I keep meaning to seriously get into Noir films. I've watched Sunset Blvd. (and hundreds of Tim Burton films) among others but never get round to properly studying and identifying the Noir conventions (beyond the apparent cliches that is).
I just started watching the Spaghetti Westerns which I can't believe has taken me so long! The look, the music, the clothes, the whole "man with no name" thing, etc.
In the interest of a big old blog discussion - I don't want to ask what will ironically be the ageless question; "is cinema running out of ideas?" but rather enquire if anyone else feels that perhaps the latest "genre" is more so concentrated on the manner at which we view films as opposed to the fundamentals. I must admit I am quite eagerly awaiting Nicholas Cage's new film "Drive Angry 3D". No doubt a brainless mirage of violence and bad dialogue. I look forward to it because I know it will most likely be terrible!
The present days genre is dominated by superhero films, but I have to wonder when they will go out of fashion as all genres reach their highs and lows.
I'm not putting forward the best arguement here but I'm pretty hungover and can't be bothered writing much more, so I'm most likely going to sit and watch a big dumb film - now where's my Twilight DVD?
You are only looking at it from a mainstream popular perspective there are loads of good original independent films from the Uk and Abroad getting made all the time they just dont go to the cinema in carlisle.
Talkiing about original foreign films I cant wait to watched tetsuo 3 the bullet man! AND ITS IN ENGLISH WOOOOO! (sarcasm)
If you are getting into westerns you should really watch taxi driver!
and yeah but my point was about mainstream films. I would guess alot more people saw 2012 then sayyy Moon. (obviously not independant but a damn straight better and more original than 2012 (("It's Russian!"))
i only know of the independant films through constantly being on the internet and through people like you. To the average film fan i could argue its predominatly (genre wise) all about special effects, superheros, vampires and 3d
Yeah its worth watching again. Its considered a contemporary western (well at the time it was) the maverick gun slinger or taxi driver rides or drives into a frontier town in search of money and ends up saving the damsels in distress. I believe this is what Martin Fowler wrote his dissertation on comparing western films. Hes your man if you want to know more shit about them.
I saw Moon I thought it was fantastic and the twist in the story is great. I recommend people to watch it all the time but they never do. Its a good sci fi movie that isnt predictable.
As for 3D films they have been on the go since the 1920s the reason why they are so popular now because the technology behind it is ten million times better. For me though they are a shitty gimick to make people go see a shit film they normally wouldnt go see. Last one i saw at the cinema was the green hornet its an awright film quite funny but theres no need for it to be in 3D the only parts that are in 3d is the stuff in the background like post it notes and furniture.
I want to see a vampire superhero 3d movie I cant wait for Blade 3D!
Ugh, I don't even know where to start when replying to this bloody post... for the meantime I'll just say stop posting when you're drunk Nathan - and fuck Tim Burton! Don't even see how he fits into the noir genre. I really hope you weren't being serious!
There's a good noir called Kiss Me Deadly, which has some vicious moments. People kept call Brick a modern day noir and it's decent, see it if you can. Other than that, I know less about noirs than I do westerns...
Mainstream cinema isn't running out of ideas - it's rerunning out of ideas.
I think this idea of the mainstream is a geographical and language based one, as I'm sure that our mainstream is very different to say France, Sweden, India or South Korea and so concepts and ideas will be very different (maybe just as repetative or maybe not).
I also get the feeling that mainstream cinema is using 3D as a marketing ploy to generate more money in price of the tickets, as well as attempting to stop the piracy market from taking its green by producing an experience "only viewable in a cinema". As with so much, money is what controls and nothing 'new' or risky will be given a big budget and wide distribution in Hollywood because of fear of faliure in the revenue. That is unless you have a director/producer who has a proven record of achieving huge ecinomic success and that isn't often.
On a kind of related note I worry and wonder what will happen in the coming years to British film with the loss of the UK Film Council. When it is abolished it'll be a while until a film like The Kings Speech will be made and achieve such a level of mainstream success.
