What the hell is going on?

Pigman II

I just watched a documentary chronicling the early days of American Zoetrope and I really have to ask myself why is mainstream cinema in such a shít state of affairs in the 00's?

You read about the French new-wave and the the American reaction to in in the late 60's and you really have to ask yourself what is going on today that actually excites you and that doesn't smack of corporate whoreage.

It's as tho we're right back to the studio days of being spoon-fed bloated crap and being told to like it.

I don't know how to express it to the more cinema literate of you out there but is anyone else like me and they've just had enough of this garbage being churned out week after week by the studios?

Anyway, enough of my ill-concieved ramblings.

Vegeta

Pigman II wrote:

I just watched a documentary chronicling the early days of American Zoetrope and I really have to ask myself why is mainstream cinema in such a shít state of affairs in the 00's?

You read about the French new-wave and the the American reaction to in in the late 60's and you really have to ask yourself what is going on today that actually excites you and that doesn't smack of corporate whoreage.

It's as tho we're right back to the studio days of being spoon-fed bloated crap and being told to like it.

I don't know how to express it to the more cinema literate of you out there but is anyone else like me and they've just had enough of this garbage being churned out week after week by the studios?

Anyway, enough of my ill-concieved ramblings.

I am with you there my friend.

I am not very cinema literate but films lately are just crap, nothin about them excites me.

Like i watched Pulp Fiction the other day for about the 100th time, that film never gets old to me as there are so many things just thrown in for QTs own enjoyment

Maxwell

Completely agree and there are times that I wonder why I purchase new home cinema equipment or continue to go to the cinema (althogh this has seriously decreased for me). I absolutely love watching films in general, but in the past 2-3 years I have seen the standard of films arriving in the cinema considerably drop year after year.

joker77

I totally agree, I got very p*ssed off with the rubbish that's been in the cinema for the last few years and was always in Laser renting old videos, then DVDs.

But I think we're definitely in the minority - how many people do you know will go to nearly every latest blockbuster in the cinema and say it was great. There's plenty of them out there...

The studios just see that it's about special effects, big stars, mass marketing. The film, after all, to them, is the product, and it's about selling the product. The modern day cinema is no longer an artform.

Running Bing

Granted movies are going through a bit of a lull at the moment (the last really exiting films I seen were memento and kill bill) but in years they will be talking about how great the indiewood movies of the nineties were. Movies like being john malkovich, pulp fiction, boogie nights etc. will be talked about as masterpieces in years to come. The same thing happend in the 80's as is happening now. After the creative boom witnessed in the 70's on the back of the french new wave there was a bit of a lull and we experienced what many call the worst decade for films ever.

You also have to remember that we can all get a bit sentimental about movements such as the french new wave or german expressionism but the films of note made during these periods are relatively few when compared to the amount of garbage produced, we just dont here about that nowadays. I feel movies on the whole are of decent standard today without being spectacular and world cinema is also becomming more accesible.

Its also difficult to do new things today that excites audiences. Look at a bout de souffle. when that was made it was absolutely revolutionary but now most of the techniques used are either common place or even obsolete.

Bodhidharma

I am in total agreement. Here is something i have noticed. The number of 18's film has dropped dramatically. Hollywood does not produce for the adult anymore. It's all about "family" entertainment. The more people that can see a film, the higher the potential profit.

Even the 18's movies that do come out have a lot less sex and violence in them then they used to have. They are roughly equivilant to a 15's film ten years ago. I dont particularly go to a film to see sex and violence but it seems to me that hollywood is either censoring directors or those scripts dont get the greenlight.

If you read Peter Biskind's book "Easy Riders, Raging Bulls" you'll see how Coppola and Zoetrope basically couldn't function in a blockbuster world. Biskind blames 2 movies, Jaws and Star Wars. Their way was the new way and its been like that since the late 70's. Pity! They have turned an artform into a coke machine.

BlitzKrieg

Pigman II wrote:

I just watched a documentary chronicling the early days of American Zoetrope and I really have to ask myself why is mainstream cinema in such a shít state of affairs in the 00's?

You read about the French new-wave and the the American reaction to in in the late 60's and you really have to ask yourself what is going on today that actually excites you and that doesn't smack of corporate whoreage.

It's as tho we're right back to the studio days of being spoon-fed bloated crap and being told to like it.

I don't know how to express it to the more cinema literate of you out there but is anyone else like me and they've just had enough of this garbage being churned out week after week by the studios?

