[Gknight]

The new Harry Potter movie is coming out soon and that will become the most recent movie normally I wait until the movies come out on DVd before seeing them but this time I'll make an exception.

[seebaruk]

Originally Posted by Mattsius

Hope I was at least of some help.

Cheers mate, that was very helpful! I'll prob leave The Jacket til it comes on TV, but I'm an action junkie so Cellular will prob be checked out when I'm feling braindead.

Just saw Saw 2 at last, good film, especially that screwed up intro.

[pinkgothic]

Corpse Bride

Awesome! Just awesome. I loved it. There's really not much more to say

Well, that's not true. I should mention that parts of it scared me much more than a horror movie ever would. Not many bits, and usually just details... but yikes. Skincrawling. I love it.

[Gknight]

The last movie I saw was Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. It fills in some of the blanks like who Darth Vader really was and how he became evil and how come Luke Skywalker never knew the identity of his father.

[reno6]

I honestly cannot remember the last movie I went to. I remember going to see Star Wars Episode III, until my friend decided at the last minute that he didn't want to see it so we went and saw Kingdom of Heaven instead. And I think that was it.

Unfortunately, the next movie I'm going to see is Harry Potter 4, because I promised to take my girlfriend out of love. Blech. If love is taking people to see Harry Potter, I'll choose hermithood, thank you.

[SakSquash]

Rules of Attraction, Kingdom of Heaven.

[RLacey]

I have a Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith DVD sitting here waiting to be watched .

And I'm off to see Harry Potter on Saturday (which I expect to mock afterwards). I should be ashamed of how mass-market my film tastes appear to be ...

[TangentBlack]

Haha, do not feel ashamed. Everyone has succumed to the propaganda of the Hollywood. Even halfway around the world where I live, people die to see American made movies because of all the glitz and glamour. I expect to see Harry Potter with my children, as they are avid readers of the damned books, I myself do not care for them much. They are creative and psuedo-innovative, but I would take the Lord of The Ring books any day. Is it just me, or is American film becoming a slave to what sells: sex, violence, and swearing? I don't mind any of it, but it tends to ruin the concentration of effort on the part of the film makers, eh?

[SakSquash]

I don't get people who shun Hollywood movies because they're a nice and shiny package. You all try so hard to be cool and "indie" by watching films from like...friggin Siberia or awful French films like Amalie...ya know, films that are odd for the sake of being odd.

If a movie is good, then it's good. It doesn't matter what its budget is.

[Ninth]

Originally Posted by temporaryscars

I don't get people who shun Hollywood movies because they're a nice and shiny package. You all try so hard to be cool and "indie" by watching films from like...friggin Siberia or awful French films like Amalie...ya know, films that are odd for the sake of being odd.

If a movie is good, then it's good. It doesn't matter what its budget is.

They're not good.


And what I mean is, some of them are really bad, most of them are tolerable, but have always the same inherent flaws (stupid happy endings, Punisher syndrome - the law isn't up to it, so I will kill all the evil doers - , marriage is the only acceptable way for two people to be together syndrome, evil evil evil bad guys, and sickeningly nice good guys, etc...), and a very few manage to somehow escape those flaws, or at least some of them.
Like Master and Commander (if that's a Hollywood movie).

Take Gladiator, for example, what could have been an excellent movie what ruined at the end by turning history on its head for the sake of morals. Hollywood has that effect on movies. On most of them, anyway.

EDIT: And I wish people would stop assume that people watch so-called weird movies because the want ot feel indie and cool. These movies focus on creativity instead of following established recipes for success. That makes them, you know, more interesting, and sometimes *shock* far better.

[RLacey]

Originally Posted by temporaryscars

I don't get people who shun Hollywood movies because they're a nice and shiny package. You all try so hard to be cool and "indie" by watching films from like...friggin Siberia or awful French films like Amalie...ya know, films that are odd for the sake of being odd.

If a movie is good, then it's good. It doesn't matter what its budget is.

Actually, Amélie is an ace film, and I'm not just saying that because it's French and done in a slightly crazy, offbeat style. Also I too tend to find it tiring when people dismiss Hollywood films for not being low-budget, edgy and "different". Mind you, I'm talking about the people who can only possibly like a film on the grounds that nobody else has heard of it ...

[RLacey]

Originally Posted by Ninth

EDIT: And I wish people would stop assume that people watch so-called weird movies because the want ot feel indie and cool. These movies focus on creativity instead of following established recipes for success. That makes them, you know, more interesting, and sometimes *shock* far better.

I'm not assuming that everyone does - I enjoy a lot of these films myself. What irritates me is when people start assuming that because a film is niche it must be better.

[Ninth]

Originally Posted by RLacey

I'm not assuming that everyone does - I enjoy a lot of these films myself. What irritates me is when people start assuming that because a film is niche it must be better.

Hm, niche films are not always better, certainly, but almost always more interesting. I'm almost never surprised by Hollywood, and not being surprised gets boring after a while.
I'd even go as far as say I'd rather see a lousy obnoxious indie movie than the average ok hollywood movie. Because at least you'll remember the first for years, while you'll forget the second in hours.

