Steven Soderbergh: State of Cinema talk

[987baz]

It's not too bad in that regard, it's just that story is shallow. It's all about running around and collecting things. Which is probably how young generations see the world, I guess.

Sounds like pokemon go!?

I haven't seen any of those.
All I know is that in the 90's I had some great shows (X-Files, DS-9, Homicide, even the First Wave was not bad to me) and now they all look like soap operas. Or maybe I'm just getting old and grumpy. :D

You should check them out, some really good stuff in there. Also The Wire is great if you like crime/cop shows

Yes, you can hope for a lot of violence and sex, but other than that I wouldn't hold my breath. :)

https://winteriscoming.net/2017/11/08/amazon-on-the-hunt-for-the-next-game-of-thrones-in-talks-to-make-lord-of-the-rings-into-tv-series-shell/

uugh...yeah that sounds about right, oh well, at least there is some good Canadian tv being made. (Travelers, KillJoys, Dark Matter etc)

The remake on BattleStar was, in general, rather excellent, same with the first couple season of Fringe... which you could see exactly which episodes their 'advisor' was involved with, as the other episodes concentrated on basic relationship/character development arcs,, whereas the 'advisor' eps pushed the dimensional curtain issues. Battlestar ended well but odd, same with one of my favs that I just watched the first anime film last night again on... Ghost in the Shell... that whole anime series made changes, but kept expanding the 'transhumanism' issues.. and had so many correct red flag hits on our current issues including a WW3 that didn't go nuclear.... rather well take on most of the 'ghost in the machine' questions... but, like most of these projects, they aren't esoterically inclined, so they just don't go any further... same with JKRowling's Harry Potter... she utilized all the standard 'magical' and folkloric storylines that are rather common in Britain it seems... a lot of 4d type abilities, but none of the other concerns... which get political and she isn't very knowledgeable about politics at all.... so no surprise when she seems to put her foot/ass in her mouth at least once a year... typical do-gooder wanting to do good, but unable to.
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I agree, BattleStar was really good sci-fi, nice effects with great character development, and the audio was really well utilized too!

I preferred the anime of Ghost in a Shell too, the hollywood remake was ok, but pretty flat in comparison.

Ron Howard is working on a live action take on the popular manga/anime series "Tiger and Bunny"... superhero types defending their city but supported by competing corporations... so American, no? :D hopefully, Howard's team does a better job than the recent live action Ghost in the Shell.... good CGI and action scenes don't create a character and doesn't give the story any meaning... but that seems to be the case for all American projects... sort of reminds me of the American version of the "La Femme Nikita", a '90 Franco-Italian Luc Besson action-thriller.... the American version was so bland.. from the actor to the characterization set in America... seems it had to be approved by the Agency to get that bland... none of the style, etc.. and it isn't the actress because I've seen her do better stuff, but she wasn't the same as the actress in the French/Italian version... empires don't do this stuff well... it all gets bland... maybe because they suffer from tunnel vision so much... perhaps too many hands on the project keeping anything 'creative' out of it.... There are other projects that get better when more money his spent and the project taken to the next level.. like the big budget version of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"... it was better IMO... thought they didn't do any more in the series like the original Swedish version did... but it seemed to be made for tv... lower budget, less dynamic characterization... but it still worked... just not as much 'umpfh!'

It will be interesting to see where Howard takes that one, he's an ok director in my book

Most American stufff seems so tame... lack of creativity... but lots of hype... which isn't usually worth it, like "Avatar"... good film, but no where near the greatness the hype presented... usually that amount of hype spells trouble... it usually means the film is bland, but sellable.... how about that 'musical' "La La Land" That wasn't a musical.... rather a drama with a few musical scenes in it by actors that weren't very musical, which only made it worse... I think I watched it till the end, as you keep thinking that surely it gets better, right? Wrong.... "Fab...Baker Boys" was way better, but it did lack of real ending... the Grease movies at least ended their stories... and you could always do another sequel if you wanted... same with Disney's High School Musical series, which I thought they would've done another by now, but haven't... they did do "Lemonade Mouth" which was rather good, but surprisingly, left no room for a sequel, not very Disneylike at all, as Hollywood wants to sequelize every project if they can because selling the next one is automatically easier and presold to previous fans of the film/show.

So, in conclusion, it's the bland businessmen showing their control of things... which started long ago... they don't have any foresight.... a bunch of accountants with a few old marketing staff added in... which is why marketing has taken over their business in past decades... most of the executives haven't got a clue what the public wants, and holding a bunch of focus groups haven't helped, so they merely copy each other.... endless repetition of the same thing... repeat.... repeat.... like Wall Street or the CIA/NSA etc... same tired policies... another sign of the times.

Yup, I couldn't agree more, but nothing will change until people stopping watching their rubbish!

 

[Persej]

Sounds like pokemon go!?

Well, it does have a lot of bizarre creatures. This is also a reason why I don't like movies from '80s, there were too much bizarre creatures in fantasy movies. The only difference is that movies from '80s were much more dark than modern CG movies, but there is this similar flavor of bizarreness.

You should check them out, some really good stuff in there. Also The Wire is great if you like crime/cop shows

Yeah, I heard that The Wire is good, will check it.

