Movies from the 50s-90s really have a charm to them. The styles, the cameras. Ugh I wish I could time travel!

Was just thinking this myself recently. I have just watched the four Avengers movies, and while they are visually impressive and well put together, they seem fairly soulless affairs. And unfortunately nowadays studios are pushing gender and race politics and forgetting that story comes first. So glad we can purchase older movies and enjoy some great filmmaking.

I’d rather go see a classic in a theatre than a newer one. Great video mate! 👍

Politics, sensitivity, and studios (Disney) These are three main elements that are ruining many films today.

Movies back the had simple plots, they weren’t heavily commercialized and didn’t have politicization in them. An escape from reality but the movies today just try to lecture you 24/7

You know for me. I've been watching old movies like Jumanji, Good Will Hunting, and A walk to Remember. And a certain aspect that I think modern movies lack is heart, depth of emotion, and reliability. Even though most of the old movies I've watched had simple plots, they felt real, the emotions felt real. At the end of it, it didn't feel like I was watching a movie. I didn't feel like a viewer watching from afar. It felt like I was there and I was experiencing the story unfold. It all happens so naturally, they're iconic because people remember the lessons they learned and the emotions they felt watching those films. And even though some movies nowadays were able to give a bit of that “movie magic” it's something I often find in older films from the late 90s and early 2000s.

I would say that movie business was run by people who loved making movies, it would seem to me that the movie business today is run by people who like making money.

I agree with you. I feel filmmakers back then wanted to make outstanding creative films to be successful. While they wanted to make money, they also wanted to send a powerful message. Now Hollywood is full of businessmen who just love making money. They see movies as "content." They make movies to satisfy people's cravings and sell other products like toys, clothes, food, etc. Going to the theater is like going to a fast-food restaurant. Hollywood doesn't like to take risks. They base movies off something they know people love.

I totally agree with you man 80s is my absolute favourite era for Movies everything from action to horror they did a great job with everything back then even the music today I don’t even bother to go to the cinema simply because there’s nothing to watch as a great movie. 👍🏼

I love the older titles way more nowadays too, it's something that has grown over time to a point now where I don't keep up with modern releases to the extent I used to because I most of the time prefer to watch a classic instead with the free time I have. Yesterday for instance I watched The Valley Of Decision with Gregory Peck & 'Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice'. I think there's numerous reasons for this like they're generally just easy to watch & not as heavy subject matter, also a return to the past & experience the sense of time & place & how differently the approach to filmmaking was always adds an even more interesting dynamic to the viewing experience that you just can't with modern movies. It's funny because there was a time in my young teens where I'd watch classic black-&-white titles just to be able to say I'd seen these revered classics that always crop up in the greatest films lists, it was almost like a chore at times tbh, yet now some 20 years later I'm at a stage where I can't get enough of these older movies & they are way more of a preference over the modern stuff. Funny how things can change. I think mind how overloaded we are with the big CGI-heavy blockbusters & the fantasy franchise stuff like Marvel, DC & Star Wars etc., has also played a part, it's really a big turn off to me, I can only enjoy so much of the same thing particularly of that sort of leave-your-brain-at-the-door popcorn entertainment. That goes for horror too I think as that was the genre that really first fed my love for cinema &, although I do still enjoy a good horror film, my love for the genre is not what it once was & I think it's largely to do with the industry's lack of original ideas, there's too much of the same thing & way too many remakes.

I love all movies types but I find today’s movies are more focussed on celebrities popularity then the film it’s self that’s why to me 50s 60s 70s 80s 90s and some early 2000s are better

Mike judge predicted it perfectly in the film idiocracy, ow my balls everyone 👍

I agree. "...as i get older I seem to be more appreciative..." ! yes. I am 61. I found Criterion Channel. A lot of older movies, films are fantastic. they teach, they tell a story and they can even be entertaining. they move our emotions and they TEACH ART FILM AND FILMING, LIGHT , and camera work.

when i watch old movies i usually watch Jaws,Back to the future I,II,III, Ghostbusters I,II,III, and Star wars and Jurassic Park

I mostly agree with what you’re saying here, but I wonder if part of the reason that older films seem better is because we tend to go back and watch ‘classics’, with less successful films having been forgotten / unavailable. When people look back on the 2020s, they’re more likely to remember the excellent films and not all the dross, so could end up thinking that movies were better ‘back then’! Having said that, though, I do think older films have a certain quality that just isn’t there today.

Finding good movies these days is like finding a needle in a haystack. This is sad. Very sad only.