[Ninth]

Originally Posted by RLacey

Actually, Amélie is an ace film, and I'm not just saying that because it's French and done in a slightly crazy, offbeat style. Also I too tend to find it tiring when people dismiss Hollywood films for not being low-budget, edgy and "different". Mind you, I'm talking about the people who can only possibly like a film on the grounds that nobody else has heard of it ...

Oh, and by the way, Amélie is the closest you can get to a "hollywoodian french movie".

[SakSquash]

Originally Posted by Ninth

They're not good.


And what I mean is, some of them are really bad, most of them are tolerable, but have always the same inherent flaws (stupid happy endings, Punisher syndrome - the law isn't up to it, so I will kill all the evil doers - , marriage is the only acceptable way for two people to be together syndrome, evil evil evil bad guys, and sickeningly nice good guys, etc...), and a very few manage to somehow escape those flaws, or at least some of them.
Like Master and Commander (if that's a Hollywood movie).

Take Gladiator, for example, what could have been an excellent movie what ruined at the end by turning history on its head for the sake of morals. Hollywood has that effect on movies. On most of them, anyway.

EDIT: And I wish people would stop assume that people watch so-called weird movies because the want ot feel indie and cool. These movies focus on creativity instead of following established recipes for success. That makes them, you know, more interesting, and sometimes *shock* far better.

Of course there are a ton of bad American movies. Shit, throw a rock and you're bound to hit a "romantic comedy" and they all suck, minus The Wedding Singer, but there are a ton of shit French movies as well (hello, I Stand Alone ring a bell? Baise Moi? I rest my case.) not to mention other countries as well. But those countries also have good movies, like City of Lost Children (I think...I haven't decided yet...). So you can't say "OH MAN! IT'S A HOLLYWOOD MOVIE!? IT MUST SUCK!" because it applies to movies from everywhere.

Oh, and your comment about happy endings and characters who are all good or bad, that's complete crap. I haven't seen a movie like that since the 60's. The majority of characters from movies today have some sort of flaw/redeeming quality unless it's a childrens movie. And you see bad endings just as much as you see happy ones. Look at your friggin avatar.

[Once A Villain]

Originally Posted by temporaryscars

So you can't say "OH MAN! IT'S A HOLLYWOOD MOVIE!? IT MUST SUCK!" because it applies to movies from everywhere.

Sure, movies from anywhere can suck. But Hollywood movies seem to suck just a bit more often. Not in the old days, mind you. Hollywood used to be a force to be reckoned with.

[SakSquash]

Originally Posted by Once A Villain

Sure, movies from anywhere can suck. But Hollywood movies seem to suck just a bit more often. Not in the old days, mind you. Hollywood used to be a force to be reckoned with.

Maybe that's because they make more movies? It's like saying America has more fat people than Holland. Well, yeah, America has more people.

[After a brisk nap]

Originally Posted by TangentBlack

Haha, do not feel ashamed. Everyone has succumed to the propaganda of the Hollywood. Even halfway around the world where I live, people die to see American made movies because of all the glitz and glamour. I expect to see Harry Potter with my children, as they are avid readers of the damned books, I myself do not care for them much. They are creative and psuedo-innovative, but I would take the Lord of The Ring books any day. Is it just me, or is American film becoming a slave to what sells: sex, violence, and swearing? I don't mind any of it, but it tends to ruin the concentration of effort on the part of the film makers, eh?

Of course, the Harry Potter movies aren't actually from Hollywood. Made in the UK, with a British cast and (now) an English director...

[Ninth]

Originally Posted by temporaryscars

Of course there are a ton of bad American movies. Shit, throw a rock and you're bound to hit a "romantic comedy" and they all suck, minus The Wedding Singer, but there are a ton of shit French movies as well (hello, I Stand Alone ring a bell? Baise Moi? I rest my case.) not to mention other countries as well. But those countries also have good movies, like City of Lost Children (I think...I haven't decided yet...). So you can't say "OH MAN! IT'S A HOLLYWOOD MOVIE!? IT MUST SUCK!" because it applies to movies from everywhere.

Oh, and your comment about happy endings and characters who are all good or bad, that's complete crap. I haven't seen a movie like that since the 60's. The majority of characters from movies today have some sort of flaw/redeeming quality unless it's a childrens movie. And you see bad endings just as much as you see happy ones. Look at your friggin avatar.

I'm confused. What's being american has to do with it? Most of my favorite movies are american, just not hollywoodian, like Requiem for a Dream, which you strangely used as an example.

Hollywoodian movies have shitty characters, shitty endings, shitty values, with some extremely rare exceptions. And don't give me the "hero has flaws" argument, the "I look and behave like a badass but really deep inside I'm a good guy" hero is as old a cliche as the righteous hero.

I have no idea what "I stand alone is", by the way. In any case, french movies are more often than not trying to be something more than pretty and shiny dumb things (although it's more and more the case these days). They end up shitty as often as hollywoodian movies, but at least, like I said, they're interesting.

[Ninth]

Originally Posted by temporaryscars

Maybe that's because they make more movies? It's like saying America has more fat people than Holland. Well, yeah, America has more people.

They have more fat people than China, too, but I don't think this proves anything. And no, Hollywood doesn't make more movies, they just have enough money to choke everyone to death with their blandness all over the world.
Plus, and what's worse, other country are trying to follow their path, making atrocious "Hollywood-like" movies. Next time I see a bullet-time effect, I'll probably scream.