I am SO sick of these things. Don't they make movies for grown ups anymore? (and no, I am not referring to "adult" movies).
Hollywood cranks out expensive, special-effects laden, minimal dialogue efforts with next-to-no plot.
What are the alternatives? What contemporary movies that are *not* these things can you recommend? I am open to any intelligent, well-acted films of a recent vintage both Hollywood and of the international variety. Especially the latter, though it may be difficult to actually see those films since they rarely play in my neck of the woods, despite the "international" tag often applied to Miami. I welcome your suggestions and (spoiler free) thoughts.
What are the alternatives? What contemporary movies that are *not* these things can you recommend? I am open to any intelligent, well-acted films of a recent vintage both Hollywood and of the international variety. Especially the latter, though it may be difficult to actually see those films since they rarely play in my neck of the woods, despite the "international" tag often applied to Miami. I welcome your suggestions and (spoiler free) thoughts.
I find no shortage of alternatives -- just not very many during the summer blockbuster months. The works of Ramin Bahrani, Jeff Nichols, Fatih Akin, the Coen Brothers, Bong Joon-ho, Pedro Almodóvar, Kar Wai Wong, Jane Campion, Kathryn Bigelow, Duncan Jones, Darren Aronofsky, Bennett Miller, Steve McQueen, Andrew Dominik, Paolo Sorrentino, Paul Thomas Anderson, Cary Fukunaga, Sarah Polley. . . I find no shortage of filmmakers making movies that are consistently interesting if not consistently good.
I find myself watching more and more content from the 80's back. Yeah Ive seen a lot of them before but they are far more entertaining warts and all than the mindless dribble that is the entertainment industry today. The few modern indie films Ive seen haven't helped. They are so pretentious or overly violent its not even funny.
I find no shortage of alternatives -- just not very many during the summer blockbuster months. .
agreed. not bothered by the lack of creativity in the summer movies because they only last for so long. we still have great movies that come out today from great storytellers. just hard to find them in the summer
and would add Todd Field to that list. he's being absent for a while but Steve McQueen does a great job of filling that void when it comes to those great character study
Some upcoming movies you may be interested in seeing are
Captain Philips, starring Tom Hanks
The true story of Captain Richard Phillips and the 2009 hijacking by Somali pirates of the US-flagged MV Maersk Alabama, the first American cargo ship to be hijacked in two hundred years.
Prisoners starring Hugh Jackman and Terrence Howard
A Boston man kidnaps the person he suspects is behind the disappearance of his young daughter and her best friend.
Mandela starring Idris Elba
"Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom" is based on South African President Nelson Mandela's autobiography of the same name, which chronicles his early life, coming of age, education and 27 years in prison before becoming President and working to rebuild the country's once segregated society.
Paranoia starring Harrison Ford and Garry Oldman
An entry-level employee at a powerful corporation finds himself occupying a corner office, but at a dangerous price: he must spy on his boss's old mentor to secure for him a multi-billion dollar advantage.
The Butler starring Forrest Whitaker
The film will revolve around the true story of an African-American butler who served at the White House. The film is based off the story A Butler Well Served By This Election, written by Wil Haygood. The story revolved around Eugene Allen, who was a Presidential butler from 1952 to 1986, and is paralleled with the election of Barack Obama.
I am SO sick of these things. Don't they make movies for grown ups anymore? (and no, I am not referring to "adult" movies). Hollywood cranks out expensive, special-effects laden, minimal dialogue efforts with next-to-no plot.
That's because movie makers no longer know what an "adult" is. To make one, first they would have to define "adult" for themselves.
These days they think that what passes for an adult is usually (but not always) a 30-something gamer who lacks a normal attention span.
(EDIT: I should have used the word "grown up" rather than "adult" because that was the word Jim used and it was the wordage in that sentiment with which I agreed.)
The bulk of ticket sales goto peolple from ages 15-35 years old. An "Adult" in Hollywood is 17; the minumum age required to see an Adult oriented movie. Movies for ages outside that range don't make a lot of money unless they have legendary actors.
