For this week's blog, I'd like you to focus on contemporary film. What trends do you see forming over the last few years? What kinds of films are the new blockbusters? What are the current controversies? How have you seen film change over the course of your life? In short, what's going on in American cinema right now? Anything goes!
Also, here's the trailer for the film we'll be watching, Ex Machina. Enjoy!
Also, here's the trailer for the film we'll be watching, Ex Machina. Enjoy!
Contemporary films showcase almost every aspect back then, however, with more special effects. Comparing to the films back then, contemporary film still features all genres such as violent, action, romance, horror, comedy. The conflicts, characters, and plots still revolve around the same pattern that are pretty much expected. However, the clothes/appearance change to match the current trend today. The clothes we wear today are no longer like mad men's time (Suit and tie, fancy dresses, long skirts and blouse) . Clothes are much more revealing, shorter, unprofessional-like, and usually T-shirt and Jeans. Therefore, the only real changes I see are in appearances and style, and maybe perhaps the action effects in Action movies. There are collapsed buildings, more realistic destruction and realistic, violent , bloody fighting scenes (like in Deadpool). However, the key that drives movies remain the same. Comparing mad men to recent movies: Deadpool, Sorority rising, Neighbors 2, dirty grandpa, suicide squad, zootopia, adults film still hold the ideas of cheating, drugs, sex, breakup, divorce, homosexuality, abuse, depression, bullying, while children films remain innocent, sweet, and usually have a pure imagination of love, friendship, and life. However, I also notice that recent films have more diverse casts, and more profound ideas that have not been seen before (twist plots like the death in The fault in our stars), robots, aliens, vampires, werewolfs, etc, that weren't so common back then. You can watch any film, like Captain America for example, you'll get to see Asians, Hispanics, Whites, and Blacks, short people, tall people, handsome, yet, not so handsome characters. In mad men, you only see white gorgeous men and women who have perfect height and ideal weight. Therefore, I feel that contemporary films change to target a more diverse group of audience.
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ReplyDeleteI agree, the new Cinderella wasn't really needed and I don't think anyone asked for a 3rd Spiderman reboot. Most of the new remakes I've seen aren't really bad, they just seem unneeded. Not gonna lie though, the new Jungle Book was the best movie I've seen all year and it made me kinda excited for the new live action Lion King to come out.
DeleteI agree that most of the remakes are not as good as the original. I didn't like the Cinderella one either. However, I agree with Logan that the Jungle Book was one of the best movie so it depends. However, besides the Jungle, I believe that most of the remakes are terrible, mostly because they don't contribute anything to the plot like you mentioned. I believe most people are faithful to the original and don't like changes because they're not used to them, so even if the remakes are better, there will still be criticisms
DeleteThere have been so many Cinderella remakes I didn't even realize there was another one! lol I totally agree. So many thumbs up on the Jungle Book, I'll have to check this out. I'm amongst the few that are faithful to originals, but with the RIGHT characters I'm open to change.
DeleteI agree, you do get tired of seeing the same person acting in different movies. It kind of like give someone else a chance to shine. I guess they think the most popular actor will bring the most revenue, but sometimes they really do not embody the character. A lot of these movies just seem rushed and not thought out. X-men Apocalypse was a prime example of a horrible remake. The movie didn't do the comic book and cartoons any justice. I very disappointed in this movie because the previews looked so great, but when I actually saw them incorporated into the full movie it felt like they sold me a false dream.
DeleteI can see what you're saying and I respect your opinion but I have to disagree. Yes, there are some crappy remakes but film is a form of art. For me, it's a beautiful thing to see artists add their own spazz and twist to a story timeline in older movies.
DeleteFor real fr preach sista, about the remakes, especially Spider-Man. It has become a TV series - different actors cast as Peter Parker for every episode. Hollywood gon' fuck around and save the planet with all that recycling!
