This jackass is what extremism looks like... |
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In any argument there exists two ends of the available spectrum. On either end of the spectrum resides two extreme points of view. With regards to films, those of the past and those contemporary, the two extremes break down into an argument of "newer is better" versus "they just don't make 'em like they used to". And, like any other argument, those who stand firmly on either end of the spectrum are idiots - not for saying one is greater than the other; that is opinion - for not considering that both sides are usually equal parts right and wrong.
It has occurred to me, as I make a conscious effort to lap through all the acclaimed films of yore and will watch nearly anything set in front of me so long as I don't have to pay for it, we the audience have become equally susceptible to both the modern day turd polished to a glistening sheen and the old 'classic' that seems held together only with nostalgia. Both could serve to be given a twice over, and all I ask is that audiences be honest with what's really there.
Consider that, as a result of pre-screenings and mass-marketing, most modern movies are generally blockbusters or flops before they ever get released. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull could've ranged from great, timeless film to cheesy pap, 
Wasn't this enough to rake in the money? |
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but rest assured it was a blockbuster long before its May 22nd release. Did Indy even need to release a trailer? Personally, I felt the trailer did more to drive - than carry - me away from the theater, with bunches and bunches of wild, crazy action sequences and nary a whisper regarding what the film might be about; even as an internet movie groupie I still haven't heard anything that would make me want to go see this movie.
On the flip-side of the coin, I present West Side Story, a film I was told was a classic. It was awarded 10 Oscars and AFI ranks it as #41 all time, and yet it ranks amongst films in which I was most pressed to finish. For starters, West Side Story was a film that was a play that is entirely crafted from Romeo and Juliet. Not based on Romeo and Juliet - it is Romeo and Juliet set in New York City. Yes, the movie is relevant with its white versus Puerto Rico (despite the fact that the producers didn't trust to put an actual Latino in the lead female role) gang war, but with only one song number worth a damn and a cast full of hideous trolls, I'd almost rather watch 700 club on Sunday.
For contemporary film, I blame the expanding palette available due to CGI, in addition to the ridiculous inflation rate of film 
Not every Marvel is going to be an Iron Man. |
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budgets. With a reported budget of $150 million, The Incredible Hulk was a huge risk, considering that its predecessor released just five years ago was not the abomination that critics and fans are now claiming it was with its own $140 million budget that it failed to recoup stateside.
The new mean green had to be a relative blockbuster to have any chance at making a profit. By all reports, The Incredible Hulk is a decent film (not unlike the brilliant Iron Man), but how can you possibly expect to consistently turn a profit gambling in such a manner? If Marvel Pictures continues to bank on huge budget films they're going to get burned; if Thor tries to hit the theaters on an equally inflated budget, it could wind up being to Marvel what Cutthroat Island was to Carolco.
With 'classics' I think that there still exists this love affair with golden age Hollywood. Somehow all the starlets seem less slutty, the leading men more square-jawed, the studio heads all doing it for love of the art as opposed to the almighty buck. With tragic deaths like Marilyn Monroe and James Dean and celebrities like John Wayne exhibiting classic foot-in-mouth disease throughout his career, I submit that people were then as now simply people.
The ability 
Yeah... I guess you had to be there. |
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to see 'classics' through rose-colored glasses is no more obvious than in flicks like Birth of Nation or what I view as blatant hypocrisy in The Jazz Singer as Al Jolson weeps for the plight of the Jew as he applies blackface. People constantly tell me to look at films in the context of their own times, but isn't the ability to be a true classic marked by my being able to accept a film of yesterday with today's sensibilities?
Ultimately people are people and film is film. I can only watch with my eyes and hear with my ears. It may have been quaint to once apply blackface and hit the silver screen. Mike Myers can go ahead and tell me that he thinks Love Guru is the best film he's ever done. In the end, I choose my senses over anyone's word or the perceptions of bygone generations (which I couldn't have even if I wanted to).
If money is the problem, consider the source: the audience. In the end, I can rail on classics or you can go off on the state of the movie biz, but we make it what it is folks; Hollywood makes more of what sells and classics are only classic in the eye of the beholder. Consider that before you buy that next movie ticket or rent that next flick, eh?
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| Thom Williams |
Thom is both a maker and lover of films. He loves, and makes, films of all kinds. He is often as surprised by what he likes as by what he creates himself; Thom entered film school with a distaste for silent, black and white, and foreign films, yet left having made one of each. He likes what he likes and make no apologies for his opinions.
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