Frances Ha To the Wonder The Master Moonrise Kingdom Killing Them Softly The Descendants The Tree of Life Damsels in Distress Win Win The Way Back Greenberg
Biutiful (Mexico) A Christmas Tale (France) Still Walking (Japan) Hipsters (Russia) Footnote (Israel) The Kid With a Bike (France)
2013 films that I haven't seen yet, but look intriguing:
A Field in England Upstream Color Inside Llewyn Davis Nebraska Like Father Like Son
Around Oscar time I notice the names of many films that don't receive a lot of advertising and the only time I ever hear of certain actors is when they're nominated for awards. The blockbuster films receive all the publicity but the more artistically worthy fare often gets sidelined.
Another place to keep an eye is the line of contemporary Criterion Collection releases. Of course not all of them will be to everyone's taste, but films like Revanche, Maria Larsson's Everlasting Moments, The Secret of the Grain, Still Walking, The Kid with a Bike, The Forgiveness of Blood and Weekend are well worth checking out. Also, perusing their titles reminded me of another couple of filmmakers who entire oeuvres are worth exploring: relative newcomer Andrea Arnold and especially the incredible Hirokazu Koreeda.
Another place to keep an eye is the line of contemporary Criterion Collection releases. Of course not all of them will be to everyone's taste, but films like Revanche, Maria Larsson's Everlasting Moments, The Secret of the Grain, Still Walking, The Kid with a Bike, The Forgiveness of Blood and Weekend are well worth checking out. Also, perusing their titles reminded me of another couple of filmmakers who entire oeuvres are worth exploring: relative newcomer Andrea Arnold and especially the incredible Hirokazu Koreeda.
I visit Criterion's site regularly, only to be annoyed that there's no announcement for Steven Soderbergh's KAFKA. lol
I have the feeling that international cinema is going to be my main source for new films. I think my "development" as it were, was, I don't know---"altered" may be the word--when the little art house theater I had just started to frequent in 1992 when I was 21 was damaged by Hurricane Andrew and not reopened. There were precious few venues to see foreign films here in the Miami area back then. There are a few places around town but I guess DVDs and the internet will be my primary means of seeing these films.
there are always more high brow films available but i have to be in the mood for heavier stuff.
do wot i do jim. i watch old westerns on tcm, italian westerns on movies4men, and then i watch my dvd of the wild bunch. then i watch my dvd of The outfit. and charley varrick. and bullitt. and spartacus. and lawrence of arabia. and gbu. and dirty harry. and the full set of the godfather. then i watch the dvd of The professionals. And villa rides. and the battle of britain. and where eagles dare. and goodfellas. and casino. and leon. and the seven ups. and the new centurions. and badge 373. and patton. and the blue max. and Lonely are the brave. and french connection. and cool hand luke. and get carter. and wild geese. and the original nikita. and le samourai. and once upon a time in the wst. and the italian job. and mr majestyk. and lawman. and stone killer. and death wish. and the mechanic. and prime cut. and death hunt. and school for scoundrels. and blazing saddles. and Airplane. and two dozen others.
then i check the tv schedule and see the same old shit and i start the dvds all over again..!
Bill, you do realize I own almost every damn one of those dvds you listed, don't you? I haven't had cable in nearly two years and have no plans to return.
"One dead partner to avenge. One deadly conspiracy to abolish."
Bill, you do realize I own almost every damn one of those dvds you listed, don't you? I haven't had cable in nearly two years and have no plans to return.
"One dead partner to avenge. One deadly conspiracy to abolish."
pleased to see you have such top taste jim, but then im not surprised.
I just want to add my shout-out and deep appreciation to the good folks at Criterion. Thanks to their efforts, a lot of people have amazing world-wide cinema at their fingertips. When I've had my fill of the rom-coms (mostly insipid ones) that my Missus makes me watch with her, I go running for my Criterions. Then everything's okay again. It's just so lousy that I can't get her to reciprocate and watch them with me.
