|
Korean Job Discussion Forums
"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Teachers from Around the World!"
|
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
Hyeon Een
Joined: 24 Jun 2005
|
 Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 8:53 am Post subject: Do you like old movies? |
 |
|
Ya-ta Boy posted a thread about an article which was about the greatest American movies of all time or some such nonesense. I like lists, they're great, but movie ranking-lists almost always infuriate me because they're full of films which 80% of the population have never seen, because they're old.
I hate these "....of all time" movie lists. My problem is that I think old movies are rubbish. I don't want to say all of them, because I haven't seen all of them, but most of them.
For example "The Godfather" was the best gangster movie according to the list Yata boy linked too. I saw that movie for the first time about a month ago.. it was crap. It was boring, the dialogue was lame (apart from that famous line), the violence was lame.. it was crap. I'd rather watch an average episode of the Sopranos than that movie. People voted for it because they have some kind of nostalgic feeling, not because they think it is imperically good.
And all these movie lists: They rank movies from the '20s and '30s and '40s.. they're all crap. They were probably OK at the time, but really, if they were re-released now would anyone watch them? NO, because they're rubbish. Nostalgia, nostalgia, nos-fuc-kinstalgia. Good for the time, sure, but compared to the stuff produced in the last 20 years? Not a chance.
Here's an idea: Howabout movie studios re-release all their 'classics' which are regularly voted in the top ten movies of all time in the movie theatre. Most people alive now won't have seen Casablanca, or Gone with the Wind or Cleopatra, or dodgy 20s and 30s movies I've never heard of before in the theatre. Lets re-release them now and see how good they are compared to modern movies. If they are indeed that great they're sure to get great followings.
Well those are my thoughts.
What about you?
Old movies: Love them? Think they're slightly better than modern movies? Put up with them? Be a pseudo-intellectual and pretend to recognize them for their artistic merits whilst secretly not enjoying them? Think old movies are over-rated? hate them? think they're worse than Chairman Mao? |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Stevie_B
Joined: 14 May 2008
|
| Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 9:13 am Post subject: Re: Do you like old movies? |
|
|
| Hyeon Een wrote: |
Ya-ta Boy posted a thread about an article which was about the greatest American movies of all time or some such nonesense. I like lists, they're great, but movie ranking-lists almost always infuriate me because they're full of films which 80% of the population have never seen, because they're old.
I hate these "....of all time" movie lists. My problem is that I think old movies are rubbish. I don't want to say all of them, because I haven't seen all of them, but most of them.
For example "The Godfather" was the best gangster movie according to the list Yata boy linked too. I saw that movie for the first time about a month ago.. it was crap. It was boring, the dialogue was lame (apart from that famous line), the violence was lame.. it was crap. I'd rather watch an average episode of the Sopranos than that movie. People voted for it because they have some kind of nostalgic feeling, not because they think it is imperically good.
And all these movie lists: They rank movies from the '20s and '30s and '40s.. they're all crap. They were probably OK at the time, but really, if they were re-released now would anyone watch them? NO, because they're rubbish. Nostalgia, nostalgia, nos-fuc-kinstalgia. Good for the time, sure, but compared to the stuff produced in the last 20 years? Not a chance.
Here's an idea: Howabout movie studios re-release all their 'classics' which are regularly voted in the top ten movies of all time in the movie theatre. Most people alive now won't have seen Casablanca, or Gone with the Wind or Cleopatra, or dodgy 20s and 30s movies I've never heard of before in the theatre. Lets re-release them now and see how good they are compared to modern movies. If they are indeed that great they're sure to get great followings.
Well those are my thoughts.
What about you?
