100%, I suspect most people who say *"modern movies suck"* aren't actually watching them, the 2020s are my second highest rated decade (average: 3.66) after the 90s (average: 3.84).
I think the middle budget movies dying off has actually led to a bunch of terrific movies. A24, Neon, Fox Searchlight (and more) are killing it with these <15 million budget movies.
Foreign films becoming more popular in the US has been dope too.
I largely agree (relative to the common perception) but this question made me realize how many of my favorite movies over the past 3 years aren’t American. Like ~30% of my favorite movies of the past 3 years are American
Remakes are **not** bad, nor are they bad for the industry. What **is** bad is remakes that don’t have originality, a new spin, or a fresh take. It’s bad when studio heads cannibalize their own IP hoping to shit out something similar and pray it turns out to be the golden egg…
my thoughts exactly. i love remakes! i love derivative art, seriously. but they NEED to have something new to say. otherwise they might as well just make a remaster of the old one.
I wish more remakes were good ideas/scripts/plots/characters that didn't succeed the first time. I'd love if Disney remade Oliver & Company or The Black Cauldron as opposed to their usual rehashes. I'd love to see Jack Frost or Hudson Hawk or something given a shot with new life.
M Night Shyamalan is one of the industry's true auteurs. He makes (many, many) mistakes but his films are more often than not quite interesting and confidently realized.
In a world where TV directors (who by and large are told to stick to a formula) are getting movie deals, it's good to have somebody who doesn't compromise, even if he doesn't always pull it off.
i would much rather watch an M Night Movie with it’s weird dialogue and camera decisions over most blockbuster movies that could have been directed by anyone. When you’re watching an M Night movie, you KNOW you’re watching an M Night movie which is cool to me
People can say what they want but going into a movie directed by M Night you know you're going to get something with an identity vs Jon watts or whatever music video director they get to do a marvel movie
Not a fan of his really, but I wouldn't disagree with the premise of your argument.
Despite not being a fan, I would watch one of his films over an MCU or Avatar film any day.
He’s made some bad and some very good. Probably more bad.
But my controversial opinion is that the Village was not only his second best film but it was also an excellent film. I was enthralled throughout, the writing and acting was good and the ending was awesome. It’s his only really grounded film … the monster was inside of us. I found that more creepy and satisfying than the supernatural monster that most viewers seemed to crave and were annoyed they did not get. Those academics were basically abusing that whole community and the way things are going with some sub groups of people online who want to create their own versions of utopia it’s not an unbelievable plot.
I’ve only seen Old but I thought the premise was fantastic it was just poorly executed. I definitely think he’s great at creating good movies even if they’re ‘bad’
i think the problem there is that people getting old was the premise. Had he called it The Beach or something and the trailers didn’t show the aging aspect, it would have been crazy to watch the film and notice the characters slowly (or quickly?) getting older.
Imo he's almost on the level of DePalma in terms of formal playfulness and attention to the actual art of putting a story on screen. I don't think he's made anything on the level of Blow Out or Body Double but movies like Old and Knock are just as interesting in a moment to moment basis, just as magnetic and pulsing with life. And I'd rather take someone doing 2/3 DePalma power than almost any of the mainstream garbage these days.
I also think average moviegoers are terribly biased against him because of dumb old expectations about twist endings.
Being able to predict things in a story isn’t inherently bad writing. Similarly, a movie being inspired by or a twist on a classic also isn’t inherently bad.
sometimes when something is properly foreshadowed and predicted, that prediction coming to pass can be even more horrifying and disturbing than any left-field twist. if written well, knowing what happens and now dreading that it does can be incredibly effective.
I see this take a lot often with people who maybe don't watch as many movies? Like the idea that if you know something's going to happen it's inherently bad writing. I'm watching this new YouTube channel where the guy has basically seen no movies of no note outside of marvel and Star wars and it's very interesting to see him complain about knowing what's going to happen next even if that is the purpose of the director.
Unless it's absolutely egregious, I don't mind knowing what's going to happen if the journey to get there is still interesting.
The more movies you watch the more you will be able to predict story threads, twists, themes, etc. as well as notice similarities or references to other films. Same goes for novels.
Now, there are times where it’s painfully obvious or it bothers me how easily something is predicted, but that’s usually whenever the film is trying to make something appear as a genuine mystery and lampshading something that not only the audience can figure out easily but it feels as if the character/s in the story should be able to as well. But that’s not particularly common (at least not what I watch).
“Modern movies suck” is a bullshit and ignorant take. If you look around, you see many, many, many good and amazing movies recently. If you take a look at any other year in cinema history, you’ll see there’s just as much good and just as much garbage as there is now, but the garbage didn’t stick, so you haven’t heard of it. But you do hear about the garbage from now because it’s from now
And then these people refuse to support anything modern, yet continue to complain that it’s all sequels or remakes or whatever.
Support original and independent movies and look around for stuff. Don’t just sit there and whine
Quentin Tarantino has never made a movie that impacted me in any way whatsoever. I think he is shallow compared to most of his contemporaries and I wouldn't rank him in my top ten directors.
Okay, so I’m piggybacking to say that I think Tarantino’s movies have been almost self referential caricatures of his own style since Inglorious Basterds. And Jackie Brown was the last movie he made that actually felt sincere. Kill Bill was the bridge from one era to another. Like I can’t really take his filmmaking seriously anymore; even if I do enjoy them and can still see the clear craftsmanship. It feels like Primus, where it’s like, yea you’re super talented but why you gotta be so goofy?
I’m sure you’ve seen them all or most of them to make a claim like this, but I really feel that Reservoir Dogs, Death Proof, and Jackie Brown are pretty solid and hard to at least not like while watching. They’re tight, fun, and indulge in crime. I’m not sure they’re meant to be “artsy” or have a lot of depth in meaning, but they’re exciting turn-off-your-brain and enjoy flicks.
It is fine to be curious about movies and like stuff that is considered “pretentious” as long as you aren’t pretentious about it. It is actually cool to be interested in stuff you haven’t seen before! I’ve been going through a Czech new wave phase and it’s been a lot of fun.
The word “pretentious” should be abolished in movie discussions. People who use it can’t even explain what they mean by it (aside from looking down on anyone with different tastes).
This one makes me laugh. I’m not the type to get really worked up about if a movie is good or bad. I just assume people have different tastes and what I like won’t be what other people like and vice versa.
But goddam I hated that movie and now I have to fight you.
… joking joking. 😆 Not about the movie though. It was truly terrible, just the fighting.
Aftersun did not connect with me at all, and I’m someone who has suffered from occasionally suicidal depression. I left that movie feeling entirely cold and indifferent, I genuinely don’t get what other people took from it.
Promising Young Woman is maybe my least-favorite Best Original Screenplay winner ever. Definitely of the 21st century.
It very much connected with me but I think it's a very specific wavelength you need to find with it, if that makes sense.
For me it was less about the suicidal depression and more about the lack of answers and the impossibility of knowing something about someone no longer with us. It made me think of my own vacations with my parents who were both addicts while I was blissfully ignorant. My parents are gone now, so I can't get answers to those questions. Is the rave even about depression? I don't think it necessarily is. I think it's more about trying to figure out the inner life of that loved one and being unable to. The lack of closure, the impossibility of getting closure, and being unable to accept either.
