Cinemascope
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Posts posted by Cinemascope
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You do realize that a lot of people who may like these musicals might be missing out on a discussion they might enjoy, since there's no thread where they can see it just looking at the title?
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And I never said that just because something is popular everyone should like it. All it really means is that it "clicked" with movie goers.
I may not really get why Harry Potter became such a huge hit, and I probably don't enjoy those movies as much as the average HP fan... nonetheless, and even though my first instinct is to reject the hype, I watched those movies and had fun.
So would I say that Harry Potter is overrated? Well, no, I would say that there's stuff there that I'm not surprised people -- and young people in particular -- have reacted to positively, and that perhaps there was a lack of something similar, either in contemporary literature or in films, and that these series have filled that gap. Of course, there would be no denying that at some point, marketing may also have played a part... But since I don't live in Cuba, who am I to complaint about business as usual under capitalism?
I don't think I said anything implicating that you were somehow expected to march to anything other than your own drum... did I?
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Ah that was such a lovely film! Maggie Smith totally deserved the Oscar for that one!
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> You and I don't agree on this subject. That's fine.
> There's plenty we don't agree on. This is just one
> more subject.
Last time I checked, I was far from the only person who lamented the state of American filmmaking today... it's true the statement may apply to the average film, and it goes without saying that there are some good films still being made in the U.S., but that they're few and far between.
I'm sure you'd agree the average movie shown on TCM is better than the average movie being shown in U.S. multiplexes today, wouldn't you?
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Awesome, thanks for the update shearerchic.
Any word on the possible Andy Hardy DVD set?
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I've noticed that, too, Anne.
Well my rant for the day is how some people cannot handle any disagreement and immediately take it personally. Like someone whose name shall go unmentioned that equates a discussion with "sparring". (His words, not mine).
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> By the way, here's my impression of theater v.
> cinema, as far as musicals are concerned: for pure
> connection with the audience, there is nothing to
> compare with a human voice coming out of a live human
> being.
I definitely think that's a very valid point, but the other side to that is that there are things that have been captured in film that no live musical could ever recreate. I enjoyed watching On the Town on Broadway, but it didn't erase my memories of the 1949 musical... and in some ways I guess it has stayed with me that way because it's the only way to experience it and see what New York was like at the time the musical was written. (Yes, even if there was only a few scenes actually shot on location)
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What you say isn't necessarily true, either, I don't think many Italians had watched "Rawhide". In any event, as I already explained to Izcutter, I don't see why you'd interpret the word unknown in the most literal sense.... yes, in terms of filmmaking, he was as much of an unknown as anyone can be and still get a lead role in a low-budget movie... point being, he wasn't famous like he is today. If you feel it is necessary to qualify that by saying relative unknown, then we're past the point of discussing cinema and we've steered into a semantics discussion.
At any rate, I don't think Leone would have paid much attention to anything he said. He also didn't listen to Eli Wallach about shielding horses' ears when they were going to be shooting in their direction, which could actually have resulted in serious injuries to Wallach. So it really doesn't sound to me like Leone was very open to suggestions as to how to shoot his films.
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I guess during the period that "Star Wars" opened, I was really excited to watch films like "Taxi Driver", "Network", and "All the President's Men". Just my preference! Bless all "Star Wars" lovers one and all, but count me out.
There were a lot of good, serious movies being made. What arguably wasn't being shown in theaters was some good old-fashioned escapism, which many movie goers apparently found in movies like Jaws and Star Wars, among others. And I think that both Spielberg and Lucas have expressed how they wanted, at least with some of their movies, to revisit the era of classic cinema at least in terms of the swashbucklers and Saturday-morning serials, which they'd enjoyed very much as kids. Whether they failed or succeeded is a matter of opinion, but in the opinions of millions of moviegoers, they succeeded brilliantly. Their movies were probably more successful that they themselves anticipated.
So if a movie opens and it turns out to be a surprise blockbuster, is it because it was overrated or because a large number of movie goers simply responded to it?
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Just because you don't like someone giving an opinion doesn't mean you have to be rude about it. Some people express themselves differently, and it's not like anyone was holding a gun to your head and forcing you to read something you don't want to read. And sorry but, yes, you were talking about Pepe like it was some kind of lost masterpiece. There's absolutely no denying that the movie was a dud, that critics didn't like it and that it lost money.
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Well there may be all kinds of reasons why some people like some movies and others don't. In any event if you don't feel it applies to you, why take offense?
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I am not into gangster movies.
Well, what about The Age of Innocence, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, The Last Temptation of Christ, After Hours, New York Stories, The King of Comedy, Bringing out the Dead, The Aviator and New York, New York? Those weren't gangster movies, were they?
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I think I managed to see this theaterically, not sure if it was a festival or a regular engagement. Should love a repeat viewing.
And you're right about the pleasure of listening to Scorsese -- how many of his own movies has he done audio commentaries for? Hasn't he recorded some commentaries for some P&P movies?
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Izcutter, hun, nobody is saying that there aren't ANY good films being made and released in America. Nobody, absolutely nobody, as far as I can see in this thread.
What we've said is that the quality of the average movie has decreased since the Golden Era... yes, there may have been a second Golden Era, but nonetheless, look at the average movie being made in Hollywood today... American Gigolo, Beerfest, Jackass, etc. Good American movies are few and far between... and every day more, people looking for intelligent, mature and original movies are increasingly turning to British, Mexican, Japanese, Chinese, French, Italian or Spanish movies -- or movies from other countries, even.
And of course that movies reflect at least in part the movies that "click" with the public, and the expectations of those who finance them to make as much of a profit as they can... those things we can usually just take for granted, and will probably hold true for the indefinite future.
