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movies/tv Do we put current movies too high on a pedestal?


Mesme Rize

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It happens really all the time these days, with people seeing certain movies and coming out and saying "this is the best movie ever." But how right are these people actually?

 

I think movies can only be considered true greats, if they can survive over the years and can still be enjoyable many years after its release. Movies that have this certain timeless charm are movies like Jurassic Park, Pulp Fiction, The Lion King, Goodfellas, etc. But we sometimes like to push them away, for movies are supposed to be better, eventhough they just came out a week.

 

Lets take Inception for example, which came out in 2010. This movie was so hype at that time and the movie was build up by the fact, that it was made by Christopher Nolan, who got his fanbase by doing those great batman movies. The Movie was a hit for alot of people, many saying "best movie ever." These days, while people still consider it good, i don't find alot of people saying that it's a timeless classic and more being used as a meme. I think it's good, but i never got the hype around it.

 

 

What do you think?

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Really movies now ARE better than old movies. We have better acting method better effects etc. I think it comes down to what we remember. We don't remember the 100's of bad movies that came out in the 60's we remember the few really exceptional ones. I think the same will be true for new movies.

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Really movies now ARE better than old movies. We have better acting method better effects etc. I think it comes down to what we remember. We don't remember the 100's of bad movies that came out in the 60's we remember the few really exceptional ones. I think the same will be true for new movies.

 

I won't disagree with your opinion, but consider this. Better effects, sadly don't equal a better movie. Story and characters matter the most.

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To be honest, I would kind of argue in the opposite direction.

While there are examples like James Cameron's Avatar that due hold merit to your point, as a whole I am generally more a fan of contemporary styled films.

When films like Citizen Kane get decades and decades full of hype and are put on a gigantic pedestal and generally talked about being some of the best movies ever, I end up being underwhelmed with them.

Even if I do end up enjoying the movie, but I don't really end up loving it.

Edited by cmarston1
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"Best movie ever" is a hyperbolic comment usually coming from more casual moviegoers, especially younger audiences. Moviemaking techniques and technology are, at their best, definitely better now than they were in the past - I mean, we have the entirety of film history behind us right now, which simply means the technology is stronger and we've learned more about filmmaking - but aside from this coming at the expense of creativity, it also hardly diminishes great films from the past, i.e. the aforementioned Jurassic Park. Still, when a recent film like Carol or Boyhood or something comes along, it really does seem like it'll be remembered as a classic years down the line, simply because it's so excellent. There's a lot of really, really damn great films coming out now, which is perhaps inevitable - there's also more films being made and distributed than ever before. 

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When it comes to effects and other aspects of the like, we gotta give it to today'. Movies. However, when it comes to story and plot line, I tip my hat to the older generation. Look at comedies for instance. Some of them these days serve no purpose. Sausage Party imho, was a movie that should've never been written. I see no purpose at all than just to show how dirty the human mind is. Didn't even last three weeks at my home movie theater.

 

I agree we put some movies on too high of a pedestal, only to be disappointed.

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Not really. If anything, this past spring and summer started showing flaws in the current generation of movies w/ low review scores and weak attendances abound.  An overabundance of sequels and reboots CGI heavy effects, poor pacing, and heavy studio interference have caused films with high potential over the last few years to shudder step at the starting line.

 

Not to mention Hollywood mistaking smash hit films for audience trends. 

 

Pirates of the Caribbean  Disney thrill rides make good movies

Harry Potter ≠ films about teen orphans are fun to watch 

LOTR ≠ People wanna see fantasy movies

The Hunger Games ≠ people wanna see teen survival movies 

The Dark Knight ≠ All DC super hero movies should be dark and gritty

Deadpool ≠ Hero movies should be rated R

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I don't think movies are necessarily better, or worse, than those of yesteryear. I can think of fantastic films that are decades old, and I can also think of films from the same eras that aren't very good at all. The absolute same can be said of todays movies too.

 

I think the biggest difference nowadays, is the hype - I get the impression that films are getting more and more hyped before a release (due to the fact that the internet makes spread of trailers, interviews etc etc much easier). Looking at some trailers from the 70s for instance, I get the feeling that they were more there to inform us that a film is being made, whereas now they seem to be there to try and hype it as much as possible (as well as let us know that the film is in production XD).

 

An example of this (imo) is Star Wars the Force Awakens. That film had absolute massive hype, and no small part of that is it being a new Star Wars film. I know many people who went to see it and were like: 'It's on par with Empire Strikes Back'. Now, I enjoyed it and think that it is a good film, but after taking a step back after seeing it and looking at it more objectively, it doesn't strike me as being anything special (Star Wars Episode 7: A New Hope XD). The original trilogy will always go down (in my book) as timeless classics, Ep 7...not so much, and I suspect people were influenced by that hype to the point where it skewered their perspective of it (or I might just be being grumpy lol).

 

But, one film that I found absolutely fantastic was Interstellar, and (over here at least), it didn't seem to get much hype at all (besides it being a Nolan film) - I didn't even know what it was about (besides that it has some space in it) when I first went to see it.

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I don't think movies are necessarily better, or worse, than those of yesteryear. I can think of fantastic films that are decades old, and I can also think of films from the same eras that aren't very good at all. The absolute same can be said of todays movies too.

