5 ms·

I live in Belgium. It feels like 95% of all films I ever hear about are American. Opponents counter MAGA with 'America was never great', but here they'll say 'M

by xz18r 1y ago

I live in Belgium. It feels like 95% of all films I ever hear about are American. Opponents counter MAGA with 'America was never great', but here they'll say 'Movies have never left America'?

asib 1y ago
Movies are overwhelmingly made _by_ American studios but I don't know if they are overwhelmingly _made_ (shot) in the US. It's very common to shoot in a location that gives tax incentives. E.g. Vancouver used to be (potentially still is) a common production location.
- genocidicbunny 1y ago
  Vancouver and Toronto were very often used as stand-ins for shows based in places like Chicago, Seattle, NYC and many others. Might still be, but I barely consume that sort of media nowadays. It made watching TV shows like Stargate SG1 additionally amusing though -- every planet they visited was basically some location near Vancouver. Me and friends used to joke about how much like carcinisation is a thing in evolution, in the Stargate universe all planets eventually ended up looking like British Columbia.
  - a2tech 1y ago
    An argument could be made that the Ancients built Stargate's in places they wanted to go/were comfortable for them, and those areas were like BC
    - genocidicbunny 1y ago
      Iirc, either Carter or Daniel Jackson pretty much said something along those lines in one of the later seasons. Not the BC part specifically, but about why stargates were usually on planets pretty comfortable for humans. But the overarching point is that even shows where at least one of the actors (RDA) were given an award by the US Air Force for their depiction of the branch, were largely filmed outside the US.
      - 5555624 1y ago
        It's said several times. The first time I can recall is Carter says it to her father in "The Tok’ra, Part 2" in season two.
  - Vivtek 1y ago
    Similarly, every European city turns out to be Budapest. Especially if there's an urban car chase of any kind.
- latexr 1y ago
  > E.g. Vancouver used to be (potentially still is) a common production location. https://youtube.com/watch?v=ojm74VGsZBU https://youtube.com/watch?v=ojm74VGsZBU
MrBuddyCasino 1y ago
They’re often not shot in the US, due to cost differences and tax incentives. I suspect the latter is the real issue, but haven’t looked into it.
- echelon 1y ago
  That's what this is about. Work for IATSE crew union members has declined precipitously. During the pandemic, there was so much demand for content that the studios spent a lot of money teaching foreign crews how to produce films. They sent a lot of staff to Eastern Europe and Asia to train local crews. Serbia, etc., where the crews are making well below union wages and can work long hours without regulation. Since 2023, 60% or so of productions have vacated LA, Atlanta, and New York in favor of being shot overseas. They just fly the cast out. It's significantly cheaper than filming at home. IATSE membership is being decimated. Lots of folks have moved out of California because the jobs just aren't there anymore.
  - qeternity 1y ago
    > where the crews are making well below union wages and can work long hours without regulation. This is what is so ridiculous about unions in 2025: there are people in dozens of other tier 2 countries that will work harder than you for less pay. The solution is not to try to artificially inflate wages.
    - MrBuddyCasino 1y ago
      I'm much more anti-union than the average joe, but Hollywood is one example where it kind of makes sense, disregarding the international competition angle for a sec: it is a highly specialised kind of work, sometimes dangerous, with a very limited number of employers that are operating in a cartel-like environment that is known to be financially (and sometimes also sexually and ethnically) ruthless and opportunistic. The negotiating power is very uneven. Considering that even in a big and highly competitive environment such as Silicon Valley they managed to establish illegal hiring cartels between the big companies (Apple etc), I'd be sceptical to dish out free market arguments. Hollywood is not loosing relevance due to inflated wages, they stopped making movies people want to see. The reason for that is quite obvious, but a totally different discussion.
unsupp0rted 1y ago
Most non-American movies are slop, melodramatic vaudeville, or tear-jerking gut-punches. Most American movies are slop too, but America can afford to swing at more pitches and consequently get more hits. Have you ever tried to watch Korean movies from the last 20 years? It's all melodramatic romance-crime-poverty slop, with the rare Kim Ki-duk or Bong Joon Ho in there to balance it out. And that's a country with a wonderful reputation for quality film-making. I mean you get zombies on a train and that's a fun popcorn flick, but it's forgettable. It's no Tremors, Twister, or Independence Day. In Indonesia for every The Raid there's 999 poorly acted, poorly shot melodramas with a thin well-trodden story. And don't get me started on "let's yell at each other for 120 minutes" Russian cinema. American movies are by far the most watchable, especially when you don't feel like going on a heart-wrenching journey of despair, which is all international cinema excels at.
- dijit 1y ago
  Hollywood undoubtedly has more money, but you genuinely have no idea what you're talking about when it comes to the quality of what gets made. So many things that hollywood produces are remakes of foreign movies, except with an order of magnitude more money poured in and palate-switched for american audiences. (which, due to the sheer volume of content that comes out of hollywood- becomes the default international palate). The entertainment industry in Sweden (girl with the dragon tattoo, a man called Otto) and the UK (the countries I have lived in) is undoubtedly very strong, even comparatively poor (not intended as a slur here) India is quite famous for its bombastic action movies. Russia too, has some of the most thought provoking movies that I've ever seen. Leviathan and Durak- they even have your "fun" action style movies (Brat and Brat 2 for fantastic examples). To say that Hollywood produces more and thus sometimes better, and that other counties make slop betrays two things: 1) Hollywood steals vigorously from other countries. 2) Other countries produce works that do not translate well for american audiences.
  - unsupp0rted 1y ago
    Every country has 5 or 10 good movies you can name, and they're always the same ones. Brat and Brat 2, Leviathan and Durak... the list doesn't go on much beyond that. And certainly not in the last 20 years. For US movies, the list goes on. And you can debate which ones should make the top-100. But here's a pivotal soviet comedy about a guy who goes to the future... okay, here's Bob Zemeckis's Back to the Future. Compare the quality of any aspect: story, acting, props, costumes, cinematography, special fx, attention to detail, MUSIC... 1:1 US cinema destroys on every level. Bollywood action movies? They're parodies of themselves- Adam Sandler's You Don't Mess with the Zohan, except they take themselves seriously.

