that aren't superheroes, sci-fi, or anime? You know, the old-fashioned ones with a real plot, actors instead of animation, and interesting characters?

I think the most recent movie that DH and I saw in theaters was "Christopher Robin."

I'm wishing for this too. Last night I was watching Indiana Jones, it was so good, no computer crappy animations at all. Real live props and stunts, a good plot, a good script, and good acting. Disney has really gone down hill. Now they are remaking all the old movies they already made years ago as if there aren't new stories to choose from?

But it must be that they think they'll make more money off of stale old stories that people are familiar with than something new.

catnip Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> that aren't superheroes, sci-fi, or anime? You
> know, the old-fashioned ones with a real plot,
> actors instead of animation, and interesting
> characters?
>
> I think the most recent movie that DH and I saw in
> theaters was "Christopher Robin."

catnip, one of my favorite movies is "Coco." It's funny and upbeat. Absolutely no bad language, violence or sex.

I really liked the movie "Yesterday." A lot of the good movies don't come to Logan, Utah. We have to go to SLC or Ogden to see the independent movies. I do like the Star Wars movies they are making, but a lot of people don't.

I'm trying to think of some of the independent films we've seen and I can't at the moment.

We do have a movie theater here that shows the old movies and we go to see some of them. We need to go more. Their seats aren't as comfortable, though.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/05/2019 08:11PM by cl2.

I want a movie that’s not more than ten percent special effects. The last superhero movie I saw was Deadpool (that the Utah Alcohol and Beverage Control Department tried to shut down—nudity with beer).

Deadpool was crass, but I was in the mood for something snarky. The special effects did nothing for me. As for the nudity that offended ABC, it was so brief I barely got my beer opened before it was over.

I think I’ll watch an old Hitchcock movie tonight.

Yeah, I was glad when Brewvies won that lawsuit. Tried to get my teen kid to watch old Hitchcock movies or Twilight Zone episodes. "Dad- these are so boring. It takes forever for something to happen". Arghh.

I feel your pain! My kids won’t watch anything black and white. I remember having trouble falling asleep after Bela Lugosi’s Dracula when I was a kid. Now, my kids think it is slow, silly, and definitely NOT scary. I’m still trying to get them to watch the greatest vampire movie of them all-Nosferatu-but, it’s in black and white AND silent. Nos still gives me the willies!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/05/2019 11:57PM by BYU Boner.

My favorite Dracula was made in the 70s and starred Frank Langella. Very classy!

My mother loved "North by Northwest." I loved going to Mount Rushmore a few years ago.

I need to dig out that set of movies.

I liked Deadpool. My boyfriend wanted to see it and then when I wanted to see the 2nd one, he didn't want to. He always wants to see bloody movies like the second 300 movie, and then complains they are so bloody. I'm like, "Huh?" I thought the Deadpool movies were creative. I did like Guardians of the Galaxy. I've had enough of the Avengers movies, although I always like them better than my boyfriend and he is the one that insists we go to them.

We actually got a kick out of Shaft and the new Men in Black. We just wanted to go see a movie, so we went and didn't expect much. They make way too many movies and they don't stick around long. I liked "Bohemian Rhapsody" and also "Rocket Man." Rocket Man was only in Logan for a week.

I don't mind some of the remakes of Disney like "Beauty and the Beast" was good, but I didn't like Cinderella and I don't remember Maleficent, but now we get a new Maleficent. I haven't seen Aladdin or Dumbo. I didn't hear good things from my diehard movie daughter.

It was much better than most movies we see. What we do notice is the age of the audience in a lot of the good movies we see.

These sorts of film dont recoup enough production money in theatrical release. Most of that has moved to independent production and aired on streaming services or cable. Or is produced outright by those services.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/05/2019 08:49PM by dogblogger.

On the bright side, cinema technology has advanced so much, making production cheaper, that Indies can make very good movies--in terms of production values--that only large studies could manage in previous generations. And yes, Indies can manage CGI, just as they can produce sophisticated sound tracks, etc.

It all depends on the script.

Aside from silly plots and zero character depth, two things about superhero movies that irk me no end are 1) that incessant, deep mechanical sub-base note(s) that are obligatory to any moment of (artificially induced) suspense or combat excitement. Then, 2) heroes who raise their arms ("Heil, my Power?") and extend a palm or fist at his/her/its adversary. We then are treated to trite, blue lightning bolts that emanate from the hero's hand (oh, the power!), and the villain is then thrown backwards and slams through a brick wall.

