“. I am one of the relative few who still goes to see an old favourite at the cinema, even if I own a DVD copy.”
it’s a lot easier for you though, because most of your favourites are in English, and the ones that aren’t tend to be very popular foreign movies. For many of us, however, it’s difficult to see films on the big screen. if given a chance, i’d jump at the chance to watch Tarkovsky, Angelopoulos, Antonioni films on the screen, but unfortunately i’m not. the only Antonioni films they show in Melbourne are his English speaking ones, and occasionally La Notte. Never Red Desert or Identification Of A Woman. Anglepoulos, maybe 2-3 of his films have played on the big screen here. Tarkovsky, well, if it wasn’t for Acme, i wouldn’t have even seen one.
it’s just not feasible for many of us, so dvd is the only way to go.
afaik downloading is the only way to go
yarrr
I am sixteen, and I generally DO believe movies pre-1990 are better. I’ve observed that most people I know my age (there are a couple exceptions) just go to movies to kill time or laugh and they don’t care too much about what the movie is. They’ll go see anything that is playing just for social purposes. I think it’s really just a matter of preference/taste, some people just don’t get into film. Definitely doesn’t mean there hasn’t been great movies released in the past 20 years. But I don’t think the vast majority of my peers would agree – for example
(someone asked if we could watch Gladiator in Latin and my teacher said we might get to watch Spartacus)
Kid 1: Never heard of it.
Teacher: Yeah.. it’s kind of old. I think it came out in 1960.
Kid 1: That’s way too old.
Teacher: Sometimes old movies are the best.
Kid 2: Yeah!! Like Titanic! (she was definitely not referring to A Night to Remember)
Let me introduce you guys to my pals Sang-soo, Ming-liang, Apichatpong etc.
I got in a debate once with a guy who refused to see anything before 1960. There’s been great stuff post 1990, but cut it off there and you’re leaving out most of what inspires me. So yeah, I’m old.
I’m 63 and my favorite movie of all time was made in 1998.
Obviously we don’t expereince movies the way we did in the past, what with home video and the internet. But I would hope that these forms wouldn’t keep anyone away from the theatrical experience. Quite frankly there are certain films — “Lawrence of Arabia,” “2001: A Space Odyssey” and “Playtime” to name three — that simply can’t be comprehended in anything other than a big screen theatrical setting.
Even a film as small-scale and inimate as Rohmer’s “Summer” (aka. “Le Rayon Vert”) demands a big screen to be fully appreciated.
Movies theaters are like vinyl LPs. They will never go out of style.
I didn’t know you were such a big fan of Shakespeare in Love, David.
1990 is an odd cut off date. On the other hand, I meet a lot of people (in their 20s but also in their 30s and 40s) who seem to think cinema started with The Godfather (or maybe 2001).
“I didn’t know you were such a big fan of Shakespeare in Love, David”
HUNH?
Just a joke. I was curious as to what that film from 1998 was (or do I just assume it is The Hole?)
To those who say that 2001 can only be seen in a cinema, the first time i watched it was on VHS on a grainy over saturated tv that was about 15 years old, and I still loved it. Sure, it would benefit from a large screen and the proper aspect ratio, but it still worked for me.
What some people here are forgetting to realize is that some of us CAN’T watch older films or foreign films or anything besides “New Moon” in theatres. So what are we supposed to do? Just not even try? Cause we wouldn’t understand it???? I understood Grand Illusion on my tv screen perfectly well. I’m pretty sure I would’ve even understood it perfectly well if it was a two by two inch screen. The notion that films HAVE to be seen on the big screen to be FULLY appreciated may be correct, but that they must be seen that way to be understood is, I find, ridiculous.
I’d probably faint if I ever found a theatre playing an older movie I really like, or one I haven’t seen. I’d go see Seven Samurai or Vertigo or Breathless or HaraKiri or Rules of the Game even when I do own the DVD’s. I think it would be an amazing experiance and I look forward to plenty of it when I move to NYC. But is it essential? In some rare cases, perhaps…But not often.
And just to clarify I don’t really believe in watching movies on the iPhone. I"ve never done it. But that’s just personal preference. Though, laptops and portable dvd players work fine if you’re really close to the screen and you got the lights turned off. It’s like your own personal mini theatre.
And I’m also anticipating word of what this mystery 1998 film is…
Good grammar (despite what I may or may not have said in the last 10 minutes on another thread) is, actually, hot. Come on Hidden Behind the Screen, you’re being out-classed by an apparently 16 year-old girl (i.e. ‘Juliana’ from five posts up).
“Yes, they might “see it first” online. But what if they view “The Red Shoes” online…on their laptop? It might not appeal to them at all. However, take someone into the cinema and show them a film like “The Red Shoes”, “North West Frontier”, “2001: A Space Odyssey”, “Ryan’s Daughter” (above) for the first time…it would constitute a major revelation.”
This is another of my firm convictions. Going to a theatre is an entirely different experience, and one completely unique to film. The same movie can be experienced a thousand ways, from the first watch to the thousanth and from a theatre to a busy train station on the Shinkansen with the mates crowded around. Movie theatres are not out-dated. I’m very much partial to seeing movies in the appropriately enough named “movie theatre.”
At one point in history there was a discussion similar to this…it was: “Were films better pre-1930?”….Only time can tell these things. The present is always an era of ignorance.
Josh H
And I’m not saying I wouldnt prefer to watch a film on a larger screen, because I obviously would, but a good film can be enjoyed on any size screen, as long as you can see whats happening.