Is it just me or movies are not that interesting anymore?

[localyokel]

I think it's age related. I'm 46 and over the last few years in particular, I find myself giving up on movies much more easily. They say there are only... what 10-12 different storylines and everything is a variation on these. If so, I've seen these varations thousands of times and it is getting tougher for me to be impressed. I fell asleep in Hobbit 2. Twice. I cannot make it through that one as muc as I want to. Same with Harry Potter

 

[Tim Walker]

There's never been a time in my life where I didn't have a hard time picking out a movie to watch. Most movies range from mediocre to total trash. Good movies are always harder to find. But my tastes really have changed all that much since I was a teenager/early 20's (I'll be 47 in a few months). If your tastes have changed then it makes it harder to choose because the movie industry is leaving you behind.

Or are you leaving the movie industry behind? Unfortunately, yes, most movies are in the mediocre to trash range.

 

[ManOnTheWave]

Kids these days. Amiright?

Your time honored expression of ennui sums it up nicely.

/Thread

 

[RoJoHen]

The only thing that's changed for me is that I don't really get upset if movies pass me by. There are plenty of movies and TV shows that I want to see, but I don't really put the effort into seeing them. If I don't see a movie within a week or two of its release, I probably never will, even if it was something I was really looking forward to.

I also don't like watching movies at home unless I'm really in the mood. I'd rather watch 20-45 minutes of a TV show than commit a full 2 hours of my day to watching a movie. There are better, more active ways I can spend my time.

 

[Agent Richard07]

We have so much choice that our focus gets scattered and we can't make a decision. And movies are so easy to get with Netflix and other on-demand services that movie-watching isn't a special occasion anymore, so there's no excitement or urgency. That's part of it.

 

[Amaris]

People speak in meme-talk in movies

I gave up on movies other than doggedly watching sci fi ones years ago. I vastly prefer television which is MUCH more intelligent than it used to be. I like story arcs over months, not the cramming of the whole saga into two hours. It's just not my preferred story telling vehicle. My expectations have dropped and I kind of enjoy the odd movie more now because of that.

But I don't know if they are less interesting. I haven't seen enough movies in the last ten years to really say. I just know there is some great tv now and that's where I spend my entertainment time.

The nice thing about a TV series is that you can get more in-depth than a movie, but I believe that there's a lot you can put into a movie, without crowding, if you don't underestimate your audience. I think a lot of directors are low balling the audience, and it's frustrating.

As for the meme talk, I can't stand it. Anytime I watch a modern action movie, I feel like the actors are just short of breaking out the hand puppets in order to explain the plot.

Speaking only for myself, I think you have a point. I see maybe one new movie a year, if that. The rest of the time, the movies I see are on DVD, and usually, ones that I enjoyed when I was younger.

Yep. Of course, I don't go to the movies very often because they're absurdly expensive. Still, when I do, I want to get the value for my money. I figure reality movies are coming. The biggest box office blockbuster of the year will be about a couple of rednecks who are given shotguns and beer, and air dropped into a gated community. The budget will be $600, and it will rake in a billion dollars.

We have so much choice that our focus gets scattered and we can't make a decision. And movies are so easy to get with Netflix and other on-demand services that movie-watching isn't a special occasion anymore, so there's no excitement or urgency. That's part of it.

I was thinking this last night. I remember, as a kid, when we wanted to see a movie, we'd get together with family, go to the local supermarket and rent a VCR and get a VHS tape. Then we'd take it to my aunt's house, where she would order pizza, and then we would watch it on her 19" TV. That was movie night. I have very fond memories of that. It was special.

 

[J.T.B.]

It's not just people getting older and grouchier (though I'm not above it admitting it for myself), the movie business has changed. David Denby wrote a whole book about it (Do the Movies Have a Future?, 2012). If you look at the top-grossing movies in the '70s and even '80s, you see a broader variety of styles, genres and target audiences than today. Movies aimed at adults are pretty rare these days. Good ones even rarer; if I see four new movies I really like in a year, it's a pretty good year.

For a viewing experience that rewards paying attention, thinking about what you're seeing and some thoughtful discussion afterward, TV is where it's at right now.

Just looking at some IMDb numbers for top US grossing:

1973:
The Sting
American Graffiti
Papillon
The Exorcist
Live and Let Die
Jesus Christ Superstar
Lost Horizon
The Day of the Dolphin
Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

1983:
Return of the Jedi
Terms of Endearment
Flashdance
Trading Places
WarGames
Octopussy
Sudden Impact
Mr. Mom
Staying Alive
Risky Business

2013:
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Iron Man 3
Frozen
Despicable Me 2
Man of Steel
Gravity
Monsters University
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Fast & Furious 6
Oz The Great and Powerful

 

[Velocity]

Going to the movies is very different from when I was a kid (100 yrs ago). The movie house had deep pile red carpeting and red velvet ropes with brass fittings. There were ushers with uniforms and flashlights. Going to see a movie was an occasion. It is more relaxing to see movies at home now. No one sitting behind you spoiling the best parts, etc. Pause the movie to visit the necessary room. Movies have changed, too. Some things are better (special effects) and some are worse (movies built around SNL actors and old tv series). There are more SF & F movies now than back then, which I like. Not that my mother would have let me go to them when I was kid anyway.

 

[Joel_Kirk]

For me, it's a lack of anything new. (A major reason I want to make my own films someday).

