3 ms·

> I don't understand why people are so thrilled to pay money to see a new movie when there are so many great movies in the past few decades For me, it's HD. Ol

> I don't understand why people are so thrilled to pay money to see a new movie when there are so many great movies in the past few decades For me, it's HD. Old movies look... old.

devonkim 10y ago
It's not aesthetics for me as much as sufficiently older movies are a lot closer to stage plays in how they're filmed and storyboarded, and I generally dislike plays and musicals whatever the content is (case in point: I don't have any interest in Hamilton nor Disney movies). Then comes a lot of older movies having pacing that doesn't fit the time and mental energy commitment I am capable of making. I can appreciate classics like Lawrence of Arabia, Dr. Zhivago, and the Deer Hunter, but I generally don't have 3+ contiguous hours to do anything anymore let alone watch a movie and I feel ashamed I can't honor such works with a proper, conscious viewing either. For "pop" arthouse movies closer to something like Begotten or Valhalla Rising, the effort to get value is even worse because I am not understanding what the symbols are and it becomes more of an exercise in "let's analyze scenes!" than "let's watch a movie to stimulate our minds." Some people don't like video games for similar reasons I feel - they want passive, decision-free entertainment.
- TeMPOraL 10y ago
  It's probably different to different people, but I'm having trouble with old movies for a similar reason - they feel too slow to me. The plot doesn't develop fast enough; sometimes I actually can't make heads or tails of it, because some events are spaced out in a way that breaks the casual relationship in my mind. The what it differs from what you described is that I don't mind active, decision-rich entertainment. I love video games. I just have too short of an attention span to really enjoy old, slow-paced movies :/.
Broken_Hippo 10y ago
To me, it goes so much further than just something like the HD. It looks old the same way an old photograph looks old. The colors are all off: The jokes aged. The sound seems weird. The special effects - even if they were amazing at the time - were off. The movies were obviously made for a different time. Granted, there are exceptions - a few movies age well, but the vast majority do not.
- euroclydon 10y ago
  Except Planes, Trains and Automobiles and Christmas Vacation, which are perfect.
- wj 10y ago
  I agree with your last sentence but there usually is a reason a classic is a classic. Same applies to literature. However if there is one thing I have learned is that everyone has different tastes. My wife cannot watch any film made before she was born while my golden age of film is about 1940 to 1970. I will take All About Eve, Double Indemnity, the Thin Man, and anything with Humphrey Bogart over anything released these days. That is not even getting into classic foreign films. A key component of classic films is that they weren't able to distract special effects, or even colors for some, so plot was that much more important. I can't imagine that mumblecore will survive the test of time but I could be wrong.

> I don't understand why people are so thrilled to pay money to see a new movie when there are so many great movies in the past few decades For me, it's HD. Old movies look... old.

devonkim 10y ago

It's not aesthetics for me as much as sufficiently older movies are a lot closer to stage plays in how they're filmed and storyboarded, and I generally dislike plays and musicals whatever the content is (case in point: I don't have any interest in Hamilton nor Disney movies). Then comes a lot of older movies having pacing that doesn't fit the time and mental energy commitment I am capable of making. I can appreciate classics like Lawrence of Arabia, Dr. Zhivago, and the Deer Hunter, but I generally don't have 3+ contiguous hours to do anything anymore let alone watch a movie and I feel ashamed I can't honor such works with a proper, conscious viewing either. For "pop" arthouse movies closer to something like Begotten or Valhalla Rising, the effort to get value is even worse because I am not understanding what the symbols are and it becomes more of an exercise in "let's analyze scenes!" than "let's watch a movie to stimulate our minds." Some people don't like video games for similar reasons I feel - they want passive, decision-free entertainment.

TeMPOraL 10y ago
It's probably different to different people, but I'm having trouble with old movies for a similar reason - they feel too slow to me. The plot doesn't develop fast enough; sometimes I actually can't make heads or tails of it, because some events are spaced out in a way that breaks the casual relationship in my mind. The what it differs from what you described is that I don't mind active, decision-rich entertainment. I love video games. I just have too short of an attention span to really enjoy old, slow-paced movies :/.

Broken_Hippo 10y ago

To me, it goes so much further than just something like the HD. It looks old the same way an old photograph looks old. The colors are all off: The jokes aged. The sound seems weird. The special effects - even if they were amazing at the time - were off. The movies were obviously made for a different time. Granted, there are exceptions - a few movies age well, but the vast majority do not.

euroclydon 10y ago
Except Planes, Trains and Automobiles and Christmas Vacation, which are perfect.
wj 10y ago
I agree with your last sentence but there usually is a reason a classic is a classic. Same applies to literature. However if there is one thing I have learned is that everyone has different tastes. My wife cannot watch any film made before she was born while my golden age of film is about 1940 to 1970. I will take All About Eve, Double Indemnity, the Thin Man, and anything with Humphrey Bogart over anything released these days. That is not even getting into classic foreign films. A key component of classic films is that they weren't able to distract special effects, or even colors for some, so plot was that much more important. I can't imagine that mumblecore will survive the test of time but I could be wrong.