Popular films: enjoy them while they're here....

[TREK_GOD_1]

An interesting article in the Toronto Sun about popluar films and that no matter how popular or successful they might be that doesn't guarantee them status as classics: http://www.torontosun.com/2016/05/0...-great-but-it-wont-be-remembered-as-a-classic

I'm inclined to agree.

He derailed his own argument by adding Pulp Fiction to the list of films that have...

the naivety, nor the ephemeral magic, nor the cultural gravitas, nor the alchemy that turned select films of the past into icons.

I would add most James Cameron films to the list of popular films with no lasting impact--certainly the overblown, creatively challenged Titanic and T:2 are not lasting films that become part of the culture beyond its era. You might as well add Avatar to that list, as it was a shallow mess. Then, there's most Will Smith & Tom Cruise films, the collected works of Michael Bay.....

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

I'd say the first two Reeve Superman movies HAVE made it as classics, in a way that the Batman and other superhero movies could not..

I would say the first is routinely considered a classic--the model of the "epic" comic adaptation. Reeve certainly holds a status as one of the most defining, irreplaceable interpretations of a superhero character ever put before a camera.

 

[Relayer1]

I would say the first is routinely considered a classic--the model of the "epic" comic adaptation. Reeve certainly holds a status as one of the most defining, irreplaceable interpretations of a superhero character ever put before a camera.

I couldn't have put it better myself. In fact, I couldn't have put it that well...

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Box office figures don't even tell you a lot about whether anyone liked the film. They only tell you how much people liked the trailers. If there is a connection between box office gross and how much the audience liked the films, it is in how much of the first weekend gross is retained in the following weekends. So a film that made $100 million first weekend and $30 million second weekend probably pleased the audience a lot less than a film that made $20 million first weekend and $18 million second weekend.

High gross first weekend, low audience retention: Forgettable popcorn flick
Low gross first weekend, high audience retention: Cult classic
Low gross first weekend, low audience retention: Movie nobody knows ever existed
High gross first weekend, high audience retention: Mainstream classic

 

[Mr. Adventure]

I don't know, this guy lists Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind as a classic. It's a good film, yeah, but I don't think in ten years my nephew will revere it as such.

I'm going to go see Civil War soon and I won't be worrying about what future generations will think of it.

 

[JD]

I agree about Eternal Sunshine, I saw it in theaters once, and I don't remember it being that good, especially not as good as the others listed with it.
I think I would say the first Reeve Superman movie is definitely more of a classic than Eternal Sunshine.
I think it's really hard to judge today what movies will be considered classics tomorrow. There are a lot of movies that are considered classics today, that weren't very popular when they first came out.
A couple minor nerdy nitpicks. At one point he calls Civil War a fantasy, but I think it's pretty clearly Sci-fi. I know it does have a character called Scarlet Witch, but even her powers aren't really treated as magic.
He also calls Superman the caped crusader, but as far as know that term applies just to Batman.
This article strikes as just another movie snob looking down on superhero movies and all of the other big blockbusters.

 

[Commander Richard]

I believe it was mentioned upthread: what defines a classic?

Something that resonated with the masses in such a way that it had an impact on pop culture and/or is remembered fondly by enough people. Others just stick around in the public psyche because someone said they were classics and so people just think of them as such. This is often the case with much older movies. Also, sometimes people don't like certain movies and don't want to consider them classics and other times they like a movie and want to believe that it is or will be a classic.

I do agree with the article in that Civil War and Dawn of Justice most likely won't go down as classics. And I agree with the assessment here that the first two Christopher Reeve Superman movies qualify as classics as does the 1989 Batman and The Dark Knight.

 

[MacLeod]

He derailed his own argument by adding Pulp Fiction to the list of films that have...



I would add most James Cameron films to the list of popular films with no lasting impact--certainly the overblown, creatively challenged Titanic and T:2 are not lasting films that become part of the culture beyond its era. You might as well add Avatar to that list, as it was a shallow mess. Then, there's most Will Smith & Tom Cruise films, the collected works of Michael Bay.....

If I were to class one fiolm about the Titanic as a classic it might be "A Night to Remember"

But are films like The Terminator and Alien considered classics what about Blade Runner

 

[Thestral]

Sorry, but in terms of "had a lasting impact on public consciousness" you absolutely have to count T2 and especially Titanic as classics.

 

[Ovation]

Generating a list of classics is always fraught with dissatisfaction. It's akin to the "Great Canon of Western Literature". Setting aside those who believe there should be no such canon for the moment, the "canon" contains some works that are virtually unanimously supported, works that are accepted by a strong majority but not without notable opposition, works that wander on and off the list based on the opinion of the day and those falling outside, with vocal, but small support. Film "classics" fall into the same categories, roughly. So do various musical compositions, both across and within genres. Add to that generational tastes and evolving notions of acceptable ideas within each work (sexist, racist or otherwise prejudiced elements that were once accepted, then acknowledged but tolerated, then subject to rising scorn, then deemed unacceptable)--all of these factors make identifying "classics" at any given time a thorny problem, let alone trying to guess what will be viewed as a "classic" in 50-100 years or beyond.

In the meantime, "classic" or not, choose the entertainment you want and enjoy it as you wish. Life's too short to worry if it'll be remembered long after you're gone.