My take for why we love the older films better. We have to look at the people who made them and the time they were born. Most of our huge classics date back from 1930s - 1990s, and even the early 2000s some might argue. Many of our masterpiece films were made by people who went through WW1 or WW2, Vietnam War, The Depression, born before modern tech, on farms, as shit kids, during times when rules were not as tight, most importantly during the century when everything we do now were just being created. The past were hard times, and hard times breed great character and creativity. They created what they did out of real life whether it be fiction or non fiction. Some of us were born during the middle or the tail end of these times, so we can appeal to the charm it brings to us. Its raw and honest. Its almost the same as you thinking back to simpler times, they were charming. Everyone was young and things were not as advanced. Even with problems we enjoyed it so much. Films do the same. The characters, the settings, the music, the actors well casted into these films, where they came from, and the events that sparked these wonderful films all stem from people enduring life at different periods of time. Romeo and Juliet keeps being remade though the shit was made long before any of us or our parent's parents were around. Its just that damn good i guess. Hamlet, is another. Mob Stories, serial killers, cowboys, wars, these things are old natures of the past though we still them now. Want an example ? Robert Eggers. He aint liked by many, but his films has the exact same charm to old films ? Why ? Well he handles them with care, yes. But look at the time periods they're set in. Goodfellas made in 1990, but set from 1950s-1980s. I could go on But this is my take.

I definitely agree with you on this 😎🔥🔥

On the whole I agree with what you’re saying although as a lot of people have said already there are and were always good and bad movies being made. One thing I love about old films which you can’t do right now is to be able to see a world from when you were younger and even way before you were born. It’s the closest we can come to time travel and that’s a wonderful thing that folk 100 years ago didn’t really have. Some quite ordinary films being made today will improve in some ways when they start to show our present as a bygone age and future folk will be fascinated by what we think of as commonplace and everyday. Earlier I was watching Chicago Syndicate from the latest Indicator Columbia Noir set and I’ve seen it called a routine film but it transported me to the streets of Chicago in the 1950s and held my attention. I dare say it might be more interesting now than it was then. Of course not all films are contemporary but even if you’re watching a Victorian story made in the 1960s or a biblical epic from the 1950s you’re seeing it through the eyes and attitudes of when it was made. It’s hard to fake that. On top of all this we get to enjoy the talents of so many people who have now died or are retired. We’re so lucky to have Jack Lemmon on our screens even if he’s not in our world any more.

There was incredible pool of talent in the studio era of Hollywood from all around the world mostly due to escaping fascism. Cinema was a brand new art form so everyone was trying to top and expand what came before. You could still create something new. Cinema was closely entwined with a large audience base so that movie makers had to stay in touch with the changing zeitgeists. Most creative people seemed to have knowledge and interest in many aspects of life and not just a life steeped in watching movies. Outside of franchises there isn’t any connection to a large audience anymore. Movies have lost their cultural cachet. There is a sense of regurgitation rather than building upon. It could be that cinema is not an infinite art form, that it is reaching exhaustion. A caveat would be that production values are indeed impressive. Also it must be remembered that most people back in the glory days including studios and critics felt like the movies of their time were disposable and not of any lasting value.

I have mixed feelings about your commentary. I will admit that I have little interest in most of what gets released today. I can't be bothered with the Marvel or DC universes, as I find the superhero movies are all style and no substance. Similarly, I don't care about Godzilla, Kong, or Godzilla and Kong together. That said, every generation has its mix of the good and the bad. Fortunately, it's the good stuff that stands the test of time. For example, KZfaq collectors were excited in May to see "National Lampoon's Animal House" get the 4k treatment. There was also a lot of buzz about the Criterion release of "Fast Times at Ridgemont High." But we should remember those movies spawned an endless number of "teen" and "frat house" imitations that were completely forgettable. I doubt anyone would get too excited if "The Party Animal," "Hog Wild," "Mad Magazine Presents Up the Academy" or "National Lampoon's Class Reunion" were to be released on 4k. We should also remember the '70s produced total stinkers like "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." And -- believe it or not -- some of those treasured exploitation classics like "I Spit on Your Grave" and "Last House on the Left" didn't get glowing reviews. Meanwhile, we have continued to see great films released in recent times. Some of my favourites include "No Country for Old Men" and "Inside LLewyn Davis" by the Coen Brothers, "There Will be Blood" by Paul Thomas Anderson and "The Tree of Life" by Terrence Malick. A final note: If you want a good laugh, check out the Statler Brothers' 1973 song, "Whatever Happened to Randolph Scott?" My favourite line in the song is, "True Grit's the only movie I've really understood in years." kzfaq.info/get/bejne/nplggLOTm5jJiHk.html

