I’d like to know what happened/didn’t happen in cinema in the 80s…
for those who were alive then (and even those that weren’t who still have something they’d like to say)…
I’m interested in hearing any generalized comments you have about film in that time…
A cursory search has revealed endless lists….I want more than lists….
I want real, human thoughts, opinions, emotions, ramblings…conjectures, speculations…anything.
Why was it that the Best Picture nominations in 1987 were so bad?
Was popular culture obsessed with escapism? From nukes, from corrupt Wall Street officials, from disease, from the realities of cocaine use (joking…or am I?)?
I was born in 1991, as America (and the world) recovered from the 80s…
I’m seeking to understand the cultural milieu that preceded me.
To me, action is pure escapism. How often in your own life are you pursued by the police, or forced to narrowly escape from a giant explosion, or shot at by (most likely foreign-looking) guys with Uzis? In fact, the infusion of action and violence is one of the things I lament most about the development of cinema in the last 35 years. Even near-perfect movies like The Matrix, to me, suffer due to the infusion of action sequences. I just don’t understand the appeal. I think somebody on the other page said it best: “If you’ve seen one action sequence, you’ve basically seen them all.” Granted, extreme scenarios often bring out the best in humans, but I’d like a cinema that shows the people at their best not in extraordinary circumstances, but ones that are very ordinary.
Even movies with heavily stylized action (action as art) only go so far me (think Kill Bill, The Matrix, The Dark Knight). It’s just not relatable to me. I prefer the Eternal Sunshines, The Graduates, The Jules et Jim, The Royal Tenenbaums, the movies that glamorize the everyday. And, on the flipside, when action is bad, it’s really bad. I understand that some people (morons, in my opinion…I’m sorry but it’s the way I feel) can be entertained time and time again by the same formulaic plot elements: "OH NO WILL THE GOOD GUY DIE THIS TIME!!…OH NO WILL THE MULTITUDE OF BAD GUYS WITH MACHINE GUYS BE ABLE TO HIT THE GOOD GUY….OH NO WILL THEY WIN THIS BATTLE!…OH NO THE BAD GUY AND GOOD GUY ARE BOTH POINTING THEIR GUNS AT ONE ANOTHER!??? WILL THE GOOD GUY PREVAIL (the answer is almost invariably YES), but I simply cannot. Call me pretentious (one of the worst words ever thought up), but I defy you to sit through ‘True Lies’ and still come to me in defense of action movies as a whole.
Action is just such a narrow lens through which to examine life. I haven’t even gotten in a fight in many years. So why is it that every damn movie that comes out these days seems to be about people fighting? There’s much, much more to life than punches, kicks, guns and explosions. In fact, I would argue that these aren’t even a part of most peoples’ lives.
Looking for short blurbs about the state of cinema in the 80s over 2 years ago
I wasn’t born in the 80s…
But I’m doing a project on the 80s…
specifically 1987….
I’d like to know what happened/didn’t happen in cinema in the 80s…
for those who were alive then (and even those that weren’t who still have something they’d like to say)…
I’m interested in hearing any generalized comments you have about film in that time…
A cursory search has revealed endless lists….I want more than lists….
I want real, human thoughts, opinions, emotions, ramblings…conjectures, speculations…anything.
Why was it that the Best Picture nominations in 1987 were so bad?
Was popular culture obsessed with escapism? From nukes, from corrupt Wall Street officials, from disease, from the realities of cocaine use (joking…or am I?)?
I was born in 1991, as America (and the world) recovered from the 80s…
I’m seeking to understand the cultural milieu that preceded me.
Thoughts?
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In Defense Of Action Films over 2 years ago
To me, action is pure escapism. How often in your own life are you pursued by the police, or forced to narrowly escape from a giant explosion, or shot at by (most likely foreign-looking) guys with Uzis? In fact, the infusion of action and violence is one of the things I lament most about the development of cinema in the last 35 years. Even near-perfect movies like The Matrix, to me, suffer due to the infusion of action sequences. I just don’t understand the appeal. I think somebody on the other page said it best: “If you’ve seen one action sequence, you’ve basically seen them all.” Granted, extreme scenarios often bring out the best in humans, but I’d like a cinema that shows the people at their best not in extraordinary circumstances, but ones that are very ordinary.
Even movies with heavily stylized action (action as art) only go so far me (think Kill Bill, The Matrix, The Dark Knight). It’s just not relatable to me. I prefer the Eternal Sunshines, The Graduates, The Jules et Jim, The Royal Tenenbaums, the movies that glamorize the everyday. And, on the flipside, when action is bad, it’s really bad. I understand that some people (morons, in my opinion…I’m sorry but it’s the way I feel) can be entertained time and time again by the same formulaic plot elements: "OH NO WILL THE GOOD GUY DIE THIS TIME!!…OH NO WILL THE MULTITUDE OF BAD GUYS WITH MACHINE GUYS BE ABLE TO HIT THE GOOD GUY….OH NO WILL THEY WIN THIS BATTLE!…OH NO THE BAD GUY AND GOOD GUY ARE BOTH POINTING THEIR GUNS AT ONE ANOTHER!??? WILL THE GOOD GUY PREVAIL (the answer is almost invariably YES), but I simply cannot. Call me pretentious (one of the worst words ever thought up), but I defy you to sit through ‘True Lies’ and still come to me in defense of action movies as a whole.
Action is just such a narrow lens through which to examine life. I haven’t even gotten in a fight in many years. So why is it that every damn movie that comes out these days seems to be about people fighting? There’s much, much more to life than punches, kicks, guns and explosions. In fact, I would argue that these aren’t even a part of most peoples’ lives.
Go to Comment