But I'll tell you what I do like about these times - Youtube! :)

Really, there are a lot of great stuff out there that people are either finding from old archives or making themselves. I never liked indie movies, but I think that YT is perfect for indie clips or mini documentaries. A lot of people are really talented for that.

 

[987baz]

Sounds like pokemon go!?

Well, it does have a lot of bizarre creatures. This is also a reason why I don't like movies from '80s, there were too much bizarre creatures in fantasy movies. The only difference is that movies from '80s were much more dark than modern CG movies, but there is this similar flavor of bizarreness.

You should check them out, some really good stuff in there. Also The Wire is great if you like crime/cop shows

Yeah, I heard that The Wire is good, will check it.

But I'll tell you what I do like about these times - Youtube! :)

Really, there are a lot of great stuff out there that people are either finding from old archives or making themselves. I never liked indie movies, but I think that YT is perfect for indie clips or mini documentaries. A lot of people are really talented for that.

If you like indie short films and sci-fi, check out Dust on FB https://www.facebook.com/watchdust/ some very cool indie films there :) the other series I forgot to mention is Black Mirror (3 seasons) some really thought provoking stuff as well as the British series called Utopia

 

[Persej]

Some more wise words about state of cinema from Anthony Mackie:

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[gdpetti]

Yeah, but the problems with American superhereos is that they support the American Empire.... Captain America,. all of them do, even Suicide Squad.... they can go 'dark', but will always return to supporting the troops of the Empire... Because these superheroes are superstupid or they wouldn't be working for the Empire. James Bond is an older variant of the same propaganda through entertainment, and most likely religion used to fill this role long ago. The dope called hope that climaxed during the Obama regime... and after going off the cliff, has fallen into the 'black' hope-a-dope of Trumpy, the latest front man for the Empire.

This pattern of supporting stupidity is found in our education, science etc... so of course it's found in our entertainment... all dopey hope all the time.... I saw on video that Superwoman movie I heard some praise... It's Ok, but at the end, she's called a 'god'? and of course, supporting the Empire. ;) None of it makes any sense, as they've gone off the cliff of sanity into script writing that is all full of BS and late stage propaganda driven 'support the troops' BS... But it's still working, so they keep getting the green light, and will until they don't. Thoseprojects that don't work, or less so, won't get the green light anymore... all those that require thinking in any way, shape or form which was the biggest problem with Ghost in the Shell... change of concept isn't a problem, but bad execution of it is... and when you also suck the metaphysical soul out of it, what remains is lifeless action crap... but that's what America sells best.

This guy is right about people not wanting to waste the money, or especially their time, in going to a theatre when the product will be available for home viewing soon enough, so why bother? Less and less adults 'go out' like they use to, but that is natural, especially those with families. So, the market continues to trend younger.... and dumber... even the pleasant Disney little girl princess fantasy stuff is nothing more than a sequel with a new name and location.... same theatre based songs in musical theatre based production/ format/etc.... occasionally one of the songs (Frozen) will be better than average and get attention, but they don't get on the hit parade... top 10... as they aren't stand alone songs, but story driven etc.... and they won't change it because it still works... same in politics, same everywhere... same on WallStreet.

It's just way too much of the same thing.... but there's always a new batch of kids, so the previous product just gets a new updated wrapper... and isn't that how civilizations decline? Civilizations rise and fall on the back of their cultures... the catalyst alongside the drive for empire.. which feeds this superhero stuff.... same back in the day with all the 'cowboy and indian' kidplay, westerns etc... they run their course and then fade away for the next stage of the show... the next lie told to keep the BS show of empire going. Superhero stuff are total hopey dopey stuff... end times BS... not the little fantasy stuff from many decades back... they are the last gasps of air we have left in our decaying form... can't you just hear those words whispered out? "Rosebud...." ;)

So, this actor gets stuck in this rut.... same with the scientists, politicians, cops and soldiers, teachers and students.... off the cliff waiting to hit reality.... meanwhile, the Chinese look to take over seemingly without realizing the larger game in play with Mother Nature....from the C's:~(you) 'they will do what they will do' applies here, no? This actor is just stating the nature of the industry, same in every facet of the empire's falling civilization.... and I don't see anyone looking to step into the shoes with a new cultural paradigm... just the Chinese/Bizmarkian 'doing business' model of empire building. As this actor said, the market feeds its costumers, the 'kids' (some never grow up) and the Chinese market.... as it starts to suck up all the emerging business concerns or at least as a regional hub of this sucking... reminds me of the black hole problem.... out with the old, in with the new.

I can sort of understand the problem in Hollywood, as most of them get so out of touch after a few years.. so they repeat their earlier stuff and copy everything else... while their corporate bosses keep holding focus groups to find out what the public thinks... but their analysis is fixed, because their questions are determined in advance, so they only find what they are looking for... how to 'fix' their existing product lines... not how to find new ones. It's all spiralling downward ... even China is facing the issues of outsourcing these days as Japan and Korea already have for years... as all of their populations continue to age.... so any culture won't come out of the 'East'... most likely the 'South'... LAmerica/Africa... but Mother Nature looks set to prevent that... and how many pay attention to her? Isn't this why the Empire sells this Hollywood hopey dope to begin with? to go along with all of the rest of the dumbed down food, medicine, politics, business, religion... etc. Hollywood is just reflecting the rest of society in its decay and decline... and dope alway sells to sick people... rich or poor.