The last four movies I went to were Hero, Team America, Sideways and Shaun of the Dead.

I've enjoyed them all a lot. Team America is not for everyone, but if the idea of foul-mouthed puppets appearing a paryod of Jerry Bruckheimer movies, appeals to you, I highly recommend it. It was far funnier than I thought it would be.The songs are the best part. There's a ballad about how bad the movie Pearl Harbor was.

We came out of Sideways marvelling that we couldn't remember that last time we had a run of movies this good.

Do you know the site rottentomatoes.com? It's a movie site that aggregates movie reviews from all over the country. The final rating is usually an accurate reflection if the movie is good or not.

You also just reminded me I"ve been hearing raves about this movie out of Hong Kong called Infernal Affairs that I have to remember to go see. I think Scorsese is already signed on to remake it.

I don't think Hollywood itself makes anything anymore, even here we're loosing out to South Africa and other places. China is getting good stuff out to.
Bob.

I'm an old guy too, 42 just like you, and I echo your sentiments exactly. Whatever happened to feel-good rock n roll music? There's so much angst in todays rock music that I have to resort to playing class rock cd's as I drive.

As for today's movies, don't ge me started, most of them are rehashed of originals but done terribly. "We" passed the "torch" to this newer generation of people that have not done it justice. Maybe it's time to take the "torch" back! LOL!

I was foolish enough to say something like that to Frank Zappa. I was doing a paper on him in college and I got a chance to meet him to talk about that. I said so much exciting was happening in music in the sixties while now in 1976 it seems very little is going on. He said, "'when you make a statement like that you can almost sound wise for a minute. But all it tells me is that you ain't watching, because everything's happening all the time. I think you are afflicted with nostalgia."

Well, he almost cured me.

Tor

Wether the studios know it or not, now and the next few years are going to be critical times for the movies. We're going to see the coming of high def DVD's soon, prices or going to drop on large screen projection TV's especially plasma and DLP and the following factors:

- the Internet
- the rise of DVD
- the changing face of television
- video games

Let me explain.

First, surveys are showing already that the Net, vidoe games and DVD's are causing people to turn off regular TV and movies. It seems like, we want to program our own entertainment, maybe this is the great popularity of the Internet over TV, we click for info when we want, not when someone schedules it for us. And, we're getting used to this.

TV series on DVD have become popular and the whole notion of watching when you want is finally sinking it to broadcasters. You'll see the popularity of pay per view and video on demand grow on the tube, as well as great HBO type series and other interesting satellite and digital cable features, so I think TV will make a comeback (not prime time, but showing old movies, series, specialty stuff and broadcasting it in new and interesting ways -- TV has lot's more room to do this then movies).

Then, the next round of video games which are already a booming, dominating industry especially with kids, are going to reach a level of sophistication that's also going to attract lots of adults. As well, new generations which grew up on video games (I grew up on Monopoly) are of habit, going to keep on playing them.

So, the competition for movies is going to be fierce. Now you also take escalating movie costs, high prices for condiments at the theatre, parking in large cities, paying tickets for a family or 4-5 -- compare to sitting at home and watching high def on a 53" DLP projection TV which is in certain ways better then a movie theatre -- well, the writing's on the wall.

Back to the original post, all entertainment has become so diffuse and spread thin that good product is now a small percentage of the grand total. This just ads to cinema's problem.

I really believe people will wind up only going to see big popcorn/animation flicks and leave everything else to home video. Or, like back in the 50's when cinemascope or 3d came out to steal back TV audiences to the theatre, movies are going to have to find a new hook.

DEGRADING SCREENS with digital projection or broadcasting via satellite to reduce print costs and for distributor convenience -- ain't gonna cut it with audiences. Any slight degradation of service will just kill movies faster, Hollywood has to find a new gimmick, maybe a new form of 3D.


MB

Here's my bet on what will save 'The Movies'; all digital, camera to projector, 4K res at upto 60fps.

For quite some time now, 5 years and a bit, since the birth of my daughter, we have been economizing greatly. Since I am a bit older than the usual run of the mill father with a 5 year old, I feel that I have less time to spend with her and less time to prepare for her future.

