See any good movies lately?

Stunts and special effects used to be PART of the movie. In many cases now they ARE the movies. The plot and the dialogue is almost an afterthought.
 
It all has to do with presentation. Everything does.

It's not that we have short attention spans, it's that "modern" is boring. Look at most of your Oscar-winning movies, downright boring with depressing asf endings that bring no joy. The best movie in a decade (Everything Everywhere All At Once) probably won't even be nominated because the movie is genuinely fun to watch. Modern music, so low energy. If I have to listen to Billie Eilish whisper lyrics about committing suicide to depressing background music one more time in my life, I will yeet myself through a window.

There's a reason Marvel movies are so successful, and it's not because of CGI and stunts. It's because the formula works. They're upbeat, sometimes funny, movies that bring you joy to watch. As stupid as these movies are, I actually sat down and watched a bunch of them during the COVID lockdown because it was a nice, HAPPY distraction.

Music from the 90s is the most popular music right now. The music of the 90s was very diverse, catchy, upbeat, high energy, and even the worst 90s songs are better than the majority of the crap being played on the radio (or is it Spotify now?) today. That's not even nostalgia because young people who weren't around in the 90s are jamming to this. When I was doing a bit of DJing during COVID, the 90s music I played was usually the most effective at getting people up and dancing.

As much as it makes TV snobs cringe to this day, "Full House" is still timeless television because it's fun and high energy and upbeat. But it's not "sophisticated" or doesn't "have meaning" or doesn't preach some kind of political message, so it's obviously crap TV.



This has nothing to do with attention spans, and Hailie's beliefs are disconnected from the majority of her generation. She has the right to speak her mind, and I have the right to say she's wrong.

NASCAR has a good product right now, and it has captivating personalities for the first time in a long time. People just have to give it time to blossom. And, for the love of God, find a TV partner that doesn't treat the sport like a damn cartoon, figuratively and literally. Fox Sports has been a problem for a long time. And it's not just NASCAR. NFL fans, by and large, have more favorable opinions of NBC and CBS. Golf fans loathe and detest Fox Sports. Baseball fans complain every October about Fox Sports.

I agree 100% about the broadcast not taking the sport seriously, which I why I thought Boogity Boogity set the sport back at least a decade and I used to want to change the channel every time Digger came on or the buffoon that is Michael Waltrip. I just don't see NBC being a whole lot better though. I'm sure it's not practical in today's world, but one of the things I used to love about the NHRA was the Diamond P Sports telecasts. They did the whole product and just farmed it out to the networks to air, so regardless whether it was TNN, ESPN NBC or whatever, you got consistency every week from people that had a real vested interest in making the sport look good.
 
In many cases now they ARE the movies. The plot and the dialogue is almost an afterthought.
Plenty of popular movies from decades past have been been focused on special effects with the plot and dialogue taking a backseat. Look at the whole Star Wars franchise for example.
 
Plenty of popular movies from decades past have been been focused on special effects with the plot and dialogue taking a backseat. Look at the whole Star Wars franchise for example.

The Star Wars franchise is a bad example. The Empire Strikes Back is revered for several reasons. The plot is a big reason.
 
The Star Wars franchise is a bad example. The Empire Strikes Back is revered for several reasons. The plot is a big reason.
What if I told you that every member of Generation Z is too young to remember when Episode 1 came out, and that close to half of them weren't even born in time for the release of Episode 3?
 
I disagree that it's a "young people have shorter attention spans" thing. Young people have long attention spans for lots of things, like video games, different TV/Netflix series, and other sports with long games like soccer.

There are a couple factors at play here, and it covers all age demographics. First of all, we have almost infinitely more options today than in past generations, in terms of how we want to spend our screen time. It used to be that your screen time on Sunday was to watch the race or golf or football, or the news, or some syndicated old sitcom.

Now you can watch whatever sport you want, whatever TV show you want, whatever movie, youtuber, any interest, any hobby, you name it. Plus you have social media engagement that flatout didn't exist and also eats into our time. So it's not that young people now don't have the attention span. They have the attention span - they just don't need to settle for something they're not 100% into, and there are so many other things competing for everybody's attention than ever before. NASCAR needs to be as compelling as anything else if they want people to bite.

