Today, I was cleaning out the stacks of magazines that have accumulated over the recent months. I came across an Entertainment Weekly from February, the 2005 Oscar Preview issue. And being the hoarder that I am, I reread it (twice) before deciding that I really didn’t need it any longer. But I still made sure to remove all the articles pertaining to the Oscars, just in case.
In one of those articles, I came across a quote that really struck me.
“The Hollywood movies are just not what they were. The older you get and the more movies you see, the less you are impressed by current movies.“
Personally, I believe that this is true. Now I am not that old but I have seen tons of movies. More than I can count. But the more films that I see, whether it’s a classic, gross-out comedy, horror, science fiction, slapstick comedy, romance, film-noir, Western, biopic, documentary, suspense, or drenched in CGI effects film, I’m beginning to notice how much I don’t like most movies.
Honestly, most current movies do not impress me.
Typically, I’m unwilling to see anything not critically acclaimed ( I do make exceptions). If The New York Times hates it, chances are I will too. It’s just the way I’ve forced myself to look at movies. For me the entertainment value is increased if there is also decent creativity, storyline, acting etc…. I am more entertained by something good than someting crappy. For instance, if all I can think about during a movie is how much I hate that actor right now, then I’m not going to like it. It’s why I hated, with a passion, The Aviator.
Why make the effort if I probably won’t like it. I know, I know, try something different and maybe I’ll be surprised, yadda, yadda, yadda. No, I refuse to change my movie-watching standards, for that one just-in-case cinema moment.
Mostly I think I am not impressed by newer movies because the older ones are so good and worthseeing. I’d pick Citizen Kane, Bringing Up Baby, Casablanca, The 39 Steps any day over these big summer bloackbusters that come out. The War of Worlds, crap, The Fantasic Four, should I care?, The Dukes of Hazard, only if you remove my eyeballs from their sockets.
Here’s the honest truth. Ashton Kutcher, Jessica Alba, Charlize Theron, Hilary Swank, Ben Affleck, Tom Cruise and even Julia Roberts will never, ever make movies as good as the classics or early black and whites.
That’s the truth and I feel ashamed to admit it, but movies have lost their luster.
@Cinefille 