You're preaching to the choir son, this is my entire point, you can't beat the classics with a stick and I'm talking about old school black and white movies, where the special effects were a fake bat on a string (yea Dracula!), and your CGI mounted to your innovative camera angles, the use of dark and shadows, the use of tension, suspense, and drum roll....a good story. People, check out the classics and you'll find a world that will enrapt and carry you away

Absolutely! I share your sentiments to the tee. Especially me too as I’m aging, I’m finding greater appreciation. Movies nowadays as seen as “content” rather than art and what’s more is that this culture ever fostered for instant gratification especially with our technology has dramatically cut down on the kind of patience, love and care that audiences used to employ when watching movies. It’s almost as though appreciation has been taken out of the equation. Just films that you can watch as filler in the background. It’s truly tragic. The Apartment is a solid example. Felt good to hear this!

Great video Graham as always. Just in my lifetime the way movies were watched has changed dramatically. When movies were released it used to be that the cinema screen was the only way to see them. Now we have physical media and streaming services that have brought movies to our living rooms. When in a movie theater you may get the occasional disruption from an audience member, but most people's attention is solely focused on the movie. In the present a person's watching experience from home can be interrupted in many ways. Mobile phones alerting us to a social media post, a telephone ringing etc. In my opinion our attention spans have declined which in turn brings films to a point where everything is spelled out for us. We have become lazy because our minds are too preoccupied with too many constant interruptions.

Today it seems always to be about demographics than anything else. Absolutely agree with your points - that's why I prefer old and older films. I lean towards low budget productions these days too - they may lack cash, but are more willing to experiment.

I wanna see another Shawshank Redemption, or another Sinclair's list, what the hell happened to this world.

Before there were another values, morals, feelings, another way to see a romance, another way to show the violence, another way to play a comedy, another way to face the horror... In my opinion cinema was more authentic before, more genuine and real, there weren't digital effects and many actors and directors broke some rules in many styles and genres and after they would be just imitated... but that doesn't mean we have to despise new films. Not all the movies of before are good and not all the movies of today are bad

I rather watch original Star Wars trilogy or Rocky 1970s

I think you’re definitely utilizing a bit of rosy retrospection. The films of the past that you remember or that boutiques think are worth releasing are necessarily going to be more memorable than the ones that were lost to time. Experiencing the sum total of film coming out today is of course going to seem worse than the highlights of the past.

I'm not sure they are. We tend to remember the classics but forget about stuff like Nukie (1987)

You are a man after my own heart. My watchlist is becoming more anachronistic each day. I like your ideas about the problems in the modern movies. I find the Shaw Brothers' film more engaging than recent blockbusters. Even recent Japanese movies have become bland, jumpy and uninteresting. I marvel at the captivating power of movies like Twelve Angry Men or Seven Samurai. Please keep up the good work. The newer generations need to be introduced to these classics. I will look forward to your discussions. With love from India. Jiten

unfortunately modern (Hollywood) movies are more focused on preachy propaganda then on captivating storytelling & characterization, that's why I embrace older movies so much ...

I love old-school movies even though I’m 29 ! Thanks for the video ps I asked 2 old movies for Christmas and I got them ! :)

Great video. I think you are right when talking about modern big budget studio films. However, there are countless great modern films made by smaller studios and independently. You just have to look a bit harder to find them, as adverts for them won't be plastered on the sides of buses. You can find some of these films on the Netflix and Amazon Prime, again they might not be the first ones that pop up when you open the app, you have to do some research, read film reviews etc. One other thing about older films, we only remember and revisit the classics, the bad films just get forgotten. When watching modern films, we don't know what might become a classic, so we have to wade through a lot more rubbish.

This past year I've been fortunate enough to watch some old French films on cable television. When "Le Boucher" was broadcast so was the latest Batman film. I felt I would rather watch "Le Boucher" again sooner than The Batman. I did like the latter, more so than the past Batman films. But the franchise itself doesn't interest me anymore. Le Boucher had a steady progression into a thriller, and the towns people were interesting to watch. I also watched movies starring Ives Montand and Alain Delon. When I saw the truck explosion in "Le Menace", starring Montand, I was more impressed by the effect than anything in todays action films, even by Michael Bay. You can tell the truck explosion was an actual effect. The build up to it was great. Alain Delon puts a lot of effort working with the props he has, which is more than what you get today. Tony Stark's efforts in building things are cool, but they have too many cuts. When Alain Delon played Mr. Ripley, you're enthralled by the single focus in his learning to forge a signature. I also watched Godard's "Masculin/Feminin", and it blew my mind. It was also the first Godard film I've ever watched. By the end of the year I hope to get a copy of Kurosawa's Ran, a movie I have believed to be superior to the Snyder Cut. But I also want to get Tarkovsky's "Solaris" and Fellini's "City of Women" or "8 1/2".