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ReplyDeleteI think the biggest trend that Hollywood has been into for a little bit now is young women in leading action roles. Action female leads used to only be found in quirky indie thrillers. Twilight showed that female leads could still produce a successful franchise, and then the Hunger Games proved a female lead could produce a successful and critically acclaimed action franchise. Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Divergent, Mad Max, Gone Girl, and the most recent Star Wars movie all were successful recent action movies with female leads. It might appear that Hollywood is becoming less sexist, and maybe it is in some instances. I think in most cases it's just the film industry following the mold of what they see the most recent and successful movies are doing. I think it's always about money and if what makes them money happens to be being more politically correct then they'll go for it. I personally really liked a lot of the new movies that showed strong female leads, especially the ones like Mad Max and Star Wars where the female leads were unexpected. Some of my favorite films of all time are films like Leon the Professional and Hanna. These are older suspenseful action movies that had female leads before it became a common thing. They came out when it was a risky move, and they didn't make a lot of money, but they were more authentic I think. I would like to more films treated more for their quality than their bankability, but that's a little unrealistic I guess.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with you on that the leading females rolls have increased in action movies. But I also think that animations have also show that too. I also didn't realize that that money also factored into it.
DeleteI agree with you Logan, there has been quite the increase in women leading roles in action films. I also agree that this could be a trend because if we look at contemporary tv and film in a whole, female lead roles have increased all together. I think that even though it could possibly be just for money or a trend that it is still good because it led to an opportunity for these women and they just have to take it and run with it and show how great they are and just simply dominate it lol. (sorry for the run on)
DeleteThe increase in female movies could also be due to there being more feminist views spreading throughout society. Equality has become a very big deal lately and filmmakers are not afraid to capitalize on that. I mean this isn't Clintons first time running for office. She could have had a very significant impact on the industry as well.
DeleteGreat observation, I definitely agree with the points you brought up. I'm certainly not against females in leading roles, but it does seem like some of these movies are being made simply to cash in. I feel like the new Ghostbusters movie is a good example. It got extreme backlash when the all-female leading cast was announced, but I held my reservations until I actually saw the film. I was pleasantly surprised with how funny it was, and enjoyed it for what it was. That didn't take away the fact that it was an unnecessary remake of (what many consider) a classic 80s film.
DeleteIt is true that many more females are given the leading roles. This can certainly be a trend. I feel as though people follow trend, because they know its currently popular right now. This can bring in money and views for their shows/movies.
DeleteAmerican Cinema - or any cinema for that matter - has always had a thing for heros. It makes sense as a hero is a pretty integral part of any story, but in recent years the film industry has been dominated by superhero movies! Granted, superhero films usually spawn many sequels, but theaters aren't showing only sequel superhero movies. Just this year we saw or will see the introduction of at least three different superheroes ("Deadpool", "Doctor Strange", "Max Steel"). Not to mention the continuances of others such as: "X-Men: Apocalypse", "Captain America: Civil War", "Batman Vs. Superman", "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of Darkness", and "Suicide Squad". What is our obsession with superheroes? My theory is a simple one: we feel like we need a hero. If we look at the daily things we see in life and on TV many of them have to do with war, protests, politics, and upset. Most people don't have a solution for all of the problems in today's world and while audiences want an escape they also want something that gives them hope. We as a society relate more to superheroes than we do to those who represent us, and it's easy to see if we look at the superheroes that are popular today. Gone are the days of perfect superheroes like Superman - today we would much rather see Captain America and Ironman struggle with moral issues that divide them or see the anti-heroes of "Suicide Squad" save the day. We want realistic superheroes because our news and reality is so full of people trying to convince us that they're perfect and to just ignore whatever wrong they've done instead of owning up to it. Films have always created a sense of escapism for audiences, but today mind-numbing escapism isn't what audiences want from films. We want to escape our world for a while and still be able to leave with something useful. Maybe the real reason why superheroes are such a popular American cinematic trend is because they unite us as underdogs, and who doesn't see at least a little bit of themselves as an underdog?
ReplyDeleteI was very intrigued while reading your post. I agree that the super hero films that have been made over the recent years focus more on moral issues of the characters. Producers and writers want us to relate to them in some way and they keep creating sequels and remakes because we always pay to see them. They will always be produced as long as huge amounts of money can be made from the films.