John - Nathan was clearly being sarcastic when mentioning Tim Burton as this is a reference to a certain artwork produced last year. The idea of posting a guide to film noir was also a joke in reference to the same artwork as it completely contrasts what was declared to be film noir.
As for mainstream cinema I generally don't care as I have the choice to avoid and stay home.
It's all a bit of a nightmare, not just for studio backed film projects but also independent ones for artists and independent filmmakers. And yes, I too believe the 3D trend is primarily a way to generate money that's been lost in other ways (for a start, it's projected digitally and the film can be stored on a regular hard drive - saves studios the costs of producing expensive and cumbersome film reels which get damaged over time and travel). I'd be interested to know who makes the decisions in the greater scheme of things for the public - the film studios, or the multiplex cinemas? Of course, I don't really know anything about the politics within the industry, I'm just making it up.
Either way, things will sort themselves out over time - first the VHS tape was seen as a danger to the industry before it ultimately got accepted, then downloading films in a digital format was seen as a danger before the industry gave in to that too, then YouTube came along and was seen as trouble before that became accepted...
I reckon the next big development in film and cinema will be what I call 'Database Generated Imagery'. With increasing internet speeds and hard drive sizes, as well as users sharing all their interests online, some geeky boffin will create an illegal program that assembles completely new movies tailored to an individual's tastes using a combination of their internet browsing history, existing music or movies that can be downloaded from torrent sites (or some ultimate search engine website that'll probably appear soon too?) then reshuffled pixel by pixel to make new images (a sort of visual equivalent of granular synthesis), and a bunch of other fancy things that I haven't even considered yet. Film directors and movie studios will be rendered obsolete as computers will be able to do it in no time at all and at no cost - just click a button, wait a few seconds, and voila! The greatest, most perfect, most personal film you've ever seen in your life unrolls before your very own eyes. I can't wait!
I keep meaning to seriously get into Noir films. I've watched Sunset Blvd. (and hundreds of Tim Burton films) among others but never get round to properly studying and identifying the Noir conventions (beyond the apparent cliches that is).
ReplyDeleteI just started watching the Spaghetti Westerns which I can't believe has taken me so long! The look, the music, the clothes, the whole "man with no name" thing, etc.
In the interest of a big old blog discussion - I don't want to ask what will ironically be the ageless question; "is cinema running out of ideas?" but rather enquire if anyone else feels that perhaps the latest "genre" is more so concentrated on the manner at which we view films as opposed to the fundamentals. I must admit I am quite eagerly awaiting Nicholas Cage's new film "Drive Angry 3D". No doubt a brainless mirage of violence and bad dialogue. I look forward to it because I know it will most likely be terrible!
The present days genre is dominated by superhero films, but I have to wonder when they will go out of fashion as all genres reach their highs and lows.
I'm not putting forward the best arguement here but I'm pretty hungover and can't be bothered writing much more, so I'm most likely going to sit and watch a big dumb film - now where's my Twilight DVD?
Nathan
You are only looking at it from a mainstream popular perspective there are loads of good original independent films from the Uk and Abroad getting made all the time they just dont go to the cinema in carlisle.
ReplyDeleteTalkiing about original foreign films I cant wait to watched tetsuo 3 the bullet man! AND ITS IN ENGLISH WOOOOO! (sarcasm)
If you are getting into westerns you should really watch taxi driver!
Craig
ahah seen it! worth watching again mind.
ReplyDeletedidnt even know there was tetsuo 2?!
and yeah but my point was about mainstream films. I would guess alot more people saw 2012 then sayyy Moon. (obviously not independant but a damn straight better and more original than 2012 (("It's Russian!"))
i only know of the independant films through constantly being on the internet and through people like you. To the average film fan i could argue its predominatly (genre wise) all about special effects, superheros, vampires and 3d
Yeah its worth watching again. Its considered a contemporary western (well at the time it was) the maverick gun slinger or taxi driver rides or drives into a frontier town in search of money and ends up saving the damsels in distress. I believe this is what Martin Fowler wrote his dissertation on comparing western films. Hes your man if you want to know more shit about them.
