Friday, November 21, 2008

Boy, I have not been to see a movie in a dog's age. Am I missing something, or do movies just suck these days?

McKee says all the good movies are in TV. (Thank you, Krista!)

What are y'all looking for this Chrismukkah / Oscar-qualifying-Season?

Labels: watching movies

4:51 PM

13 Comments:

In the battle of the two mediums there's no question that TV is the winner. It is having a renaissance as film slowly dies. (That also references a Mckee Article, this time from October's IF-Australia magazine.)

But a few good films annually slip through the cracks. Gone Baby Gone, Lars & The Real Girl, The Bank Job, Horton Hears A Who and Shoot 'em up are all great films released in 2008 (at least in Australia).

It's more difficult to find good films when you're looking at blockbusters. Apart from the Dark Knight these tent poles have a tendency to suck ass and a lot of it. Recent duds include but are not limited to: Quantum of Solace, Indiana Jones 4, Spiderman 3, Every other sequel, and so on.

If you put all the 2008 films in a barrel and pull them out at random the majority will suck. But you'll still pull out a few great films (even if they are released over the month period near Christmas.) I really enjoyed some of these, namely: Enchanted, Atonement, No Country, American Gangster, Diving Bell and Butterfly & I'm told some people enjoyed Juno and even the overly long There Will Be Blood.

So I don't completely agree with you that movies suck. BUT when compared to the recent product on television it's miles behind. When you're watching The Wire, Pushing Daises, 30 Rock, Dexter & Flight of the Conchords every week I can see where your (film) disapointment films stems from. It's hard to find films this funny, thrilling, interesting, clever or even quirky in the past year of cinema.

As a last argument that film isn't 100% awful: Synecdoche, New York which I look forward to seeing if it's ever released in Australia.

Cheers,
Cezar

By  Cezar, at 8:54 PM  

I saw the documentary Fuel last night, and it was great stuff. So far it's only showing in Seattle, Portland, and Austin, but it's so good (very informative, quite entertaining) that it should broaden its reach little by little.

By  Unknown, at 6:19 AM  

Slumdog Millionaire. If you have a theater showing it near you, I highly recommend it.

By  just some guy trying to write, at 12:30 PM  

Benjamin Button is about the only title I am looking forward to this season.

I am also excited about Coraline but that doesn't come out until February.

We're in for a dismal movie going season.

By  DougJ, at 12:31 PM  

All I can say is that I'm looking forwards to more Marvel movies when they come out. They're setting up an Avengers one, but gotta do Thor and Captain America first.

And the Wolverine movie looks sweet! My only annoyance is that it's not going to be very violent.I'm a huge fan of the comics, that are pretty violent. In my opinion, it's not Wolverine without the violence! Hugh Jackmn said he wants it to be available to all ages, which translates as "the lower the certificate, the more people will go an see it and the more money I'll make!"

So that brings me to a question. Alex - do you think when writing spec scripts, we should keep 'bad language' to a minimum? That way it's open to more people! Also, TV seems to be going into the dark realsm of language, what with the likes of True Blood and Dexter. More swearing etc. Personally, I think you have to use the language that fits the story. can you ever have a story about really really nasty people without the bad language? Would be unrealistic right?

By  Neil, at 12:37 PM  

the wrestler. end of discussion.

By  Allen, at 12:56 PM  

Slumdog Millionaire, Let The Right One In, and The Fall are the movies that I've been really impressed by this year.
Others that I enjoyed were Wall-E, Kung Fu Panda, and Redbelt...

Looking forward to Gran Torino. I don't think the big Hollywood studio system has produced a movie I really liked this year.

By  Emma, at 1:56 PM  

Rachel Getting Married. Slumdog Millionaire.

Treats live on TV, but what's the good new show this year?

By  Wrongshore, at 2:51 PM  

RACHEL GETTING MARRIED.

By  Amanda, at 9:20 PM  

rachel getting married was pretty good.

gran tarino is a very mediocre script.

By  Allen, at 4:36 PM  

The Boy in the Striped PJs
Bolt (yes, really. And watch it in 3D.)

I'm also a little excited about The Brothers Bloom.

By  Norlinda, at 7:04 PM  

'The Wrestler' looks like it could be the real deal.

By  aldentre, at 7:47 PM  

The Wrestler is great. Simple, great movie. (Simple from Darren Aronofsky? I know!)

Also Milk coming out soon is artful and excellent. I don't think you'd be disappointed if you ventured out for that one. Best ending I've seen in a while.

By  Eli Glasner, at 12:34 PM  

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