That leads me to my next point. It isn't as compelling to sit on the couch for three to four hours to watch a race unfold because races don't unfold the way they used to. Stages create cookie-cutter strategies almost every single week. We used to see tons of variation there. We also don't have random mechanical failures like we used to, which takes an element of surprise out of the event. There aren't as many variables to each weekend as there once was, so it feels pretty repetitive these days. I can totally see how somebody that isn't emotionally invested in this for several years already would have a hard time all the sudden committing a night or afternoon of every week for the better part of the year to this.

It flatout isn't as much of a developing story as it was in the past, and people want that story. That's what grabs people. Leaders staying out to win the stage and others pitting two laps before the stage end, every, single, weekend, is not what people are going to turn their undivided attention to when they have literally endless possibilities available to them. That affects *everybody* today.
I like how this post got moved to the movies thread when this was in response to what Hailie Deegan said about NASCAR not holding the audience's attention, and yet that content and other comments about what she said stayed put in the original thread.
 
What if I told you that every member of Generation Z is too young to remember when Episode 1 came out, and that close to half of them weren't even born in time for the release of Episode 3?

My point is that the first six Star Wars movies actually have a coherent plot. FWIW, that's one of the reasons for the success of the MCU, it's very well planned out and executed.

I just find the narrative about Gen-Z attention spans funny because most of what they're getting fed in entertainment isn't the same flash, bam, alakazam I grew up with.

Nowadays, entertainment wraps itself in the very thing you turn to it to get away from. It's brooding and depressing.
 
Watched Orphan: First Kill last night. I always tell myself that I'm not a fan of prequels, but I always end up enjoying the movie. This one was no different. The twist in the first movie was great and the twist in this one was just as good.
 
Saw Halloween Ends. I thought it was better than the previous film, but the direction it went was not at all what I thought it'd be. Seeing as it's supposed to be the final encounter of Laurie and Michael, I expected more of a focus on them and their relationship.
 
ELVIS ... another home run by Baz Luhrmann. His movies are always spectacles that have the heart to match the overwhelming visuals and audio, and Elvis is his best since Moulin Rouge.

American Underdog ... the pacing is very odd, and it looks too much like a Hallmark made for TV movie. Decent, feel good film, but not great.
 
I've already seen stuff about how "Wakanda Forever" is the runaway favorite for Best Picture now. And nobody's even seen it.

Just the latest example of how overrated and overhyped the "Marvel Cinematic Universe" is.
 
2000 Mules wasn’t entertaining and solidifies my thoughts on a lot of people really today
 
Decided to rewatch one of the worst movies in cinematic history tonight.

Superman IV: The Quest for Peace

Here's the play-by-play:



And honestly, this movie is .... it's not good, but it's not as bad as it gets credit for, especially on its $42.76 budget.
 
Let's see I recently watched Ice Road on Netflix with Liam Neeson...the premise was a lot better then the movie.

Anyone see the trailer for Cocaine Bear...it looks hilarious. It is very very loosely based on true events...in that a bear in the 80s ate a bunch of Coke.
 
Currently watching " A Time to Kill". I saw it on the big screen early 90s probably watching it for 5th or 6th time now. I love that movie, book and story. It had a great cast too.

Who can ever forget Carl Lee Hailey's testimony "I hope they burn in hell".
It was a righteous momemt, the truth.

He did what a daddy had to do......
 
Currently watching " A Time to Kill". I saw it on the big screen early 90s probably watching it for 5th or 6th time now. I love that movie, book and story. It had a great cast too.

Who can ever forget Carl Lee Hailey's testimony "I hope they burn in hell".
It was a righteous momemt, the truth.

He did what a daddy had to do......

"Yes they deserved to die and I hope they burn in hell!"

Perfect, every time.

Fantastic movie.

It's outrageous that Joel Schumacher is remembered for "Batman & Robin" instead of "A Time To Kill."
 
I like To Kill a Mockingbird and A Time to Kill. To kill a Mocking Bird, with Gregory Peck was as much a keeper as is Michael McConaughey in A Time to Kill. Two of my all time favorite movies.
The girl that plays the role of "Scout," Atticus Finch's daughter, who was the youngest actress nominated for an academy award for her role.
A Time to Kill, is a take-off of Harper Lee's book, To Kill a Mocking Bird. It shows the gross injustice committed against blacks in the 1940s era and is well worth the time to view for those who have not seen that movie but did see and enjoy, A Time to Kill.
 