I was "gifted" six months of Showtime for a rebate on my cable television restitution program to 750,000 of its New York State customers.

So I've been taking advantage of that this summer. Haven't been to a movie in a few months now. Nothing I really care to see at the movies ... if there were I'd be there.

Tonight I'm watching a Cybill Shepherd & Pam Grier movie called "Being Rose." It's on Showtime Women channel. It's pretty good so I'm watching a re-run of it. :)

It's a chick flick that Cybill co-produced and acted in. She plays an ex-cop with a terminal illness, and James Brolin is her love flame. It's the kind of movie that tugs at the heart strings.

Here's a thought that went through my mind many years ago.

When I would watch the old heroes, like John Wayne, Glenn Ford, Stewart Granger, Jimmy Stewart, and they did what heroes do, I could tell myself, "Yeah, I could do that!"

But then the heroes got more...heroic. For me it was Steven Segal... The stuff he did in his particular heroics were beyond what I doted myself with, in terms of heroism.

Like the old war movies...I could have been the hero in the John Wayne movies. But I couldn't be the hero when the level of heroics became so lofty. Movies became fantasies.

I think that's why I liked Deadpool and Suicide Squad; they seemed to be admitting that they were fantasies.

And you know why "The Expendables" series was made, featuring all the old heroes? Because their old agents made it happen.

...which is how I see it.

A hero needs to be something an audience (or reader) can identify with, but also aspire to be. The drama comes in wondering whether the heroine will actually succeed.

Little of this applies to superheroes.

And speaking of superheoines, I'm getting awfully tired of young twenties, gorgeously fit kick-butt heroines who escape lethal blows with gymnastic back flips and invariably manage to see what the real problem (or solution or culprit) is, long before those stodgy, biased older males.

elderolddog Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Here's a thought that went through my mind many
> years ago.
>
> When I would watch the old heroes, like John
> Wayne, Glenn Ford, Stewart Granger, Jimmy Stewart,
> and they did what heroes do, I could tell myself,
> "Yeah, I could do that!"
>
> But then the heroes got more...heroic. For me it
> was Steven Segal... The stuff he did in his
> particular heroics were beyond what I doted myself
> with, in terms of heroism.

I would go back further to the East Asian martial arts films of the 1970s which often featured the heroes doing ridiculous things. Or what about James Bond? He escaped ludicrous situations by ludicrous means back in the 1960s...

The Matrix has a lot to answer for because it introduced an annoying type of stylized fighting into Hollywood in a big way. And then you have Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in which it got really, really ridiculous with the wires and green screen.

I watched it again last week and liked it more than ever.

Oh, I missed that the first time around.

The "Hollywood" film industry is continuing to go through a major economic evolution--which has already had, and will continue to have, major impact on which potential film projects are greenlighted.

Today, about 70 percent of film revenues come from the international market (rather than the North American market), with China (and Russia, I have been told) now the "most important" economic markets in the world from the POV [point of view] of American filmmakers.

At the same time, the film themselves, plus the monies they earn from admissions, have substantially decreased in profitability, as profits from merchandising, non-traditional distribution systems, etc. have continued to steadily rise.

The end result is that films are, very largely, now being made to fit the preferences of the overseas markets, rather than the [North] American domestic market.

Add in all the newer/newest, filmmaking technology, and the "old" Hollywood standards of scriptwriting, casting, and film production are just not so important anymore.

Although the new technological advances have had a great deal to do with it, the crushing blow is that American audiences are now largely economically irrelevant when the big decisions are being made.

Mostly, financiers are interested in what the short-term international economic numbers are projected to be, because it is irrefutable that it is now the international market which is going to get a given film out of the red and into the "profit" column most rapidly.

I entered the industry when I was three years old, and I have been "in" it, in one way or another, for all of my life since--and along with a major cohort of my industry peers, these new realities have become very sad realities of life for all of us.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/06/2019 04:04PM by Tevai.

I believe that the Blues Brothers was one of the first major Hollywood films to make more money overseas.

Some films like Forrest Gump may do well abroad, but they really don't have the same resonances for foreigners. Hollywood has been a soft power tool for American soft power abroad, and now that Hollywood has been effectively infiltrated, it is used to push new political concerns. But foreigners aren't into all the flag waving and "God Bless America" stuff, regardless of their political views. It just isn't their country.

