Movie review rant 2014

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I will say that I do like frivolous movies, I love action movies, I can even like stupid movies, but the movies have to make sense. They don't have to be realistic, but they do have to follow their own logic and the rules of the world they are set in. And if they are a series then they should really follow the time-line and the character traits the previous movies establish. Many popular movies - like Men In Black 3 - seem to be made up as they go along and end up just a sloppy mess.
 
Shawshank Redemption - meh. What's the big deal about it? Not my cup of tea.

Citizen Kane - never saw it.

Schindler's List - good film, but not my first choice for being entertained for a few hours.
 
nanoboy said:
Shawshank Redemption - meh. What's the big deal about it?.
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Oh, I don't know. Maybe it's the splendid performance of the actors, the great set, the powerful imagery, the extraoridinary writing (at least in comparison to current sloppy sorry efforts) ...or it's just the touching story of a man who is faced with injustice, abasement and the loss of his freedom, yet still maintains his humanity against all odds and manages to overcome all this to regain his freedom and dignity. If that's not your cup of tea, then our views towards movies (and life in general) are quite antithetical.

Try Citizen Kane-it's worth it.
 
Batto said:
Oh, I don't know. Maybe it's the splendid performance of the actors, the great set, the powerful imagery, the extraoridinary writing (at least in comparison to current sloppy sorry efforts) ...or it's just the touching story of a man who is faced with injustice, abasement and the loss of his freedom, yet still maintains his humanity against all odds and manages to overcome all this to regain his freedom and dignity. If that's not your cup of tea, then our views towards movies (and life in general) are quite antithetical.

Try Citizen Kane-it's worth it.
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I watch movies to escape from real life. I watch the 6pm news and '60 Minutes' for stories like that above.
 
Escapism is not the only thing movies can provide; in fact, it's nothing but a small fraction of what movies have to offer. With such deliberate blinkered mentality, you narrow yourself down to less movies than you should.

Did you ever see Andy Dufresne on the 6pm news and '60 Minutes'? ;)
 
I agree with Nanoboy's point of view. I go to see a movie to be entertained, not to fall asleep halfway through the film.
 
@cleusk: so if you're not immediately entertained, you fall asleep? Oh my; I wonder whether such fits of narcolepsy also occur on your visits to zoos or driving a vehicle in public?
 
Batto said:
@cleusk: so if you're not immediately entertained, you fall asleep? Oh my; I wonder whether such fits of narcolepsy also occur on your visits to zoos or driving a vehicle in public?
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I was referring to boring movies like the ones you suggested.
 
cleusk said:
I was referring to boring movies like the ones you suggested.
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"boring" is relative. I don't find The Shawshank Redemption boring, but I do find the Transformer movies boring -- not because there's nothing happening but because there's no good story, it's just a bunch of stuff that happens to create noise.
 
And that's why there are so many genres of movies: to cater to all our differing tastes. With limited time to watch movies, I have to be selective, and pick movies in genres I enjoy. I watched Shawshank Redemption because I love Stephen King, not because the plot appealed to me. Transformers, however, oh man - a silly story, hot chicks, big explosions, non-stop action, objects flying towards you in 3D; a couple hours of mindless entertainment.
 
exactly. What would be really boring is if everybody had the same tastes!!
 
Chlidonias said:
exactly. What would be really boring is if everybody had the same tastes!!
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It would also be boring if everyone agreed on everything. It would be like having a conversation with yourself. And what would be the point in that?
 
@cleusk: oh, I got what you meant. But did you understand me? Having a more serious subject or not just catering bluntly to your modest demands of entertainment doesn't automatically mean that the subject in question is boring. Entertainment just for the sake of mere entertainment is possible, but shouldn't be the norm. Thanks for your explicit critique of all the movies I suggested; I'll keep that in mind.