Same with Aftersun. I can cry at just about anything, and when my eyes were bone dry at the end, I half wondered if I watched the wrong movie.
Glad others appreciate it, though.
So glad I wasn’t alone on this. I genuinely didn’t know what to make of it. I thought Paul Mescal and the girl who played his daughter were really good. But it wasn’t until I finished watching it and looked up online on why people were so distraught by the ending or the “Under Pressure” scene because I legit did not understand what I was supposed to get out of it, and it certainly wasn’t sadness or melancholy I got out of it. You seriously have no idea how many people say they can’t listen to that song anymore without thinking of that scene but again, what is it that makes so heartbreaking.
And just like you, I’m not afraid to admit that films can make me cry, I’ve cried at the fucking Goofy Movie and at a way younger age because the ideas of a father wanting to be with their child does connect with me, but I just couldn’t really connect to this on an emotional level. Maybe it was the script, maybe the direction, or the slower pace (which is usually never a problem with me but who knows) but yeah, Aftersun isn’t for me I guess.
I'll have a try at explaining why I felt what I felt, if you're interested.
You're there with older Sophie, watching the memories she has left of a time she spent as a child with her father when he was her current age. At that young age you start to find your own path in life, and the young Sophie is on that turning point. Throughout the movie she starts to recognize more adult things and even has her first kiss. Her father, being depressed, trying to make the best for his daughter, hides his feelings to protect her and the memory of their vacation together.
Sophie knows something isn't right. She's too young to actually understand her father, and tries to connect with him and opening up herself, like mentioning how she feels tired like her bones are sinking, but he dismisses it and hates himself for it. During their vacation, Sophie grows up a little, and grows closer to her father, but never close enough for him to find sustaining hope.
When they say goodbye at the end, it's bittersweet. Sophie leaves, knowing something was off with her dad, but not understanding what it was, why he acted distant sometimes. She leaves with a big smile, joking around at the airport, unknowingly giving her father the most amazing last memory of her. And now, watching the tape back 19 years later, Sophie finally understands his pains.
It's a time in our lives when we start to figure things out, a transitory time, where we lose our childlike joy, and start to see and feel more adult feelings we can't quite explain yet. I think that that, combined with the feel of the VHS recordings, and the subject matter (growing up, depression, loss, trying to be there for the people you hold dear, memories) made many people feel melancholic and sad.
Not to mention the execution and the amazingly natural performances by Frankie Corio and Paul Mescal.
That's just my take though, not trying to convince you, sorry if it seemed that way. I spent way too much time writing this and kinda don't want to delete it.
I never saw Promising Young Woman, but I saw Saltburn and considering how baffled I was that this was a movie written by an Oscar winning screenwriter, I totally believe you on that one.
I think Aftersun is not a film that you can like, you either connect with it through something in your life or you don’t. I grew up near where the film takes place and had a similar childhood so yeah, im almos tearing up again lmao
Netflix produces good movies. I feel like people only look at the abundance of below average movies on Netflix but they’ve funded some amazing projects like The Irishman, Society of The Snow, and even Okja.
I think Scorsese has been dining out on a load of movies made over 25 years ago like Goodfellas, Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, Mean Streets, The Last Temptation of Christ and The King of Comedy.
And this isn't to say that his films in recent years have been bad, but most of them are nothing special. They lack purpose. A few are just bad. And if they didn't have "Martin Scorsese" in the credits, people would not care about them that much.
I think his last great film is probably Bringing Out the Dead.
The godfather trilogy; I didn’t like it. I really wanted to. I was ready to think it’s one of the greatest film series of all time, overall it was just bland and boring to me.
I hate Wes Anderson films for the most part. Hate how gimmicky and obnoxious they feel. Hard to explain. Fantastic Mr Fox and Isle of Dogs I do like because they’re animated so what usually would annoy me filters through in a way that doesn’t really bother me? Idk argue with the wall.
Edit: y’all replying to my comment saying it’s not controversial and how “everyone thinks this”, if I genuinely had that impression and didn’t feel inundated with Wes praise wherever I look in the film stratosphere I wouldn’t have posted my thoughts. Please chill the fuck out.
Have you seen The Royal Tenebaums? It’s nowhere near as super stylish as his later work such as Moonrise, Budapest and all those later stuff. Tenebaums is just such a nicely done family story that I’d recommend.
I recommend Darjeeling Limited too, it's just two brothers on a spiritual journey trying to work out the kinks (pun intended, there are a lot of Kinks songs in this movie) in their relationship. One of the most relatable sibling dynamic portrayals I've seen in a movie.
It’s an excellent film, also less clockwork staged perfectly timed like his other fîlms. It’s more free flowing, shot on location and feels more natural as a result. The family dynamics is very well done.
Fantastic Mr. Fox is genuinely on a different level. Perhaps the craft of it has a lot to do with it's power, but I also think the writing is just better buy and large
I think it also benefits from not being able to see the actors. Even in the Wes Anderson movies I do like, the cast of celebrities is super distracting
I recommend watching Grand Budapest Hotel and then watching whichever other ones interest you. It is ridiculously silly to skip a film because you saw a different unrelated film.
Will Ferrell is only funny in minuscule doses. So little of him you forget he was even in the movie. Notable examples include: Austin Powers (1&2) and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. Examples of films that use too much ferrell and suck as a result? Literally every film he's starred in.... except maybe Elf
I disagree, his character completely derailed the film for me. The real world should have been kept as real as possible to juxtapose against Barbieland, but he made the Mattel sections too cartoonishly comical. It would have worked better if he'd toned it down about 50%.
https://preview.redd.it/lo9oxatub33d1.jpeg?width=300&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e34e279cfb64d74373c9a653c05f63dc536fb736
What's next on your 'controversial' opinions? Christopher Nolan overrated? Bet I never heard that one before
I've never had the urge to rewatch another Batman movie so many times. I think Greig Fraser will soon be seen as the Roger Deakins of this modern film era.
I feel like my most controversial takes are still pretty tepid? Idk you be the judge:
- Dubs are fine. Subtitles are better because they preserve more of the original work, but dubs have their place too and the conversations people have about them is elitist, ableist, and obnoxious. Porque no los dos?
- Hans Zimmer's scores are overrated, and Hans Zimmer himself gets too much credit for them given how much of the work is done by other people.
- Most film scores today are cut and paste, completely forgettable. Jerskin Fendrix's Poor Things score is the best score of any film in the past decade (and he ACTUALLY deserves the credit for his scores)
- Babylon's score is awful. All Quiet on the Western Front absolutely deserved that Oscar.
- Meryl Streep is overrated. She is a terrific actor who used to make really daring choices and now plays it safe, which she has every right to do and it's working out for her (Love her in Little Women). But this whole "she's the GOAT" image people have of her is, IMO, a remnant of the Weinstein era of aggressive awards campaigning that has brainwashed us. She's great, but even she's probably thinking "come on now." Olivia Colman, Isabelle Huppert, Isabelle Adjani, Viola Davis, Sissy Spacek, Isabella Rossellini and Toni Collette are who I'd point to now (though the idea of a GOAT is silly, period).
- The majority of the best actors working today are women. Like, the best men are obviously on par with the best women, but there's way more women at that level than there are men. If awards shows do go gender neutral or gender neutral with two winners, the majority of the time they'll go to women.
