In reflecting on
their reaction to JAWS vs. other recent movies they've watched, plus their reactions to other older movies, they concluded something that I think hit the nail on the head.
Movies today look real but are fake, movies back then looked fake, but were real.
And then they followed up with this observation:
We're wimps today. We have more violence and gory death, but's just violence and gory death. We couldn't handle a movie made like that (or other older films) dealing with things realistically.
I'm thinking they're onto something.
(meant to comment earlier)
ReplyDeleteThis all was ultimately best summed up by redlettermedia's character test:
http://youtu.be/FxKtZmQgxrI?t=6m46s
(It's at the 6:45 mark in the link above if the direct time skip doesn't work.)
Yes, the great characters in jaws all pass the 3d character test with flying colors, and many today do not.
HOWEVER, it should be remembered that old "rule": 90% of everything is crap.
For instance, Jaws came out in '75. WITHOUT looking it up, can you name every other movie released in that year? (ok, here's the cheat sheet: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_films_of_1975)
I didn't bother counting, but it's a lot. How many of those do you suppose had full, 3d characters? Well it'll be Jaws and a few others that most of us still remember, BECAUSE they had 3d characters and are memorable.
Likewise, right now it all looks like crap out there because we're in the middle of the schlock torrent without time to filter out what was some of the best. But some good ones are still made (for instance, I just saw xmen and I'll rank it as not just one of the best comic book movies, but a really good MOVIE period).
That's why mostly I just go into movies to be entertained. Then when you find that great movie, that one which really stretches beyond the usual mark, it sticks with you, and you're pleasantly surprised.
And you can always ask me or check my blog for some reviews if you're curious what's worth your time.
The 90% crap principle is always true through the ages. How much 'classical' music was crap, and has long been forgotten. With that said, however, I think they were meaning compared to the best of the crop today. It wouldn't be fair to compare The Godfather to an Adam Sandler movie. Or a Mike Myers movie. There are plenty of worthless films from the decades long ago. But they were talking about main ones today. Breaking Bad or the latest Block Buster, or the latest Academy Award winner. Some do well enough. But they still say there's an edge in the past that's missing today, something about the characters, how they were portrayed. Maybe it's the acting style. Maybe it's our own culture. Don't know. But it's an observation coming from the boys, reflecting on what they're growing up in versus what they notice about previous eras, and I can't help but think they might be on to something.
ReplyDeleteWell now Breaking Bad is a TV series (I've heard it described as a novel in TV format) that's supposed to examine the descent of the main character into becoming a full on villain.
ReplyDeleteAt least, that's what I've heard, I haven't watched it yet.
Now Adam Sandler isn't fair as I don't think anyone is going to compare his films as "best" of anything. ;-) Godfather to be compared to something would have to be compared to the best so far. Actually I think i've heard some say there's a lot of parallels between Godfather & Breaking Bad. I really do need to watch both.
Though I should also mention that it was around this time (IIRC) that a new revolution was kind of undergoing in hollywood (Furious D on his blog talks about this a lot) and, for better or worse, we must admit that there's always an edge to revolutions. Some believe that the trend in current movies is mirroring the "before" of that revolution, so it might be that we could all live long enough to see a new edge in hollywood.
Best of... best of... I do love Inception and there's something to the characters in that I think. And (though it seems almost silly to say) the latest Xmen movie is... actually I dare say it may have that edge your boys spotted (recommended: douglasernstblog.com/2014/05/26/x-men-days-of-future-past-may-be-the-most-important-superhero-movie-ever/). Book of Eli was also surprising in the ground it tread.
But as you can guess, I could talk about this for awhile. XD Your boys might be onto something, encourage them to keep trying to dig it up. ;-)