i'm losing my joy of watching movies.

[Nekr0s1s]

Many times my brother have asked me to go out to watch some movies, but these days it's getting way too hard to enjoy any of the current releases. i'm struggling to even laugh at most if not every comedy, and i've had way too many disappointments with action movies. (i wish the endings were simpler again; hero executes the bad guy, peace is restored, the end, period) recent stories about agenda pushing have further contributed to the point that i'm pretty much boycotting everything in sight. to make matters worse, i don't have much cultural baggage when it comes to movies, so i don't know of any alternatives to look for. for much of my life i only watched two types of movies; action and comedy, and i always went with the flow. It worked when i was young but now i fear i'm losing my joy of watching any movies because all i see and hear about is yet another super-hero movie, a remake or a romantic comedy, not to mention biography movies. i want to go out again to a movie theater and have a real good time but how do i separate the wheat from the chaff? how do i know if this movie is any good and if there's no political propaganda going on?

[Mr. Freeze]

3 hours ago, Nekr0s1s said:

agenda pushing

 

 

3 hours ago, Nekr0s1s said:

political propaganda

 

lmao

[geo]

Stop watching trailers. I've found it has vastly helped me. Comedies were always a struggle for me to watch past college. My life and friends are already a comedy and it's like why do I need to watch one? Unless there's some sort of big silliness that just can't be achieved with real life.

 

If super hero movies aren't your thing or even modern political pushing agenda movies aren't your thing, that's why movies have DECADES of stuff you haven't seen. Go for one of those. Even if they were political agenda pushing movies of their era... that could all be irrelevant now, unless you choose to place relevance with it. I can miss political points of movies because I'm rather one dimensional and I can just enjoy a movie for what it is rather than feel like someone is trying to make a lasting impression on me. There are so many points and metaphors that you can gain from watching any movie.

 

It's like one of the latest episodes of Twilight Zone points out... "if we don't say something important, we're just telling campfire stories with no substance"

[AndrewB]

The last movie I saw in a theater was in 2015. Hollywood has gone to shit for many of the reasons you mentioned. Realize that it's a lost cause and move on to something worthwhile.

[elend]

I haven't seen a funny comedy in ages, as well. My alltime favourites are the oldschool "Zucker Brothers" movies (i. e. Airplane, Top Secret, Naked Gun), but I do understand, that you can't do something like this in modern times anymore.

 

What I did tremendously enjoy, though, was "What We Do In The Shadows", both the original movie, as well as the recent TV show. Do check it out, it is highly entertaining and very well made.

[Maximum Matt]

Yeah that was a classic.

[Memerz1]

I mean; who says you have to watch the latest releases? I still have tons of movies in my backlog that I haven't seen, Like E.T, Terminator, Jaws, and other cult classics. I mostly watch anime/video game based movies, so I'm kind of use to things being on the cheesy side. Anyone remember when Nickelodeon thought it was a good idea to let M. Night Shyamalan direct the live action Avatar movie? Or the very existence of Dragonball Evolution?

 

Tangent aside, even if most movies now suck in your opinion, you can always look to the past.

[seed]

Perhaps the answer lies in the past. If you don't have a problem with watching old(er) movies or TV shows, you can go instead for one of those. I barely have any interest in action movies anymore, although not for these reasons. Sci fi and superhero stuff is where it is for me, but anyway, if newer stuff doesn't cut it, there's decades to check out, so might as well start digging there.

 

I could never really stand comedy movies however, or at least, definitely not the very recent ones, too much toiled humour.

[Nevander]

I haven't watched a new movie in years, discounting the new Star Wars films. I stick to the established classics before all the bullshit and bad writing and acting started happening.

[Mr. Freeze]

Bad writing and acting was invented after the turn of the millennium? News to me. 

[Nevander]

Comparing modern acting to pre-2000s acting, I'd say so.

[Megalyth]

On 6/6/2019 at 10:31 PM, Mr. Freeze said:

lmao

 

Heh, seriously? That stuff is pretty prevalent in all forms of contemporary mainstream entertainment. It's not even some big secret or conspiracy theory, many directors and actors have openly stated their intent to use their platforms to push political messages.

[Koko Ricky]

If you all watch is Hollywood comedy/action films, and are complaining that there are "agenda pushing" forces at work...you have much, much much cinematic exploration to do, my friend.

[Nekr0s1s]

18 hours ago, Memerz1 said:

Anyone remember when Nickelodeon thought it was a good idea to let M. Night Shyamalan direct the live action Avatar movie? Or the very existence of Dragonball Evolution?

 

I just happened to watch DOA: Dead Or Alive a few months ago. i found it to be okay, despite deviating with some stuff from the games. (example: Christie's hair color, and Kasumi being nowhere near as hot. oh, and Hitomi barely appearing at all.)

8 hours ago, GoatLord said:

If you all watch is Hollywood comedy/action films, and are complaining that there are "agenda pushing" forces at work...you have much, much much cinematic exploration to do, my friend.