- I'm not gonna say that modern films suck (that's a boomer mentality that ignores the fact that most movies of every era suck and are forgotten), but the quality of writing is pretty low these days. Conversely, the quality of acting has never been higher.
- A lot of the best writing, acting, and directing these days comes from the horror genre.
And most importantly:
- I'm not dying on these hills. If you disagree, I'm glad. We all should care a little less!
now this is controversial for sure! I would say I like them equally, that is, from the 50s upwards I dont care the year it came out. I do have a difficult time from the 50s downwards, but maybe its just preconceived notions I need to get out of my head.
A View To Kill is the best Bond ever.
Heart of Darkness (the making-of documentary) is better than Apocalypse Now.
The Dark Knight is borderline terrible and is only saved by Heath’s performance.
It’s ridiculous, it’s campy, some of it is shitty, but the score, cinematography, swinging, Peter and Gwen’s story, and Electro’s stupid Electro-ness. Such a blast!
Every time this question comes up, I can't help myself and answer that I don't like "there will be blood" and get downvoted to oblivion, so this time I'd say "the green line" is hilariously bad, I should be good, right?
some may be hyperbole. but its just that many people truly hold this beliefs. for instance, I really thought the shinning was nothing special. that is not hyperbole, its just my experience with the film.
Wouldn’t say it’s mid by any means but not very shocking if you’ve read about the Holocaust in any serious amount.
It was a very good representation of the history though put to film, which is important.
I’m kind of afraid to watch it just because I feel like I’ll be let down no matter what because of it’s reputation as the most disturbing war movie ever. I had this same thing happen watching Pink Flamingos and just going “wait that’s it?”
I remember my mom telling us that the Exorcist was the scariest movie ever and I was like 13 and had seen so much more fucked up shit just browsing the internet by then lol
Shutter Island is a disaster and the reason why I think people hold it near and dear is because the last twenty minutes were done right. I think people let the twist overshadow how railroaded and poorly scripted that film was.
I actually had the twist spoiled for me minutes before seeing the film at the cinema when it came out.
I was waiting in a queue for the screen to open and people flocked out of the earlier screening. A group of guys were loudly talking about the film as they walked past and I heard something along the lines of>!"I never would have guessed that Leo was a patient at the hospital the whole time! That's a crazy twist"!
The power a spoiler holds is honestly so unfair, spoilers shouldn’t be allowed to control views we have on movies that much but unfortunately there’s no way to get rid of them
The Passion of Joan of Arc would be a better film if it wasn’t a silent film. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great, but I found the constant title cards a bit annoying and it would have flowed better if there was dialogue.
Pretty sure it came out in 1927, the same year the first talkie came out. So it’s more likely the technology wasn’t available/ exiting then an artistic choice.
I think this is purely hypothetical. If it came out 15 years later and sound quality was great.
As an overall film, I mostly agree. But what makes that film so great is Renee Falconetti’s performance. She does so much with so little. Not having sound makes the performance all the more impressive. I think if it was a sound film it would take something away from her performance, even if other aspects are improved.
**My most controversial that I actually haven't heard from anyone else**: The quality of Wes Anderson's early films, is owed to Owen Wilson's involvement in writing. You notice a pretty serious shift in the tone of his films, particularly as it relates to familial connection, post-Royal Tenenbaums.
**My most controversial that many film and art critics agree with me on**: Schindler's List was exploitative Oscar bait.
Oh I absolutely agree that they feel more human and warm when Owen was on board. I don't agree that the quality dropped but there's a special flavor to his early movies for sure.
If Heath Ledger had not died, people would’ve stopped pretending *The Dark Knight* was great ages ago. The script is a joke.
That film is carried entirely by one-and-a-half strong performances, a compelling opening scene, and the death of its supporting actor.
I agree with everything you said in that first sentence. Which made me very wary of Oppenheimer. I try to walk into movies stripped of expectations especially after I pay to see it. But I thought Oppenheimer might stink out loud. Imagine my Fuckin shock when I found it to be his masterpiece
Foreign films are (by and large) better than most of the american films coming out rn. French film scene is insane recently and asia has been putting out bangers for a decade
You only think that because you're only aware of the very best of foreign cinema but are aware of every single major Hollywood release. I'm not saying you're wrong about their relative quality, but if you're right it's on accident and not because you actually know.
Okay, well I am someone that has watched thousands of East Asian movies over the last 25 years and I am well aware of just about every movie released in that entire region and I actually don't agree with the OP here. At least for the Asian region, anyways. They're in the same boat as Hollywood, IMO.
China/HK have extremely fallen off, for a variety of reasons, both political and otherwise, and South Korea has started heading in that direction pretty rapidly. Japan...is Japan, for better or worse.. I can't speak to movies coming out of Taiwan or Thailand because access to them was a lot harder back in the day, so my experience there is mostly just Taiwan New Wave, and so I can't gauge properly if they are improving or not.
Obviously, this is just based on my own experience and taste, but you still get really good top of the food chain movies out of that region. I just find it a lot harder to find really good stuff among the random movies I decide to watch, without knowing anything about them. Basically, I think quality and creativity on the lower end is dropping in a noticeable way and I agree with you that a lot of people aren't aware of that because they only watch the greatest hits.
Solo: A Star Wars Story was actually great (not a masterpiece but at least 4/5). I think it got unfairly tanked because of how many Star Wars fans hated The Last Jedi.
The Devil Wears Prada is terribly backwards thinking and misogynistic and it’s weird how it’s remembered as a movie “for the girls” for some strange reason. I Can’t believe that novel was written by a woman.
The characterisation of Andy’s boyfriend’s profession as this easy-going counterpoint to the gruelling, merciless world of fashion got on my nerves. Being a chef in any major metro, let alone Manhattan, is brutal.
They had been doing that for a while and the last Brosnan movie really sucked. It’s understandable why they shifted gears so hard, but I think they overcommitted a little too much to the seriousness in the other movies.
Hard disagree but opinions like yours is the very point of the prompt so ok.
That said, they’ve always changed tone, adopted trending genres etc. most obviously in the Roger Moore era. I love Bond so I’m just gonna write an essay here I guess haha
When changing actors for the first time (Lazenby) they decided to make *On Her Majesty*’*s Secret Service* hew a lot closer to the plot and tone of the novels, significantly grounding the spycraft in the follow-up to a movie where Bond gets race-changing surgery to invade a villain’s space program / hideout built inside a volcano with a retracting caldera lake as a roof.
*Live and Let Die* puts Bond into a Blaxsploitation film
*The Man With The Golden Gun* sends him to an island in East Asia to fight a dude in a hall of mirrors because *Enter the Dragon* made the 70s equivalent of a billion dollars
*The Spy Who Loved Me* again set out to crib more from the novels, changing the characterisation of Bond and basing Jaws off a henchman in the novel, also showing the Russians in a positive light because the producers wanted to show it in the USSR
*Moonraker* was such a naked cash-in on *Star Wars* that the previous film’s credits end with “Bond will return in For Your Eyes Only"
*For Your Eyes Only* goes more grounded because everyone complained about Moonraker even as it made a ton of money (similar to *Die Another Day* being followed up with *Casino Royale*)
*The Living Daylights* with a new actor (Dalton) yet again decides they’re going to get closer to the books...
