Terminator Is Out There

[woops]

like a less filthy and catholic Last Tango in Paris

 

[luka]

and that's 'cos it's about a macho misanthrope, not a rebel without a cause or an action hero or a psycho but an (apparently) intelligent man who repeatedly rejects polite society. there must be a name for this kind of flick

we used to be Hollywood heroes

 

[IdleRich]

no i'm not i'm saying there was a window in the 70s where directors had more control than the studio system for a while but what do i know

Sorry I see what you mean. I think in the 70s you got those auteurs Kubrick, Cimino whatever and sometimes they made profitable masterpieces but sometimes they fucked up and afterwards they decided to concentrate on guaranteed money makers and curbed the excesses of the geniuses.
Before the seventies, I dunno, you had all Charlie Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks etc forming their own studios so there was artist power but I think it took on a different form in the 70s maybe.

 

[woops]

we used to be Hollywood heroes

good point and then the heroes came back badder and bruce williser

 

[IdleRich]

It's just a way to explain why you get grown up movies in the 70s and only kiddy movies in the eighties,

Well it happened to some extent so it's natural to look for an explanation if you're that way inclined.

 

[woops]

violenter and vestier

 

[WashYourHands]

good point and then the heroes came back badder and bruce williser

on to super heroes and the meta

I sincerely hope Covid has shitcanned such ventures and franchises

 

[woops]

it'd be nice to think so for sure - just read yesterday darren aaronofsky wants to do wolverine

 

[IdleRich]

on to super heroes and the meta

I sincerely hope Covid has shitcanned such ventures and franchises

It's fine to have some Marvel stuff for people who like it I guess but it just feels that the whole of cinema has been overtaken by these superhero things, I find it genuinely depressing. I don't know what percentage of films they are - probably not as much as it feels - but I do think there must be a lot of creative energy (and money obviously) going to them that could be going elsewhere so It's not just moaning about people having their fun. Why is Taika Waikiki doing those those films, it doesn't even that it's his strength, but it's like they've seen this guy doing loads of successful idiosyncratic indie flicks and they just thought, let's scoop him up and pay him a billion dollars to make a mega-blockbuster that he won't be able to put his stamp on and that will make him be faceless and stop him doing what he was doing before (or at least slow him down). Or maybe I'm wrong are his Thor movies any different from the usual fare?

 

[Mr. Tea]

it'd be nice to think so for sure - just read yesterday darren aaronofsky wants to do wolverine

Well who doesn't, what a hunk eh, etc.

 

[version]

Or maybe I'm wrong are his Thor movies any different from the usual fare?

His Thor film definitely stands out. There's a bit more flair to it and it's got a similar tone to Guardians of the Galaxy. It's much more vibrant and energetic than the previous two.

 

[luka]

They're interesting in as much as they're symptomatic... of something. I mean obviously the condition of having super powers is the condition of America the super power and there's a great deal of self pity

 

[luka]

Tony Stark clearly provides the model for thingy, the electric car man. They're interesting films if you watch them from the correct angle

 

[WashYourHands]

@woops +does claw gestures through the air and get looked at funny by a toddler+

Thing about so many 80’s films is their overt plasticity. The atypical Dad, who gets 10 days off a year probably drops dead irl at 55 from stress, is inverted into the opposite of Death of a Salesman. The domestic wealth on show. Here it is folks. All yours. Check us out, envious nations of planet Earth. We can kill ghosts. With Marvel it’s on steroids now. Psychic dysmorphia. Very strange.

80’s cultural highlights are mainly American, so trauma of the 60’s and 70’s is cellophaned over. Vineland. It’s lazy but truthful criticism, that’s why I have hard time with direct empathy. Like comparing a sweetshop’s 10p mix-ups, but even that gets fucked over due to corporate interests and people then reference their 1st McDonalds instead. Big shift.

It was a time where being younger gave you a distinct advantage - you weren’t processing the full meaning and consequences of hiv, Ethiopia, S Africa, Chernobyl, Mrs T etc. Beetlejuice was a riot though. Fuck you, I can have my cake and eat it too.

 

[WashYourHands]

From Trading Places to Coming to America.

Has anyone navigated the US visa system?

 

[luka]

They're interesting in as much as they're symptomatic... of something. I mean obviously the condition of having super powers is the condition of America the super power and there's a great deal of self pity

We're trying to save the world and yet everyone fears us and hates us etc waa wah wah

 

[constant escape]

But I really don't think superhero films are really suppressing interesting independent films. They may just be suppressing other potential blockbusters. But whenever I navigate say Letterboxd, there is a constant and staggering influx of new and interesting films.

 

[WashYourHands]

Export market wise they dominate, or should that be optimise.

 

[constant escape]

As far as I can tell, the streaming services that double as production companies are a force of good here.

 

[luka]

Film is like music, it's only interesting as a historical artifact and product of its place and time.