 

do you know of any good place to start? also, what are some good places to read some movie reviews? (i only know of Rotten Tomatoes, but i don't know if it's trustworthy)

15 hours ago, seed said:

If you don't have a problem with watching old(er) movies or TV shows, you can go instead for one of those

 

That's what i've been doing in the last few months; i watched a couple of Quentin Tarantino's movies, like Pulp Fiction, From Dusk Till Dawn and Kill Bill volumes 1 and 2. BTW, what about his latest movie, the soon-to-be-released "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood"? I wonder if it will be worth watching...

Edited June 8, 2019 by Nekr0s1s

[Grimosaur]

You say you only like action and comedy, so I'd say to go watch every film Edgar Wright has ever made.

 

Watch Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz or Scott Pilgrim VS The World.

 

If you don't enjoy them then I don't know what else to say to you except that it's physically impossible not to, and that you probably aren't human for not enjoying them.

[Mr. Freeze]

8 hours ago, Megalyth said:

 

Heh, seriously? That stuff is pretty prevalent in all forms of contemporary mainstream entertainment. It's not even some big secret or conspiracy theory, many directors and actors have openly stated their intent to use their platforms to push political messages.

 

All art is political and movies have been outwardly political for a looooong time. It's not a legitimate bone to pick with contemporary media. 

[Megalyth]

35 minutes ago, Mr. Freeze said:

 

All art is political and movies have been outwardly political for a looooong time. It's not a legitimate bone to pick with contemporary media. 

 

It's much more heavy-handed the past few years though. Everything is so absurdly political these days, to the point of banning chicken sandwich restaurants.

 

There is plenty of non-political art though. A quick example from the top of my head would be Commander Keen, a simple platform game about a kid's imaginary space adventures. There was no intended underlying narrative there (although I'm sure someone with too much time on their hands could manufacture one).

 

That's beside the point anyway, if you know all this to be true, what are you lmaoing about?

Edited June 8, 2019 by Megalyth

[DuckReconMajor]

I go in and out of embracing the current pop culture. It seems to correlate with how depressed or not I happen to be at the time. Hopefully it helps me appreciate more complex things while also being able to appreciate things that are fun and popular.

 

I've never been one to enjoy movies but in recent years I've actually found some I like and even gone to the theater and watched a couple of those stupid Marvel movies and quite enjoying them. 

 

I agree with Mr Freeze in that if people are making art, it's nigh impossible for at least some politics of the time not to influence the art.

However, at a time like this there's an expectation that there will be piece of art that is going to 'define this entire tumultuous time', and now everyone want a shot at it. 

This can lead to some insincere "look how woke I am" moments that can be somewhat grating. 

 

As for the OP's question: I wouldn't worry too much about it. Eventually something will come along that will catch your interest. This could be a chance to discover something new that you like even more, like others have suggested.

[Mr. Freeze]

2 hours ago, Megalyth said:

That's beside the point anyway, if you know all this to be true, what are you lmaoing about?

 

OP's argument ("superhero and modern action movies are too political") is typically uttered by one specific type of moviegoer, who usually can't recognize political messages in films unless they disagree with said messages. Said moviegoer will typically complain about the "good old days" before "SJWs/feminists/liberals" overtook the industry and started cranking out "left-wing propaganda". The blindness of these people is laughable. 

[SOSU]

3 hours ago, Mr. Freeze said:

 

All art is political

Even the Teletubbies :O?

On Topic:

In my opinion most movies post millenium are garbage and the good ones i can't stand because they use the orange and teal effect i always despised with all my heart :D (Same goes for All comics post 1999, i also dislike the 90s stuff because it's too edgy even for me and most comic looked frankly ugly then)

You might have some fatigue from just watching two genres of movies, you should check out other genres and watch movies not just from the 80s and 90s like all the normies but early 19th century stuff to :D (The now a bit foreign time period together with the inexperience of making sound movies make most of them a truly unie and refreshign experience)

Also if you don't want EVIL SJW PROPAGANDA in movies check out stuff from countries where they aren't that big of an influence :)

[Mr. Freeze]

4 minutes ago, SOSU said:

Even the Teletubbies :O?

 

Tinky Winky clearly represents The Gay Agenda. 

[Vorpal]

Sturgeon's Law is (and has been) in effect is all. It's just that in the 80's and 90's you had a fraction of the volume in terms of what Hollywood was pumping out, plus you had both local TV movie critiques (their own shows, or part of news segments) and national ones (e.g. siskel & ebert). While the reviews themselves were largely ignoreable, they raised awareness of films that were potentially good but too cheap to advertise. Nowadays the volume that Hollywood pumps out is mind boggling, and critiques/reviews aren't on TV (well, I think I've seen a weekend show where kids play at reviewing superhero movies and stuff). You have to like, make an effort to go find reviewers to discover what is even out there, but even that has work associated with it because of how disparate the web has become.

