One reason I hate movies today

I am notorious for hating new movies and preferring instead the older ones, and I try to think exactly why that is. Obviously, the storylines were better, the acting was better, oddly enough the effects, which were so limited in past, were better...and today I thought of another reason.

It used to be in a movie if somebody said 'let's go on an adventure', they would, they'd go to the desert or the jungle or roam a cemetery or pack a bag and hit the open road or something...today in a movie if somebody says 'let's go on an adventure', the response is basically something like 'okay, first I need to check my email, my cell phone and my PDA to make sure that I have the time to do it, oh and let me call my wife and kids so they'll know I'll be back from it on Tuesday at 7'. Exactly WHY do people think THAT is entertaining?

Supernova wrote:I am notorious for hating new movies and preferring instead the older ones, and I try to think exactly why that is. Obviously, the storylines were better, the acting was better, oddly enough the effects, which were so limited in past, were better...and today I thought of another reason.

It used to be in a movie if somebody said 'let's go on an adventure', they would, they'd go to the desert or the jungle or roam a cemetery or pack a bag and hit the open road or something...today in a movie if somebody says 'let's go on an adventure', the response is basically something like 'okay, first I need to check my email, my cell phone and my PDA to make sure that I have the time to do it, oh and let me call my wife and kids so they'll know I'll be back from it on Tuesday at 7'. Exactly WHY do people think THAT is entertaining?

I disagree with you, movies out today are amazing examples of how far we have come in cinematic presentation. Some of the best movies today make you feels as if you are a part of the movie and not just watching a story.


Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - (2003, Peter Jackson) (Elijah Wood, Sean Astin)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - (2000, Ang Lee) (Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh)
The Departed - (2006, Martin Scorsese) (Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon)
No Country for Old Men - (2007, Ethan & Joel Coen) (Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin)
Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings - (2001, Peter Jackson) (Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen)
Gladiator - (2000, Ridley Scott) (Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix)
The Hurt Locker - (2009, Kathryn Bigelow) (Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie)
Letters From Iwo Jima - (2006, Clint Eastwood) (Ken Watanabe, Kazunari Ninomiya)
Avatar - (2009, James Cameron) (Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver)
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - (2002, Peter Jackson) (Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen)
Lost in Translation - (2003, Sofia Coppola) (Bill Murray, Scarlett Johnansson)
Moulin Rouge - (2001, Baz Luhrmann) (Nicole Kidman, Ewan McGregor)
Spirited Away - (2001, Hayao Miyazaki) (Rumi Hiiragi, Miyu Irino)
A Beautiful Mind - (2001, Ron Howard) (Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly)
Million Dollar Baby - (2004, Clint Eastwood) (Clint Eastwood, Hilary Swank)
The Dark Knight - (2008, Christopher Nolan) (Christian Bale, Heath Ledger)
Crash - (2005, Paul Haggis) (Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon)
Ray - (2004, Taylor Hackford) (Jamie Foxx, Kerry Washington, Regina King)
The Aviator - (2004, Martin Scorsese) (Leonardo Dicaprio, Cate Blanchett)
Shrek - (2001, Andrew Adamson) (Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz)
Babel - (2006, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu) (Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Mohamed Akhzam)
Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone - (2001, Chris Columbus) (Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint)
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World - (2003, Peter Weir) (Russell Crowe, Paul Bettany)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - (2004, Alfonso Cuaron) (Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint)
Up - (2009, Pete Docter) (Animated - Edward Asner, Christopher Plummer)
Hotel Rwanda - (2004, Terry George) (Don Cheadle, Joaquin Phoenix)
56. Walk the Line - (2005, James Mangold) (Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon)
O Brother, Where Art Thou? - (2000, Joel Coen) (George Clooney, John Turturro)
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl - (2003, G. Verbinski) (Johnny Depp, G. Rush)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - (2002, Chris Columbus) (Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint)
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith - (2005, G. Lucas) (Hayden Christensen, Ewan McGregor)
Seabiscuit - (2003, Gary Ross) (Tobey Maguire, Jeff Bridges)
The Passion of the Christ - (2004, Mel Gibson) (James Caviezel, Monica Bellucci)
Spider Man 2 - (2004, Sam Raimi) (Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst)
WALL-E - (2008, Andrew Stanton) (voices- Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight, Fred Willard)
Kill Bill Vol. 1 - (2003, Quentin Tarantino) (Uma Thurman, Vivica A. Fox)
Kill Bill Vol. 2 - (2004, Quentin Tarantino) (Uma Thurman, David Carradine)
Collateral - (2004, Michael Mann) (Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Dennis Farina)
Spider Man - (2002, Sam Raimi) (Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst)
The Wrestler - (2008, Darren Aronofsky) (Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei)
Monster's Ball - (2001, Marc Forster) (Billy Bob Thornton, Halle Berry)
Black Hawk Down - (2001, Ridley Scott) (Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor)
Cast Away - (2000, Robert Zemeckis) (Tom Hanks, Helen Hunt)
A History of Violence - (2005, David Cronenberg) (Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bello, Ed Harris)
The Others - (2001, Alejandro Amenabar) (Nicole Kidman, Christopher Eccleston)
Finding Nemo - (2003, Andrew Stanton) (Albert Brooks, Alexander Gould)


