I Must Be Old, Summer Movies Bore Me
Barry Nelson
ChicagoPosts: 1,508MI6 Agent
I have been on this planet for some time now and I recently noticed my taste in movies has changed. I use to love action movies, car chases, gun fights, fist fights and clever one liners was what I enjoyed. However, in the last year I have noticed these type of movies now mostly bore me. Not all of them, because I did enjoy Transformers, but most of them simply do not excite me. I recently saw trailers for Mummy and Journey to the Center of the Earth and Hancock and I had no desire to see them. Maybe it is all the CGI, maybe it is the repetitive special effects, maybe it is the lack of a story with the action, maybe the directors aren't as good as Sam Peckinpaugh, or maybe I am just old.
Last year I was really moved by Atonement, a movie I probably would not have even seen years ago. It is summer, but I am looking forward to the fall movies. I must be old.
Last year I was really moved by Atonement, a movie I probably would not have even seen years ago. It is summer, but I am looking forward to the fall movies. I must be old.
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I saw Iron Man and enjoyed that, and I'm going to see The Incredible Hulk in a few weeks time, but I'm going with my brother who is a BIG comic book fan, so it's more just to spend some time with him and talk about old comic book movies.
Other than the upcoming Quantum Of Solace, there's nothing else I plan on seeing for the forseeable future.
I guess I'm just getting too old for this s***.
Independent, one-shot comic books from the outskirts of Melbourne, Australia.
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I also find myself finding it harder and harder to relate to a lot today's actors now that I've reached that stage in my life where I'm older than most of them. It's kind of strange to see a Batman or James Bond movie and know that I'm older than the people playing these characters that I've followed for so much of my life.
Another part of the problem is that you can really get overwhelmed with the promotion for some of these movies and if you're not careful, you're apt to be sick of them before they even premiere.
In spite of that, there are some worthwhile movies out there. Naysayers be damned, I think Indy IV is a fine movie. And Iron Man is, in my opinion, another smart piece of filmmaking that really rises above its modest comic book origins. Not so coincidentally, those two movies both have a relatively older cast.
Still, by and large, the "summer blockbuster" has come to mean less and less to me as well. Asio draws a perfect example with Get Smart - a movie that looks to be inferior in every way to the TV show that inspired it and is a microcosm for the lack of originality in Hollywood and their constant reliance on the tired old formula of putting a "hot" actor in a familiar role.
Feel free to add me to the "bitter old farts" list.
I agree, though Transformers on DVD did it for me, just a kids' movie with kids' themes, if you can say it has any themes.
That said, those summer blockbusters arrived around the late 80s, with Die Hard, Lethal Weapon 2 and Indy and so on. Prior to that it was just one biggie a year - a Bond movie and E.T or what have you. Maybe I'm returning to that era myself, but the summer blockbusters always did excite and draw you in to see other movies.
I don't think these films have gone to the next level. You see, Die Hard was a new take on the action hero, unlike the Bond films, very blue collar. But now, Die Hard is a cliche and it's TV stuff that has the edge. These blockbusters need reinventing but with so much money involved it will be a while before anyone takes a risk. Personally, like TonyDP, I just don't relate to a lot of the heroes today, but I don't think it is purely an age thing, they just seem so generic.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Perhaps I'm an old fart, but not bitter
I'd add the caveat that bad summer movies bore me...and the problem is that most of them fall into this category. I'd agree with Tony that both IM and Crystal Skull are worthwhile summer fare---but IM gets the edge. I'm looking forward to stuff like Hancock, which looks to be fun.
I'm (desperately) holding out hope for a summer tentpole flick still in development, and under consideration by somebody who can make it happen. Unfortunately, it wouldn't make it onto screens until 2010 at least...
In the meantime, I'm really hoping I won't be bored by Hulk and Dark Knight! Perhaps having my kids along to the cinema keeps me young at heart...