Nowadays there is a lot of China-pandering, even though the PRC only lets a few dozen Hollywood films past their censors. This has led to a lot of avoidance of Beijing-related controversies.

While I am a fan of science-fiction and anime, I can understand the desire to see something different.

Some suggestions I have are:

"The Miseducation of Cameron Post" about a girl forced to go to an evangelical gay conversion camp. Based on the book of the same name.

"Kahaani" a political thriller from India about a terrorist attack, a woman's missing husband, and man who looks like him but officially doesn't exist.

"Horror Noire" a documentary about the history of black Americans and horror movies. Featuring interviews with Jordan Peele ("Get Out," "Us"), Keith David ("The Thing," "They Live"), Tony Todd ("Candyman"), Rachel True ("The Craft"), and William Cain ("Blacula").

'

"The Miseducation of Cameron Post" about a girl forced to go to an evangelical gay conversion camp. Based on the book of the same name.'

It's also cynical Oscar fodder (even though the lead - Moretz - can't actually act, sorry!). It seems to be pitched in such a way that its target of criticism will be unlikely to watch it (the religious right of rhe USA), while preaching to the converted (LGBT and "allies").

The film doesn't mention gay Christians (there are quite a few), left wing Christians (ditto) or secular homophobes (it's not just a religion thing)... Because all that would add nuance, something a decent drama often has... In that sense it suffers from the same fatal flaw as superhero films do, melodrama using cardboard cutout characters

Good topic! That’s the reason eh I hardly go to movies anymore.
Cartoons are even worse. The cartoons nowadays are crap. I miss the old looney tunes, warner brothers, Hanna Barbara( sp),old Disney, etc. I also miss the old days when they had cartoons before the movies.
Don’t forget about the old time drive in movies.

Sponge Bob Square Pants. Plus, yesterday's cartoons would be deemed "too violent". Tom and Jerry, Heckle and Jeckle, Popeye, Roadrunner, etc, all were based on characters getting their asses kicked. We all loved them, but today, they would never be made.

Me, too. The antidote:

https://www.criterionchannel.com/

Human Wrote:
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> Me, too. The antidote:
>
> https://www.criterionchannel.com/

There is some decent content on there (alongside some obvious political propaganda). I already have a lot of Criterion's DVDs so it would make sense to get it.

It is time that 1950s & 1960s films and probably the 70s ones were released from copyright. A lot of tbe people involved are now dead, so that's not even an argument. (C) goes on for too long in some cases, but that's the current law.

Jordan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It is time that 1950s & 1960s films and probably
> the 70s ones were released from copyright. A lot
> of tbe people involved are now dead, so that's not
> even an argument. (C) goes on for too long in some
> cases, but that's the current law.

Copyright does not end with the death of the copyright holder(s), it transfers to that decedent's estate.

Currently, the term of copyright is the life of the copyright holder plus 70 years.

How come in the movies when people fight they never get exhausted ?
I get exhausted in the first 30 seconds just watching them.

and they never run out of bullets, and tires screech on sand, and bullets ricochet in the woods, Batman's grappling hook always snags fast and secure, and you can hear not just explosions, but also farts, in outer space.

Seeing as you have such a grasp on things, Dave, can you explain why it is always the blue wire?

Dave the Atheist Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> How come in the movies when people fight they
> never get exhausted ?
> I get exhausted in the first 30 seconds just
> watching them.

It depends which films you watch Dave. That's the short answer to that one.

I'm sick of superhero films where people get shoved around continually and thrown through buildings...

I watched Reservoir Dogs at the cinema the other night. There is some great dialog in it and some subliminal stuff I hadn't picked up on before (the painting of Saint Sebastian in Joseph's office, the tusks etc), but I have some issues with it - for example some of the characters die instantly of gun shots while one of the others takes the entire film to do so. The film does make violence look extremely painful and brutal, although it does so to a fashionable soundtrack.

Because they're not really fighting. They're only play acting. They're wearing make-up. They have stunt actors filling in for them. And they do many takes before the final cut, generally. Those guys are pampered pooches.

All the special effects in the movies today make it more adrenaline rushed than the old Hollywood flicks did. Now they're so over the top action I don't care for them too much because they're geared mostly for younger audiences.

