Old Movies
 

Is it just me or does anyone else find it hard to watch a movie that was made before the year 1998?

Re: Old Movies
 

Definitely just you. You are in the wrong place, or wrong frame of mind.

Re: Old Movies
 

It's not just you. My roommate is that way as well. My roommate is weird.

Re: Old Movies
 

It is not just you, as I know a lot of people who have that issue, but cinephile ain't the word I would describe them as.

Re: Old Movies
 

Come on Snake, that just ain't right.

The concept of it being "hard" to watch films that are made before a certain date, seems absolutely ridiculous to me.

Re: Old Movies
 

You consider anything before 1998 old? What are you, six years old? You don't deserve the privilege of being able to post on this website.

Re: Old Movies
 

Pre-1998 is old?

I struggle with a lot of movies made before about 1985, but there's a hell of a lot of great stuff from the early 1990s.

While I agree with you, I also know a lot of people who do/did think the same way as the OP. My sister won't watch a film that's b&w, regardless of when it's made.
I was thinking this. That's 15 years. But then I remember being in film class in the mid 90's and hearing fellow students talking about those 'old' films... Of the late 70's. It seems weird to me, but it really isn't uncommon at all.

The thing I don't understand is the "hard to watch" part. What does it mean? They're alien in some way? Most of the actors, directors and films I grew up with and loved are unwatchable and more recent ones somehow figured out how to do it right? Or is this all about the modern filmwatcher and not the films themselves? Do people who have these problems with "old films" have the same problem with "old" books, music and T.V. also? Do they really believe we are living in a golden age or do they just know the new? I wonder if they'll feel passe or try to challenge/correct them when their kids tell them they find it hard to watch anything before 2015?

What Mark said/asked. Also...

...golden age. Ha!

The main reason that I struggle with a lot of older movies is that the performances - especially in dramas - seem to me to be maybe a little less nuanced than they are in more modern films. I feel like a lot of them are either very wooden or overly dramatic. In extreme cases it appeals to me in the so-bad-it's-good kind of way (see old swords and sandals flicks like The Robe and its sequel) but more often I just get bored.

Also the quality of the picture itself is often much less vivid and crisp. I tend to have a rather short attention span anyway so if the picture isn't "pretty" I may lose interest.

Another aspect is in the effects. In addition to a short attention span, I struggle very much with suspension of disbelief. So if something is obviously fake, it becomes very distracting to me and can take me totally out of the movie.

Which of course is not to say that there aren't any old movies I love, it just means that there aren't many of them.

Does that mean she won't look at the really old family photos? B&W photos are another thing new generations won't understand. Well, except my kid and a few others. :)

I'm not going to lie, when i was a kid i wouldn't watch any pre 70 movies other than Wizard of Oz and certain Disney films. I didn't go near a B and W film until i was 12 or 13. The truth is it wasn't that i'd tried them and thought they were bad, it was just the way my mind was set. Since giving them a try though, plenty of my favourite films are from the 30's,40's,50's,etc.

I like me some good old film grain.

Yes. I don't think she's that interested anyway, I never have been, but I can't remember her looking at b&w photos with any more interest than clocking the image and passing it on.

Re: Old Movies
 

Picture quality has more to do with the state of the best negative available being poorly preserved. Restored and remastered films, those on good DVDs, are pristine and beautiful now, just as they originally were (usually).

Re: Old Movies
 

Huh? DVDs aren't even close, they don't have the bitrate for it. Comparing something like Taxi Driver's Dual Layer DVD to the 4k Remaster (which isn't real 4k but whatever) is like apples and oranges, if there was one apple and a hundred oranges.

Re: Old Movies
 

Huh? Missed my point. :)

You realise that you just admitted that you find Police Academy 7: Mission to Moscow a tough watch?