Am i getting older or have film writers stopped writing stories?

[Cookie Monster]

Hi,

Not sure if this is just me, but what has happened to the stories in films. Watched 'Clash of the Titans' a couple of weeks ago and the story was just so patchy. Unbelievable source info to pull from told B movie was great. As a kid i would watch Indiana Jones, Ghostbusters, Krull etc. all with great stories. LOTR was great though.

In fact i recently played 'Batman Arkham Asylum' and the story in that is a 100 times better than any film i have seen in the last 12 months. Ok, The Dark Night excluded.

Is it to much to ask for a film that still has great action but still appreciates that there are people out there with a little intelligence!

 

[grdunn123]

They don't make 'em like they used to! I know what you mean...often end up going to the flix to see the latest blockbuster and when you strip away the special fx there's very little substance to the storyline.I don't hear people describe movies as 'thrillers' or 'whodunnits' any more...

 

[Ravey Gravey Davy]

Go and see Inception.

 

[Anonymous]

Also think that sometimes movies are far too long and if you cut about an hour or so out them they might be ok instead of boring you to tears.

 

[chebby]

davecraig:Also think that sometimes movies are far too long and if you cut about an hour or so out them they might be ok instead of boring you to tears.

Yes, but then they'd just go and shove it all back in for the 'directors cut' or somesuch.

 

[AL13N]

Film writers, playwrights, novelists, song writers, they're all still writing stories. You just have to know where to look. Sometimes a story is right in front of you. Other times you have to dig deeper.

For example, Hip-Hop is a genre I both despise and love. I'll leave the despise bit to your imagination, but for love look at this youtube vid as an example. Listen to the lyrics/story.

Raw. Unflinching. What Hip-Hop should be about. Addressing issues - not creating them.

If your feeling a little jaded with the output from Hollywood, try your hand at World Cinema. After a trip around the globe (and don't forget to stop off at British Cinema) you can return to the 'West Coast' with fresh perspective.

 

[Anonymous]

chebby:

Yes, but then they'd just go and shove it all back in for the 'directors cut' or somesuch.

Very true!

 

[Anonymous]

You must be quite young not to have noticed it sooner.

Almost everything from Hollywood is trash these days (IMHO). There is an over-reliance on special effects to sell a movie.

World cinema is the place to look for great stories, I find if you don't mind the subtitles. Some British films are great too. German films are surprisingly good, and I've seen some amazing Iraqi (pre-war) films.

The Dekalog series is probably the most profoundly touching films I have ever seen. If you can't stand 10 hours of foreign films, then at least take a look at A short film about Killing (18) and A short film about Love (15).

Those eastern Europeans really know about great cinematography and great strories.

 

[Pindi]

Ravey Gravey Davy:
Go and see Inception.

Yes, a wonderful film.

 

[plastic penguin]

Cookie Monster:

Hi,

Not sure if this is just me, but what has happened to the stories in films. Watched 'Clash of the Titans' a couple of weeks ago and the story was just so patchy. Unbelievable source info to pull from told B movie was great. As a kid i would watch Indiana Jones, Ghostbusters, Krull etc. all with great stories. LOTR was great though.

In fact i recently played 'Batman Arkham Asylum' and the story in that is a 100 times better than any film i have seen in the last 12 months. Ok, The Dark Night excluded.

Is it to much to ask for a film that still has great action but still appreciates that there are people out there with a little intelligence!

That's the Hollywood influence - I'd rather see a film with good plots and strong characters than secreting"in ya face" action. There are some that do action and stories well, while others are almost comic book action. They need to strike a balance...

 

[carter]

for me its all about a mixture of films .i dont always need to finish watching a movie and feel smarter smtimes i just want a light comedy or an all action shoot um up(alot depends on how my weeks gone)

avatar was a movie that got alot of mixed reviews but i actuly liked it there was alot worse out over the year that didnt get analysed or criticised nearly as much

i even liked 2012 posably because i was expecting it to be really bad and kinda enjoyed it.

and on the other hand i thought the last two batman movies were nothing special(infact ive never seen a good batman movie)but people loved them and all reviews i saw were posative.

as far as clash goes that was just a bad film i saw it week before last and didnt think it was great

 

[Anonymous]

I totally disagree, there have been a lot of films that had a story to tell and did it well

Eg. Extraordinary measures, shutter island was a good one.

These are just two I have seen this year that I thought were amazing especially extraordinary measures.

Oh and also unthinkable was another good one with samuel jackson, which me and the wife thought was quite good.

 

[carter]

canada16:

I totally disagree, there have been a lot of films that had a story to tell and did it well

Eg. Extraordinary measures, shutter island was a good one.

These are just two I have seen this year that I thought were amazing especially extraordinary measures.

Oh and also unthinkable was another good one with samuel jackson, which me and the wife thought was quite good.
yeah loved shutter island

 

[Tonestar1]

nodnarb4444:canada16:

I totally disagree, there have been a lot of films that had a story to tell and did it well

Eg. Extraordinary measures, shutter island was a good one.

These are just two I have seen this year that I thought were amazing especially extraordinary measures.

Oh and also unthinkable was another good one with samuel jackson, which me and the wife thought was quite good.
yeah loved shutter island

Sorry but I thought shutter island was the most predictable movie I have watched in years. DiCaprio (who i rate highly) was at least ten years to young to pull the part off. I had guessed then ending 30 mins in and thought surely this isn't the twist?

Korean, Japanese, European are still purveying half decent stories. Apart from the indie scene and the very, very rare Holywood movie ( Dark Knight or pretty much anything Chris Nolan) American cinema is awful. I heard a few of the younger guys in work chatting about how good transformers was??? I mean seriously, I feel like bolting them to a seat and making them watch a proper film.

 

[Anonymous]

Tonestar1:

Sorry but I thought shutter island was the most predictable movie I have watched in years. DiCaprio (who i rate highly) was at least ten years to young to pull the part off. I had guessed then ending 30 mins in and thought surely this isn't the twist?

While I admit I did actually enjoy shutter island I agree it was predictable and I had it figured out fairly early on also. Didn't really think it was very original either and was similar to the movie Identity.