Graham, Last year I was getting disillusioned with modern films so tried to jumpstart my jaded outlook so my wife an I started rewatching the old classics. We were watching Hitchcock’s ‘ The Lady Vanishes’ and I was just overwhelmed how fresh it felt. The dialogue crackled, every character, no matter how small felt as thought they were crafted with great care. An 80 plus year old film that wasn’t burdened by overblown self conscious camera techniques, or bloated with empty distr(action)s. Wilder’s dialogue and characters sparkle and it’s so simple but so captivating. Films like the Marvel Avengers movies are diverting, I do enjoy most of them, their pyrotechnics offer fun surface eye candy , but for an engaging ensemble experience I’d far prefer the far more engaging movies like ‘Stalag 17’. Even when the writing in modern movies is smart you can subconsciously feel that they are written by committee and have an underlying agenda. Older movies generally require its audience to judge them on their own merits whereas modern Hollywood are trying desperately to sell us something, pandering to easy nostalgia baiting.

Agree 100% I’m looking at the mirror when watching this video mate because that’s exactly what I say to Friends and family and to myself :)

Sadly I do agree with you 😔

escape from LA is another example of a good "old" movie

Cinema was different back then and the main inexpensive source of entertainment for families, they were a big event for them - now that can be still be argued today but then clearly films were largely story driven and not filled with effects and bombastic scores - they played a different role in peoples lives then - nowadays they are classed as disposable and available to see on so many different devices at low cost or indeed free. There are gems still out there I enjoyed Sound of Metal, The Father, Promising Young Woman and Minari all narrative driven but like you I am generally less satisfied with modern movies and am gravitating to the older and indeed foreign films as well. I still enjoy films like Godzilla and MCU films as they're great fun to watch. Keep up the good work and keeping us thinking.

I just finished watching "The murder on the Orient Express" from the 1970's, for a 2hr movie it was really good and might rewatch it in the future. I enjoy watching modern movies, though a bunch of them are CGI schlock (can't sugar coat a turd), though they will never be as good as the classic's of cinema from "The wizard of Oz" to "The Godfather" to "Ghostbusters (1, 2 and yes now Afterlife) to " Who Framed Roger Rabbit?". I still prefer going to the theatre to see a movie (really miss video rental stores).

I totally agree. To find good movies nowadays you either have to dig through heaps of garbage to find that one pearl of a film, or you have to turn to international films. Studios like a24 do bring some hope to american cinema though. Not to mention films like Parasite finding a huge audience in America proves there's a market for well thought out films. Unfortunately, were still in a period of American cinema where popcorn films dominate. Hopefully that will change with new generations entering the film industry.

I think characters in older movies are more layered. The stories are more layered. The effects are practical and even when they look bad they still feel real. I feel like older movies have more heart and soul. Newer movies are just fast cuts without character development. No longer scenes of dialog because younger people having shorter attention spans (at least that's what producers think). Just as an example, think about Nightmare on Elm Street compared to the remake. The original has wonderful practical effects, a great script and dialog which let you get to know and care about each character. The music added to the creepy and dreamy atmosphere. And something that is gone these days...the actors looked like real people. Heather is very pretty but doesn't look like a supermodel. Each role is important and is layered with good acting. You care about these people. In the remake, you don't get to know the characters at all. They start out broken and so it's hard to care about them. There are throwaway characters just there to be killed off. The effects are newer but look terrible and so fake. There is no atmosphere, no scenes with characters really relating to each other. The script is awful, the dialog is awful and it just feels like a soulless cash grab. It's hard for me to get into newer movies. With the quick cuts and cgi and supermodel actors, I just find it hard to care about the characters and it's hard to enjoy the movie. Now, there are a few exceptions but it's few and far between. I'll stick with older movies.