by xz18r 1y ago

I live in Belgium. It feels like 95% of all films I ever hear about are American. Opponents counter MAGA with 'America was never great', but here they'll say 'Movies have never left America'?

asib 1y ago

Movies are overwhelmingly made _by_ American studios but I don't know if they are overwhelmingly _made_ (shot) in the US. It's very common to shoot in a location that gives tax incentives. E.g. Vancouver used to be (potentially still is) a common production location.

genocidicbunny 1y ago
Vancouver and Toronto were very often used as stand-ins for shows based in places like Chicago, Seattle, NYC and many others. Might still be, but I barely consume that sort of media nowadays. It made watching TV shows like Stargate SG1 additionally amusing though -- every planet they visited was basically some location near Vancouver. Me and friends used to joke about how much like carcinisation is a thing in evolution, in the Stargate universe all planets eventually ended up looking like British Columbia.
- a2tech 1y ago
  An argument could be made that the Ancients built Stargate's in places they wanted to go/were comfortable for them, and those areas were like BC
  - genocidicbunny 1y ago
    Iirc, either Carter or Daniel Jackson pretty much said something along those lines in one of the later seasons. Not the BC part specifically, but about why stargates were usually on planets pretty comfortable for humans. But the overarching point is that even shows where at least one of the actors (RDA) were given an award by the US Air Force for their depiction of the branch, were largely filmed outside the US.
    - 5555624 1y ago
      It's said several times. The first time I can recall is Carter says it to her father in "The Tok’ra, Part 2" in season two.
- Vivtek 1y ago
  Similarly, every European city turns out to be Budapest. Especially if there's an urban car chase of any kind.
latexr 1y ago
> E.g. Vancouver used to be (potentially still is) a common production location. https://youtube.com/watch?v=ojm74VGsZBU https://youtube.com/watch?v=ojm74VGsZBU

MrBuddyCasino 1y ago

They’re often not shot in the US, due to cost differences and tax incentives. I suspect the latter is the real issue, but haven’t looked into it.