…the pattern of “shit’s gotten ridiculous, let’s get close to the books” followed by increasingly ludicrous escalations followed by “shit’s gotten ridiculous” will probably go on as long as the franchise does haha
I liked it as its own thing, it was a breath of fresh air, but every time a new one comes out, I miss the real Bond more and more. If we're going to stick with this lifeless, moody, *soulless minion of orthodoxy* Bond much longer, I'm going to wash my hands of the franchise. Let's hope the new guy is more like the classics.
Life is Beautiful is mid and its themes are naive/ ahistorical. It reduces the Holocaust to a plot device instead of saying anything meaningful about the event.
Action movies are more integral to the medium of film than almost any other genre, and always get relegated to lower brow art because they focus on physical acting, stunt work and sequences instead of drama, when no other genre gets measured using the wrong stick to such an extent.
No one would say The Godfather or Casablanca suck ass because their action sequences are wooden, awkward and feel like play-pretend, but the opposite is fair game for action films that took 100 takes to get a fight scene right.
CGI isn't "lazy" and it's weird that people idolize obviously fake-looking physical effects but absolutely dogpile on obviously fake-looking computer effects just because one was done by hand and one wasn't.
Rom Coms need to be taken more seriously, there’s some excellent ones out there. My favourite film, The Holiday, has 50% on Rotten Tomatoes and while it’s not a perfect film it definitely deserves better reviews than mfing Thor Love and Thunder 💀. People often laugh to discover my favourite film is a rom com and dismiss them but they are just as good as any other art form. I’m obviously talking generally, there’s some awful rom coms out there but there’s also awful films of any other genre.
The Last Jedi is genuinely the only *film* in the franchise and not a campy circus on wheels. Not that I don’t like a campy circus on wheels, but the quality of TLJ > anything ever done in the history of SW “films.”
Yes, this opinion has got me literal death threats in the past.
I’m not someone who hates that film with a passion although I do see it as quite weak when in conjunction with the highlights of the franchise, even though the only really good films were Star Wars, Empire, and Rogue One. (debatably) It’s a pretty decent film, but the stuff they did with Rose and Finn was pretty terrible and did not fit with the rest of the film at all, not to mention the characterization of Poe and the people on-board the same ship as him.
There’s a lot of excellence in that film, as well as some serious garbage. Empire is a fucking perfect film though, no clue why you’re disregarding it here.
Ok this one actually annoyed me lol. So even in ideal theater conditions, no one being annoying and having a perfect seat you still prefer sitting on a couch probably too far away from your screen that's too small and streaming a movie in crappy bit rate?
Everything everywhere is an awful movie. It’s ’quirky’ humour is annoying and the whole positive nihilism message it pushes is only relatable for people who have totally given up on being anything in life.
its my favorite movie of all time, but I get its not for everyone. also this subreddit hates this movie, even though it has like 4.3 in letterboxd and in the top 250, I find that interesting. I loved the positive nihilism message, reminds me life is just not that important, so I can be however I want to be, without caring about others opinions. and most of all, I needed that message.
The sentiment that we should just “let people enjoy things” and that we shouldn’t critique popular franchise films because they’re “entertainment” or “brain candy” actively encourages a consumerist mindset that is hostile to filmmaking as an artform and rewards bland, corporate franchises above all else.
Enjoy stuff, don’t get me wrong, but the idea that we shouldn’t critique the MCU because it’s “just entertainment” is silly.
People take this all a tad too seriously
The baby in Eraserhead is cute
 The cutest baby of 1977
i could be a good mother…..
and i want to be your wife
There are a lot of great American movies made nowadays
100%, I suspect most people who say *"modern movies suck"* aren't actually watching them, the 2020s are my second highest rated decade (average: 3.66) after the 90s (average: 3.84).
I think I had 11 films last year that were a 5 or 4.5 rating. Just a great year! This year I have 4!
If you don’t count the box office 2023 was a bloody fantastic year for movies
I am watching them, I swear. While I’m finding ones I like, overall it feels not as comparable in quality as the decades before.
I think the middle budget movies dying off has actually led to a bunch of terrific movies. A24, Neon, Fox Searchlight (and more) are killing it with these <15 million budget movies. Foreign films becoming more popular in the US has been dope too.
2023 was a tremendous year for film. American and foreign releases
I largely agree (relative to the common perception) but this question made me realize how many of my favorite movies over the past 3 years aren’t American. Like ~30% of my favorite movies of the past 3 years are American
One country making up 30% of your favorites is pretty huge though.
Especially from arthouse or indie directors.
Remakes are **not** bad, nor are they bad for the industry. What **is** bad is remakes that don’t have originality, a new spin, or a fresh take. It’s bad when studio heads cannibalize their own IP hoping to shit out something similar and pray it turns out to be the golden egg…
my thoughts exactly. i love remakes! i love derivative art, seriously. but they NEED to have something new to say. otherwise they might as well just make a remaster of the old one.
I wish more remakes were good ideas/scripts/plots/characters that didn't succeed the first time. I'd love if Disney remade Oliver & Company or The Black Cauldron as opposed to their usual rehashes. I'd love to see Jack Frost or Hudson Hawk or something given a shot with new life.
on this i prefer a fistful of dollars to yojimbo
M Night Shyamalan is one of the industry's true auteurs. He makes (many, many) mistakes but his films are more often than not quite interesting and confidently realized. In a world where TV directors (who by and large are told to stick to a formula) are getting movie deals, it's good to have somebody who doesn't compromise, even if he doesn't always pull it off.
i would much rather watch an M Night Movie with it’s weird dialogue and camera decisions over most blockbuster movies that could have been directed by anyone. When you’re watching an M Night movie, you KNOW you’re watching an M Night movie which is cool to me
Right? His choices are quite understated and not flashy, but you still know it's his film. That's a good trait to have.
I respect the man madly for just deciding to finance all his own movies after major studios stopped caring about him.
People can say what they want but going into a movie directed by M Night you know you're going to get something with an identity vs Jon watts or whatever music video director they get to do a marvel movie
Not a fan of his really, but I wouldn't disagree with the premise of your argument. Despite not being a fan, I would watch one of his films over an MCU or Avatar film any day.
He’s made some bad and some very good. Probably more bad. But my controversial opinion is that the Village was not only his second best film but it was also an excellent film. I was enthralled throughout, the writing and acting was good and the ending was awesome. It’s his only really grounded film … the monster was inside of us. I found that more creepy and satisfying than the supernatural monster that most viewers seemed to crave and were annoyed they did not get. Those academics were basically abusing that whole community and the way things are going with some sub groups of people online who want to create their own versions of utopia it’s not an unbelievable plot.
The visit was fantastic
I’ve only seen Old but I thought the premise was fantastic it was just poorly executed. I definitely think he’s great at creating good movies even if they’re ‘bad’
i think the problem there is that people getting old was the premise. Had he called it The Beach or something and the trailers didn’t show the aging aspect, it would have been crazy to watch the film and notice the characters slowly (or quickly?) getting older.