Anyway, enough of my ill-concieved ramblings.

was the documentary easy riders raging bulls?

cause if it was, it tells you what went wrong at the end of the film.

THE BLOCKBUSTER.

sapper

The time I sat in a theatre and said to myself "I'm enjoying this" is "Catch Me If You Can"

US studios these days are obsessed with "IP" or "Intellectual Property" - ie. brands or characters or series that can be packaged as movies, TV shows, DVDs, computer games, comics, fast food tie-ins etc.

A case in point was Superman Returns - that fiasco was created for one thing and one thing only - making "Superman" an "intellectual property" in the league of Spiderman, Batman, Pirates of the Carribean etc.

It is pretty much accepted that most movies make a loss once released in the theatres and only recoup their losses when they go to DVD, which in the US is completely dominated by Wal-Mart. And they are pretty strict on the kind of product that they stock - Taxi Driver, Easy Riders wouldn't get a look in if they were made today.

The movies that Hollywood makes today can be seen as "loss leaders" that introduce their "intellectual properties" to as many and as widespread a variety of markets as possible. Now what did I do with my Travis Bickle Bacon Combo Burger?

Heres a good series of articles http://www.slate.com/id/2128200/

Necronomicon

Do you like foreign films? If not you could broaden your horizons a bit, check out world cinema. I love Eastern cinema, a nice break from Hollywood.

constitutionus

i have to concur, i used to go every week to the cinema but this year i honestly couldnt be bothered. the only film i went to see this year that i came out thinking "that was brilliant" was V for vendetta. a far more emotive film than i thought it'd be and hugo weaving was amazing. ive still gone a fair bit but nowhere near as much as usual .for instance ive been threatening to go see pirates of the caribian two and i really like johnny depp as an actor but everytime i say "ah i'll go next week" and end up not bothering.
im not saying the current crop of films are bad but to behonest im starting to think i'd rather just wait for the DVD to come out. particularly seeing as certain cinemas are putting their prices up again. hell in some places you could buy the film on DVD for the admitance price some popcorn and a coke. this doesnt sound like good value to me and i predict ticket sales this year wil fall dramatically. word to the wise lads, dont price yourself out of business!

lostexpectation

do these 4 films make you want to rush to the IFI?

http://www.irishfilm.ie/

only election could be expected to exciting, nescessary for any film I think

Running Bing

The death of mr. lazarescu is supposed to be brilliant and their showing eternal sunshine of the spotless mind which is another very good 00 film. Election looks very good also. If you picked a random week from the 70's I cant imagine you'd get much better than that tbh. Im not saying film is in a great state at the moment, its not, but I feel people can get a bit dramatic about it especially in this the season of the blockbuster. Studios have always been heartless money making machines that couldnt give a toss about creativity or art, unless it makes them money, its just that like all business' they've moved with the times and are better now than ever at extracting every last possible dollar from the movie making process. Creative, exiting, innovative, tough provoking films still exist(Hidden and grizzly man are two from recent memory), you just have to look harder for them today amongst all the superstars stuffed into tight spandex super hero costumes.

Miguel_Sanchez

I'm pretty much in agreement here - there's a lot of **** being made. But I think that sometimes we look back and only the good films from the past have really survived so we don't realise that there was a lot of **** being made in the 70's too.

Granted the studios have suffocated things a bit and it's hard for people to get original stuff made. Having said that though there are a lot of good films out there, they just need to be sought out.

In the cinema recently I've seen Brick and Thank You For Smoking both of which I thought were very enjoyable films. Well scripted and directed and both very original.

Also check out Primer - the low budget time travel film.

Diogenes

Theres two things here. One in many respects you're looking at the past through rose tinted glasses. Getting fed up at the dross we're fed today and looking at past great films and wondering why can't we make films like these. Back in the sixities and seventies they mad an awful lot of dross, the computer wore tennis shoes, finnegan's raindow, anything with Giget in it. Today you know some of them and they are remembered with a certain kitsch charm, but there are plenty of dreadful, awful films that are locked away in vaults (or late night tv) that you've never seen or heard of. Picking up a handful of films produced over a decade and wondering why we're not making them like we used to....Welllllll I'm pretty sure they've produced a handful of films in the past ten years that will stand the test of time.

Part of the problem (and this is what killed edgy films in the 70s) is the studios stole the indys. Back in the 60s Coppola et all took themselves down to San Fran and set themselves up as independents. Do you really think Coppola's plan at that point was to make "Jack". Hollywood consumed and absorbed Coppola, Freidkin, Bogdanovick et all.