1) There isn't anything at the movies during this time, not ONE thing, that has enticed me to leave her and go to the movie house.

2) She loves DVD, but NOT broadcast or Cable. That is HER choice. So, we buy a few DVDs

3) The highest price I have paid for a DVD since her birth (I bought NONE before that), is $5.88 plus Uncle's skim. (She loves that one, a used rental version of Harry Potter and the Sour Stone, as she calls it.)

4) Wednesday, I saw a rack of about 200 titles, granted, many of them old titles, all selling for $1.00 flat (Plus Uncle's skim, of course). Peter DiNero was among them, don't remember the title. So they aren't that old.

How is Hellywood going to produce quality with that sort of logic going on, assuming there are others buying and saving the way I am? The best they can do is aim at profligate teens. That is where the money has always been, and the teens have no reference for what is good. They have never even HEARD of Citizen Kane, Wait Until Dark, Song of the South, etc. Possibly never will.

I agree on the 4K projectors. Seen one, it was fantastic. Not perfect, yet, though.

Random thoughts:

Creativity goes in waves. (Perhaps it's sunspots.) The Renaissance. Then not a whole lot. The Classical and then Romantic periods in music, but then not a whole lot.

Pop music also goes in waves. The Big Band era was amazing. But there was nothing from post war until Elvis. (Quick, name the most popular tunes from 1950 - 1955). 1964 - 1974 was another amazing period. Then Disco happened. Then Punk.

Greatness can only be appreciated in retrospect. The Beatles and the Dave Clark Five were the two hottest bands in 1965, and virtually indistinguishable in many people's minds. They certainly got similar airplay. However, when was the last time you heard "Because," "Over and Over," or "Can't You See That She's Mine?" Have you ever heard even a single cover of any DC5 tune? Zappa is right that good things are happening all the time and statements to the contrary are, at least in part, nostalgia. However, there is a lot less that is being copied from the last twenty years than from the 1940's and the 1960's.

Disney has gone through phases as well. They created an amazing body of work in the 1940's and then again in the late 1980's and early 1990's. The last decade has been pretty thin. Forgetting the Pixar films for the moment, Disney itself has not produced any animated films in the last ten years that hold a candle to what Ashman and Menken produced with Mermaid, Beauty, and Aladdin.

Not all is bleak. Production values are certainly far better, and most modern films are far more cogent than their predecessors. I rent a pretty equal mix of old and new films from Netflix. When a film is re-made, the newer film is often actually much better. Watch the original "Italian Job" with Michael Caine. While the last fifteen minutes of the original is FAR better than the re-make, the rest of the 1960’s version is a dud. By contrast, the re-make is pretty sharp from beginning to end.

Part of the problem with both music and movies is that the technology has overtaken the creativity. Music used to be recorded live in one take. Now it is recorded in hundreds of takes, often with the musicians not even in the same town. Movies are no longer finished in post production, they are CREATED in post-production. It’s tough to generate electricity when musicians or actors aren’t even the same room together.

Fortunately, the CD and the DVD mean that the collected music and film works from ALL eras can be enjoyed to their fullest by every generation. There have never been so many high-quality choices available to so many.

IMDB lists "The Godfather" and "Shawshank Redemption" as two of the three best movies ever made, according the member rankings. One of these is a very good movie, but the other is a work of art. However, even though they were made twenty years apart, I can watch either of them tonight, something that no one was able to do twenty years ago. Therefore, I don't worry about whether the quality of music or movies at this moment is in a dip. I still have a lot of catching up to do.

Now, don’t even get me started about whatever happened to ballet. Baryshnikov, Nureyev, Godunov — all household names. Quick, name one principle dancer from ABT, NYCB, Bolshoi, or the Kirov.

>We came out of Sideways marvelling that we couldn't remember that last time we had a run of movies this good.

That's one of the movies I am looking forward to. It just starts playing here today.

>IMDB lists "The Godfather" and "Shawshank Redemption" as two of the three best movies ever made, according the member rankings. One of these is a very good movie, but the other is a work of art.

