Don’t let anyone tell you movies today aren’t shit. Reject convention. Make films your own way. Be yourself.
Film hipsterism at its most reactionary. This might be the most insufferable post I’ve read here.2
I still don’t understand how I have people on here calling me smug and arrogant, and then criticizing me for being ignorant of the outstanding film output of country X.
Do you have to have encyclopedic knowledge of film in order to be a great filmmaker?
I mean, come to think of it, Orson Welles and Victor Sjostrom really sucked because they had never seen 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 days.
This thread is really funny looking back on it, seeing 5 or 6 people calling me smug and arrogant, while all patting each other on the backs!
Your self-defense is justified. I agree that Sjöström and Welles should have at least made an effort to watch “4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days”, but they both didn’t care at all about the film after they died, which ultimately makes them awful directors.
I agree Apursansar, hopefully Sjöström and Welles will quit making films now. It’s really shameful.
Luckily, Jason will take up the torch.
Just off hand, I would prefer that if people were critical of how movies were being made, that they’d try taking up the mantle and making movies themselves. Either they’ll actually succeed and made good movies that draws people’s attentions to other ways of using the form, or they’ll fail and gain an appreciation for how much work and effort goes into making movies, no matter how “shitty”.
Or they’ll go like Uwe Boll and make shitty movies they’re absolutely convinced are great, and blame the audience, not the movies, for the movies’ poor reception.
—PolarisDiB
Just off hand, I would prefer that if people were critical of how movies were being made, that they’d try taking up the mantle and making movies themselves. Either they’ll actually succeed and made good movies that draws people’s attentions to other ways of using the form, or they’ll fail and gain an appreciation for how much work and effort goes into making movies, no matter how “shitty”.
Or they’ll go like Uwe Boll and make shitty movies they’re absolutely convinced are great, and blame the audience, not the movies, for the movies’ poor reception.
—PolarisDiB
I keep on coming up with random scenario start-ups in my head, but I have so far (apparently) refused to take up the necessary self-discipline to actually write some of this stuff down.
Yep, it takes hard work to get a movie made. >_<
My mistake- Jason T. has already started making films:
Wow, Jason is a cinematic heavyweight, even in comparision to guys like Orson Welles.
That is a bastardized cut of a film that I made for a 48 hour film contest.
I’m going to put forth that whereas it shows Jason is still prone to the silly close-ups and hand-held cinematography he complains about, he still did it over 48 hours (which is a good contest, everyone should try to do one someday) and managed to keep my attention for 7 minutes. It’s not Orson Welles, but it’s something.
As for Jason, if you’re looking to improve, I recommend investing in sound and lighting first. And cut the intertitles, if anything. Bad acting and comedic timing will improve if you keep trying, and however bastardized this version is, the goal is not to defend or defame it, but to do even better next time. This is true whether you’re Orson Welles or not (talking about bastardized cuts as well as general work-a-day approach to improving craft no matter who you are).
—PolarisDiB
How can I post a video from Final cut to Mubi?
Oh, my God, I hated those intertitles. You don’t know how I fought to keep them out.
I thank you for your kind thoughts, PolarisDiB. I really need to take your advice and work more and more.
Polaris, you are really too kind, with the holding your attention line.
Jazzaloha
@Jason
I sympathize with you—although I wouldn’t characterize all of today’s movies as "sh**.* However, I do feel disappointed and a bit down when I think of the recently released films—especially American films. Here are several points I want to share:
—There are two groups of films I see:
1. Older films, which are mainly films that appear on “best of” lists and even if they don’t appear on them, respectable people have drawn attention to them (i.e. films like Blast of Silence, Thieves’ Highway, etc.)
and
2. Recently made films, which are a mixture of good, bad and sometimes great films. Sometimes I see these films in the theater and sometimes I see them even though they may not be very good (because I want to hang out with my wife, etc.)
I think the above partly explains my negative impression of contemporary films—the contemporary films I see are a mixture of good and bad—and sometimes I end seeing more bad than good. On the other hand, almost all the older films I see are good-to-great, mainly because they have been screened, scrutinized and survived the test of time.
Just some food for thought.