echelon 1y ago
That's what this is about. Work for IATSE crew union members has declined precipitously. During the pandemic, there was so much demand for content that the studios spent a lot of money teaching foreign crews how to produce films. They sent a lot of staff to Eastern Europe and Asia to train local crews. Serbia, etc., where the crews are making well below union wages and can work long hours without regulation. Since 2023, 60% or so of productions have vacated LA, Atlanta, and New York in favor of being shot overseas. They just fly the cast out. It's significantly cheaper than filming at home. IATSE membership is being decimated. Lots of folks have moved out of California because the jobs just aren't there anymore.
- qeternity 1y ago
  > where the crews are making well below union wages and can work long hours without regulation. This is what is so ridiculous about unions in 2025: there are people in dozens of other tier 2 countries that will work harder than you for less pay. The solution is not to try to artificially inflate wages.
  - MrBuddyCasino 1y ago
    I'm much more anti-union than the average joe, but Hollywood is one example where it kind of makes sense, disregarding the international competition angle for a sec: it is a highly specialised kind of work, sometimes dangerous, with a very limited number of employers that are operating in a cartel-like environment that is known to be financially (and sometimes also sexually and ethnically) ruthless and opportunistic. The negotiating power is very uneven. Considering that even in a big and highly competitive environment such as Silicon Valley they managed to establish illegal hiring cartels between the big companies (Apple etc), I'd be sceptical to dish out free market arguments. Hollywood is not loosing relevance due to inflated wages, they stopped making movies people want to see. The reason for that is quite obvious, but a totally different discussion.

unsupp0rted 1y ago

Most non-American movies are slop, melodramatic vaudeville, or tear-jerking gut-punches. Most American movies are slop too, but America can afford to swing at more pitches and consequently get more hits. Have you ever tried to watch Korean movies from the last 20 years? It's all melodramatic romance-crime-poverty slop, with the rare Kim Ki-duk or Bong Joon Ho in there to balance it out. And that's a country with a wonderful reputation for quality film-making. I mean you get zombies on a train and that's a fun popcorn flick, but it's forgettable. It's no Tremors, Twister, or Independence Day. In Indonesia for every The Raid there's 999 poorly acted, poorly shot melodramas with a thin well-trodden story. And don't get me started on "let's yell at each other for 120 minutes" Russian cinema. American movies are by far the most watchable, especially when you don't feel like going on a heart-wrenching journey of despair, which is all international cinema excels at.

dijit 1y ago
Hollywood undoubtedly has more money, but you genuinely have no idea what you're talking about when it comes to the quality of what gets made. So many things that hollywood produces are remakes of foreign movies, except with an order of magnitude more money poured in and palate-switched for american audiences. (which, due to the sheer volume of content that comes out of hollywood- becomes the default international palate). The entertainment industry in Sweden (girl with the dragon tattoo, a man called Otto) and the UK (the countries I have lived in) is undoubtedly very strong, even comparatively poor (not intended as a slur here) India is quite famous for its bombastic action movies. Russia too, has some of the most thought provoking movies that I've ever seen. Leviathan and Durak- they even have your "fun" action style movies (Brat and Brat 2 for fantastic examples). To say that Hollywood produces more and thus sometimes better, and that other counties make slop betrays two things: 1) Hollywood steals vigorously from other countries. 2) Other countries produce works that do not translate well for american audiences.
- unsupp0rted 1y ago
  Every country has 5 or 10 good movies you can name, and they're always the same ones. Brat and Brat 2, Leviathan and Durak... the list doesn't go on much beyond that. And certainly not in the last 20 years. For US movies, the list goes on. And you can debate which ones should make the top-100. But here's a pivotal soviet comedy about a guy who goes to the future... okay, here's Bob Zemeckis's Back to the Future. Compare the quality of any aspect: story, acting, props, costumes, cinematography, special fx, attention to detail, MUSIC... 1:1 US cinema destroys on every level. Bollywood action movies? They're parodies of themselves- Adam Sandler's You Don't Mess with the Zohan, except they take themselves seriously.