OK. I like them both. I'll bite. Which is which and why?

In our town (Orlando Florida) there is an art movie theater called the "Enzian". They play current movies that don't make it to the local AMC like "Mary Full of Grace" and "The Motorcycle Diaries". My wife and I have enjoyed almost all the movies we have seen there, No super human dudes singlehandedly saving the World with incredible special effects. Just entertaining and enlightening movies in a cafe style atmosphere. Don't get me wrong, I still like to see the latest greatest thing every so often, but I find that at 43, I usually enjoy art films more. Maybe you're just finally outgrowing the standard commercial fodder!

The Ramones ended their careers with a cover of a Dave Clark song.
The last song of their 2263rd concert was "Any Way You Want It" with Eddie Vedder dueting with Joey Ramone on the vocals. It's a pretty good version. There's a live CD of that concert called We're Outta Here.

"You don't want money"
you don't want a diamond ring
Hey hey hey
You say you want my loving
more than any other thing
Hey hey hey"

Also Sideways is a mid-life crisis comedy. If you're in the midst of a mid-life crisis or still getting over a divorce, you may want to wait.

I particularly like any film by the Coen brothers and they continue to achieve decent commercial success. I have to agree, however, that the majority of what comes out of Hollywood these days is junk.

John

>Has there been a longer-than-usual period of nothing interesting?
>
>As I type this, I have heard reports of a few decent movies that aren't playing here yet. I hope we are on the verge of something worth seeing.

I posted that at the beginning of November. In retrospect, I think there were a couple decent films from earlier last year that I missed.

I though it appropriate now to ammend that I think the year turned out ot be one of the best I can remember. May we have more of the same in the future.

As I type, the Oscar show is on TV. Don't know who won best picture yet, my money is on Million Dollar Baby. What ever comes out, I have seen some really good movies recently. My appreciation to whoever made that happen.

MOVIES -
"Here's my bet on what will save 'The Movies'; all digital, camera to projector, 4K res at upto 60fps"

I disagree... All the high tech tools in the world can't replace a well, written, directed and acted movie.

MUSIC -
Seems to me a lot of the music today is more about being cool as opposed to playing good music. It's not hard to separate the musicians from the pop/rock stars out there....the musicians are the ones writing and playing their own music.

TV -
I haven't watched television in about 3 years. Which is odd cause I was raised in front of "the box." I hear people talkin about the reality tv shows and I really feel I'm not missing anything. But it's shows like CSI, Six Feet Under, 24, Sopranos, etc. that give me hope for TV's future.
...I miss Seinfeld.

(( PS, it's threads like this that remind me how interesting and great this forum can be...))

I'm thinking "the movies" may be killing themselves. Most movies come out on DVD less then a year after first release. I know several people who just don't bother going anymore because they KNOW they will be able to rent it for $3 relatively soon. Back when videos would come out maybe 1.5-2 years after a movie was put on screen I feel people wanted to go more. Now, why bother? You've got DTS/Dolby Digital at home, all the pop corn you can eat for a couple bucks, liters of pop, and an el-cheapo DVD rentel. Or, you could even buy the movie for the cost of 2-3 tickets.

I'm betting soon (30-50 years) movies won't be in theatures but will just be transmitted like Pay per view. I'd bet sooner but right now companies need to pay off their equipment. :)

>I'm thinking "the movies" may be killing themselves. Most movies come out on DVD less then a year after first release. I know several people who just don't bother going anymore because they KNOW they will be able to rent it for $3 relatively soon.

I do that myself many times. As people start getting better home systems it might get worse for the theaters. There are other factors, though. Something about the big theater presentation adds a lot. If I think the movie is really worth seeing, then I'll make an effort to see it in a theater. In addition to the big screen, I believe the energy of lots of other people sharing the experience (when it is good) adds something that you will never get at home.