DeleteThe reason for filmmaking has always been based on expressionism and entertainment. Artists express their ideas and enjoy telling stories through the innovative technology of film. Movies allow people to escape stressful lives and experience creative stories of their choosing. The film industry has become centered entirely on money and the demands of fantasy genres about super heroes or life altering apocalypses. Our society’s view of content restrictions have definitely changed over the years, along with various different fantasy genres. Every year we have movies that redefine and break the limitations of blockbuster filmmaking. Censorship of content was very limited in the beginning decades of the film industry, and recent films like 50 Shades of Grey are becoming accepted as a blockbuster. When I was a kid, I enjoyed many Steven Spielberg blockbuster films like Jurassic Park and Indiana Jones. People were introduced to these new stories of adventure and fantasy. The majority of our blockbusters today are remakes and sequels of prior successful films. I have been disappointed with some of the choices for remakes recently. I believe that some original great films should not be remade just because of advances in technology and pop culture. It takes away the brilliance and importance of the filmmakers during that time. The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Planet of the Apes, and Point Break are some example of films I do not think should’ve been remade. Some remakes are sometimes necessary and successful, which in my opinion include Cape Fear, The Amityville Horror, and The Time Machine.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I definitely agree. More and more movies have become explicit or revealing. I think that our high sex appeal is what leads the producers to put out these types of films. They know that we love sexual scenes mixed with drama and romance. I would also have to agree that the advancing of technology does not benefit certain original films. Overall your post was a really good read!
DeleteAs our class focuses on popular culture, I think it’s safe to say that filmmakers produce whatever will sale. More often than not, the original movie has many sales and high ratings, so I think that the creators of these films think that viewers would like sequels or remakes. Often times viewers are completely fine with there just being an original version. Many times the filmmakers get so caught up in remakes, they either lose the message or don’t live up to the expectation from the original movie. There are many movies that don’t require an entire series or a modern remake. The failure to create a good enough second movie often turns viewers away from movies that aren’t originals. Recently there has been talk of recreating the Lion King, but supporters have only been in support of the live version. When a movie is that good and classic, there isn’t a need to recreate it. However, I don’t think that should stop producers from releasing or creating more of these contemporary films. For example, the original Sandlot and its sequel were both really entertaining and nothing got lost in translation.
ReplyDeleteNowadays, movies are people’s go to when they want to keep their minds off of things or simple have a nice date so romantic, action, and fantasy rates have been at an all time. They give us that “escape” from our everyday lives. Movies have been doing that for as long as I can remember, but as generations change so do the movie types. Let’s do a quick comparison of 101 Dalmatians and the minions of Despicable Me. Producers used dogs to entertain as opposed to computer generated creations. Movies are changing with the time and so it what’s acceptable and what’s not. Nowadays anything goes, whereas most older movies are semi conservative. The filmmakers have to alter the movies to the generation, which is why so much has changed.
Animation films have influenced and reflected our society. Currently there has been an increase in films that use cartoons to show women in lead. For a long period of time, most of the leading roles that women had depended on the male characters. For instance, Disney has made many animations like Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella. Most of these types of films were made around 1940s. In all these films, females were the main characters, but the animators made them all depend on princes. In Sleeping Beauty, Aurora depends on her prince to save her from her curse.
ReplyDeleteNow, movies like Brave and Frozen which came out around five years ago have changed the view of the audience. For instance, in the movie Braze, Disney try to show the audience that women can lead and also shows feminism. By showing that women can also have power and not depend on males, it shows how much our society has advanced. For instance, in the movie Brave, Merida the female main character tries to convince her parents that she doesn’t need to marry a man to be able to lead her country. Eventually she is able to show and convince her family that she is able to lead and doesn’t need a man. Throughout several decades, people have changed their view on women. Although women were underrepresented, the changed in animated movies show the audience that the world has become more feminist throughout time. This change also reflects how our society is currently.
I love that women are now being shown in movies with a main role as well! Amazing post!