Old movies: Love them? Think they're slightly better than modern movies? Put up with them? Be a pseudo-intellectual and pretend to recognize them for their artistic merits whilst secretly not enjoying them? Think old movies are over-rated? hate them? think they're worse than Chairman Mao? |
Uh-huh. Yeah, you're an idiot, I'm afraid. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Hyeon Een
Joined: 24 Jun 2005
|
| Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 9:22 am Post subject: Re: Do you like old movies? |
|
|
| Stevie_B wrote: |
Uh-huh. Yeah, you're an idiot, I'm afraid. |
OK. Feel free to expand on that though. Which old movies do you like and regard as better than their modern equivalents? Really, I'm interested. I really don't enjoy old movies and I want to know why you do. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
MollyBloom
Joined: 21 Jul 2006
Location: James Joyce's pants
|
| Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 10:00 am Post subject: |
|
|
I just spent literally an hour posting about my favorite silent and classic films and somehow it got erased. I don't have the strength to write it again, but I studied classic, silent, and foreign films in undergrad so I love all of them.
 |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Hyeon Een
Joined: 24 Jun 2005
|
| Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 10:32 am Post subject: |
|
|
| MollyBloom wrote: |
I just spent literally an hour posting about my favorite silent and classic films and somehow it got erased. I don't have the strength to write it again, but I studied classic, silent, and foreign films in undergrad so I love all of them.
|
Thats cool.
I believe you did, and I suspect you actually DO like old movies. But would I be wrong if I thought you were an intellectual minority?
I'd rank the previous poster, StevieB as some kind of poser who pretends to like them because he thinks it's intellectual.
You, MollyB, on the other hand, have come across as an intellectual for a while (You love James Joyce, for example, something which most people don't). I'm inclined to believe you like old movies. I think Stevie is the kind of guy who pretends to like old movies because it makes him feel clever.
I still strongly believe that I'm not in a minority when I state that I don't like old movies. Maybe I'm lacking something in my character. I like old books, I like old buildings, I like old music, I like old people.. I just don't like old movies. I think they're rubbish and inherently inferior to recent movies.
Seriously, would someone recommend some old movies that could do well nowadays without a remake? Chances are there aren't any, because one has to 'understand' where they came from to appreciate them and bullsh*t like that.
I KNOW there are a few people who geninely like old movies, but those people are really a minor group aren't they? The best thing they have going for them is a large pseudo-intellectual minority who love to pretend they appreciate any old movie when chances are they don't understand them, and they don't enjoy them half as much as Rambo 4 ,but they love to pretend they like them for the cache it gives them.
To give a simple example, there are people who love the Mona Lisa because it is famous and they can check it off on their "Doing Europe!!!" list, and people who like it because they genuinely appreciate it as a work of art. Stevie, and 90% of the world, falls under the first column, Molly probably under the second. Stevie represents the vast majority of the world ("I like it because it's in the tourist book!"). (aka movie list/book list/painting list/city list..) |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
peppermint
Joined: 13 May 2003
Location: traversing the minefields of caddishness.
|
| Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 11:06 am Post subject: |
|
|
I think they're a lot more popular than you think, OP. A seniors group in my city does Classic movie Mondays, where they run one of the classic films on the big screen as a fundraiser, and its wildly successful. the theatre was more crowded for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid last week, than it was for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull a couple of days after opening.
Mainstream modern Hollywood flicks are fine if you're into special effects and mindless violence, but that doesn't appeal to everyone. Even the movies up for Oscars this year were pretty bland. I've seen about half of the movies on those top ten lists that ya-ta boy posted about, and I liked every last one of them more than anything I've seen released this year. To each their own I guess
Out of curiosity, OP, what movies in the past year or so have you liked? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
MollyBloom
Joined: 21 Jul 2006
Location: James Joyce's pants
|
| Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 11:27 am Post subject: |
|
|
Okay, since your response touched my heart, I'll redo some of it.
As I said, I studied all that film in undergrad, and it really became a passion of mine. I still have a little dream of being a screenwriter/director some day, but alas, I think that will never happen.
I got a lot of the love of film from my father, who loves to watch obscure films. I kind of grew up on DW Griffith and Humphrey Bogart, and those things have stuck with me for my life.