 

I think the biggest difference nowadays, is the hype - I get the impression that films are getting more and more hyped before a release (due to the fact that the internet makes spread of trailers, interviews etc etc much easier). Looking at some trailers from the 70s for instance, I get the feeling that they were more there to inform us that a film is being made, whereas now they seem to be there to try and hype it as much as possible (as well as let us know that the film is in production XD).

 

An example of this (imo) is Star Wars the Force Awakens. That film had absolute massive hype, and no small part of that is it being a new Star Wars film. I know many people who went to see it and were like: 'It's on par with Empire Strikes Back'. Now, I enjoyed it and think that it is a good film, but after taking a step back after seeing it and looking at it more objectively, it doesn't strike me as being anything special (Star Wars Episode 7: A New Hope XD). The original trilogy will always go down (in my book) as timeless classics, Ep 7...not so much, and I suspect people were influenced by that hype to the point where it skewered their perspective of it (or I might just be being grumpy lol).

 

This puts it perfectly. Good movies and bad are not subject to their era. Both existed in the past, present and will in the future. It's all about hype. 

Some movies of the past, like Citizen Kane, are okay, but not what I consider a great movie. It's like retroactive hype; what the critics like to say to sound deep and insightful (and because they like to parrot other critics rather than stand on their own feet). 

True classics don't need to be labelled as such. They will stand on their own for all time, regardless of hype, lack of hype, box office or passing trends. We all know which ones are which. 

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It's not impossible for modern movies to surpass the "masterpieces" of the past since those past movies can be observed for why they work, and what the movies did well can then be improved upon. That doesn't mean Hollywood will always see why those past movies were so well-liked.

 

As for the people declaring some of the current movies to be the best ever, eh, I'll leave them to it. What exactly does it mean to be best "something" ever, anyways?

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Way too high.

 

I love old movies and will always cherish the ones that I grew up with like Jurassic Park, Batman, Jaws and others.

 

There are a lot of overrated movies nowadays.

It's my opinion, that's all.

 

I love a lot of movie nowadays but they're not better than the classics.

 

Remakes are not always a good thing either.

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A lot of people nowadays also behave as though this or that film is the most horrible thing they've ever endured. xD  No one does middle-of-the-road anymore; everything is extremes.  But those extremes kind-of sort-of balance each other out?  Maybe? ^ ^;

 

I will say this, though: The majority of "new" films are sequels or remakes.  You don't see many original (so far as preexisting characters and franchises go) film concepts anymore.

 

P.S. I thought "Inception" was a great film.  It had intriguing subject matter (dreams have long since fascinated me), really neat visuals, and Leo (who's come a long way as an actor).  I still think the ending was kinda bullshit, but eh.

Edited by Ziggy and Angelbaby
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It depends, really. For any given movie, you'll be able to find people who'd call it 'the best movie ever'. As with most other things people do, this is probably hardly a new trend. Each generation will probably have movies they consider to be 'the best ever'. I've often heard Citizen Kane being mentioned as 'the best movie ever', but I myself have never really considered it all that good. Likewise, my personal 'best movie ever', the Lion King, is probably not even in the Top 10 of many others. It might appear as if we're glorifying current movies, but I think the same thing has always happened, with the main difference being people's ability to communicate their views. Humans really haven't changed all that much in 2500 years, as also evidenced by every generation's tendency to gripe about 'the new generation', to as far back as at least ancient Greece.

 

Ultimately, which movies are considered classics is not really up to us to decide. Some movies will endure for being revolutionary or controversial, while others that might arguably be better fade away simply because they don't have that one thing that lingers in people's minds. A movie with zero redeeming qualities might one day be a 'classic' simply because people remember just how much it sucked. I generally ignore people's rave reviews or pannings anyway.

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The fact that ongoing shows that harbor movie like elements are becoming very popular these days one could say the love of movies have been somewhat divided and given a part into that. Not saying movies still don't make bank but it's just not the biggest thing around anymore.

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Any time a movie is fresh, it promotes a visceral reaction. This is true if you're seeing a classic for the first time, but more so en masse when the audience sees something fresh. It also has to do with the balance between familiarity and originality, as well as the nature of the movie, and sometimes who makes it. The best test, IMO, is the test of time.

 

Conversely, it's also easy in this fast-moving culture for a good movie to be quickly forgotten. A good example is in animated movies. People hailed Inside Out as a cinematic masterpiece and should-be Best Picture contender back in 2015 for a short time. Then it was brutally overshadowed by Minions, a mindless comedy that didn't do well with the critics but attracted attention due to its commercial success. On top of that, a few years later and people still couldn't get enough of Frozen, thus IO didn't merchandise as well as that film did. IO is pretty much a cult film now, whether that was because of its low-key tone or the notion that the popularity of the Pixar style was eclipsed by their newer rivals is hard to pin down exactly.

 

It all has to do with the nature of moviegoing as the neverending pursuit of something "fresh", "new", or "original". Opinions on that may differ, but I think history is the best judge.

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  • 4 years later...

It really depends on the individual, because some absolutely hate new movies, especially sequels and remakes, while others love them. There are also some who are in-between, they dislike some new movies and like other ones. Overall, I doubt the majority of people put new movies too high on a pedestal. If anything, the critics put new movies too low on a pedestal.

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