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
www.empireonline.com/features/non-blockbusters_summer/default.asp?NID=22679
Roger Moore 1927-2017
As for Get Smart, I loved the show. That said, alot of the humour worked well when being repeated week to week in sitcom format, somehow I doubt it will work on the big screen
I have no interest in movies at all at the moment and I think my problem is CGI.
I only have to take one look at a ton of effects and it puts me off straight away.
I saw a trailer for The Hulk the other day and it left me cold. Give me a really big guy covered in green make up anyday ...
It just seems that most films these days rely too much on effects and to me they are effectively destroying the art of acting.
I hate to be an old git about CGI, I understand it can be a useful film making tool, but when I see trailers like The Hulk where the final battle is between two computer generated characters, its just like watching a cartoon isn't it?
I honestly would rather a character like that was a painted muscleman - Lou Ferringo may have looked a bit ridiculous but you really empathised with him in the TV show.
So I kind of agree about the Summer movie issues, but some get the balance right (Spider-man 2 springs to mind), and those ones I still enjoy.
www.scottacademymartialarts.co.uk
Spot on ....
No, it's more like a video game I can't interact with... 8-) (Sorry, I still see "cartoon" as 2D, with pen-and-paper drawings)
Most of the movies released today just don't interest me anymore. I think the lead cause of the problem is cheap storylines that tend to go too OTT for me. They're not realistic enough for me nowadays. They try to smash the unrealistic into the real world and it just doesn't work for me.
I don't have a problem with CGI. To me it is simply a means to an end. People complain about films like DAD or Fantastic Four or the Star Wars prequels, and while it is certainly true that these films have alot of flaws, I think the problem is that they forgot to include screenplays, their performances were less than superb, and in the case of The Phantom Menace and DAD, the special effects were used to a negative effect. Regarding The Incredible Hulk, I think that, provided it is done well, the CGI is entirely appropiate as I think that anything else won't be as convincing.
Regarding the topic, summer movies don't bore me at all. Although (Hitman aside) I think the glory days of action films is over, at least for now; I still look forward to seeing the latest summer movies (such as IM, Indy 4 which I'm still yet to see, and several others which are yet to be released such as The Dark Knight.)
My tastes have become broader as I have grown older, but I will never lose my love for a high quality blockbuster.
What bothers me is something like the CGI para-sailing scene from DAD - a poorly executed and ill-conceived departure from the classic stuntwork that the Bond movies became famous for - or some of the OTT, CGI enhanced stunts from Die Hard IV, another film series that became successful because of the way previous entries were more grounded in the real world.
In a real stunt you may get a car roll over 2 or 3 times tops.With a CGI stunt, they roll it about 10 times,just because they can Excessivie.
Still,this wasn't a topic on the pros and cons of CGI it was whether we were bored with the Summer Blockbuster and for me that would appear to be the case.
Actually, Mama Mia is just about the only film I'm looking forward too
Sorry hollywood. But you don't need a gadzillion samolians and ten super computers to create an artful story/adventure. All you need is an imagination and a willing to believe.
Too much nitpicking and impatience for suspense to unravel in today's audiences has created these bloated and talentless movies. That, and too many hacks in the business.
At first glance, I thought you wrote 'a gadzillion Samoans'... I was beginning to wonder what aspect of Hollywood I was missing. ?:)
I guess it really depends upon whether you like The Hulk---if you're a fan of the comic book, or the TV show, or the previous film version, you'll probably enjoy it quite a lot. But if you think it's all naff from the get-go, best to save your money...
Loeff Jr, Loeff III and I all had a very good time at that one. Hulk is Loeff III's favourite comic book character.
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
What he said. If comic book films aren't your thing then you may want to look elsewhere, but if you enjoy a good action film you'll probably get some mileage out of it. Several AJB'ers have seen the movie and response so far has been 100% positive.
The Incredible Hulk may not be Lawrence of Arabia, but it is also superior to idiot plots like The Happening or vapid comedies like What Happens in Vegas - definitely not the kind of mindless summer movie that inspired this thread in the first place IMHO.