Totally agree, much prefer older movies, they are so more creative and interesting. The modern day blockbuster Superhero, Star Wars, sequel, remake etc are entertaining whilst they last, but pretty forgettable, a good example of this would be Netflix’s Army of the Dead, the movie literally rips off many better movies (Oceans 11, Armageddon, Escape from New York, Aliens, Dawn of the Dead and even An American Werewolf in London), and the characters in the movie are so dull, you just don’t care about them, there is plenty of action and gore, but no soul. Older movies always seem to have better written or likeable characters, no matter what type of movie it is. Sure there are some decent modern movies, usually independent or foreign movies, but they are few. What I love about older movies is that there is so much to discover, silent movies (especially the gothic horrors and German expressionism cinema), pre code Hollywood and gothic horrors of the early 30’s, 40’s Film Noir, 50’s Sci Fi, French New Wave and Psychedelic movies of the 60’s, American exploitation and the Italian Giallo movies from the 70’s, slashers, Sci fi and comedy of the 80’s, the list is pretty endless. These movies are also like time capsules of those eras and absolutely wonderful to watch. Looking at the list of movies that are coming out at the cinema, not many interest me, it’s more sequels, remakes and Superhero’s, the only one that has peaked my interest is Edgar Wrights Last Night in Soho.

Totally agree.

Call my watches the classics and I just like old fashion movies

Older movies any day for me, I'd say the ratio is 10 good old classics to one good modern day movie. I spent 40 minutes last night watching new upcoming movie trailers and only two appealed to me. I feel asleep in Godzilla v Kong as I'd just a dull cluster fuck of noise and cgi with boring character s, Fast 9 or whatever it's called another that looks pants. The Irishman is the last modern day made great for me. Over reliance on cgi is one massive problem for me in many film and yes I know Irishman had the deaging but was needed , look at T2 that movies still looks incredible and the movies incredible and it also uses practical effects, jaws for me is still the best looking shark movie as it's all practical, just a few examples there.

I'm 47 yrs old. I basically stopped going to the movies back in '08. I could see films going downhill starting around 2000. Total lack of originality...over use of CGI....CGI in general...I don't care for any of these actors now... films are shot digitally...ect... I could go on and on. I was fortunate enough to grow up with a father who introduced me to older films starting back in the 80s. I know I sound like the old guy who doesn't like anything new. But I even remember in high school, I could even seen music going downhill as well. I could only hope these last few generations will go back and start watching older films.

I was thinking about this too recently. I saw Thelma & Louise in the cinema a few days ago, and while I wouldn't necessarily consider it an "old" movie, when you contrast it with movies of these days, it was way better - especially compared to Ridley Scott's more recent work. I think a lot of filmmakers got worse after they started using CGI. Tim Burton being the worst example of this. I think he lost his knack for telling a good story as he became distracted by all the visual trickery he could come up with. But yeah, going back even further, the scripts were just better. I don't know exactly why - but it seems to be partly due to the studios wanting to rely on things that have already made them money in the past, so they just re-boot it, remake it, rehash it, over and over until there is nothing new under the sun. I hope this situation eventually changes, but I'm not so hopeful at the moment.

I've been watching a lot of great films from the 70s recently and they don't just hold up, they're actually better than most of what is released these days. The problem is obvious, and it's corporate. Major movie studios avoid taking risks at all costs, they placate and pander to the lowest common denominator. Luckily for us cinephiles, the film world is as deep and far-reaching as any ocean on earth.

Alien Blade Runner The Wizard of Oz Citizen Kane Sound of Music Psycho Godfather T2 2001 Full Metal Jacket

older marvel and dc movies are better then new marvel and dc movies

You watch one movie today was like watching them all. For example my friend and I watch (1st time since released) on Amazon Prime , TNMT out of the shadows(2016) was like watching one of Michael Bays Transformers , same score, same explosions, cgi, elements , storyline nobody dies , same plot points 👉 BAD, BORING 😴 bad acting, bad jokes , tedious, it drags on... Couldn't wait for it to end and extremely predictable ending. I was like guessing out loud what scene happened next.

The apartment is a great film. I feel the same way about new films too. Wrath of man is a great modern day film that we are not seeing much of. We need more film making that that.

Todays films are over edited and the extreme close up is over used. Actors dont move on screen anymore

There's a network air sale on some TV series at the moment. 25% off. Jack the ripper's included which is a good show

Hey again. I have given this topic a lot of thought in the past. Having now seen thousands of films from all genres and time periods my headline conclusion is that modern releases are no better OR worse than in the past. I think some of the perceived difference is nostalgia but also it is due to curation over time. The real dross from the 20's 30's 40's etc has in large part not survived the passage of time. So what modern film fans like us have access to is in a sense the cream of the crop. We are spoiled in many ways. Sure there is a lot of disposable or downright unwatchable rubbish on new release but so it was in the 80's 70's whenever. Just my take on it having seen many films from nearly every decade now.

