Is it me or is hollywood cinema sucking?

Seems like they're spitting out bad movies as fast as Chinese movies. Chinese movies use to be something you could just watch and not worry too much about wasting money on. In the past few years I actually had to start doing research on them before I even look twice. Now it's all about recreating a "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" masterpeice(flying/martial arts) but all have failed since(i.e. hero, flying daggers, banquet, golden flower). But films like Kung-Fu Hustle and Shaolin Soccer succeed.

Now, Hollywood films, not just horror, seems to just be thrown out like candy. Hundred's of movies a year and maybe 10 will make it big? Has it always been like this? Or have my standards just changed?

I'm not sure what you're asking here; you mention Chinese cinema, then say Hollywood is releasing too many films, and then seem to decry the fact that only a few "make it big." You seem to be talking about box office, rather than quality.

If this is the case, how much constitutes "[making] it big"? Because far more than 10 films a year are significant commercial successes. And Hero was by no means a failure: it made over $50 million domestically (its budget was, according to IMDB, about $30 million).

I can't really comment any further without some sort of clarification as to what it is you're asking.

hehe yea i see what you mean. By making it big, I'm talking more in terms of quality(storyline/acting...etc), not how well the film did at the box office.

Chinese cinema was more of an example about how their films were mostly good quality late 90's and now it seems their actors jump studios shooting 3-4 films a day or something. And now it seems the same thing is happening in Hollywood.

Basically, has anyone else noticed that Hollywood film storylines aren't as fullfilling as they use to be, or am I just setting my standards too high.

I think it's you.

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So besides big name movies with preceding reputations, such as spiderman and x-men, movies are all doing well? Maybe standards really are too high. Not one horror movie last year, and there was quite a few, made me say, that was a pretty good movie. Not jsut horror but the usual case when I walked out was, what a waste.

It has become simple: the amount of great films, quality wise, released/made has drastically decreased over the decades. Yes, great films are made every year worldwide, yet the quantity of great films compared to poor films released every year is infinitesimal. Hollywood is all about money these days since they know that poor movies gross more at the box office than great ones.

Ultimately, it can be caused by the decrease in intelligence among generations every decade. The majority of movie goes are teens, and the majority of teens do not want to watch a movie that will make their minds actually work. Instead, the majority would rather play dumb and watch a poor film that generates a few cheap laughs rather than a few deep thoughts.

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"All the confusion of my life... has been a reflection of myself! Myself as I am, not as I'd like to be." - Guido, 8 1/2

I hate to break it to everyone...but Hollywood has always been "all about the money," since its 'creation.'

Hollywood is an industry. It will do everything it can to maintain itself and further its goals. Its no different than steel or coal or clothing industries; they will make what sells. Nowadays, crappy movies sell. Believe it.


And for those of you out there who seem to think that crappy movies are a recent development of Hollywood, think again. Hollywood has been pumping out crappy movies since the beginning. We dont hear about them because they dont survive, because they sucked.

Today's crappy movies will, unfortunately, survive, but that is only because of marketing and new technologies like DVD.

Hollywood is still producing GREAT films...but a lot of them just fly under the radar...that's when the internet comes in...do some digging...the great ones aren't that hidden

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Yes, Hollywood has always been about money, but not as such a level as now. Ever since the mid-90's when California started to put the money back into Hollywood and invest in it's actual self, Hollywood has zeroed on the sector of population that will fuel the gross of ther movies the most; the younger generation. Just as the tobacco industry zeroed in on younger generations, Hollywood has begun to do the same. And as much as I despite it, it's a smart move.

Yes, crappy movies have always been around and Hollywood has always been pumping them out, but the ratio of great films to poor films has increased with the latter as the numerator and it has grown even more over the years.

Yeah I think it's true that Hollywood puts out crappy movies, but how else are they gonna make their money?They can't just put out fifteen or twenty movies a year expecting to make billions and billions of dollars off those movies.Hollywood is just like every business and industry.Making money off the things that appeal most to people.

I think what everyone saying is good stuff. I have a school project where I lead a class discussion and have to talk about the difference between Hollywood and Independent Cinema. Anyone have any ideas on how a discussion can be started?

I would try talking. If that doesn't work, try yelling.

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I have watched some really awful films and wondered why they were made. Unfortunately it is impossible to tell what a film is like from a write up. Some films that should have been good were sometimes poor while others were unexpectedly good.

meh they seem alright to me. im not one to be intrested in "quality" though. i more of a "i would rather see Crank or Disturbia, than a "classic" 1950's movie" type guy.

personally i think CGI has ruined film. the storylines are bland and the acting fails because it no longer takes storylines or good acting to bring people to the theatre. blow some sh*t up and shoot things and you have an audience. hollywood has scaled down the quality of films because they no longer need to care about quality to make money.

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"Chinese, Japanese, dirty knees, look at these."

Not all Chinese films are flying martial arts films. I've seen some very good gritty dramas, some excellent action cop films and a couple of authority challenging films just recently.

No, I Actually Believe Lately We've Been Getting Some Good Movies.

I'm gonna disagree a bit here. I have nothing to back me up except just my observations, but yea, I think Hollywood is pretty much crap right now. Sure, there are wonderful films out there, and yea, you have to search for them! Because of the need to have a film be a hit with one weekend, the studios spend too much time having pre-screenings trying to find out how best to get people to like their films. Forget about what the writer/director may want!

And catering to the teenage set, well, that just adds to the crap that is being spit out. Four "Saws" in four years! You've got to be kidding me.

I went to Blockbuster the other day and just stood there looking at the list of films currently being released. It was depressing. I left empty handed because I just didn't have the energy to go through all the older films and find something to watch.

Movie watching is like politics. We need to find a middle ground. Too many people only want to watch the newest films, irregardless of their quality. Or maybe they only like horror, sci-fi, violence, etc. Some just will not watch a B&W movie or a subtitled film. Now, I can be accused of preferring old-fart "classic" films because I watch more than most, but I still watch lots of different films of all kinds, and I'm not really trying to hold myself up as some great example, but maybe everybody would do better if they just went ahead and watched a movie or two which they believe they know for a fact that they won't like. That's a healthy, learning experience, at least depending on the film. Does somebody want to recommend me a film they think I haven't seen? In fact, is my last sentence a thread at this site? If not, maybe we should start it up.

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See, this is what I'm talking about. I was interested in a possible film called A Woman of No Importance which was to be directed by Bruce Beresford and it is based on an Oscar Wilde play. It's been listed as being in pre-production for a while with no word coming about its fate. This interview with Annette Benning now states it is dead:

http://www.courant.com/entertainment...,1715875.story

It's what she said that I find depressing: "The movie business is in a tough place right now," she says. "It's hard to get pictures like that made."

It's always been a business but it feels to me that there is less desire to make all sorts of films. I gather this fell apart because it wasn't going to tear up the box office and make lots of money.