The film fraternity does not make movies like they used to do before. I’m pretty sure everyone has heard this many times. Some say the art is gone. Cause with time everything changes. The style, people’s thinking and likings. But a hundred years from now on, I think the films that are being made now in our generation will be art in the future. People are always bored of what they have and are never satisfied. It’s just human nature. Although there was indeed something in the old films that nothing can bring back. How the actor and actress had fewer dialogs and we could still feel their emotions by their facial expressions, or the silent films which had no dialogs at all but it is still easy to communicate through their acting.
Once I watched a movie called “Leningrad cowboys go America” (1989) which was not a full-fledged English film but I did not find one boring scene. The Netflix generation kids binge-watch whatever comes on the homepage just to kill time. But do we still take the time to search for a good movie that we watch not just to pass the time? If we watch a good movie it is not wasting time rather, we are spending time watching a movie that will change something in our life or at least have a little bit of effect. I don’t know if that makes any sense but that is just my thought. Movies like fast and furious making a sequel, prequel, or spin-offs and what not just to make money. Casting highest-grossing actors and actresses to be box office hit.
Action movies get the most marketing and promotion in movie theaters. And it feels like the old wine in a new bottle. Good movies are still being made such as Predestination, Memento, Seven, Shutter island with a little bit of action and thriller, stories that thought-provoking. These are the examples that action movies do not have to be necessarily repetitive. Some directors have their specific genre or style of telling stories through films. Wes Anderson is one of them whose specialty is intensifying colors.
Quentin Tarantino is popular for his unpredictable violence. Christopher Nolan is a renowned successful filmmaker whose style is cerebral, often nonlinear, sci-fi films. Guillermo Del Toro’s films draw heavily on sources as diverse as fiction and fantasy. But some actors’ roles fit in only for the one type of character they were best at e.g. Robert De Niro mostly did crime/mobster films like Goodfellas (1990), Heat (1995), Casino (1995), The Irishman (2019), etc. Using new technology like VFX and after-effects does not mean the story is given less priority. Putting efforts doesn’t mean filmmakers must invest a lot of money.
Richard Linklater’s Boyhood (2014) took more than 10 years in the production phase without a complete script. For making the film more engaging director asks actors to add their life experiences into the story. This movie was made throughout every year after rewatching previously shot footage.
One of my teachers once said if I pause Korean filmmaker Kim Ki-Duk’s Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, and Spring (2003) the long shots are like paintings. Forgive me if I kept jumping topics without relevance. Those films do not have any happy endings or conclusions, that leave the viewers feeling incomplete or confused. The actual intention is to give the audience floor to make the story in their heads as they want or how they see and where the journey takes them.
Another sci-fi/neo-noir/thriller film Dark City (1998) is really interesting regarding how all the scenes are shot in the night and you got to watch it to know why. Almost sounds like I’m building up suspense or promoting it so that everyone should watch it. Honestly, what I think is that every movie should be appreciated cause the makers put a lot of effort and their heart and soul into making them. But bad movies are just bad movies. There is no excuse.
The images have been collected from different sources available on the internet.