I find it very hard to find a modern movie that has a amazing story and especially the ending, most films over the last few years I got to the end and thought is that it.. today it seams to be more cgi the better than a great story

Movies of today have agendas, wherever it be genderism, sex, racial or political. As 22 year old Black man I don't care about the cast of a movie or series. I don't get excited because I see a Black man on screen. Nowadays I ask myself was a Black man or woman casted because of their acting abilities, or skin colour. Sadly its their skin colour because their characters are based on their race and nothing else. Poor plots and simply a movie which is boring and repetitive. I'm going to give you guys 1 example, the movie Taken was about a dad saving his daughter from being a victim of sex trafficking. Great movie, cast who took their characters seriously, most importantly a serious issue wasn't used as a form of comedy. I bet you can name over 50 movies with the same storyline, but the execution is shambolic to say the least. Movies of 90's had no agenda and told the world what's going on,most importantly the truth. Excellent plots, great cast and each character not being perfect but having flaws. Each character being casted for a reason, no matter how big or small.

Morden films have the perfect set, characters, story or whatever (or think they do, because filiming tv shows and movies there's like formula and every movie just seems the same lately), but there's no heart. I feel like actors nowadays aren't as good as actors from classic or older movies. Actors back in the day, lived their character were their character. Also movies back in the day are More iconic. Clueless, Ferris Bueller's Day off, Breakfast Club, (I am an 80s girl), not many classic, iconic, or original movies these days. I also like how old movies took an average story line (or out of box) and made it interesting through it's characters and story telling! Just a vent, and my raw thoughts.

I think the problem now is movie makers, actors, and studio's are trying to pack SO MUCH into what they hope will be their BIG contenders for ticket sales and awards. Whereas older movies were what they were - a carefree musical with some nice dance numbers, a funny comedy with Bob Hope and Bing Crosby or Martin & Lewis, a gritty crime thriller, dramatic romance, or scary horror and sci-fi for the kids basically. The last movie I saw in a theater was 'Unstoppable', and was mortally disgusted by it! Even though I love trains, Denzel Washington, knew a bit about the real incident - it was just TOO MUCH done in that movie with the action and suspense and CGI, and buddy buddy and all. It was sickening! And compared to say Runaway Train - it still couldn't hold a candle to it! I did get intrigued by the recent Suicide Squad, as I saw some of it getting shot here in Toronto. But then it was held up to be funnier - less funny. Darker, less dark, analyze the trailer, pick on Jared Leto. I finally got the movie - and it was okay for what it was. Which wasn't much. I'm not into the super hero stuff like some, and didn't know anything about most of the characters. Some were intense, some were funny, action and effects were good, and blip - that was it! But things like this Avengers Zack Snyder Cut New Joker Look and all drives me nuts! Like it's to do away with Lawrence Of Arabia, or Towering Inferno, or Star Wars and Pulp Fiction. And like a good fart - it's surprising at first, somewhat laughable, and then you smell it and say 'Oh my God!' Hollywood just expects us to pull it's finger now. LOL

Older movies better actors ,no special effects

Man v Film, Hollywood just keeps making the same kind of films these days. Last night I watched Cisco Pike on blu ray older films are great! I gave up on Hollywood years ago. 👍 😄

Agree with your points Graham, especially with playing it safe not to offend people. I also mainly put it down to Saudi Arabia and China now being heavily invested with most films. And I say this is a problem because they tend to insist on certain messaging in their films. Also as China is a big film market, the criteria to release a film there is very strict. Also the current model of films heavily relies on an established franchise that people already know so it's easier to communicate with customers with little air time on TV or website. And the example you point out with the apartment, is that at it's time of release there was no real media competition, so it would stay in the cinema longer. Hence more focus on a film and fewer made compared to now.

first and foremost, movies have become too commercialised, too reliant on "the franchise", "the universe" to get attention. it has made film makers lazier. all they need is the rights to attach certain tags, words, feature characters such as Bat-Man and it's guaranteed to be a commercial success. Hand in hand is the dumbing down of society. People no longer care if a movie is going to be good. All they want to see is their precious "James Bond" and get emotional over what car he'll be driving, who'll be singing the theme tune. This is all the modern film goer cares about. On top of that, you can't offend the snowflakes, so movies are heavily censored and rather than concentrate on telling a good story, concentrate on ticking boxes - gotta have a black man, a gay man, a smart successful woman, an idiotic or evil white man., etc, etc