ReplyDeleteI saw Moon I thought it was fantastic and the twist in the story is great. I recommend people to watch it all the time but they never do. Its a good sci fi movie that isnt predictable.
As for 3D films they have been on the go since the 1920s the reason why they are so popular now because the technology behind it is ten million times better. For me though they are a shitty gimick to make people go see a shit film they normally wouldnt go see. Last one i saw at the cinema was the green hornet its an awright film quite funny but theres no need for it to be in 3D the only parts that are in 3d is the stuff in the background like post it notes and furniture.
I want to see a vampire superhero 3d movie I cant wait for Blade 3D!
PS STOP WATCHING TIM BURTON!
Ugh, I don't even know where to start when replying to this bloody post... for the meantime I'll just say stop posting when you're drunk Nathan - and fuck Tim Burton! Don't even see how he fits into the noir genre. I really hope you weren't being serious!
ReplyDeleteThere's a good noir called Kiss Me Deadly, which has some vicious moments. People kept call Brick a modern day noir and it's decent, see it if you can. Other than that, I know less about noirs than I do westerns...
Mainstream cinema isn't running out of ideas - it's rerunning out of ideas.
I think this idea of the mainstream is a geographical and language based one, as I'm sure that our mainstream is very different to say France, Sweden, India or South Korea and so concepts and ideas will be very different (maybe just as repetative or maybe not).
ReplyDeleteI also get the feeling that mainstream cinema is using 3D as a marketing ploy to generate more money in price of the tickets, as well as attempting to stop the piracy market from taking its green by producing an experience "only viewable in a cinema". As with so much, money is what controls and nothing 'new' or risky will be given a big budget and wide distribution in Hollywood because of fear of faliure in the revenue. That is unless you have a director/producer who has a proven record of achieving huge ecinomic success and that isn't often.
On a kind of related note I worry and wonder what will happen in the coming years to British film with the loss of the UK Film Council. When it is abolished it'll be a while until a film like The Kings Speech will be made and achieve such a level of mainstream success.
Kit
John - Nathan was clearly being sarcastic when mentioning Tim Burton as this is a reference to a certain artwork produced last year. The idea of posting a guide to film noir was also a joke in reference to the same artwork as it completely contrasts what was declared to be film noir.
ReplyDeleteAs for mainstream cinema I generally don't care as I have the choice to avoid and stay home.
Craig
It's all a bit of a nightmare, not just for studio backed film projects but also independent ones for artists and independent filmmakers. And yes, I too believe the 3D trend is primarily a way to generate money that's been lost in other ways (for a start, it's projected digitally and the film can be stored on a regular hard drive - saves studios the costs of producing expensive and cumbersome film reels which get damaged over time and travel). I'd be interested to know who makes the decisions in the greater scheme of things for the public - the film studios, or the multiplex cinemas? Of course, I don't really know anything about the politics within the industry, I'm just making it up.
ReplyDeleteEither way, things will sort themselves out over time - first the VHS tape was seen as a danger to the industry before it ultimately got accepted, then downloading films in a digital format was seen as a danger before the industry gave in to that too, then YouTube came along and was seen as trouble before that became accepted...
I reckon the next big development in film and cinema will be what I call 'Database Generated Imagery'. With increasing internet speeds and hard drive sizes, as well as users sharing all their interests online, some geeky boffin will create an illegal program that assembles completely new movies tailored to an individual's tastes using a combination of their internet browsing history, existing music or movies that can be downloaded from torrent sites (or some ultimate search engine website that'll probably appear soon too?) then reshuffled pixel by pixel to make new images (a sort of visual equivalent of granular synthesis), and a bunch of other fancy things that I haven't even considered yet. Film directors and movie studios will be rendered obsolete as computers will be able to do it in no time at all and at no cost - just click a button, wait a few seconds, and voila! The greatest, most perfect, most personal film you've ever seen in your life unrolls before your very own eyes. I can't wait!
D'oh, I completely missed that joke - just like he couldn't remember a certain word to describe something...
ReplyDelete