 

Anyway, my point is that good movies are still being made, they're just buried under a mountain of garbage and almost nobody of note is sorting through it (academy awards nominees are a pretty decent starting place, still). Even the bottom of the barrel movie genre, "The Reboot", has amazing stuff... both Blade Runner 2049 and Alien Covenant have surpassed the originals imo, and I was raised on those movies so I don't say this lightly.

[scalliano]

Politics in entertainment media are fine when they are an organic part of the setting, for example the MCU does actually deal with the potential real-world implications of having a bunch of people with superpowers running around causing mass damage to infrastructure. The best works of art ask, "what if?" "What about?" The difference is when a work is overtly trying to push an ideological message, such as "X is bad and you're something ending in '-ist' or '-phobic' if you dare challenge the assertion." As I see it, studios don't really care about representation or diversity or any of that stuff outside of a means to attract a certain demographic and deflect legitimate criticism under the guise of the aforementioned suffixes. The first example that comes to mind is that deleted scene from Captain Marvel that's been doing the rounds - you know the one where she assaults and robs a guy for having the nerve to try and chat her up. I find it hilarious that so many outlets see that as some sort of female empowerment when, in reality, it's something that you'd expect to see the baddies do (also, on a personal level, it straight up rips off Terminator 2, but that's another conversation).

 

The biggest issue I have though, is that this no longer pertains simply to "that certain moviegoer". I have a mate in work who is the normiest of normies. He's not into comics or video games, but he is something of a movie buff and has a particular affinity for the MCU (in other words, the complete opposite of me). After watching Endgame, even HE ended up complaining about "all that hash-tag-Me-Too stuff". If even normies are beginning to see this stuff, then we have a problem.

 

TV Tropes has a coupe of pages, one called "Anvillicious" and the other called "Glurge", both of which deal with sledgehammer-style agenda-pushing and why it detracts from works which could otherwise be great. The first deals with the heavy-handedness, the second when such heavy-handedness is so blatant and poorly executed that it either undermines itself or backfires completely. Recommended reading when you have a spare few minutes.

 

Personally, if it asks a question, it's art. If it makes an assertion, it's propaganda. I prefer to think for myself, thanks.

[Jaws In Space]

I have also felt that movies have been getting worse recently, so I decided to see how accurate this feeling actually is. I'm pretty obsessed with movies, even more so than with Doom. So of course I keep track of every film I've ever watched in any given year along with a rating out of 10.

 

Looking at the data, the percentages here are pretty accurate to how I feel, with a few exceptions. For example both 2010 & 2015 I felt were pretty dismal for movies & looking below they both show the lowest percentages. On the other hand I felt disappointed with movies in 2018, though it appears as the highest rated year of the decade.
2010    166/390    43%
2011    182/370    49%
2012    202/390    52%
2013    234/460    51%
2014    202/370    55%
2015    127/270    47%
2016    165/310    53%
2017    169/330    51%
2018    223/380    59%

2019*    84/130    65%

 

When you compare the 2010's decade with the 90's you may notice that there really isn't much variance with the percentages indicating that on the whole movies really were not much better or worse then than they are now. Though what my ratings don't show here is that there has been a trend where I've rated a lot less movies very high or very low, there has been a shift in the most recent decade toward very average movies. So I'm giving out a lot more 5/10s than 10/10s or 1/10s compared to the 90's.

1990    110/200    55%

1991    108/180    60%

1992      86/160    54%

1993    103/210    47%

1994    205/390    53%

 

1997    243/480    51%

 

2008    175/360    49%

[TheMightyHeracross]

 

[elend]

Movies aren't getting worse, it's just that your ability to judge them gets better. Also your "movie lexicon" gets bigger, thus you have less and less movies that will genuinely surprise you, because you have seen the same stuff many times before.

 

For a movie that did surprise me, check out "Under the Silver Lake". Very good.

[AndrewB]

On 6/8/2019 at 3:36 PM, Mr. Freeze said:

 

All art is political and movies have been outwardly political for a looooong time. It's not a legitimate bone to pick with contemporary media. 

 

Movies used to be political to the extent that it furthered the movie. Dr Strangelove is an obvious example but there are many others.

Modern movies are political at the cost of the movie itself, as if the movie is a loss leader for some other purpose. Ghostbusters 2016 is one glaring example of many. Star Wars 8 almost certainly would have been more successful without the "current year" politics.

 

The bone is legitimate.

[AndrewB]

2 hours ago, elend said:

Movies aren't getting worse, it's just that your ability to judge them gets better.

 

This implies that a person only ever watches newer movies. Not a legitimate assumption.

[elend]

Well, OP is talking explicitly about „current releases“ in his post. I assumed he dislikes „newer“ movies, while maybe still liking older ones. 

[boris]

On 6/7/2019 at 4:31 AM, Mr. Freeze said:

 

 

 

lmao

I highly recommend this review of The Equalizer 2: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw4438965/?ref_=tt_urv