As far as silent films go, Broken Blossoms with Lilian Gish and Richard Barthelmess is one of my all time favorites. It's an amazingly sad and aesthetically pleasing film. Wings is another one of my favorites with Clara Bow; it won the first Academy Award. I think I'm one of the only people that enjoyed The Birth of a Nation and Intolerance by Griffith, but as you can guess I like his work.
I also adore the Pathe and Lumiere Frere's films. They are sweet and genuine. Buster Keaton another one of my favorite slapstick comedians.
Metropolis one of my all time favorite films. Beautiful to watch and the sound is amazing. It's also sort of frightening!
My film professors were some of the best teachers I ever had, and honestly taught me more than any of my other teachers in any other subject. I had this crazy, strict Italian woman who showed a lot of Fellini, de Sica, and Zavattini.
My French film professor was one of the best teachers I ever had. He had that great way of showing us the sexuality in film without being creepy of sleazy, sort of how one should really understand great French cinema. Because of him, French film of all kinds is a huge passion of mine. Anything from Francois Truffaut makes my heart cry out with joy. Jean Renoir and Jean-Luc Godard are also some amazing directors that have used the same actors over and over again in their films. Mathieu Kassovitz is my favorite contemporary director. L'Atlante and Boudu suave des eaux are tow of my favorite older films.
Interestingly, my French and Italian professors had a torrid love affair that sizzled because of politics...
I also took some great German film classes. One of my silent professors also held a wonderful class on classic war films, which was the hardest for me to watch, emotionally.
Moving on to real "classic" films, I'm a gal for the golden age of cinema, old Hollywood. Bogart, Peter Lorre, Claude Raines, Vincent Price, Lauren Bacall, Bela Lugosi, Astaire, Sinatra, and Orson Welles come to mind where I could watch any of their films.
I always hoped to open a movie theatre that played old films.
Sorry...back to the OP's question. References are: The Big Sleep, The Caine Mutiny, Nosferatu, Some Like it Hot, The Manchurian Candidate, Citizen Kane, La Strada, Le notti di Cabiria...all for now. I'll think about it.
Last edited by MollyBloom on Thu Jun 19, 2008 11:44 am; edited 1 time in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
MollyBloom
Joined: 21 Jul 2006
Location: James Joyce's pants
|
| Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 11:33 am Post subject: |
|
|
But to the OP, I do agree with you where you think people who like those films are a minority. Peppermint gave the example of the seniors club liking the films, and they would because it's from their generation. But I agree with her that people nowadays want fast moving, violent, sex-ridden films. Nothing is wrong with that because it's just a matter of opinion. Sometimes I too am oddly drawn to the Angelina Jolie action flicks where she kick ass. But the people that are also into nostalgic things are the indie hipsters who follow the trends of older things being cool...
I also attribute my passion to my aforementioned father because if he never introduced me to those films, I might have not had an interest in it as I do now.
I know this isn't too "classic", but my boyfriend got me into The Quiet Man and I love that film.
I also love Big Trouble in Little China. A LOT. And the Beverly Hills Cop movies. But 80's films are in a different category. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
peppermint
Joined: 13 May 2003
Location: traversing the minefields of caddishness.
|
| Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 12:00 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| MollyBloom wrote: |
| But to the OP, I do agree with you where you think people who like those films are a minority. Peppermint gave the example of the seniors club liking the films, and they would because it's from their generation. |
Hmm, maybe I explained that badly. The seniors club raise money from showing the movies, but the audience is mostly in their late 20-40s, depending on what's showing. They're more likely to be nostalgic about the Breakfast Club than Casablanca.
I think a lot of these classic movies become classic because they break new ground and do something different. Movies like the Godfather raised the idea of a gangster tormented by conscience, and paved the way for the Sopranos, and American Gangster etc. Disturbia was basically an update of Hitchcock's Rear Window.