In the 90s with sundance et all there was a vibirant independent film making spirit, Hollywood swooped in and and consumed all this talent. Read any reports about Sundance from the past decade it's been consumed.

However like people said there is a wide range of diversity, if someone told you twenty years ago that the most extraordinary viceral and imaginative cinema in the world would be coming out of Korea, they'd think you were mental.

The second thing that will change things is technology. Its what started the revolution in the 70s cheap lightweight 35mm colour cameras revolutionised cinema in the 70s, and today as HD becomes cheaper it will allow another generation to break free again.

J.R.HARTLEY

the crazy thing about hollywood is that there are so few decent movies coming out that reveiwers and buffs practically cream themselves over a decent movie, e.g. Goodnight and Good Luck or capote people fell all over them, and they are good but are they great, i mean overall, there were great performances and attributes etc, i'm not sure, but thanks to the non ending stream of crap coming from HollywoodLand these days the two films were granted instant classic status by most reviewers,

Redundo

Sure, there is plenty of crap being released by the studios. Stuff is coming out now that is mass-market pop-culture driven. The recent rash of Superhero movies are a prime example of it, ready-made stories with existing broad fanbases. Why risk something original when you already have a sure thing readymade?

But thats not to say there is no orginality left. There have been some excellent films realeased with a great breath of originality about them. I'm thinking of movies by M. Night Shyamalan, Pixar, Aronofsky, Tarrantino, Sofia Ford Coppola, Andrew Niccol and Fernando Meirelles, to name but a few.

It might not seem like it on face value when great films get swamped by crap like Tokyo Drift and the latest slew of Superhero movies, but the spark of originality is still there. And has been said, there is always world cinema to fall back on.

BlitzKrieg

there have been some excellent films realeased with a great breath of originality about them.

Tarrantino

HAH!


uhmm sorry.

Peteee

Diogenes wrote:

Theres two things here. One in many respects you're looking at the past through rose tinted glasses. Getting fed up at the dross we're fed today and looking at past great films and wondering why can't we make films like these. Back in the sixities and seventies they mad an awful lot of dross, the computer wore tennis shoes, finnegan's raindow, anything with Giget in it. Today you know some of them and they are remembered with a certain kitsch charm, but there are plenty of dreadful, awful films that are locked away in vaults (or late night tv) that you've never seen or heard of. Picking up a handful of films produced over a decade and wondering why we're not making them like we used to....Welllllll I'm pretty sure they've produced a handful of films in the past ten years that will stand the test of time.

The second thing that will change things is technology. Its what started the revolution in the 70s cheap lightweight 35mm colour cameras revolutionised cinema in the 70s, and today as HD becomes cheaper it will allow another generation to break free again.

QFT.

Also I remember reading an article of how 'blockbusters' are getting worse. They probably aren't, it just you've seen them all before, and are jaded and cynical. When your 13 years old it only takes a few explosions to get your juices running, whereas nowadays the action needs to be a lot better.

Miguel_Sanchez

Wes Anderson.

There you go.

Running Bing

BlitzKrieg wrote:

HAH!


uhmm sorry.

He takes stuff that has been done before or done in a different context and combines it in a very original way. We could sit here all night talking about stuff in pf and kb robbed from other films but name me two films that are even slightly like them. The plot to Rd was a complete rip-off but it did have a certain style, raw energy and dialogue (what other gangster film previosly did they have full length conversations about such things as madonna like a virgin and tipping waitresses that held the viewers attention) all of its own. Whatever you say about qt (and Im the first to admit a lot of its true, im no fanboy) he has to be given the respect he deserves.

BlitzKrieg

I had written a big long response, but i've had so many arguments over QT with friends and i'm pretty sure boardsie has had many similar arguments as well.


So in my OPINION, Tarintino is a great director, dialogue in his films are among the best i have ever seen, and i fully respect him when i watch one of his dialogue scenes, but i do feel that outside their wonderful dialogue his films are not anything to weep joyfully over.

lostexpectation

the resurgence of popular documentary film has to be the best thing at the mo Grizzlyman being prime example... still most are depressing.

BlitzKrieg

and some borderline agenda propaganda

mike65

Nothing suprising here, Hollywood has got itself into a vicious circle - more means more or it means nothing at all.

