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I can scarcely believe the level of elitism I'm seeing here. Guess what: Most art is garbage. Scorsese here is complaining that the movies we're seeing are the

I can scarcely believe the level of elitism I'm seeing here. Guess what: Most art is garbage. Scorsese here is complaining that the movies we're seeing are the "bad" ones, but if we just went to see his preferred kind of movies (ie totally new and unexpected), most of it would be infuriatingly bad. So yeah, we watch predictable, samey movies because we know they will at least be watchable. Because we're not artists and it's not on us to move the medium forward.

civilian 7y ago
I disagree, but I think I mainly put the agency on film producers / investors, and not on viewers. Super hero movies tend to be either sequels or in a series, and producers have recognized that these are low-risk, pretty decent guarantees of a good movie. So they've been highly motivated in cashing out that trend. In the 00's and 90s we had a lot more variety, but the movies also had more variance in their investment return. For the last few years I've only been watching superhero movies when they hit netflix or when I'm on a plane, and I think there's a growing trend of people being tired of superhero movies. And I'd say that there are times when a predictable superhero movie is great. But the best movies probably won't be marvel ones. [Hypocrisy disclaimer, one of my top 3 favorite movies is The Dark Knight, and IDK if that qualifies as a superhero movie.]
- erttyu_erghhg 7y ago
  I would say no — Nolan reinvented the super hero film with his Batman movies. And it wasn’t to turn them into theme-ride paydays. He may be partly responsible for the current mono movie that’s been running for years but only because he breathed new life into comic book cinema.
  - catalogia 7y ago
    I'd sooner credit Sam Raimi's Spider-Man with starting the modern big-budget superhero movie trend. That movie beat Harry Potter's box office record. It was a big hit and I think it proved the concept.
- sudosteph 7y ago
  See, I feel exactly opposite here (funnily enough - TDK is also an all-time favorite of mine). Opening night super hero movies, and Star Wars movies - are the only things I've bothered to go see at the theater for in the last 5 years now. I like that they are events to experience with friends. We buy our tickets together and chat beforehand about predictions. People dress up and take pics in line. The crowd knows when to cheer and laugh. The visuals and sound effects take advantage of the medium. I don't know any millennials who actually enjoy the watching the type of movies that Scorsese is talking about. The price per head at most theaters is too high for the entertainment you get. If I want to watch something with depth, then I can find television or streaming series which are far more enjoyable and actually have enough time for character development. I think the resurgence of shorter-run series and anthology shows (Fargo, True Detective) has addressed the primary issue TV shows had of not resolving storylines completely to keep you hooked another season. Movies just seem too short in comparison.
justanotherjoe 7y ago
the point is that you cannot go and watch his preffered kind of movies, because as it stands, they are getting produced less and less.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- solipsism 7y ago
  If that was his only point it wouldn't be contraversial. The contraversial part is saying those movies be doesn't prefer aren't examples of cinema. This isn't part of the historical use of this word. The Lumiere brothers coined the French version of the term, from Greek roots meaning "moving drawings" or "moving pictures". Motion pictures, movies, it all means the same thing. The nature of the content and whether you considered it artistic was not relevant. Consider whether the marvel movies have cinematographers.. consider the craft that goes into making movies look so good. Consider the makeup artists, Foley artists, set designers, etc. These movies are triumphs, and only small minds can find nothing in them but drivel. But the elites need words to separate themselves from others. And they've chosen to co-opt "cinema" for that purpose. Their goal in doing this is very clearly that draw a line between what they consider good and what they consider bad. It's by definition elitist. I'll get voted down for saying it, though, because a good chunk of HN is elitist too, and there's no one elites protect more than their fellow elites.

civilian 7y ago

I disagree, but I think I mainly put the agency on film producers / investors, and not on viewers. Super hero movies tend to be either sequels or in a series, and producers have recognized that these are low-risk, pretty decent guarantees of a good movie. So they've been highly motivated in cashing out that trend. In the 00's and 90s we had a lot more variety, but the movies also had more variance in their investment return. For the last few years I've only been watching superhero movies when they hit netflix or when I'm on a plane, and I think there's a growing trend of people being tired of superhero movies. And I'd say that there are times when a predictable superhero movie is great. But the best movies probably won't be marvel ones. [Hypocrisy disclaimer, one of my top 3 favorite movies is The Dark Knight, and IDK if that qualifies as a superhero movie.]

erttyu_erghhg 7y ago
I would say no — Nolan reinvented the super hero film with his Batman movies. And it wasn’t to turn them into theme-ride paydays. He may be partly responsible for the current mono movie that’s been running for years but only because he breathed new life into comic book cinema.
- catalogia 7y ago
  I'd sooner credit Sam Raimi's Spider-Man with starting the modern big-budget superhero movie trend. That movie beat Harry Potter's box office record. It was a big hit and I think it proved the concept.
sudosteph 7y ago
See, I feel exactly opposite here (funnily enough - TDK is also an all-time favorite of mine). Opening night super hero movies, and Star Wars movies - are the only things I've bothered to go see at the theater for in the last 5 years now. I like that they are events to experience with friends. We buy our tickets together and chat beforehand about predictions. People dress up and take pics in line. The crowd knows when to cheer and laugh. The visuals and sound effects take advantage of the medium. I don't know any millennials who actually enjoy the watching the type of movies that Scorsese is talking about. The price per head at most theaters is too high for the entertainment you get. If I want to watch something with depth, then I can find television or streaming series which are far more enjoyable and actually have enough time for character development. I think the resurgence of shorter-run series and anthology shows (Fargo, True Detective) has addressed the primary issue TV shows had of not resolving storylines completely to keep you hooked another season. Movies just seem too short in comparison.

justanotherjoe 7y ago

the point is that you cannot go and watch his preffered kind of movies, because as it stands, they are getting produced less and less.

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
solipsism 7y ago
If that was his only point it wouldn't be contraversial. The contraversial part is saying those movies be doesn't prefer aren't examples of cinema. This isn't part of the historical use of this word. The Lumiere brothers coined the French version of the term, from Greek roots meaning "moving drawings" or "moving pictures". Motion pictures, movies, it all means the same thing. The nature of the content and whether you considered it artistic was not relevant. Consider whether the marvel movies have cinematographers.. consider the craft that goes into making movies look so good. Consider the makeup artists, Foley artists, set designers, etc. These movies are triumphs, and only small minds can find nothing in them but drivel. But the elites need words to separate themselves from others. And they've chosen to co-opt "cinema" for that purpose. Their goal in doing this is very clearly that draw a line between what they consider good and what they consider bad. It's by definition elitist. I'll get voted down for saying it, though, because a good chunk of HN is elitist too, and there's no one elites protect more than their fellow elites.