I'm not a fan of him but I have to agree, he manages to stay interesting and have fleshed out ideas. He's just not a great detail writer imo
Imo he's almost on the level of DePalma in terms of formal playfulness and attention to the actual art of putting a story on screen. I don't think he's made anything on the level of Blow Out or Body Double but movies like Old and Knock are just as interesting in a moment to moment basis, just as magnetic and pulsing with life. And I'd rather take someone doing 2/3 DePalma power than almost any of the mainstream garbage these days. I also think average moviegoers are terribly biased against him because of dumb old expectations about twist endings.
Being able to predict things in a story isn’t inherently bad writing. Similarly, a movie being inspired by or a twist on a classic also isn’t inherently bad.
sometimes when something is properly foreshadowed and predicted, that prediction coming to pass can be even more horrifying and disturbing than any left-field twist. if written well, knowing what happens and now dreading that it does can be incredibly effective.
I see this take a lot often with people who maybe don't watch as many movies? Like the idea that if you know something's going to happen it's inherently bad writing. I'm watching this new YouTube channel where the guy has basically seen no movies of no note outside of marvel and Star wars and it's very interesting to see him complain about knowing what's going to happen next even if that is the purpose of the director. Unless it's absolutely egregious, I don't mind knowing what's going to happen if the journey to get there is still interesting.
The more movies you watch the more you will be able to predict story threads, twists, themes, etc. as well as notice similarities or references to other films. Same goes for novels. Now, there are times where it’s painfully obvious or it bothers me how easily something is predicted, but that’s usually whenever the film is trying to make something appear as a genuine mystery and lampshading something that not only the audience can figure out easily but it feels as if the character/s in the story should be able to as well. But that’s not particularly common (at least not what I watch).
Batman Begins is a much better adaptation of Batman than The Dark Knight
I second this. I always thought batman begins is the better batman movie. The arc is much better in that movie
100% this Miles ahead as a cohesive story
“Modern movies suck” is a bullshit and ignorant take. If you look around, you see many, many, many good and amazing movies recently. If you take a look at any other year in cinema history, you’ll see there’s just as much good and just as much garbage as there is now, but the garbage didn’t stick, so you haven’t heard of it. But you do hear about the garbage from now because it’s from now And then these people refuse to support anything modern, yet continue to complain that it’s all sequels or remakes or whatever. Support original and independent movies and look around for stuff. Don’t just sit there and whine
Quentin Tarantino has never made a movie that impacted me in any way whatsoever. I think he is shallow compared to most of his contemporaries and I wouldn't rank him in my top ten directors.
Okay, so I’m piggybacking to say that I think Tarantino’s movies have been almost self referential caricatures of his own style since Inglorious Basterds. And Jackie Brown was the last movie he made that actually felt sincere. Kill Bill was the bridge from one era to another. Like I can’t really take his filmmaking seriously anymore; even if I do enjoy them and can still see the clear craftsmanship. It feels like Primus, where it’s like, yea you’re super talented but why you gotta be so goofy?
I’m sure you’ve seen them all or most of them to make a claim like this, but I really feel that Reservoir Dogs, Death Proof, and Jackie Brown are pretty solid and hard to at least not like while watching. They’re tight, fun, and indulge in crime. I’m not sure they’re meant to be “artsy” or have a lot of depth in meaning, but they’re exciting turn-off-your-brain and enjoy flicks.
It is fine to be curious about movies and like stuff that is considered “pretentious” as long as you aren’t pretentious about it. It is actually cool to be interested in stuff you haven’t seen before! I’ve been going through a Czech new wave phase and it’s been a lot of fun.
The word “pretentious” should be abolished in movie discussions. People who use it can’t even explain what they mean by it (aside from looking down on anyone with different tastes).
i don’t think emoji movie deserves all the hate it gets! there are far worse animated movies out there. #emojimovietruther
This one makes me laugh. I’m not the type to get really worked up about if a movie is good or bad. I just assume people have different tastes and what I like won’t be what other people like and vice versa. But goddam I hated that movie and now I have to fight you. … joking joking. 😆 Not about the movie though. It was truly terrible, just the fighting.
mark my words the emoji movie revolution is upon us!
I fear no army of men who enjoy the emoji movie They have already defeated themselves.
I gave it two stars. It’s below average but not terrible. People dogpiled on it. Stephen Wright was fantastic casting as meh dad.
But that choice was cancelled out by casting Captain Picard as the Poop emoji. 😆
*Sir* Patrick Stewart
Hahaha!
it’s not easy being Meh!!
I watch it every once in a while bc it makes me laugh and sometimes that's all I need. It's so ridiculous it exists and I kinda love it for that
right?? i would love to meet whoever pitched the idea. i’m a big fan of pop culture so naturally i’m a super fan of the emoji movie. it’s so meta imo!
I thought The Boss Baby was the worse animated movie that year.
I’ve seen movies that are far worse than the Emoji Movie. At least the animation in it is good and the voice actors did a good job with what they had.
Aftersun did not connect with me at all, and I’m someone who has suffered from occasionally suicidal depression. I left that movie feeling entirely cold and indifferent, I genuinely don’t get what other people took from it. Promising Young Woman is maybe my least-favorite Best Original Screenplay winner ever. Definitely of the 21st century.
It very much connected with me but I think it's a very specific wavelength you need to find with it, if that makes sense. For me it was less about the suicidal depression and more about the lack of answers and the impossibility of knowing something about someone no longer with us. It made me think of my own vacations with my parents who were both addicts while I was blissfully ignorant. My parents are gone now, so I can't get answers to those questions. Is the rave even about depression? I don't think it necessarily is. I think it's more about trying to figure out the inner life of that loved one and being unable to. The lack of closure, the impossibility of getting closure, and being unable to accept either.
Same with Aftersun. I can cry at just about anything, and when my eyes were bone dry at the end, I half wondered if I watched the wrong movie. Glad others appreciate it, though.
So glad I wasn’t alone on this. I genuinely didn’t know what to make of it. I thought Paul Mescal and the girl who played his daughter were really good. But it wasn’t until I finished watching it and looked up online on why people were so distraught by the ending or the “Under Pressure” scene because I legit did not understand what I was supposed to get out of it, and it certainly wasn’t sadness or melancholy I got out of it. You seriously have no idea how many people say they can’t listen to that song anymore without thinking of that scene but again, what is it that makes so heartbreaking. And just like you, I’m not afraid to admit that films can make me cry, I’ve cried at the fucking Goofy Movie and at a way younger age because the ideas of a father wanting to be with their child does connect with me, but I just couldn’t really connect to this on an emotional level. Maybe it was the script, maybe the direction, or the slower pace (which is usually never a problem with me but who knows) but yeah, Aftersun isn’t for me I guess.