So my assumption here is you are MOSTLY referring to the decline in US films and mostly Hollywood/studio films because if I was looking at the biggest drop in quality and in terms of what you were mentioning that is where the biggest decline seems to be for me. And maybe somewhat that reflects the decline and division of the USA itself which to my eyes seems to be an utter mess these days. I think there are still newer movies coming out of America which are good and focus on story/plot and characters etc but they do seem to be getting much fewer and far between. They generally seem to be more indy films than studio films as well. I think there are a few reasons older films are better. Firstly there seems to be a general lack of talent these days. It seems the biggest talent you need these days is how to play corporate politics and understand how to ensure the "brand" is safe. This leads to soulless and compromised filmmaking. Plus the emphasis is not on artistic merit these days but "content" and thus things feel more disposable. I also think there's just a lack of general talent across the board, particularly in the studio/Hollywood system. Writers, directors etc. Particularly the writing. And one can't argue it's solely the corporatisation of Hollywood because it ran as a studio "system" for decade, where actors and directors were contracted on generally minor wages compared to today (though still huge by average standards) and had pretty modest budgets and timeframes on average yet they could still manage to churn out things like Casablanca. People were also not trying force feed trendy woke politics into the films so they could tick "brand uplifting" virtue signal boxes. Nearly every new film coming out these days (sometimes subtly, sometimes not) has some sort of woke messaging in there (*cough* Star Wars sequals *cough*) which is also off putting. I think there is a loud noisy mob into that sort of thing but I honestly think the large majority of people just don't want to have such political drivel force fed into every aspect of their lives, especially into their escapist entertainment. There's a big difference between making a clever film with something to say on the political front and just inserting tokenistic facile snippets for the sake of it into films where this is just not necessary or really furthering the story and characters (or have anything to do with it at all). Take Jordan Peeles Twilight Zone compared to the original Rod Stirling one. I don't care for Peeles as it's just not clever.... It's just chest thumping angry activism and not appealing to anyone other than other activists with the same politics. For most of us political propaganda in our TV and films is rubbish and not something we want. If I want that stuff I'll go and watch Leni Riefenstahl ! At least her stuff is artistically amazing and has merit from that aspect 😜. Older stuff focuses on story and character (i.e. better writing), is entertaining, generally better directed... and edited. They tend to have better scores and they just seem overall more entertaining and fun. They are also time capsules and nostalgic and maybe sometimes it there is an appeal in that aspect as well. All time periods have their challenges and can look simple and safe and happy years later but sometimes it feels like today has so much stupidity going on that it's just nice to dissapear into a time that seemed to have more common sense, personal accountability and where things seemed simpler. Maybe I'm an idealist or simply a dinosaur (probably!) but that's my take on it anyway.

I think there are many reasons & one of them being Political & social correctness. Also people been employed to tick boxes rather than being in there based on merit & skill. I could go on but I won’t 😂!

My niece who's now 9 years old prefer watching movies from my childhood and series from my teenage years than the new ones. Me too doesn't like new movies, the storyline is poor in most of them and I'm getting tired about the remakes, the beggining's of sequels, it's destroy all the beauty from the originals and it's story. For now I'm watching tv series from foreign countries because they are more decent and there is an endding to the story. I really hate to see at the end of season 1 a big punch that will get a new story plot for a next season, but never came out because a compagny decide it won't be a hit. They prefer the same stupid story line, no creativity, boring than being original and bold.

The problem with modern film and TV is technology. You can now fine tune and edit the whole production endlessly because hard disk space costs nothing and editing is quick and easy. Robot cameras making camera moves soulless. Someone slightly fluffed a line? No problem, shoot it again. That light isn't quite right, let's do another one. Then tweak it even more in post. The leading ladies eyes could be slightly bluer, could you push that a bit in compositing? Can you add lens flare here, here and here? So a real lens flare becomes less special. Every shot has perfect light and color dialed in in post. All of this squeezes the life out of art, because imperfection is part of being human and humans relate to imperfection. You could draw an analogy to music, exactly the same thing has played out over the last 30 years, with most producers looking at a computer screen instead of looking at other musicians.