DeleteJensine Taylor
In the last few years I’ve seen an increase in action movies. Particularly movies that come from comic books. The new blockbusters are films that have noble characters fighting against evil. For example ‘I Am Legend saw’ Will Smith standing alone against the monsters that he had inadvertently created. He took on murderous zombies in the movie with courage of not giving up even though he thought he was the only human left. ‘I Am Legend’ when it came out was the most popular movie that had a December release ever. The current controversies are similar to what the book ‘Signs of Life in the USA’ said. How much violence should be allowed in these movies. As well as I believe a current controversy is will this violence have an impact on children, and what will be the parameters for violence in movies in relations to rating movies G,PG,PG-13, and R. Over my life I’ve seen film change immensely. When I was younger for example, movies about sex and teenagers, usually only involved a kiss, and the physical sex was second in the plot. Now movies like ‘Superbad’ come out where the whole plight of the characters is to get laid before they graduate high school. Thus most movies from back in my day had less violence and less sex.
ReplyDelete-Jensine Taylor
I didn't watch the video, I pretty much just speaking freely. Some people feel that movies are overrated. Would rather watch tv shows from Netflix or Hulu, the free or 10 dollar subscriptions we have to get things a lot easier these days. I am amongst those that enjoy Netflix. All this weekend I caught up on iZombie with Pizza and Moe's. Binge watching is pretty much the best feeling in the world sometimes. Wearing comfortable clothes, snuggled up on the couch or in bed, eating and watching TV. Who wouldn't enjoy that?
ReplyDeleteMovies however are no longer as exciting as they use to be. Compared to shows, each episode or season keeps you on your toes and leaves you wanting more. Almost every movie that's out is predictable. The same action movie, remakes of something we've all seen before, horrible endings that don't really have an ending. I mean, what kind of mess is that? Movies like Resident Evil, Underworld or Blade, those are completely different, they will forever be excused from that category. Don't ask why, they just are. If you're a fan the way I am, then you understand why. Now movies like Obsessed with Beyoncé, When the Bough Breaks and One Day with Anne Hathaway.. I mean COME ON!!! One Day was completed unexpected, but it ruined my day.
I have noticed quite a few things about contemporary movies. For one, it is obvious that America loves action films and most films today will include action! Love stories, tragedies, children’s movies, and etc all have some type of action included in them now to appeal to more than one audience. For example, the Twilight series were about a love story between a mortal and a vampire and the difficulties in making the romance last, however, there were a series of battles, fights, and action involved in this love story that actually made the movie very active and interesting. Another example would be the The Lego movie, this was a children’s movie bringing Lego’s toy to life, it was action packed and filled with adventure to appeal to multiple audiences and excite the children, of course. Most movies are now offering to be viewed in 3-D which also touches on action because it’s giving the ‘movie goers’ to the filling that they are right there in the movie experiencing the actions in real time. 3-D films take action another step because people can feel like things are happening directly in front of them. This appeals to what the people want to see and what excites them! America loves action, so it can be found in almost every movie we see now in contemporary movies.
ReplyDeleteTo switch it up, another minor thing that I have noticed about contemporary movies is that there have been so many remakes lately of the classic movies that have already been made; especially children’s films; for example, Peter Pan, Snow White, Hansel and Gretel, Sparkle (not a kids film), and etc. This has been happening a lot over the past few years. This could be good or bad. Good because retelling the story in modern times could help newer generations are introduced to old stories. However, it could be bad because the remaking and retelling of the story is different from the original and can be offensive to older generations and the original film. Thoughts?
Call me old fashioned but I really do love musicals and especially Disney movies. I love to rewatch the ones that were really popular when I was in that crucial stage of transition from middle school to high school. So I rewatched the Disney Classic Camp Rock. This movie was fundamental to the attitude that I had going into High School seeing as it came out that summer. When I rewatched the movie this weekendI began to subconsciously analyze it and of all things the makeup and styles of the actresses caught my attention. I noticed that the "protagonists" of the film had a pastel makeup palette while the "antagonists" had brighter more outspoken palettes. I realized that this was a sign. The pastels colors were meant to signify innocence while the brighter palettes were meant to signify,for lack of a better word, evil. The colors of their makeup paint images about the characters without ever directly saying anything. If I were to watch the movie without sound or subtitles the styles of makeup and clothes worn by the characters would automatically give away who Disney is trying to portray as the "bad guy". Then the background actresses had no actual color scheme by which they followed but they also didn't have any of the make up the lead characters had. While nobody in the movie had on anything like eyeliner or lipstick there was obvious blush and eyeshadow. Which leads me to the significance of the makeup in the movie altogether. Disney kept to the natural looks so that they could keep the target audience innocent. The lack of makeup shows that Disney knows primarily what age group is watching their movies and shows and the difference they want to make by portraying these characters in such a manner. One could argue that Disney is trying to boost the confidence of young women by showing them they don't need to wear makeup to be beautiful and liked by others. Ultimately the lesson behind the movie is to be honest but the underlying lesson was that you should be yourself no matter what.