"Everyone has a different opinion/taste and that's great. Let's hug and dance around the rainbow." I also used to think that such attitude would be adequate and fine. The truth is that it is a bogus and lazy form of "tolerance" that tries to muffle any discussion prematurely without having you to really look into the subject at hand and thereby maybe even reconsidering your pov. Used as a thought-terminating cliche, it's actually the opposite of a free discussion, as real tolerance would also imply to deal with the subject, and not just declare it "boring" beforehand.

I do think that there are several things we all can agree on that make a great movie (making sense can be one), and that several movies can be proclaimed across cultures and ages to be universally great and real cultural (and also entertaining) achievements. It's no accident that the three mentioned movies happen to be positively regarded and remembered by a majority of the human population, while movies such as Jaws 4 aren't. Otherwise, there would be no sense in recommending movies to anyone but yourself...;)
 
cleusk said:
It would also be boring if everyone agreed on everything. It would be like having a conversation with yourself. And what would be the point in that?
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One genre of movies, and everyone agreeing on everything? Sounds like North Korea to me!

So, anyone looking forward to Sharknado 2? I am not a fan at all!!!
 
Never got to see the original Sharknado. From what I read, it seemed like they deliberately made it a bad movie on purpose.
 
Batto said:
I do think that there are several things we all can agree on that make a great movie (making sense can be one), and that several movies can be proclaimed across cultures and ages to be universally great and real cultural (and also entertaining) achievements. It's no accident that the three mentioned movies happen to be positively regarded and remembered by a majority of the human population, while movies such as Jaws 4 aren't. Otherwise, there would be no sense in recommending movies to anyone but yourself...;)
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The majority of the human population lives below the poverty line and have probably never seen 'Citizen Kane'. ;)

When we recommend movies, it's with the caveat that "if you like ----- then you will also like this movie". So we aren't recommending movies to ourselves, but instead, readers who are fans of the genre. For example, I have no interest in seeing 'The Giant Claw'. :D The new Godzilla movie, yeah sure, if it's on TV.
 
nanoboy said:
The majority of the human population lives below the poverty line and have probably never seen 'Citizen Kane'. ;)
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Who knows? Being poor doesn't automatically imply an inferior taste or understanding of artistic value. And with the ongoing process of humanity "going online", more people might have access to such movies. But if you want me to specify: " majority of the human population, who has watched said movies"(...).


nanoboy said:
When we recommend movies, it's with the caveat that "if you like ----- then you will also like this movie". So we aren't recommending movies to ourselves, but instead, readers who are fans of the genre. For example, I have no interest in seeing 'The Giant Claw'. :D The new Godzilla movie, yeah sure, if it's on TV.
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Who is "we"? And what if there isn't a specified "genre" for that very movie? Would you still recommend it, or neglect it for not fitting your pigeonholing system?
I think most people recommend or critique movies not by following the "if you like ----- then you will also like this movie" idea (for that automatic programs already exist), but what one personally considers recommendable, based on the personal taste, which in itself is formed by your social and cultural background and upbringing, education/intellect, biological capabilities, individual expectations towards the movie based on previous experiences and as an assembly of such, your very own personality.
Even given this individuality factor, however, one does see a conformity in movie (as well as other forms of arts, entertainment, story-telling etc.) preferences among human populations across cultures and ages, most likely based on certain common aspects of human nature. One would be, to pick up Shawshank, the aspect of someone succeeding against odds, which has been attractive among us humans probably from early one (if you think of ancient fables, myths etc.). A movie nicely presenting this aspect is most certain to be favoured by many-and thus more likely to be recommended. However, the art of movies is too complex to be just limited to one example. It makes you wonder what a totally different, non-human sapient being would consider a recommendable movie...;)

That said, one might be more careful ranting against or rating movies when your taste in them differs significantly from others. :)
 
This thread is becoming boring. Someone seems to have taken the word "rant" out of context.

:p

Hix
 
@Hix: well, it wasn't really a rant already several pages beforehand, was it? ;)
 
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