I'm hardly an indie hipster type and don't consider myself an intellectual either, but I like a well written noir, or drama sometimes, instead of a big budget popcorn flick, and the Coen brothers aside, Hollywood just isn't making many of those these days. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
MollyBloom
Joined: 21 Jul 2006
Location: James Joyce's pants
|
| Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 12:30 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| peppermint wrote: |
| MollyBloom wrote: |
| But to the OP, I do agree with you where you think people who like those films are a minority. Peppermint gave the example of the seniors club liking the films, and they would because it's from their generation. |
Hmm, maybe I explained that badly. The seniors club raise money from showing the movies, but the audience is mostly in their late 20-40s, depending on what's showing. They're more likely to be nostalgic about the Breakfast Club than Casablanca.
I think a lot of these classic movies become classic because they break new ground and do something different. Movies like the Godfather raised the idea of a gangster tormented by conscience, and paved the way for the Sopranos, and American Gangster etc. Disturbia was basically an update of Hitchcock's Rear Window.
I'm hardly an indie hipster type and don't consider myself an intellectual either, but I like a well written noir, or drama sometimes, instead of a big budget popcorn flick, and the Coen brothers aside, Hollywood just isn't making many of those these days. |
I understand now. Well said. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
happeningthang
Joined: 26 Apr 2003
|
| Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 12:40 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Similar to Patty's screenings my old university ran a regular double feature for a wide range of 'classic' films that'd you never get to see on a big screen otherwise. They used to get good audiences, with people travelling across the city to see their favourites.
It's a fair point for the OP to say that the old films that are considered classics are those that did something new for its era. I was always an amateur cinephile and had heard of the greatness of Citizen Kane. When I first watched it I was barely engaged - but then, like MollyB, it became something I studied in uni. Once I had all the innovation pointed out to me, and I had all the requisite knowledge to appreciate it - I did.
Still, there were a lot of early era films that I did find compelling before arriving at uni. A lot of the German expressionism like M, Metropolis and Nosferatu, countless flim noir movies, David Lean's adaptations of Dickens, some early Australian films like Jedda, Capra films, The Wizard of Oz - are some examples that come to mind. I think if there's a compelling story being told then there's more than enough to hold an audience's attention without TnA and CGI explosions.
None of this appreciation stops me from enjoying trashy hollywood output however, and can happily list Ferris Bueller's Day Out as a classic along side Grapes of Wrath. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
|
| Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 3:03 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: |
| And all these movie lists: They rank movies from the '20s and '30s and '40s.. they're all crap. |
Well, Hyeon Een, I was going to say my esteem for you just plummeted, but given your unwarranted affection for modern movies, I'll say it 'crashed and burned'.
I'll admit that my standard for judging the quality of a movie is this: There is an inverse relationship between quality of movie and number of exploding helicopters. I arrived at this conclusion by noticing that if I say, "Wow! How'd they do that?" I wasn't really absorbed by the story. In my opinion, plot is everything. I suspect that people who like exploding helicopters are addicted to the rush of adrenaline. There are other emotions.
I've never taken a film appreciation class but would like to. I enjoy the DVDs that have the director or whoever talking about the movie in detail--after I've seen the movie. Roger Ebert's commentary on 'Citizen Kane' is really enlightening. But that stuff is for technical appreciation.
I'm not the first to say that nearly all of modern Hollywood's output is aimed at teenage boys. I don't consider myself an intellectual, but I do consider myself reasonably intelligent. And I expect my movies to be intelligent, too. All I really mean by that though is that I want interesting characters in an interesting situation. All movies have 'special effects', but I want those special effects to support the story, not dominate it. I don't want a movie where the plot is just how the director strings a series of special effects together.
I will agree with you in part, however. For some of the older movies you do need some background. We get that in Lit classes and that makes it much easier to read and enjoy old books. Movies deserve the same treatment and respect.
A few Halloweens ago I bought 'Frankenstein', 'Bride of Frankenstein', 'The Wolfman' and 'The Phantom of the Opera'. They do not pack the punch they did when I was 10 years old. They are not scary now like they used to be. But they are still fun.