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ReplyDeleteIn the today's film making we are seeing a lot of remakes of comic book heroes and action films. Especially, with the marvel/DC era. We have movies like Avengers, X-men, Captain America, and Suicide Squad etc. Which feeds off people wanting to be someone other than themselves. People love action movies and get a thrill out of violence. Also, we have a lot movies geared to little children to bring the whole family out like "Storks" and "The secret life of pets". Movies like these aren't just gear to an older crowd, but bring the whole family out for a night of fun. We really have movies that cater to everyone's interests. Now with the Black vs. white (Black Live matters) we are starting to see more movies and TV shows involving slavery. Films today are more graphic and have deep dialogue then what they had before. They hit on topics about sexuality, race, drugs, politics and much more. It almost seems like they are pushing the limit to see what people will and will not watch. An doesn't seem like there is little to what people will go see.
I think some contemporary movies portray historical events. These movies are like history lessons to the audience since they show something we were not able to witness or take part in. Consider war movies such as The Tuskegee Airmen and Memphis Belle. Though not one hundred percent accurate, both depict actual events of historical wars. They are examples of how movies can teach the newer generations about what their distant relatives did for their country. Another type of informative movies describes the cultures and societies around the world. City of God is a prime example. These movies show the hardships that people in other countries face in their day-to-day lives.
ReplyDeleteAgain, these are just two simple examples of how movies can be learning tools for a mass audience. Of course, the opposite can and often does happen as well. I am referring to the so-called ‘informative’ movies that present skewed information. When people accept the presented information as absolute truth, they form baseless opinions.
Within the last essay, I used a book called "102 Minutes" as an outside resource to back up the symbolic findings in the movie trailer, "United 93." So I based this block post on one of my favorite quotes used in the book, "102 Minutes"; "Their fate was sealed nearly four decades earlier, when the stairways were clustered in the core of the building and the fire stairs were eliminated as a wasteful use of valuable space” (Dwyer & Flynn 4062). This quote is one of my favorites, because Dwyer & Flynn make an effort to be “nice-nasty”. First reading this quote, you can identify that it is filled with elevated diction, and because of this elevated diction one can find themselves looking over the attitude and opinion that is included within this quotation. Dwyer and Flynn portrayed their frustration towards the situation very properly because the arrangement and coordination of words acts as a disguise to the fact that Dwyer and Flynn are blaming the constructors of the buildings. This quotation causes a cynical tone towards the rest of the section. It causes the constructors and builders of the towers to seem as uncaring human beings. The significance to this quotation is to be able to recognize and identify the fact that the way you organize and assort certain words, can cause a different meaning to be created.
ReplyDeleteMovies are arguably America's biggest pastime, behind baseball. We are the top consumer of cinema in the world, and Hollywood is constantly churning out new films to feed our appetites. I'll try to catch a couple a month in theaters and watch countless trailers online, so I would consider myself fairly knowledgeable on whats being made today. I have definitely noticed a couple different trends emerging in recent decades/years that have a lot to say about the world we live in today. The first trend is the recent influx of movies based upon comic book superheroes and existing novels/series. Of note are the powerhouse Marvel/DC Cinematic Universes and the Harry Potter and Twilight movies. Both Marvel and DC are still cranking out two to three movies a year based upon their comic book properties, such as the most recent Captain America this spring and Suicide Squad a couple months ago. Harry Potter and Twilight's movie series have already run their course, but they were among the most-wildly successful book-based-films in history and have opened the floodgates for a whole new era of book adaptations up to this day. The one thing all these movies have in common: they are usually somewhere in the top ten highest-grossing movies of the year in which they premier. So why do Americans (and most other countries) flock to these kinds of movies and leave other movies (with original screenplays) with the monetary scraps? There are multiple reasons, but one of the bigger ones would have to be because these ARE all series. We need to find out what happens in the next "chapter" of the movie (much like chapters in a book), whether or not we have already read the actual book/comic book. Another reason would have to be nostalgia. Harry Potter and the Twilight series are fairly new creations, but comic books have been around since the mid 1900s. The men and women who grew up with the comics will be just as curious to see their favorite superhero on the big screen as a child will. All this being said,its safe to assume that these franchises are trying (and succeeding) in bringing in a wide audience. Its hard to determine how much longer this trend will be able to last, but if this year's current top box office titles are any indication, the book adaptation movie format will still go strong for years to come.
