Yeah from the spectator’s point it’s clear that having e.g. 10 films made where you have the chance to really love 1 of them, is better than if just 1 film is made so that everyone between 12 and 40 years old worldwide kinda likes it, and that’s what MCU is.
I’ve seen like 15 MCU movies and I’ve neither hated nor loved any of them. They are easy to watch and entertaining, and I don’t blame anyone for watching them (it took me 2 months to watch these MCU films while I’ve owned the Tarkovsky full set of 8 films for 10 years and still not watched half of those lol). But it’s clear that unless you’re a fan, the way the ecosystem is centered around them is bad, regardless of the type of films you enjoy.
If the MCU movies magically disappeared, would you suddenly start watching more Tarkovsky? I just don’t get how this is supposed to work. Also, it seems like we’ve had a good run of small-mid-tier movies recently despite Marvel and Star Wars cranking out superhero films?
This is also not true. The actual thing that has happened is that these kind of stories have moved to streaming services. Maybe as a movie or miniseries, but Netflix and Amazon are the kings now, not WB and 20th century fox. There is more content then ever. Your favorite content creator is just getting paid by someone else.
Shonda Rhimes and Jordan Peele both signed gigantic deals, that stops those stories from traditional avenues, not a dude with a cape.
Not my point. I was simply saying than between a yearly production of
10 big mcu movies
And
5 big budget movies with various topics
20 mid budget movies
For most people the second option will be better.
And of course some mid budgets are still being made but it’s a matter of degree.I haven’t seen any numbers so I might be wrong but I’ve read several interviews of filmmakers (e.g. James Gray) explicitely stating how much more difficult it is to make their movies compared to 20 years ago. Ao’s point about netflix etc might be another factor but it’s quite plausible that the Disney monopole has bad effects.
OTOH newb and indie filmmakers have more accessible production resources and distribution channels than ever. And speaking as one of those impoverished content creators who prefers lower-to-mid-budget and indie stuff to a fault, the library these days is CRAZY. So many fantastic movies being made to the point that I kind of roll my eyes now whenever someone plays the “Superhero movies are destroying cinema” track from Boomers Go to the Movies. It’s a pretty good Greatest Hits album, but after a while all the tracks start to sound the same, and I start to wonder why they never released a new album exploring what they had to say on the topic beyond those one-hit wonders.
Ok that’s true lol. I remember a point where every week there was a headline “[famous filmmaker] : Marvel movies are [cinema/not cinema]” and that was already a couple years ago.
Anyway personally what I’ve learned from the past year is that even if no new film was being made it would take me decades before I run out of good ones to watch so I guess it doesn’t matter that much at our individual level.
I don’t really disagree, but also I don’t think it’s the case that Marvel is somehow crowding out smaller productions. There’s just a smaller demand for movies like Jojo Rabbit than for Ragnarok. If everyone wanted to see more Jojo, Hollywood would be cranking those out. If Marvel disappeared overnight, we wouldn’t suddenly get more movies like The Lighthouse, we’d get more Fast N Furious sequels or whatever.
This makes me think of something : given that the next mad max will be a prequel, will it take place before the fall of civilization like the 1st movie ? I really hope not
lol so yeah had to watch Jojo Rabbit today. Weiiiiiiiiird movie. And not even talking about the controversial theme so to speak, just all over the place and man that 2nd act is a bit over long but the 3rd act is 20 minutes over long and that’s in a 1:53 or something movie! Yikes.
I mean how fucked is that kid? Just has his friend/prepubescent girlfriend to get him to adulthood? How does a “comedy” just kill off that kid’s mom like that and irrecoverably fuck him over? I mean I get it “horrors of war” stuff right but again this movie just does not work unless you think of it as a comedy which is pretty much all our kiwi friend really does. Really strange stuff. Hope Waititi doesn’t go off the rails.
I watched The Highwaymen today on Netflix, movie about two former texas rangers that setup the ambush of Bonnie/Clyde. The acting is the the best part of the movie, Woody Harrelson/Kevin Costner.
Not really much action and they took a liberty with the ending that I wasn’t a fan of, its fine.
One reason studios are focused more on big budget higher margin movies that are reasonably safe investments is the absence of the DVD market. I think it was Matt Damon on a random podcast I was listening to say that the ~$50m movie is rarely made these days largely for that reason and other shifts in technology. He had to fund a large chunk of Manchester by the Sea himself
Saw it a couple of days ago. It‘s slow paced for a movie of that type but as you said it‘s fine. If you want something with a bit more action I can recommend Public Enemy and Lawless
One surprising thing (for me) I learned from this movie is how close in age harrelson and costner are (i somehow thought costner was much older, maybe because his peak was so long ago).
Interesting point. But it is surprising that this has not just been compensated by vod or selling to streaming platforms. I guess they made huge margins on dvds ?
I thought harrelson was older than he is, I actually checked during the movie because i was curious.
The liberty was in the last scene, they get out in front of the car and wait for Bonnie/Clyde to go for their guns before firing. Everything I’ve read and seen, and I went and checked again after the movie, is that they basically just opened fire before Bonnie/Clyde knew anything, it was straight up murder.
Which is whatever, but fairly similar to how they did Dillinger as well.
