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Forums - General - Movie, Music and Video Game Superiority

Words Of Wisdom on 11 March 2009
antfromtashkent said:
Words Of Wisdom said:
antfromtashkent said:

Well i dissagree.. I watch A LOT of movies, I listen to A LOT of music, and i play A LOT of video games...i dont like movies w/ small budgets, terrible special effects, a story that makes no sence and bad acting for the sake that the person had an "artistic" vision... i dont like obsure bands with weird music and song lyrics that make no sence. It might make sence in the mind of the "artist", but to pretend that it makes sence to you is just ridiculous...

Is there any one else?

Did you perhaps mean it the other way around:  "I don't like directors/movie makers who make poor attempts to justify their bad movies by claiming it's their 'artistic vision.'"

Regardless, a bad movie is a bad movie.

I will give you an example.... My friend LOVES the movie Magnolia.... and tells me that its one of the best movies ever.... I do not agree with him because the movie makes no sence to me (nor to anyone else i ever talked to about it).... He told me that the writer of the movie refuses to say what the meaning of the movie is untill he dies.... SO my friend dosent even know what its about... but it is "atristic" and "original" so he thinks its amazing.... This friend went to film school, and now produces movies.... am i missing something here then?

Eh, in his opinion it might be one of the best movies ever.  It's just his opinion though.



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akuma587 on 11 March 2009

An opinion is only as good as how well you can defend it. You can think Marley and Me is the best movie ever made, but if you can't articulate why it is the greatest movie ever made, what you have said is essentially meaningless. You have to support that opinion with facts, such as the subject matter of the film, its formal qualties, the actors' performances, etc.

Not all opinions are equal. Those who can defend their opinions with arguments that are more than just, "Oh but the doggy is so cute!" have greater say when it comes to whether or not a film is good or bad. Likewise, a good argument is something you can respond to, and criticize, and counter with your own argument. That is one of the only ways to reliably gauge whether a movie is good or bad, to be able to explain why it is good or bad.

Its like someone saying they don't see any problem with society allowing people to murder each other. They are more than entitled to their opinion, but that does not mean that their opinion is correct or that they have any idea what they are talking about.



We had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half full of cocaine, a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers…Also a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of beer, a pint of raw ether and two dozen amyls.  The only thing that really worried me was the ether.  There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an ether binge. –Raoul Duke

It is hard to shed anything but crocodile tears over White House speechwriter Patrick Buchanan's tragic analysis of the Nixon debacle. "It's like Sisyphus," he said. "We rolled the rock all the way up the mountain...and it rolled right back down on us...."  Neither Sisyphus nor the commander of the Light Brigade nor Pat Buchanan had the time or any real inclination to question what they were doing...a martyr, to the bitter end, to a "flawed" cause and a narrow, atavistic concept of conservative politics that has done more damage to itself and the country in less than six years than its liberal enemies could have done in two or three decades. -Hunter S. Thompson

The Ghost of RubangB on 11 March 2009
antfromtashkent said:
Words Of Wisdom said:
antfromtashkent said:

Well i dissagree.. I watch A LOT of movies, I listen to A LOT of music, and i play A LOT of video games...i dont like movies w/ small budgets, terrible special effects, a story that makes no sence and bad acting for the sake that the person had an "artistic" vision... i dont like obsure bands with weird music and song lyrics that make no sence. It might make sence in the mind of the "artist", but to pretend that it makes sence to you is just ridiculous...

Is there any one else?

Did you perhaps mean it the other way around:  "I don't like directors/movie makers who make poor attempts to justify their bad movies by claiming it's their 'artistic vision.'"

Regardless, a bad movie is a bad movie.

I will give you an example.... My friend LOVES the movie Magnolia.... and tells me that its one of the best movies ever.... I do not agree with him because the movie makes no sence to me (nor to anyone else i ever talked to about it).... He told me that the writer of the movie refuses to say what the meaning of the movie is untill he dies.... SO my friend dosent even know what its about... but it is "atristic" and "original" so he thinks its amazing.... This friend went to film school, and now produces movies.... am i missing something here then?

Your friend is right.  I'm in my last semester of film school right now, and they program us to think this way!

That type of movie is basically its own genre, like a collection of short stories rather than one large story.  They are made in a way in which the smaller stories can just slightly interact with each other rather than have any big serious ending with closure.  Other films made in this way you may have heard of are Nashville, Short Cuts, Pulp Fiction, Four Rooms, and Sin City.  These films may be separated into smaller episodes or chapters, but they usually aren't.  Magnolia may be the best film in that genre, and is definitely my favorite.  Paul Thomas Anderson is heavily influenced by Robert Altman (who made Nashville and Short Cuts), and had incorporated a similar (but toned down) style for his previous film Boogie Nights, even though it did loosely follow one main character.  But with Magnolia he mastered and perfected it.  Beautiful cinematography, an amazing cast, great editing and pacing, and lots of Supertramp songs.  That's really all you need to make a perfect film.

Also, you don't necessarily need to understand something to love it.  There are tons of action films and video games and books with stupid convoluted plots that don't even make sense, and nobody understands, but are still enjoyed by many.  Many people feel this way about the Metal Gear Solid games, which kind of take pride in wacky plot twists and not making sense.

 



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akuma587 on 11 March 2009

I agree with everything Rubang said. I don't understand Eraserhead, but it is an amazing movie. Sometimes we aren't supposed to understand something.



We had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half full of cocaine, a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers…Also a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of beer, a pint of raw ether and two dozen amyls.  The only thing that really worried me was the ether.  There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an ether binge. –Raoul Duke

It is hard to shed anything but crocodile tears over White House speechwriter Patrick Buchanan's tragic analysis of the Nixon debacle. "It's like Sisyphus," he said. "We rolled the rock all the way up the mountain...and it rolled right back down on us...."  Neither Sisyphus nor the commander of the Light Brigade nor Pat Buchanan had the time or any real inclination to question what they were doing...a martyr, to the bitter end, to a "flawed" cause and a narrow, atavistic concept of conservative politics that has done more damage to itself and the country in less than six years than its liberal enemies could have done in two or three decades. -Hunter S. Thompson

antfromtashkent on 12 March 2009

You guys are all correct... i need to broaden my horizons... all the movies Rubang mentioned i loved (except for magnolia :P ... althought it did have the best music score i think i ever heard)

But i need to do some heavy duty searching into films... do you guys have suggestions for really good movies?



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hunter_alien on 12 March 2009

IMO budget rarely matters... the team that works on the game/movie/music is all that matters mostly. Yes, it might not have the same great FX as its 200 million counterprat but it still can be far superior in other departments...



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Chris Hu on 12 March 2009

@hunter_alien I totally agree when it comes to movies budgets rarely matters one of my favorite movies this decade is Letters from Iwo Jima and it was made for a measly $15 million dollars but it has great acting, a good story, a great soundtrack and everything else a great movie should have. Its not how much money you have but what you do with the money that determines how good a movie/game/music will be.