Hollywood's formula for selling movies is still sex, drugs, and more violence. Everything old is new again.

Some of the newer movies are pretty good though. I liked Dr. Strange with Benedict Cumberbatch.

The last film I went to see on the big screen (other than an old one last Monday) was the "Tolkien" film. It was okay, I suppose. One of the complaints about it was that it was "too literary". I wish it had been more literary. I knew some of JRRT's backstory beforehand. I don't know if the Tolkien film counts as 'fantasy" although there was a lot of that mixed in (he sees a dragon at one point for example). I also felt WWI could have been better handled.

I agree about superhero films. Someone took me along to Avengers: Endgame. I worked out you would have had to have seen around twelve films to get all of the references in it, and I hadn't seen most of the other films in the series like Dr Strange.

The trouble with most major studios is that they are reworking old formulas. Someone once famously said, "If you want to send a mesage, use FedEx", something like that. Hollywood is really bad at sending messages, and is often hypocritical about it. This is no doubt due to a course correction. Marvel exists to produce superhero films and will no doubt continue to do so. Other film studios will realize some of their policies do not make bank - whether more fantasy material, hack Sci Fi or just the plain virtue signalling which is losing studios millions in most cases.

I would rather watch something from the 20s/30s. I caught Curly Top and Poor Little Rich Girl the other night :). One thing I adore about the old ones are the costumes. I would KILL for some of that rich silk satin that they had back then. And the ribbon work, sigh, oh the ribbon work.

I totally agree with you. Except I do get to see quite a few good movies here in the Dallas/Ft Worth area. I've found it's usually the independent movies that have the best storylines anymore. Seems like the less rude the theatrical release it is, and the less money it makes, the better movie it is.

I love the older movies and especially the comedies. It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World is my favorite. Hilarious with no vulgarity. The Bob Hope Movies, just so many funny and serious movies that are classy. IMO, the movies, sit coms, and actors/actresses of today will never be as good as the old ones.

The ”Thin Man” series, and the ”Topper” movies are favorites. Popcorn, a tootsie roll, and a Coke and I'm six years old again...

”Hidden Figures” Impressed me... I was surprised how much I liked it.

I absolutely love going to the movies but it has been months since I last went because there is zero out there that I want to see. I was anxiously waiting for the release of The Professor and the Madman, having read the book almost 20 years ago. Watched in on pay for view and could fully see why it was not released in theatres. Bad and worse.

The Professor and the Madman is a great book and a great story. Anyone who loves the EOD should read it.

If you don't like the popular movie fare, as I don't, Amazon Prime is a godsend. Four dollars, or presumably the equivalent, brings 48 hours of time in which to see almost any movie one wants. Worth a try if you aren't familiar with it.

Yes, I am often confused with the OED!

I had the two-volume set, with rectangular magnifying glass in the little drawer at the top of the case.

Hah!

I have the 13 volume set plus supplements. Also the Concise one. And I sleep on the floor with the cats!

Lot's Wife Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hah!
>
> I have the 13 volume set plus supplements. Also
> the Concise one. And I sleep on the floor with
> the cats!

About the one good thing about stuff going online is that I picked up the full Encyclopædia Britannica (a 1970s edition) and OED for practically nothing.

Then there's no excuse for your misuse of words.

Lot's Wife Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Then there's no excuse for your misuse of words.

Or your horrendous knowledge of geography?

It is a great read and all the more so because it is true. Took me a while to digest the fact that the largest contributor to the OED (the one true dictionary) was an American but I did adjust.

Not only an American but an American homicidal maniac. But I repeat myself.

I'm pretty much over the superhero movies. And the Star Wars series lost me with the last installment. I used to go out to the movies all the time, and now it's just every once in a while.

Summer! Let's put on our own movie! We can use my dad's barn!

...

summer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm pretty much over the superhero movies. And the
> Star Wars series lost me with the last
> installment. I used to go out to the movies all
> the time, and now it's just eavery once in a while.

The Star Wars films are dead. I enjoyed Rogue One, but the rest of the prequels and the sequels are not up to much. Other than dubious story arc choices and moral relativism, the new films recycle quite a bit.

I never bothered to see the Solo film. I probably won't bother to see any more of the sequels. And no, not just because of politics.