When I taught US history I used to show 'Birth of a Nation' so the kids could see a silent movie (and talk about racism). All it took to convince them to sit still for it was to tell them that the movie had caused their great-grandparents to riot in the streets. The kids were mesmerized. Later in the semester I showed 'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington'. They squirmed when I told them we were going to watch a black & white movie but by the time the bell rang, they were absorbed in the story.
I also watched 'The Godfather' about a month ago, for the first time since it was new. It has lost a lot in those 30 years. It wasn't as shocking as I remembered it.
There are a couple of cable channels in the US that exclusively show old movies. I don't know anything about the size of their viewship or its demographics, but they've been on for about 20 years. Somebody is watching.
I do suspect you're right about most old movies. B students and up will probably be able to sit down and enjoy old movies, C students and below won't. Much like B students and above will voluntarily read Dickens but C students will only read comic books. 
Challenge: Take a look at Jimmy Stewart's "Harvey". If you don't believe in 6'4" invisible rabbits by the end of the movie, you are doomed to only enjoy 'Indiana Jones, Part XVI'. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
nolegirl
Joined: 17 Apr 2008
|
| Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 3:12 pm Post subject: |
|
|
There is something about the classic movies that has so much appeal. When a man kissed a women it was so romanic, you could feel the intensity. In a movie today you are literally watching soft porn.
Today all you really need is a pretty face, don't need much talent. Old Hollywood you needed to be able to sing, dance, act, and have good personalities as well as being beautiful, most were. Well... most, no wire hangers!!!! crazy lady and good movie hehe 
And whats with all the re-makes of classic movies. It's really annoying, they butcher it.
Since I have not had a job in 3 weeks and I have no car now I have been sitting at home and I really forgot how much I love "I Love Lucy". May not be a classic (in my eyes it is) but it is hysterical; Lucy and her schenanagans!!!
Best Love Movie - An Affair to Remember
Hottest Actor - Paul Newman in Long, Hot summer (and I like his salad dressing, too!!)
I also consider Airplane, Spaceballs, Animal House and Caddy Shack classics, oh and all of John Candy's movies ( fav Uncle Buck)!!! Hilarious
IMO Indie movies are sort of like wanna be movies. Its like there trying to hard to be orignal.
Favorite movie of this era- Elizabeth ( w/cate blanchett) and I liked the second one alot.
Good soundtrack, also |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Fishead soup
Joined: 24 Jun 2007
Location: Korea
|
| Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 3:36 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I like classic Surrealist films like, "Une Chiend Andalour" and ,"L Age'or"
Both of these Classic Surrealist films were directed by Luis Buniel and Salvadore Dali. In Une Chiend Andalour the opening scene is a womens eyeball being sliced open by a straight razor. Possibly one of the most shocking scenes in film history.
The Opening scene of L Age'or features Jesus Christ exiting an orgy holding his groin in pain.
These films incited riots. They were made around 1930.
The first time I saw these films was in a privately run movie cinema run in someones house. The Persons name is Reg Hartt he's infamous in Toronto. He plasters the city with posters. He's also known to have a really bad temper and throw people out who are not interested in his lectures. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Stevie_B
Joined: 14 May 2008
|
| Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 4:53 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Fishead soup wrote: |
I like classic Surrealist films like, "Une Chiend Andalour" and ,"L Age'or"
Both of these Classic Surrealist films were directed by Luis Buniel and Salvadore Dali. In Une Chiend Andalour the opening scene is a womens eyeball being sliced open by a straight razor. Possibly one of the most shocking scenes in film history.
The Opening scene of L Age'or features Jesus Christ exiting an orgy holding his groin in pain.
These films incited riots. They were made around 1930.
The first time I saw these films was in a privately run movie cinema run in someones house. The Persons name is Reg Hartt he's infamous in Toronto. He plasters the city with posters. He's also known to have a really bad temper and throw people out who are not interested in his lectures. |
Er, that's "Un Chien Andalou". |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