A lot of times I make a guess if the movie will be just as good on my decent TV with decent sound system, as it would be in the theater. I saw American Splendor in the theater a year or so back. I loved it. I would think it would be one in the category where the theater wasn't important. Oddly enough, I have seen it since a few times on DVD or cable. It doesn't work as well for me. Not sure why.

When I stop at my favorite neighborhood public hangout, I pay almost $5 for one beer. In that context, two beers vs. a movie doesn't seem too bad.

>I'm betting soon (30-50 years) movies won't be in theatures but will just be transmitted like Pay per view.

I'll bet you in 10 yrs you'll be getting your movies off the internet. Same goes for anything on TV.

That's assumng it'll be legal. If not, the only difference is that the percentage of people doing it will be lower.

Good article with the author of bittorrent. Most likely technology for how it'll happen, IMHO.

That was a hip phrase, "afflicted with nostalgia" and it fits me perfectly.

I think there's been virtually nothing good in the way of pop music since the 80's, and most of my favorites are from the late 60's to 70's. There are a few exceptions. The MTV back in late 70s/early 80s was great, but almost all pop music this last 10+ years has been junk.

So I dust off my Rush, Police, Pretenders, Who, Pink Floyd, Led Zep, Sade, Madonna, Phil Collins, AC/DC and other 'older school' cds/mp3s to listen to.

And of course, classic jazz: ellington, coltrane, miles, bird, and contemporary like spyro gyra, rippingtons. ..

Movies vs tv: I don't know about you all, but I haven't watched regular television in years. I've bought hundreds of tv DVDs, still waiting for I Dream of Jeannie, Wild Wild West, and other classics to be released..

Movies? I watch with my projector in my home theater w/Klipsch speakers on a 6 x 9 foot projection screen at home. Favorites are Connery Bond flicks like Goldfinger, and action movies like Heat, True Lies, and sci-fi like trek tv dvds.

I'm 41 .. I did take my daughter to see "The Incredibles", which was decent ... one of the only movies I've been to see in a theater (how quaint!) in years. Agree it would take 3d, or more Imax type experiences, to get me to leave the comfort, safety, privacy of my home to go watch media broadcast in someone else's commercial theater.

We are all expecting more ... hollywood's usually far behind the times... there's been a handful of good movies out lately, but think about it: of the last 3 years' releases, have you bought more than 15 DVDs, of the several hundred movies out? Me neither.

Ken

I'm with John Cline re Coen Brothers movies, ever since Fargo picked up on the post Twin Peaks weirdness.

One of my favourite movies of recent years though was Amelie. We went to our local small independent cinema expecting to see something else, can't remember what, but found this was showing. We paid and went in and, slowly, as the opening credits rolled, we realised this film was in French with subtitles! Quelle Horreur! Anyway, the film was fantastic, and that was all down to an incredible cast, a magical storyline and some inventive cinematography.

So, when people say technology will save the movies, I think they're missing half of the story. When Punk came along, it was the cost of equipment falling and access to small venues which allowed it to happen But it was the message in the songs and the engagement with the audience that meant it was a success, which changed the model of pop music for ever.

Nowadays, with movies like Sky Captain, software like Blender and Vegas, more and more powerful PCs and Macs, and the Internet providing the means for low cost distribution, we are on the verge of the Punk Movie revolution. Look at the success of some of the viral movies if you don't believe me.

Tor, I would say that history has proven you to be right. Just my opinion.

If you take a look a the history of cinema in the U.S. you'll notice that in the beginning movies were made for adults. Even the animations, Disney, Warner Brothers, MGM, etc., were made for adults.

One example was an early Popeye cartoon. Popeye and Olive Oyl go to a roller skating rink. When it comes time to get their skates, Olive, with her big feet, tells the guy behind the counter, "I wear a size 6, but a size 9 feels so good." As a kid, I must have heard that line dozens of times--no effect--it went right over my head. But the first time I heard that line as an adult, I laughed out loud. It's priceless!

Someone else here said it, Hollywood has discovered that the youth segment of the audience is larger than the adult market, hence they have become the target audience, and, sadly enough, it shows.

Thanks goodness for directors like Clint Eastwood and films like Million Dollar Baby.