I saw The Meg (2018) the other night. It was horrible. It just didn't have a plot nor convincing dialogue. It was forced scenes that had little continuity and everything was illogical.

Why did I imply that Mormons would like it?

Because everytime a character died or some sort of calamity occurred, the surviving characters would make jokes or stupid puns. This is a killer shark movie in case you're wondering.

It reminded me of an actual Mormon funeral where a visiting high councilor was invited to say something inspiring to a well liked brother that probably wasn't 100% Mormon. He said "I am so impressed with the attendance today. We don't get this good of a turnout during most of our church meetings so maybe we should do this more often." He then went on to laugh at his own joke because nobody else was laughing.

I like almost any kind of old-movie humor, from Charlie Chaplin and Laurel & Hardy, to Abbot & Costello, Jerry Lewis, Bob Hope, Danny Kay, Peter Sellers, Mel Brooks, Naked Gun, Airplane, Jim Carrey. All British humor. Clever satire. Slapstick. Jaques Tati--French sight-gags. Most cartoons used to be funny. The Simpsons. Thurber. Mad magazine. Sid Caesar, Steve Allen, Carol Burnett, Bob Newhart, Bill Cosby (in his day), Seinfeld, Frasier--everything made me laugh! EXCEPT bathroom humor. I don't like crude, sexist, or racist jokes. Foul language is unnecessary, and not clever at all. Now, all we get is crude, rude, disgusting, and angry humor. Too much yelling, hate, and insults, make it off-putting, and not enjoyable.

Is there anyone really funny out there, these days?

I agree that there are very few characters I can identify with, in any way--and I identify with many, many characters in good English-language literature, both men and women, of all ages. I'm not narrow, that way. When I'm watching a movie, and realize that I really don't care what happens to the characters, that's when I stop watching. I don't blame the movies, exactly. It's the writers that are failing. No one cares about dialog, anymore, which used to include humor, in the old days. No one cares about plot, either. A good mystery is much harder to write than a blood-and-guts horror story.

What happened to all the good writers? Are they a species that have died out with the last generation? Are they tired of being censored? Did they give up and start writing commercials on Madison Avenue? Is there more money in writing video games?

A lot of TV shows don't have writers at all; for example, the reality shows, the talent-contest shows, game shows. These shows are all about editing, not writing.

The last comedies I bought are from years ago:
Better off Dead with John Cusack
The Proposal with Sandra Bullock
Ace Ventura, Pet Detective I and II
Best In Show
The Grinch cartoon with Boris Karloff
The Grinch Jim Carrey
Just Friends with Ryan Reynolds to watch at Christmas
Christmas Vacation

Nothing more recent. Maybe it's just me, except I still laugh many times every day, at the antics of my pets and grandchildren, or things my hilarious adult children say.

I like mysteries as well, and I find that a well-crafted British mystery TV show can be just as satisfying as a movie -- shows like Vera, Shetland, and Endeavour.

Political correctness killed most comedy stone dead.

"Thank you for your comment. Please leave your resumé on the desk. You will be contacted should further input be needed."

Jargon didn't get the joke.

Lot's Wife Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Jargon didn't get the joke.

I did. It was crap.

More scatology.

You should be ashamed, not so much of the crudity as of the hypocrisy.

Lot's Wife Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> More scatology.
>
> You should be ashamed, not so much of the crudity
> as of the hypocrisy.

Yet you delight when your weeaboo friend whitters on about tapeworms.

You condemn the scatology and then turn around and use it yourself. I guess you believe consistency is just for the little people.

And why are you using "weeaboo" to describe EOD? Has he given you any reason to believe he is interested in Japanese culture? Or is this just another race-based insult used without regard to its meaning?

Your friend Ookami or whatever s/he calls themselves. Maybe his/her tapeworm obsession might "go Dimitri Tsafendas" on us all.

I very rarely use scatology or swear on here unlike you. "Crap" is also a lot milder than some the language you use.

Lot's Wife? More like fishwife...

You are so droll, Jargon, sometimes intentionally so.

The joke that went "whoosh" over your head, however, was ElderOldDog's.

So perhaps this is (whoosh!)^2 territory.

I loved “ Better off dead” ( those 2 Japanese guys learning English from “ The wild world of sports “, “ English lessons “
“ The sure thing “ was also good and funny. Does anyone remember the goofy, corny “ Student Exchange “?
https://youtu.be/5QIozs1etVc