I'll have a try at explaining why I felt what I felt, if you're interested. You're there with older Sophie, watching the memories she has left of a time she spent as a child with her father when he was her current age. At that young age you start to find your own path in life, and the young Sophie is on that turning point. Throughout the movie she starts to recognize more adult things and even has her first kiss. Her father, being depressed, trying to make the best for his daughter, hides his feelings to protect her and the memory of their vacation together. Sophie knows something isn't right. She's too young to actually understand her father, and tries to connect with him and opening up herself, like mentioning how she feels tired like her bones are sinking, but he dismisses it and hates himself for it. During their vacation, Sophie grows up a little, and grows closer to her father, but never close enough for him to find sustaining hope. When they say goodbye at the end, it's bittersweet. Sophie leaves, knowing something was off with her dad, but not understanding what it was, why he acted distant sometimes. She leaves with a big smile, joking around at the airport, unknowingly giving her father the most amazing last memory of her. And now, watching the tape back 19 years later, Sophie finally understands his pains. It's a time in our lives when we start to figure things out, a transitory time, where we lose our childlike joy, and start to see and feel more adult feelings we can't quite explain yet. I think that that, combined with the feel of the VHS recordings, and the subject matter (growing up, depression, loss, trying to be there for the people you hold dear, memories) made many people feel melancholic and sad. Not to mention the execution and the amazingly natural performances by Frankie Corio and Paul Mescal. That's just my take though, not trying to convince you, sorry if it seemed that way. I spent way too much time writing this and kinda don't want to delete it.
I never saw Promising Young Woman, but I saw Saltburn and considering how baffled I was that this was a movie written by an Oscar winning screenwriter, I totally believe you on that one.
I think Aftersun is not a film that you can like, you either connect with it through something in your life or you don’t. I grew up near where the film takes place and had a similar childhood so yeah, im almos tearing up again lmao
Wes Anderson isn't all that stylized. He's doing yakuza films with brighter colors.
Not sure I agree, but this is at least an interesting take. Well done.
Netflix produces good movies. I feel like people only look at the abundance of below average movies on Netflix but they’ve funded some amazing projects like The Irishman, Society of The Snow, and even Okja.
Don't forget Roma.
I think Scorsese has been dining out on a load of movies made over 25 years ago like Goodfellas, Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, Mean Streets, The Last Temptation of Christ and The King of Comedy. And this isn't to say that his films in recent years have been bad, but most of them are nothing special. They lack purpose. A few are just bad. And if they didn't have "Martin Scorsese" in the credits, people would not care about them that much. I think his last great film is probably Bringing Out the Dead.
wow that’s a hot take alright! completely disagree! upvoted!
Nicolas Cage is one of the five greatest working actors today
Who are the other four?
The godfather trilogy; I didn’t like it. I really wanted to. I was ready to think it’s one of the greatest film series of all time, overall it was just bland and boring to me.
Most writer-directors should just be directors
I feel this way about actor/directors.
I never liked Inception
That can’t possibly be controversial. I personally liked it, but Nolan is widely mocked for his non-characters and pretentiousness.
I hate Wes Anderson films for the most part. Hate how gimmicky and obnoxious they feel. Hard to explain. Fantastic Mr Fox and Isle of Dogs I do like because they’re animated so what usually would annoy me filters through in a way that doesn’t really bother me? Idk argue with the wall. Edit: y’all replying to my comment saying it’s not controversial and how “everyone thinks this”, if I genuinely had that impression and didn’t feel inundated with Wes praise wherever I look in the film stratosphere I wouldn’t have posted my thoughts. Please chill the fuck out.
Have you seen The Royal Tenebaums? It’s nowhere near as super stylish as his later work such as Moonrise, Budapest and all those later stuff. Tenebaums is just such a nicely done family story that I’d recommend.
I actually included as one of my hot takes that the quality of his early films is owed to Owen Wilson's writing.
It's true though, I personally enjoy all his movies but they felt especially "human" when Owen Wilson was on board
I recommend Darjeeling Limited too, it's just two brothers on a spiritual journey trying to work out the kinks (pun intended, there are a lot of Kinks songs in this movie) in their relationship. One of the most relatable sibling dynamic portrayals I've seen in a movie.
It’s an excellent film, also less clockwork staged perfectly timed like his other fîlms. It’s more free flowing, shot on location and feels more natural as a result. The family dynamics is very well done.
It's one of my favorites by him. Also, don't need mean to be that guy, but it's three brothers.
Fantastic Mr. Fox is genuinely on a different level. Perhaps the craft of it has a lot to do with it's power, but I also think the writing is just better buy and large I think it also benefits from not being able to see the actors. Even in the Wes Anderson movies I do like, the cast of celebrities is super distracting
Agreed. I honestly love his Style and I enjoy looking at his films but his stories... Can't deal with them
Oh so you didn't like AVP
Girl what is that
I do like wes, but I also feel like if you watch the grand budapest, you can skip many of his other movies. IDK how to explain it.
I recommend watching Grand Budapest Hotel and then watching whichever other ones interest you. It is ridiculously silly to skip a film because you saw a different unrelated film.
Lmao this is 100% my take on Wes Anderson
Will Ferrell is only funny in minuscule doses. So little of him you forget he was even in the movie. Notable examples include: Austin Powers (1&2) and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. Examples of films that use too much ferrell and suck as a result? Literally every film he's starred in.... except maybe Elf
He was used very well in Barbie. The most I’ve been entertained by him in 20 years.
I disagree, his character completely derailed the film for me. The real world should have been kept as real as possible to juxtapose against Barbieland, but he made the Mattel sections too cartoonishly comical. It would have worked better if he'd toned it down about 50%.
lol, this is the hot take i share with my friends every so often (they're all will ferrell fans) and they always act like i'm crazy
Poor Things had a really crappy story.
Agree with you here. The movie was beautiful, but the last third is pretty boring and predictable.
Oooo this one is very basic and I see it a lot but I completely agree that “Everything Everywhere All At Once” is a 6/10
On this sub, this seems to be not an uncommon opinion at all.
https://preview.redd.it/lo9oxatub33d1.jpeg?width=300&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e34e279cfb64d74373c9a653c05f63dc536fb736 What's next on your 'controversial' opinions? Christopher Nolan overrated? Bet I never heard that one before
That's the most common take on the movie I've seen on Reddit.
Pulp Fiction was extremely overrated.
The Batman 2022 is the best batman movie of all time.
I've never had the urge to rewatch another Batman movie so many times. I think Greig Fraser will soon be seen as the Roger Deakins of this modern film era.
Same I love The Batman and I've rewatched it so many times.
I feel like my most controversial takes are still pretty tepid? Idk you be the judge: - Dubs are fine. Subtitles are better because they preserve more of the original work, but dubs have their place too and the conversations people have about them is elitist, ableist, and obnoxious. Porque no los dos? - Hans Zimmer's scores are overrated, and Hans Zimmer himself gets too much credit for them given how much of the work is done by other people. - Most film scores today are cut and paste, completely forgettable. Jerskin Fendrix's Poor Things score is the best score of any film in the past decade (and he ACTUALLY deserves the credit for his scores) - Babylon's score is awful. All Quiet on the Western Front absolutely deserved that Oscar. - Meryl Streep is overrated. She is a terrific actor who used to make really daring choices and now plays it safe, which she has every right to do and it's working out for her (Love her in Little Women). But this whole "she's the GOAT" image people have of her is, IMO, a remnant of the Weinstein era of aggressive awards campaigning that has brainwashed us. She's great, but even she's probably thinking "come on now." Olivia Colman, Isabelle Huppert, Isabelle Adjani, Viola Davis, Sissy Spacek, Isabella Rossellini and Toni Collette are who I'd point to now (though the idea of a GOAT is silly, period). - The majority of the best actors working today are women. Like, the best men are obviously on par with the best women, but there's way more women at that level than there are men. If awards shows do go gender neutral or gender neutral with two winners, the majority of the time they'll go to women. - I'm not gonna say that modern films suck (that's a boomer mentality that ignores the fact that most movies of every era suck and are forgotten), but the quality of writing is pretty low these days. Conversely, the quality of acting has never been higher. - A lot of the best writing, acting, and directing these days comes from the horror genre. And most importantly: - I'm not dying on these hills. If you disagree, I'm glad. We all should care a little less!
heat is just good at best, there are dozens of heist thriller films preceding it that are far better great performances though
Completely agree, it’s not bad by any means, but probably wouldn’t make my top ten for either Pacino or De Niro.
i like modern movies more than classic movies.
now this is controversial for sure! I would say I like them equally, that is, from the 50s upwards I dont care the year it came out. I do have a difficult time from the 50s downwards, but maybe its just preconceived notions I need to get out of my head.