The last movie I saw in the theaters was "Captain America: Winter Soldier" (awesome)....before that, it was "Pacific Rim" (ugh, I wanted my money back)...and before that, "Star Trek Into Darkness" (uhhhh, no)...and I think "Skyfall" was after the Trek film...(amazing film).

I find myself looking at 'classic' films from years prior that I've missed. Or catching movies that were in theaters on DVD rentals.

Even my DVD or blu-ray collection is starting off slowly because I'm nitpicky on what films I want to put into the collection and pay money on. I feel I have to return to the film several times; the film has to resonate with me.

 

[RJDiogenes]

These days I spend more time watching movies from the 30s-50s. Even the bad ones have a panache and artistry that contemporary movies, for the most part, lack. Spectacle is indeed a good term to describe the current state of the industry. Or bread and circuses.

Just looking at some IMDb numbers for top US grossing:

Yeah, that really sums up how the market has changed.

 

[shivkala]

There's never been a time in my life where I didn't have a hard time picking out a movie to watch. Most movies range from mediocre to total trash. Good movies are always harder to find. But my tastes really have changed all that much since I was a teenager/early 20's (I'll be 47 in a few months). If your tastes have changed then it makes it harder to choose because the movie industry is leaving you behind.

I get that. Every year there are a handful of sci-fi/superhero movies I get excited about. Overall, though, I tend to be very picky about choosing a movie.

It was a point of contention with my ex-wife. With limited money and kids, "date night" was always difficult and often, the idea of seeing a movie would come up. She's the type that wasn't picky, versus me, who hates spending money and time going to see a movie I'm anything less than thrilled to see.

Of course, while there were exceptions, the times I gave in to going to a movie she chose, that I wasn't thrilled about, I (and sometimes her, too) was disappointed.

In case anyone is thinking of choosing her side, I present the following movies as examples of movies she chose that I suffered through: Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, The Tourist, and Duplicity.

Duplicity was actually a movie we saw while at her mother's for the week. Her mother would watch the kids so we could go out a few nights in a row. I picked one night, and she reluctantly agreed to see I Love You, Man (with something like me never picking the movie ever again if she didn't like it or something ridiculous on the line). After it was over, she admitted she enjoyed the movie and that I had chosen well. She then picked Duplicity and we both emerged from the theater deeply disappointed.

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/

 

[Gov Kodos]

Movie making has been going on for over a century with film makers from around the globe. There's far too many to choose from as far as I'm concerned. Leave the movieplex where Hollywood et al show their thing and find some small cinemas which have broader horizons.

 

[MacLeod]

The cinema is also very expensive these days, by the time I've paid for a ticket, cost of travelling, a snack and drink (even if I bring it in from outside) I can almost buy a BR disc of the movie.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ Exactly.

If I care enough about any movie, I'll generally wait until it comes out on iTunes. It takes a LOT to get me into theaters these days. I think the last movie I saw in a theater was 42.

 

[Trekker4747]

Last night, I spent quite some time with my boyfriend trying to find some movie to watch (we ended up with this Lithuanian production - pretty good). I have noticed that, nowadays, it seems to take me ages to choose a film. And, also, I do not enjoy most of the films I watch - maybe only 30% of them. The other 70% seems really dull.

However, I remember that a few years ago (OK, maybe a bit more ), there were tons of films I enjoyed. I was less picky, but still, I liked most of the films I would end up watching.

Is it only me? Am I just getting older and harder to please or has the film industry reached a point where there is nothing original and/or interesting being produced?

I dunno, usually I can find something in theaters I want to see, either right away enough to pay theater prices for it or to see it when released on home video.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

So, I'm assuming everyone who says there are no interesting, non-big budget, non-formulaic movies anymore has seen Boyhood, The Hundred-Foot Journey, Get On Up, and A Most Wanted Man for four examples currently out in theaters off the top of my head? Not that I'd call Guardians of the Galaxy the least bit formulaic or uninteresting just because it's a big budget action-adventure scifi movie, but if that turns you off there are certainly alternatives if you can venture a little further afield than the multiplex.

 

[Kelthaz]

So, I'm assuming everyone who says there are no interesting, non-big budget, non-formulaic movies anymore has seen Boyhood, The Hundred-Foot Journey, Get On Up, and A Most Wanted Man for four examples currently out in theaters off the top of my head? Not that I'd call Guardians of the Galaxy the least bit formulaic or uninteresting just because it's a big budget action-adventure scifi movie, but if that turns you off there are certainly alternatives if you can venture a little further afield than the multiplex.

Oh, agreed, if you can't find good movies these days you're simply not looking or you're blinded by nostalgia. I was only venting about the big budget films in my post. I've seen too many big budget "event" movies recently out of an obligation to not fall out of the loop that I'm burnt out.

 

[Amaris]

I live in a small town. We have one movie theater, in the next town over, but it only shows the big movies that have very wide theatrical releases. Outside of that, it's 20 miles to the nearest theater. None of those movies LoB listed are playing anywhere around here, which sucks.

 

[BillJ]

I vastly prefer television which is MUCH more intelligent than it used to be.

This is true. I often get the feeling of watching a mini-film when watching certain TV shows (e.g. House of Cards or True Detective). I also prefer TV over films these days.

I've actually been headed in the opposite direction, preferring film to TV.

 

[Sparkle Fabulosa]

I thought I was the only one who thought this. In the last couple years, I hardly ever get excited about new movies. Same goes for tv. There used to be some great shows out there now almost everything seems boring. Maybe because Hollywood is recycling ideas instead of being creative?