People worried themsleves stupid in 1969/1970 when two studios nearly went bust as several mega budget movies died then in 1980-81 the same happened and this time it did cost a studio as United Artists (who backed Heavens Gate) got swallowed up by MGM who by the 80s were mainly interested in Las Vegas hotals and casinos.

Then the Japanese moved in buying up both majors and minors and pumping vast sums into marketing and "foreign" distribution channels so they could show Batman on 3500 screens at the same time while "non-studio" titles got squeesed into art houses, second run screens and the video racks or never got any distribution.

The centre of gravity has continued to narrow and deepen to the point where some sort of black hole is being created - one day a single film flop will crush the whole industry!

How to dominate box-office

Mike.

constitutionus

hey lets not get too bogged down in artyism. im not talking about some life changing film, i love the blockbusters. the problem is this year the blockbusters WERNT. most of em were crap. X 3 for instance was ok, but thats it. it had nowhere near the emotional impact of X 2

take superman. i liked it, it was ok. but it wasnt great. its not a film i want to see again and again even for the popcorn value. and like i said i cant work up the enthusiam to go see pirates of the carribian 2 . the problem for me is most films now seem to be devoid of heart. ordinairly i wouldnt mind cause theres usually a shawshank redemption or a usual suspect no one saw comming that i could enjoy but this year theres nothing of the sort. oh well maybe next year. at least the blockbusters look good then. hell at least i'll get ghost rider!:D

BlitzKrieg

what will be sickening is when this year is finished, the box office will be counted up and the year will be declared a huge success, such an unprecented succes that hollywood could acutally be back on top.


why?

Last year was a flop, but it really wasnt, it just looked like a flop cause the year before was a huge massive unbelievable success, and that none of the blockbusters that year could match their equivilent the year before.


So you might remember this time last year there was a load of scary articles calling for the death of hollywood and the end of cinema as we know it (oh how i dream of this) Because War of the Worlds couldnt match Shrek 2 from the year before etc etc, and it was saved because fantastic four outdid Anchorman.

Now this year comes along and because it is being compared to last year, everything looks good, better then good, box office returns are all up by huge numbers.

Of course this is in comparison to *last year* which is all overblown cause box office records have been going out of control since 1991 (source: http://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/) and something like this had to happen.


So this year will look fantastic on paper and the reality is...It has been a **** year, last year was a much better year then the crap we have been fed this year, the only blockbuster i enjoyed was Pirates of the Caribbean cause it was the only one that admitted to being a blockbuster. Superman was ok, but it was shoved far too firmly up its own arse. And everything else before those two was so aweful that it made mission impossible 3 look good.


But the maths will tell Hollywood, they saved themselves this year.

Redundo

To be quite honest, while there is so much crap being released onto cinema screens, I would still take the 00's over many other eras in terms of quality.

We are getting a rash of sequels and superhero flicks at the moment, but would anyone here want to live through a repeat of the Hollywood Westerns era, WWII action flicks or the Disaster movie era? So many of those films were utter rubbish.

While many of our movies are lacking, I still think there is enough out there to be thankfull over.


*PostScript: On the Tarrantino vs originality side discussion; BabyBing said it better then I could have.

Karl Hungus

Necromomicon wrote:

Do you like foreign films? If not you could broaden your horizons a bit, check out world cinema. I love Eastern cinema, a nice break from Hollywood.

To be entirely fair, as much as there's some amazing things coming from Asia, there's also a fair amount of unoriginal fluff too. Maybe I'm being a little harsh, but I'd rather not watch "Standard Asian Horror Film #104" if you follow my meaning?

constitutionus wrote:

ordinairly i wouldnt mind cause theres usually a shawshank redemption or a usual suspect no one saw comming that i could enjoy but this year theres nothing of the sort.

In fairness, the year isn't out yet, and there's many promising films still to be released. Don't give up hope.

Nevyn

oh yes Clerks II we can't forget that................
Really the best films I have seen this year have been non hollywood film and for the most part subtitled.

Sean7

Amen

Diogenes

Karl Hungus wrote:

To be entirely fair, as much as there's some amazing things coming from Asia, there's also a fair amount of unoriginal fluff too. Maybe I'm being a little harsh, but I'd rather not watch "Standard Asian Horror Film #104" if you follow my meaning?

104? Are you mad? Thats the best one, they usually involve a mysterious woman, a body of water, and a piece of AV equipment.

Fair enough there's always going to be dross but I mean take JCA, Tears of the Black Tiger, The Sympathy trilogy and you've got five classics right there and then.