ReplyDeleteContemporary American Cinema is lacking these days. The new movies coming out don't feel like new movies. Theres a formula that has been used and abused by film makers, and it's lost its luster. Lately Superheroes, remakes, sequels and violence have been big hits at the box office. This year, "Finding Dory" has grossed the most. I saw it. I enjoyed it, but it wasn't worth my twelve dollars. I definitely won't be buying a copy any time soon either. Compare that to its predecessor, "Finding Nemo." That movie holds the title of most dvd units sold at over 40 million. Now, that may not be a reliable way to compare the movies because of the rise of streaming and the resurgence of rental, but if you've seen the two movies you know "finding Dory" is missing something. There's one magic component to the original that makes it better, originality. "Finding Nemo" didn't need another movie to be good. The plot was fresh and something different. This is also evident in whats currently ruling the box office, "Girl on the Train." It is exciting, fresh, and it doesn't need action packed in every single second. It's interesting by its self, and doesn't need an explanation. If Hollywood doesn't pick up on this soon, they're doomed.
ReplyDeleteI’ve noticed that in today’s cinema, movies, such as classical children’s film and comic heroes are very popular. However, I think America cinema is leaning towards comic book heroes. Over the past years (2014-2016), there was about fourteen films created base on comic book heroes. Some were just sequels, and other were remakes. One psychological reason that superheroes’ film is popular right now is that it promotes the idea of peace and freedom. These films are perfect for those who want to escape the real world for a few hours, and feel as though they are part of another world. I guess it’s soothing to them. Another reason for the rise in superheroes film is that the studios now have the technologies to generate these imageries. If you compared Spider-Man or X-Men a couple years ago to the current movies, you can tell how advanced the technology used for special effects had increase. These technology advances mean more films that required special effects. It seems as though remakes of film are created to be better than the first. It’s like filmmakers are competing to see who makes the better version of that film. Well, at least I think it’s like that. Another film genre that falls behind superheroes would be classical children’s film. Movies such as Cinderella, Goosebumps, Finding Dory, The BFG, Alice Through the Looking Glass, etc. are being recreated, but with a twist. It is nice that there are more films from our childhood coming out, but its unnecessary. Especially if they producers are twisting it up, and creating something different.
ReplyDeleteThe film industry has changed dramatically. From cartoons being blockbusters to Slave chain movies it has changed and in some ways managed to stay the same. As of late I cannot ignore that there has been a steady stream of African American Slave movies. Although in previous time there were of course movies made in this nature but not as much as today. I researched the Birth of a Nation and the first thing that I see headlining the title is that it struggled during the opening weekend. Well when I see this I thought about what could have contributed to it being a slow weekend for this film. Compared to 12 years a slave why didn’t this one take off like it counterparts. Well could it be that Americans are over the slave movies or could it be that the rape allegations that Nate Parker once had to endure shadowed his accomplishments? Then I think to the futuristic movies that are becoming a phenomenon. Movies like the X men and Avatar that seemingly always kills it during opening weekend at the box office. Americans have become infatuated with Fantasies that would never occur in real life but such great entertainment. Although we got a taste of this with Back to the Future but now these films are heavily populating the industry. Then I look at Sausage Party! An Adult cartoon film that showcases sexual references and attracted a whopping 34 million in its opening box office. This just highlights some of the drastic changes that the movie industry is going through.