I kind of agree with Peter Biskind that some of the rot set in with Lucas and Spielberg in the 70's. Spielberg is a great filmmaker but every little detail in his movies is controlled; scripted, storyboarded, plotted and rehearsed before it's anywhere near a camera. There is little scope for the audience to engage with his films in any other way than how Spielberg wants them to, no real openness to interpretation or breathing room for the imagination. Kubrick was a highly controlling filmmaker but he allowed the audience to interpret his films for themselves. But every young mainstream filmmaker now is a Spielberg disciple and many of them have few frames of cultural reference beyond film. So we just have rehashes of the same tropes, references, plot arcs everything. You are told frame by frame, plot beat by plot beat, what to think or feel in every major release from a Rian Johnson or Zach Snyder or JJ Abrams and they're all influenced by the same man. And independent cinema is little better, tbh.

To be honest There isn't enough risk taking most of the time it's safe with big brands like Star Wars or terminator and Marvel leading the way There isn't enough story telling it's more CGI and oh no we gotta get outta here jokes than beautiful story look at star Wars instead of it being a massive space opera of individual characters on the expansion of space and going against a tyrannical empire it was just a movie that was trying to follow the Marvel formula which is to always make light of a heavy situation Which takes the depth of importance away.

no you have also old movies that in my opinion not good no matter old our new i know it because i seen so many movies in my live and i collect movies to and i seen change movies again and again the same like television from smal black and white tv to colour tv vhs to blu ray now 4k and so one but nobody are the same you like tis movie but not all the people like it so you see make no difference old our new action horror classic some are good and some not but mostly 70 and 80st movie are good but some old movies on vhs our dvd than on blu ray are not so good from quality

Most movies are dragged out for too long and they start to really go no where with the plot, but if it did it had something to do with race or some 2020 agenda...

Movies today or too pretentious

I also reject this idea that films are worse now because everybody’s just so darn offended and filmmakers have to walk on eggshells. Are we forgetting the literal Hayes code? The MPAA that has stifled creative expression through censorship since their inception? Now through original streaming content that decides their own ratings and independent filmmakers online we’re getting much more freedom of expression than before. Not to mention that way more marginalized people have the opportunity to create films that critique existing power structures and oppressions, which to me is much more subversive than edgy humor or shock value.

Modern films are pish. I've been discovering and rewatching older films of late. Zu warriors of the magic Mountain was one such master piece (yes I know there is plot holes and some parts just don't make sense) I discovered last year and have rewatched again over the weekend.

CGI and big budgets make some directors lazy. With lower budgets they had to use their imagination and were much more creative. Also too many sequels and remakes, no studio wants to take chances these days. Plus the attention span of some of the younger generation is so short, having a slow burn movie is a risk for box office sadly.

Modern American movies cost too much to make. Hollywood make movies for international audiences to maximize profits. I find watching world cinema more rewarding and enjoyable. Check out "Dear Comrades!"; "Two of Us"; and "The Great Indian Kitchen"

American films are not made by artists in as much as they are corporations and international marketability. This is nothing new and dates back decades. The problem now? Corporate film making can now dump films onto their streaming platforms without a wink. Films are now known as “content”, which is about as generic as the popcorn we eat during them. I miss the glut of auteurs out of Hollywood pre-1975.

I really don't agree: I think that things are far more nuanced than that - we are in a kind of 'best of times, worst of times' scenario right now. Yes, mainstream fare, blockbusters, etc are guilty of all the things you've accused them of, but away from that stuff modern cinema has produced a slew of films that could stand shoulder to shoulder with anything from the past. Additionally, as David Gallagher intimated: it is, perhaps, easy to pick over 150 years of film and come up with a whole host of absolute gems, thereby concluding that the past was some prolonged Golden Age. But for every gem, there were probably 25 other pieces of crap that have slipped from memory. The timeline we are comparing 'the past' to is - what should we consider modern? - the last 10-15 years? Less than that? It's something of a rigged game, if you see what I mean.

Bevor the video really started Everything has to be politicaly correct and they are to lazy to thing about a real plot.

Political correctness are ruining movies nowadays, people are being hired for the color of their skin instead of being qualified to do the job in Hollywood. That's why most of the time we're getting badly directed and written films. JJ Abrams admitted a couple of days ago he never had a plan for the Star Wars sequel trilogy. We do get the occasional good movie I would say Joker is one of them, but Hollywood is more focused on preaching then entertaining audiences.

Well, simple numbers. "Old" has 130 years of filmaking to go into it, from the Lumiere Brothers and Georges Melies right up to Tenet and the Marvels. "New" only has this year.

I love new movies thanks to Disney for building an empire....and now there should be no space for old movies 😂

It’s going to get worse in my opinion now with political correctness creeping in.

There’s been alot of awesome movies in the last 20yrs, modern classics, ive seen them, to me i think its just the really mainstream movies that suck, like usual