Necronomicon

Karl Hungus wrote:

To be entirely fair, as much as there's some amazing things coming from Asia, there's also a fair amount of unoriginal fluff too. Maybe I'm being a little harsh, but I'd rather not watch "Standard Asian Horror Film #104" if you follow my meaning?

Oh I agree, and since you won't find a lot of World Cinema available for rental, you have to buy a lot to see if they're any good. I therefore have bought my fair share of generic crap.
I'm just saying, if the OP is fed up of Hollywood, Eastern cinema can be a great escape. It was for me anyway.

Cunning Alias

Wow. Nice to see other people feel the same as me. I havnt bothered to see any of this summers big films bar X3, and thats jus cause im a fanboy.

Firstly I think that hollywood seems to be afraid to take any big chances with films any more. Any truly original films I have seen over the last few years, have been foreign or were released on a small scale from Independent distributers. The last original hollywood film that I can remember would be The Fifth Element (im sure there were others, but thats what came to mind). I have hopes for A Scanner Darkly but again, it's based on a well established and loved book, so its not a risk.

If you want something original you have to look at foreign films. Try getting something that you wouldnt normally watch, you might be supprised (its worth checking reviews online beforehand. As with every film industry there is alot more rubbish than classics). Lazer is dublin is excelent for foreign films, not sure if they have stores anywhere else in Ireland. The best film iv seen in years would have to be Downfall and I only heard about it cause I stumbled over it on the net.

I feel that the genres of films from hollywood are being abused and ignored. I am sick to death with Horror films and in a years time I will be starting to get fed up with Fantasy. I think that Sci-Fi has been ignored by big names in hollywood. This will hopefully change after the release of such films as Transformers and Halo (heres hopeing there actually good).

I completely agree that there arent enough 18 films being released. When I was younger it seemed like all the best films were 15s or 18s (Shining, Alien, Terminator). I feel dissapointed when I go to see a film that I have been looking forward to and it is ruined by the fact that it is PG. Im not just talking about adult themes, sex and strong violence, its the fact that the script will be aimed towards teenagers. (Terminator 3 anyone?)

I could go on and on here but I leave it with this. Just remember that the movie industry is only out to make money. Alternative original films might be loved by people like us but chances are that there wont be enough of us and the film wont make a profit.

Karl Hungus

Necromomicon wrote:

Oh I agree, and since you won't find a lot of World Cinema available for rental, you have to buy a lot to see if they're any good. I therefore have bought my fair share of generic crap.
I'm just saying, if the OP is fed up of Hollywood, Eastern cinema can be a great escape. It was for me anyway.

It's problematic at best to make a blanket statement like that. No doubt anyone who's been on the films board for a while will have seen me harking on about the various Japanese and Korean masterpieces, but even I draw the line at such things as sparking an East vs. West debate, because it's a pointless venture.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that The Devil's Rejects was a far better film than many of the tiresome asian horror movies that have been coming out as of late, and as much as I might get flamed for it, I enjoyed Land of the Dead and the 2004 Dawn of the Dead remake a hell of a lot more aswell. I think A Tale Of Two Sisters was the last Asian horror that actually did anything for me at all.

No doubt there's amazing films aswell, because quite frankly the likes of Oldboy, Brotherhood, Memories Of Murder, Save The Green Planet, Zatoichi, and Vital have been some of the best films I've seen over the last few years. But that's no reason to dismiss movies of western origin, because there's a whole world of great films out there. Dead Man's Shoes for example is as good as any Takeshi Kitano film, in my opinion. Hell, it's up there with Hana-bi!

Anywho, my point is that by all means recommend good films, but avoid blanket statements.

Necronomicon

Karl Hungus wrote:

It's problematic at best to make a blanket statement like that. No doubt anyone who's been on the films board for a while will have seen me harking on about the various Japanese and Korean masterpieces, but even I draw the line at such things as sparking an East vs. West debate, because it's a pointless venture.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that The Devil's Rejects was a far better film than many of the tiresome asian horror movies that have been coming out as of late, and as much as I might get flamed for it, I enjoyed Land of the Dead and the 2004 Dawn of the Dead remake a hell of a lot more aswell. I think A Tale Of Two Sisters was the last Asian horror that actually did anything for me at all.

No doubt there's amazing films aswell, because quite frankly the likes of Oldboy, Brotherhood, Memories Of Murder, Save The Green Planet, Zatoichi, and Vital have been some of the best films I've seen over the last few years. But that's no reason to dismiss movies of western origin, because there's a whole world of great films out there. Dead Man's Shoes for example is as good as any Takeshi Kitano film, in my opinion. Hell, it's up there with Hana-bi!