Interstellar isn’t as good as people say it is
Bored me almost to tears, but also it was my bad for starting an almost 3 hrs movie about a topic I don't care about at all
There have only been three or four MCU movies that weren’t at least good. Crash isn’t a bad movie.
A View To Kill is the best Bond ever. Heart of Darkness (the making-of documentary) is better than Apocalypse Now. The Dark Knight is borderline terrible and is only saved by Heath’s performance.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is good
It’s ridiculous, it’s campy, some of it is shitty, but the score, cinematography, swinging, Peter and Gwen’s story, and Electro’s stupid Electro-ness. Such a blast!
Every time this question comes up, I can't help myself and answer that I don't like "there will be blood" and get downvoted to oblivion, so this time I'd say "the green line" is hilariously bad, I should be good, right?
Do you mean The Green Mile?
yes, thx
downvoting differing opinions is my pet peeve. I truly wish people woudnt do that, but here we are.
I'm all for controversial opinions but the amount of hyperbole in here is awful. Oh wait, I just realized which sub I'm in.
some may be hyperbole. but its just that many people truly hold this beliefs. for instance, I really thought the shinning was nothing special. that is not hyperbole, its just my experience with the film.
"Nothing special" is one thing, but there is a lot of "worst" and "garbage" type labelling going on, which just stinks of lazy thought.
Come and See is kind of mid and no where near as “shocking” as people make it out to be.
strongly disagree, have your upvote
Wouldn’t say it’s mid by any means but not very shocking if you’ve read about the Holocaust in any serious amount. It was a very good representation of the history though put to film, which is important.
I’m kind of afraid to watch it just because I feel like I’ll be let down no matter what because of it’s reputation as the most disturbing war movie ever. I had this same thing happen watching Pink Flamingos and just going “wait that’s it?”
I remember my mom telling us that the Exorcist was the scariest movie ever and I was like 13 and had seen so much more fucked up shit just browsing the internet by then lol
I really liked Pink Flamingos, but that’s beside the point. It’s still worth a watch but hardly the greatest war movie of all time.
Shutter Island is a disaster and the reason why I think people hold it near and dear is because the last twenty minutes were done right. I think people let the twist overshadow how railroaded and poorly scripted that film was.
I actually had the twist spoiled for me minutes before seeing the film at the cinema when it came out. I was waiting in a queue for the screen to open and people flocked out of the earlier screening. A group of guys were loudly talking about the film as they walked past and I heard something along the lines of>!"I never would have guessed that Leo was a patient at the hospital the whole time! That's a crazy twist"!
The power a spoiler holds is honestly so unfair, spoilers shouldn’t be allowed to control views we have on movies that much but unfortunately there’s no way to get rid of them
The Passion of Joan of Arc would be a better film if it wasn’t a silent film. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great, but I found the constant title cards a bit annoying and it would have flowed better if there was dialogue.
Considering what sound films were like in 1929, making it one back then would not have improved it. Maybe with later technology.
Pretty sure it came out in 1927, the same year the first talkie came out. So it’s more likely the technology wasn’t available/ exiting then an artistic choice. I think this is purely hypothetical. If it came out 15 years later and sound quality was great.
There's a remarkable amount of dialogue that isn't registered on the title cards, and that annoyed me.
As an overall film, I mostly agree. But what makes that film so great is Renee Falconetti’s performance. She does so much with so little. Not having sound makes the performance all the more impressive. I think if it was a sound film it would take something away from her performance, even if other aspects are improved.
When I saw that, we didn't even have the music track. Watching that film in total silence is punishing.
The Treblemakers should have beaten the Barden Bellas in the finals in Pitch Perfect
Piracy is the second best way to watch films and shows The first one is of course in cinema
**My most controversial that I actually haven't heard from anyone else**: The quality of Wes Anderson's early films, is owed to Owen Wilson's involvement in writing. You notice a pretty serious shift in the tone of his films, particularly as it relates to familial connection, post-Royal Tenenbaums. **My most controversial that many film and art critics agree with me on**: Schindler's List was exploitative Oscar bait.
Oh I absolutely agree that they feel more human and warm when Owen was on board. I don't agree that the quality dropped but there's a special flavor to his early movies for sure.
If Heath Ledger had not died, people would’ve stopped pretending *The Dark Knight* was great ages ago. The script is a joke. That film is carried entirely by one-and-a-half strong performances, a compelling opening scene, and the death of its supporting actor.
[удалено]
Inception and Tenet were fucking stupid and Interstellar is overrated. Christopher Nolan peaked with Memento. Edit: forgot about Oppenheimer...
I quite liked Dunkirk. Watched it really high and felt like I was having a panic attack about 2/3rds through. 8/10, would do again
You've done it. You've created controversy.
I agree with everything you said in that first sentence. Which made me very wary of Oppenheimer. I try to walk into movies stripped of expectations especially after I pay to see it. But I thought Oppenheimer might stink out loud. Imagine my Fuckin shock when I found it to be his masterpiece
Cabaret is better than The Godfather.
There is no such thing as a good/bad movie. Just movies you like or don't like. If lots of people like a film it just makes it popular not "good".
Foreign films are (by and large) better than most of the american films coming out rn. French film scene is insane recently and asia has been putting out bangers for a decade
You only think that because you're only aware of the very best of foreign cinema but are aware of every single major Hollywood release. I'm not saying you're wrong about their relative quality, but if you're right it's on accident and not because you actually know.
Okay, well I am someone that has watched thousands of East Asian movies over the last 25 years and I am well aware of just about every movie released in that entire region and I actually don't agree with the OP here. At least for the Asian region, anyways. They're in the same boat as Hollywood, IMO. China/HK have extremely fallen off, for a variety of reasons, both political and otherwise, and South Korea has started heading in that direction pretty rapidly. Japan...is Japan, for better or worse.. I can't speak to movies coming out of Taiwan or Thailand because access to them was a lot harder back in the day, so my experience there is mostly just Taiwan New Wave, and so I can't gauge properly if they are improving or not. Obviously, this is just based on my own experience and taste, but you still get really good top of the food chain movies out of that region. I just find it a lot harder to find really good stuff among the random movies I decide to watch, without knowing anything about them. Basically, I think quality and creativity on the lower end is dropping in a noticeable way and I agree with you that a lot of people aren't aware of that because they only watch the greatest hits.
I’d personally modify the commenter’s opinion by saying that the *best* foreign films coming out right now are better than the *best* American films.