Everything Everywhere All At Once is winning everything everywhere at the Golden Globes already.

Ke Huy Quan and Michelle Yeoh have their Golden Globes.
 
Finally watched Top Gun Maverick last night.

Confession: I hated the original. Went back and watched it before Maverick and still hated it. It's an 80s popcorn flick with very little substance.

Maverick, however, is a fantastic movie. The action sequences and visuals are phenomenal and this movie has a ton of heart.
 
Finally watched Top Gun Maverick last night.

Confession: I hated the original. Went back and watched it before Maverick and still hated it. It's an 80s popcorn flick with very little substance.

Maverick, however, is a fantastic movie. The action sequences and visuals are phenomenal and this movie has a ton of heart.
I am not a Cruise fan and I considered the original to be an intolerable chick flick at the best, but I enjoyed this one.
The sequel story is much better than the original one

The Lady Gaga song was also outstanding.
 
Started watching "TAR" with Cate Blanchett and I have never hated a movie more than this one in my life. What a pretentious ass boring ass pile of ****.
 
The wife and I got in "A Man Called Otto" last week.
Our first movie date since Covid. She had read the book
the movie was based on and was curious to see how it played
out on screen. She gave it an 8/10 and I give it a 7/10.
It keeps you engaged . I thought the kids in the movie did
a really good job and wished they had a bigger part.
 
Finally finished "Tár" and, wow, I don't know where to begin.

Cate Blanchett gives a great performance and the plot is solid, once you get there about two hours in.

The best part was the end credits. Well, actually, let me rephrase that because the end credits are shown at the beginning. And I don't mean, you get opening credits like you'd see in older movies. I mean, a black screen with end credits rolling to somber, melodramatic music - which unironically sets the tone for this boring ass pile of shiit. So, actually, the second set of end credits is the best part.

This pretentious ass movie spends WAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY too much time trying to win an Oscar instead of telling a story.

1/10. Probably the worst movie I've ever sat through. But Cate Blanchett gives a hell of a performance.
 
This pretentious ass movie spends WAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY too much time trying to win an Oscar instead of telling a story.

And let me add to this by saying, this movie spends its entire runtime trying to win an Oscar in the same year Everything Everywhere All At Once hit theaters.

morgan-freeman-good-luck.gif
 
Watched a couple movies on Hulu the other day.

"No Exit" and "Plan B"

Both were good movies, but completely different from one another.
 
"Yes they deserved to die and I hope they burn in hell!"

Perfect, every time.

Fantastic movie.

It's outrageous that Joel Schumacher is remembered for "Batman & Robin" instead of "A Time To Kill."
Funny you mentioned Joel Shumacher. Back in 89 I was driving cab in Vancouver when I was dispatched to chinatown to an address where filming was in progress. They needed a cab in the scene and had a driver ready. I said I can do that and Shumacher said OK...

I had Sean Young in the back of the cab talking with me and at another time Lloyd Bridges.
Lloyd actually said ...Let's hit a bar.
I also had a nice trip from YVR airport to the cruise terminal with Scotty Bowman. I wish I had got him to sign that $5 tip.
And seeing as the Eagles are in the SB I also had Buddy Ryans ex wife in the cab. Back in the day.... good memories
 

I haven't been to a movie theater since 2020 and I don't see that changing anytime soon. Especially since all the theaters here are AMC. The costs keep skyrocketing. Tickets + Service Fees + Convenience Fees + Credit Card Fee + Fee Fees + Fi Fo Fum Fees + Popcorn + Drinks. And now they're doing tiered seating and forcing subscriptions on you.
 
My rankings for 2022 Oscar nominees, based on the movies I've seen so far:
  1. Everything Everywhere All At Once
  2. Top Gun: Maverick
  3. Elvis
  4. The Batman
  5. The Banshees of Inisherin
  6. Tár
Haven't seen The Fabelmans, Avatar II, or Wakanda Forever yet. Might watch Wakanda Forever this evening.
 
Wag the Dog
Shortly before an election, a spin-doctor and a Hollywood producer join efforts to fabricate a war in order to cover up a Presidential sex scandal.
 
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