Anywho, my point is that by all means recommend good films, but avoid blanket statements.

I think we may be going around in circles a bit! By no means was I recommending the OP to ditch Western cinema and switch to Eastern, I was simply saying that Hollywood isn't the only option out there.

Although thinking back, I do go on a bit on this forum about my love of foreign films, so if I do come across as being a tad anti-Hollywood, it isn't the case at all.

You said you might get slated over your opinion on Devil's Rejects and Land/Dawn of The Dead....not here anyway, 3 masterpieces in my books. Much better in fact than the last Asian horror I bought, The Ghost, which was a poor imitation of The Ring. So in that respect, I agree with your point that West can be every bit as good (and better) than East, but for someone like the OP who is getting sick of Hollywood, there's a whole other world of movies out there to explore.

Running Bing

Karl Hungus wrote:

Dead Man's Shoes.

Sensational, extremely disturbing film. But it is a small british film which is as far away from hollywood as asian cinema. That is a good point about 18's films though. As a kid it seemed any highly rated film that came out was 18's. I still remember the frustration at not being able to go to films such as reservoir dogs, the usual suspects and pulp fiction, any film we went to was specifically targeted at kids/young teens. The only 18's film I can remember going to in the last few years is Hostel who's whole point was the over the top gore and violence. My little brother goes to practically the same movies I go to. That never would have been the way 10-15 years ago.

Vulture

I taken part in argument's similar to this many time before I've even started them once or twice. My two cent is that their are good films being made just not a lot of them which is normal. You can complain about the muck being churned out that reeks of corporate junk but i have stopped simply because i began to feel like a hippy "corporations are bad because they are all corporation.. ee" When i was younger i was unable to see all the films i wanted to see either because of age or not showing in my cinema etc. So I had a back log of films to watch when i had the means money/broadband/Lazer DVD to do so. In a relatively short span of time i got to watch alot of good films. Plus i discovered aisan films as well, but now that I've caught up with the back log waiting for new good films to come out is torturously slow and does make me feel like their is never any good films made. But to reiterate my point their are good films made it's just not many. Maybe their are less good one's being made than their were a few years ago i cant really tell my memory sucks. But worst comes to worse independent films will pick up the slack at some point and make the buck that's to be made catering to movie snobs, i mean snobs in a good way.

Pigman II

I didn't say it in the OP but I guess this is a two pronged attack. First that the blockbusters seems to be getting worse and also that their existence/promotion seems to be getting more and more oppressive - at the expense of the rest. I guess the four main blockbusters this summer were DaVinci Code, POTC2, Xmen3 and SupermanReturns? I haven't seen SR so I can't comment but the others it was a real "I went, I saw, I left" experience for all of them. I guess I was expecting more (well perhaps not really, moreso 'hoping'). The worst part is Hollywood counts up my €25 euro now and thinks to itself "great lets add that to the pot and make some sequels" so it leaves me kinda reticent to get back in the water so to speak (hense not watching Superman).

It seems that we are getting information overload in the current age (not just cinema but from all media - even the internet) and as a result the vast majority stuff these days has to be high-concept and quick sell. That isn't necessarily bad tho. I would consider something like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind to be high concept but in general these movies (no matter the scale) are unsatisfying experiences.

I guess I'm in that category of the public that can appreciate a blockbuster AND small indy AND foriegn films but it just seems to me that the big boys are squashing the rest and only leaving a few spots for only the type of film that 'can sell themselves in 30seconds or less' (eg as the aforementioned Thank You for Not Smoking and the admirably micro-budgeted Primer - neither which I didn't particularily care for either truth be told) .

As I say I was watching a American Zoetrope doc (not Easy Riders, it was a doc that came with THX1138) and anyway what struck me there was more creative freedom to the process of making movies. It wasn't yet 'a product' that was delivered in the can but still a piece of art. On the back of the doc I even checked out a film called Rain People and it just struck me that a film like this wouldn't be made today (at least not out of Hollywood). Don't get me wrong it wasn't an amazing film or anything but it was more interesting and fluid than a lot of dramatic equivilant stuff made today.

I guess the question I'm left with is "is the industry to blame for the state of cinema or am I?" My €25 would suggest it's my fault. So perhaps it's time I stopped giving these films the benefit of the doubt and see what happens next.