the above movie disagree with your "check the PDA" example of adventure.

I enjoy old movies, I watch them whenever I can but with today's technology, movies have come a long way in entertainment value. Imagine if they remade the Wizard of Oz what effects they could have, it would be dazzling. I am not for re-making classics but movie going today is very enjoyable if you pick the right movie. Ghost1P mentioned a lot of good ones above.

That's the thing, the '39 version makes a relatively realistic looking twister when they had very limited effects and managed it with miniatures and I think a wind sock, today you would KNOW it's computer animated, generated, whatever, and they would probably do to the Munchkins what Charlie and the Chocolate Factory did with the Oompa Loompas and just use the same one person for all of them.

Of course I'm not a very big fan of the '39 Wizard of Oz, it itself is a remake, and I prefer the silent, zanier 1925 version with a swarm of bees and a lightning storm and triplanes and pirates and Dorothy is a princess and the farmhands only dress up like the tinman and scarecrow and lion, etc.

There are movies I love from practically every decade. I don't have the energy to make a list. Of course there's crap being released today but there's also great stuff that will probably become "classics".

Yeah, but not too much of it, and none of it strikes me as being worthy of shelling out $10 on. I've only been to 1 movie this whole year and I usually average around 8 or 10.

Supernova wrote:That's the thing, the '39 version makes a relatively realistic looking twister when they had very limited effects and managed it with miniatures and I think a wind sock, today you would KNOW it's computer animated, generated, whatever, and they would probably do to the Munchkins what Charlie and the Chocolate Factory did with the Oompa Loompas and just use the same one person for all of them.

Of course I'm not a very big fan of the '39 Wizard of Oz, it itself is a remake, and I prefer the silent, zanier 1925 version with a swarm of bees and a lightning storm and triplanes and pirates and Dorothy is a princess and the farmhands only dress up like the tinman and scarecrow and lion, etc.

That twister looked pretty real to me, it frightened me as a child. I never saw the 1925 version, I would like to sometime. Actually they should have stuck to the book and had the 4 witches in it instead of 2 and the dead one you never saw.

Tony Marino wrote:
That twister looked pretty real to me, it frightened me as a child. I never saw the 1925 version, I would like to sometime.

You're in luck, if you have Turner Classic Movies that is, it's going to be on the day after Christmas.

Supernova wrote:
You're in luck, if you have Turner Classic Movies that is, it's going to be on the day after Christmas.

Thanks. I'll be sure to watch because I didn't know there was a version that predated the '39 one. I hate silent movies but I may still watch.

Supernova wrote:

You're in luck, if you have Turner Classic Movies that is, it's going to be on the day after Christmas.

Cool I have to remember to watch it.

According to the TCM website schedule, The Wizard of Oz (1925) is going to be on December 26th at 11:00 P.M. for the silent Sunday feature. I recommend to anybody who wishes to check it out, you might record it on the off chance that you like it because this movie has not been shown on TV for over 3 years and there's no telling when it'll be on again.

Supernova wrote:According to the TCM website schedule, The Wizard of Oz (1925) is going to be on December 26th at 11:00 P.M. for the silent Sunday feature. I recommend to anybody who wishes to check it out, you might record it on the off chance that you like it because this movie has not been shown on TV for over 3 years and there's no telling when it'll be on again.

I will have to record it, if your remember please post a reminder, I really want to see it.