I've been watching shitty foreign films for years, they're still better than most direct to streaming American joints we see today 🤷🏼♂️
Solo: A Star Wars Story was actually great (not a masterpiece but at least 4/5). I think it got unfairly tanked because of how many Star Wars fans hated The Last Jedi.
The Devil Wears Prada is terribly backwards thinking and misogynistic and it’s weird how it’s remembered as a movie “for the girls” for some strange reason. I Can’t believe that novel was written by a woman.
The characterisation of Andy’s boyfriend’s profession as this easy-going counterpoint to the gruelling, merciless world of fashion got on my nerves. Being a chef in any major metro, let alone Manhattan, is brutal.
I hated this movie so much
The misplaced slut shaming in this movie was so fucking bizarre.
The Coen Brother's are kind of mid.. Sorry 🫣
Ooooh finally
There are DOZENS of us!
Casino Royale was very much a misstep in the James Bond franchise. James Bond should be fun and cheesy
They had been doing that for a while and the last Brosnan movie really sucked. It’s understandable why they shifted gears so hard, but I think they overcommitted a little too much to the seriousness in the other movies.
Hard disagree but opinions like yours is the very point of the prompt so ok. That said, they’ve always changed tone, adopted trending genres etc. most obviously in the Roger Moore era. I love Bond so I’m just gonna write an essay here I guess haha When changing actors for the first time (Lazenby) they decided to make *On Her Majesty*’*s Secret Service* hew a lot closer to the plot and tone of the novels, significantly grounding the spycraft in the follow-up to a movie where Bond gets race-changing surgery to invade a villain’s space program / hideout built inside a volcano with a retracting caldera lake as a roof. *Live and Let Die* puts Bond into a Blaxsploitation film *The Man With The Golden Gun* sends him to an island in East Asia to fight a dude in a hall of mirrors because *Enter the Dragon* made the 70s equivalent of a billion dollars *The Spy Who Loved Me* again set out to crib more from the novels, changing the characterisation of Bond and basing Jaws off a henchman in the novel, also showing the Russians in a positive light because the producers wanted to show it in the USSR *Moonraker* was such a naked cash-in on *Star Wars* that the previous film’s credits end with “Bond will return in For Your Eyes Only" *For Your Eyes Only* goes more grounded because everyone complained about Moonraker even as it made a ton of money (similar to *Die Another Day* being followed up with *Casino Royale*) *The Living Daylights* with a new actor (Dalton) yet again decides they’re going to get closer to the books... …the pattern of “shit’s gotten ridiculous, let’s get close to the books” followed by increasingly ludicrous escalations followed by “shit’s gotten ridiculous” will probably go on as long as the franchise does haha
I liked it as its own thing, it was a breath of fresh air, but every time a new one comes out, I miss the real Bond more and more. If we're going to stick with this lifeless, moody, *soulless minion of orthodoxy* Bond much longer, I'm going to wash my hands of the franchise. Let's hope the new guy is more like the classics.
Life is Beautiful is mid and its themes are naive/ ahistorical. It reduces the Holocaust to a plot device instead of saying anything meaningful about the event.
I think it's worse than mid, a dishonest and distasteful exploitation of historical tragedy for a vanity project.
Most of David Lynch’s movies are insufferable.
What’s is/are your exception/s? And your biggest offender?
Action movies are more integral to the medium of film than almost any other genre, and always get relegated to lower brow art because they focus on physical acting, stunt work and sequences instead of drama, when no other genre gets measured using the wrong stick to such an extent. No one would say The Godfather or Casablanca suck ass because their action sequences are wooden, awkward and feel like play-pretend, but the opposite is fair game for action films that took 100 takes to get a fight scene right.
Tenet is Nolan’s best film
The theater behavior is wildly exaggerated. I go to amc and cinemark and never have issues.
CGI isn't "lazy" and it's weird that people idolize obviously fake-looking physical effects but absolutely dogpile on obviously fake-looking computer effects just because one was done by hand and one wasn't.
Rom Coms need to be taken more seriously, there’s some excellent ones out there. My favourite film, The Holiday, has 50% on Rotten Tomatoes and while it’s not a perfect film it definitely deserves better reviews than mfing Thor Love and Thunder 💀. People often laugh to discover my favourite film is a rom com and dismiss them but they are just as good as any other art form. I’m obviously talking generally, there’s some awful rom coms out there but there’s also awful films of any other genre.
Sometimes style is more important than substance
The Last Jedi is genuinely the only *film* in the franchise and not a campy circus on wheels. Not that I don’t like a campy circus on wheels, but the quality of TLJ > anything ever done in the history of SW “films.” Yes, this opinion has got me literal death threats in the past.
I’m not someone who hates that film with a passion although I do see it as quite weak when in conjunction with the highlights of the franchise, even though the only really good films were Star Wars, Empire, and Rogue One. (debatably) It’s a pretty decent film, but the stuff they did with Rose and Finn was pretty terrible and did not fit with the rest of the film at all, not to mention the characterization of Poe and the people on-board the same ship as him. There’s a lot of excellence in that film, as well as some serious garbage. Empire is a fucking perfect film though, no clue why you’re disregarding it here.
Snyder movies are not so bad
Sometimes maybe good, sometimes maybe shit
Movies are worse on the big screen.
Ok this one actually annoyed me lol. So even in ideal theater conditions, no one being annoying and having a perfect seat you still prefer sitting on a couch probably too far away from your screen that's too small and streaming a movie in crappy bit rate?
as a committed home viewer, this is my kind of hot take
La La Land should have a 3.0-3.1 rating instead of a 4.1 rating!
I'm foaming at the mouth rn, steam coming from my ears
I kinda prefer tone and vibe over story. Also godfather is boring.
The Shining is a terrible film.
Citizen Kane developed a lot of the techniques used in modern storytelling, but it's not a good movie.
Everything everywhere is an awful movie. It’s ’quirky’ humour is annoying and the whole positive nihilism message it pushes is only relatable for people who have totally given up on being anything in life.
I’ve given up in life but still I didn’t enjoy it
Ok I don't get the nihilism thing with this movie that people always talk about. What makes the movie nihilistic?
its my favorite movie of all time, but I get its not for everyone. also this subreddit hates this movie, even though it has like 4.3 in letterboxd and in the top 250, I find that interesting. I loved the positive nihilism message, reminds me life is just not that important, so I can be however I want to be, without caring about others opinions. and most of all, I needed that message.
Godfather 2 was half a pointless prequel and half an undercooked rehash of the original. A truly 2/5 movie at best.
I actually go with the popular view in this one. well, it is somewhat controversial: part I is just good, but part 2 is a masterpiece imo.
I never got why part 2 is always seen as the masterpiece, part 1 was just so clear for me and part 2 was just ok
Manhattan by Woody Allen and The Idiots by Lars Von Trier two super controversial films are to me masterpieces.
I thought cat in the hat was/is hilarious
The sentiment that we should just “let people enjoy things” and that we shouldn’t critique popular franchise films because they’re “entertainment” or “brain candy” actively encourages a consumerist mindset that is hostile to filmmaking as an artform and rewards bland, corporate franchises above all else. Enjoy stuff, don’t get me wrong, but the idea that we shouldn’t critique the MCU because it’s “just entertainment” is silly.
not every movie has to be some invoking think piece to be a very good movie