ReplyDeleteInterest in movies has been growing with our generations, and some seem to think that movies have also grown to be more controversial as well. There are movies like 50 Shades of Grey, where it has an unhealthy relationship using BDSM, or Ridiculous 6, where it was reported that Native Americans walked off the set because the script was found to be disrespectful and offensive. Another example would be Mad Max: Fury Road, as some viewers thought they were being tricked into seeing “feminist propaganda” in a “man’s action” film. The controversy not only comes from films being released with controversial, but also by those who view it. Those who view films may not like something about it and create theories that the movie is suppose to represent something it doesn’t. One movie critic said that Pixar’s movie Inside Out was fat shaming, and used the character Sadness to do so, by having her be next to the “desirable and thin” character Joy. (The critic didn’t even watch the movie she based it off of the trailer) I think why so many people are finding movie to be controversial now is because our country is in a very controversial state. We are growing and moving past many traditional ways held in the past, but at the same time haven’t found the happy medium that makes people okay with the changes in our society. Hollywood is in a creative funk, and movies have become so much less popular then what they used to be, and I feel like it’s losing its hold on the younger generations, not just because they are very controversial, but also because they aren’t anything new. It’s either all sequels or remakes. I used to love going to the movies, but I don’t know the last time I was excited for one to be released.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great observation! I totally agree that movies have become much less popular than they use to be. And yes, they have become much more controversial as well. There are some that I find to be personally offensive, like for instance, I walked out of the Mad Max: Fury Road because the "torture" scenes were too much for me. I just assumed that it would get worse and so I gave up on seeing a potentially good movie. And the same goes for rape scenes and bondage stuff, I would never go to see 50 Shades of Grey.
DeleteBut I've also noticed that a lot of movies are based on novels nowadays. The great thing about that is that if I like the book, then at least I'll feel better about seeing the movie. LOL!
Disneyland Disneyland Disneyland (shout out to that paper in class lol)
ReplyDeleteI’m not feeling inspired at all. I don’t have any special thoughts/feelings about movies or TV right now. God help me find a topic for essay 2. Since the advent of film we’ve been trying different things with a camera, some work better than others like pornography. Things that worked revenue wise in 2015 were "Jurassic Park 4, Hunger Games 4, Mission: Impossible 5, Star Wars 7, Fast and Furious 7 and James Bond 24". Yeah, hella sequels. This year has brought superhero movie after superhero movie. Year 2017 will bring sequels from last year and so forth. Actors and genres boom and bust, but one steady trend in cinema is the dominance of The Walt Disney Company. From theme parks to sports (ESPN) to the Avengers and Star Wars in theaters, Disney has a hand in everything pop culture. The 2016 domestic box office currently has Disney at the top 4 spots (Captain America 3, Zootopia, Finding Dory, The Jungle Book). We can thank Walt Disney the immortalized cultural icon for what started out as Mikey Mouse to become a vast portion of our modern media. I've witnessed the flourishing of Disney's brand in my lifetime from "The Lion King" to "Toy Story", the first full length computer generated film, through to the acquisition of Marvel Entertainment and Lucasfilm. A big part of the film industry's past, present and whatever the future, Disney will certainly hold a majority stake.
In response to our book, Signs of Life in the USA, on Pg. 323, I wholeheartedly disagree with the following:
ReplyDelete"Consider how, if you decide to save a few bucks, not watch the latest hit, and wait for the DVD release or watch it online, you can lose face and be seriously on the social outs. No, nothing is frivolous about the movies."
I do agree that the movies are not frivolous. With the high price of movie tickets and having a family of my own, a trip to the movie theater is an expensive venture. I don’t care if you deem me a social misfit; saving money is much more important to me than what someone, who is not going to pay for my movie ticket, thinks of me. I’ll lose face one hundred more times than waste my money on a movie that I may not like. I had to seriously roll my eyes when I read those statements.
Going to the movies are special occasions for me. If I go on a date, sitting on the couch at home watching Netflix will not cut it. If I want to see the latest Star Wars movie with the latest and greatest special effects, then viewing it at the theater is worth it. Taking my daughter to see “My Little Pony,” although torturous for me, is a great source of joy for her as the whole audience of kids burst out with laughter and applause at the really good parts. It’s occasion such as these where I’ll end up at the movies.
Sadly, I even have friends of mine who refuse to set foot into a movie theater due to the fear of getting shot. It’s a whole new world where homegrown terrorist attacks can happen at any time and any place.