time we gave our efforts pride of place? They do in India, and whilst Bollywood films don't have that much success outside their home market, India is still the most numerically productive and (with the exception of the US) popular producer of films in the world.
-DeaDLocK- said:
This will hopefully work on a larger scale in a similar way - if you fancy going to the cinema with your mates, the fact that you're more likely to run into a more individual film, rather than 'Hollywood slow motion gunfights, cheap laughs and pointless explosions albeit done on a massive budget and you only watched it because you fancy Keira Knightley/Johnny Depp anyway - IV', can only be a positive development.
Each to his own is what I say.
I enjoy a good individual movie with soul and some basis for intellectual and critical viewing, but at the same time I perfectly enjoy the shoot-em-up action blockbusters churned out by that industrial machine in LA.
And I don't preclude or have the tenacity to judge that anyone who isn't exposed to the former is "missing out" in any kind of significant way.
Also, you make it sound like your average blockbuster isn't worthy of your critically acclaimed tastes - in my humble opinion the vast majority of said mass-produced kitsch-cakes are actually created by people who genuinely care about the art and not just the bottom line; and even if this isn't represented visually in the movie, if it's entertaining it's good enough for me!
Troglodyte.
I don't think all Hollywood films should be sacraficed to make way for solely independents but the balance could be tipped a little bit so as to expose them to the market more.
You last paragraph is slightly wrong. Yes, the people who actually do the work are highly likely to be passionate about their jobs. Unfortunately, the studios are all about bottom line = lowest common denominators, product placement/tie-ins/merchandising etc.
You tend to find big-name directors/artists/composers etc. going for the Hollywood buck because, quite simply, they have bills to pay and it gets them exposure. I'm talking about the middle ground here, obviously there are some high-profile directors who enjoy both commercial and critical success and that is good. The problem is, the cinemas are getting bigger and there's not enough AAA movies to go around so the screens are more often than not showing those throw-away pieces of trash (remake after remake after remake) that enjoy neither critical acclaim or successful box office runs but ARE safe bets for the studios. Maybe opening some of the bigger screens to independents will make the Hollywood studios raise their game a bit.
And also, action & style is not mutually exclusive with good acting & intelligent plot. Go rent out a bunch of modern Korean films to see how it is possible to marry the both with a little effort.
I think you can find good films from every genre just as you can find good music. Sometimes there is an element of snobbery involved-a hollywood film is deemed bad simply because it is from hollywood, but there are a number of big budget films each year that are really good, though there are many more which are cr*p.
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