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If someone is not into sci-fi, why would they want to watch it, anyway?
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And this is related to classic movies... how?
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> To me, it either means something that has gotten
> universal critical praise, or is enormously popular,
> that someone else doesn't feel it deserves.
So simply because you don't enjoy the movie that millions of people loved, then it's the movie that doesn't deserve to be loved by millions of people? Or could it be just easier to explain that a movie was loved by millions of people but a few didn't enjoy it?
I'd love to know exactly what elements you think might make a movie more deserving. If all your reactions are based on your taste, then I would imagine it isn't a matter of a movie being deserving, just a matter of different reactions to a movie (which is totally natural in my opinion).
You sing praise for movies like Pepe and Rocky Balboa while at the same time expressing disdain for some of the most popular movies of all time... it just sounds like you have a taste in movies that may be very different from the average movie goer. Not that there's anything wrong with that....
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> Well, there are plenty of people who think they way
> you do, Mr. Dash. That's why it qualifies as a
> candidate for most over-rated movie!
It doesn't necessarily mean the movie is overrated. When you're talking about one of the top 10 biggest box-office hits in world history, even accounting for inflation, then it's obvious that a heck of a lot of people liked it. Maybe a few didn't because they were too cynical, or jaded, or bitter (not saying this about any one person in particular). Then it just means that those few people who didn't enjoy it may have been too cynical, jaded or bitter to enjoy it.
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Indeed. And even though the movie was aimed primarily at children, a lot of people from all age groups enjoyed it, to the point that it became the biggest box-office hit of all time.
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Wrong. It is your opinion that it is dreary and stupid, but a lot of other people enjoyed it.
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Oh I wish I could watch it in a theater, too!
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So you're saying that everyone in the U.S. feels the same way? Funny, because I don't. I like movies primarily for artistic, cultural, and sociological reasons. I am perfectly aware that the people who finance movies see it primarily as a business, but the people who finance movies also happen to be a small minority in relation to all movie goers.
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> 1. I submit that if under any circumstances, watching
> TV is a task, it's either not worth watching, or over
> one's head.
Wrong. It can be a task and yet have absolutely nothing to do with whether it's worth watching or over one's head.
Main Entry: 1task
Pronunciation: 'task
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English taske, from Middle French dialect (Picardy, Flanders) tasque, from Medieval Latin tasca tax or service imposed by a feudal superior, alteration of *taxa, from taxare to tax
1 a : a usually assigned piece of work often to be finished within a certain time b : something hard or unpleasant that has to be done c : DUTY, FUNCTION
2 : subjection to adverse criticism : REPRIMAND -- used in the expressions to take, call, or bring to task
synonyms TASK, DUTY, JOB, CHORE, STINT, ASSIGNMENT mean a piece of work to be done. TASK implies work imposed by a person in authority or an employer or by circumstance . DUTY implies an obligation to perform or responsibility for performance . JOB applies to a piece of work voluntarily performed; it may sometimes suggest difficulty or importance . CHORE implies a minor routine activity necessary for maintaining a household or farm . STINT implies a carefully allotted or measured quantity of assigned work or service . ASSIGNMENT implies a definite limited task assigned by one in authority .
> 2. Communication (by definition) is a two way street
> and there's very little interactive television that
> I'm aware of save for voting for someone on a
> "reality" show. Even Newton Minnow, the first
> chairman of the FCC, described TV as a "vast
> wasteland." Maybe you've never heard of PBS, let
> alone support it by contributing you dollars to it.
> The MacNeil/Lehrer Report "might" have been
> educational and informative but perhaps you didn't
> see it that way, or see it at all.
Communication is anything that communicates, it doesn't have to be a two-way street. Isn't all mass media part of modern communication? And I actually didn't mention PBS because I didn't think you would have heard of it. But if you have heard of it, then you should already know that TV can be used for educational purposes, which would contradict your earlier statement.
> 3. It was exactly what I said earlier. Whether it was
> a wise use of your time only you can decide.
Yes, and it still isn't any of your business.
> 4. I see, when Roger Ebert says it it's criticism.
> When I say it, I'm "knocking" it. (And I'm sure that
> in the days to come you'll find just as many people
> "knocking" the Oscar telecast as praising it. And
> that has nothing to do with who won or lost.)
No, you were knocking people simply for doing their jobs.
> 5. You're evidently (in the truest sense of the word)
> not gracious enough to accept a compliment when it's
> directed your way.
Which compliment was it?
> 7. I wasn't referring to a glut of classic movies
> being broadcast or discussed, I was referring to the
> way you always seem to have something to say
> regardless of the subject, and unless I'm reading a
> language that I don't understand, I'm far from being
> the only one that feels that way.
The subjects all have to do with movies... I like movies of all kinds, genres, and from all time periods... so what's wrong with that?
> 8. My opinions, with regard to the Oscar telecast and
> to film critics (in general) have been echoed by
> several people whose opinions I respect highly. When
> something I've said generates a similar response from
> someone with far more experience than me, and from
> someone in the film industry in particular, I take
> that as a compliment and wear it like a feather in my
> cap.
Yes, but earlier you said nobody should voice their opinion unless they're asked.
> 10. I know you won't excuse me for saying this, but,
> you talk too much. Way too much. Almost 2,000
> postings in less than 6 months? Please, quality vs
> quantity. Economies of scale don't apply here.
Ah, I see, we have a self-appointed moderator now...
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I won't call you crazy
-- but the quality of the average American movie has decreased significantly since the Golden Era...
-- but the quality of the average American movie has decreased significantly since the Golden Era...
Technicolor question
in General Discussions
Posted
Aside from documentaries that exist, you may also find useful information here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technicolor