just saw the Hurt Locker...

[Megas Methuselah]

Always best to get your information from a trusted source....

Yeah.

[Prussian to the Iron]

whatever; maybe i'm not some artsy-fartsy critic who takes totally hidden meanings out of stuff, but I do think I can represent the common intellectual; I don't give a damn about hidden meanings, I want a good movie.

[Subotan]

Hidden meanings make a good movie. That's why There Will Be Blood is such an amazingly superb movie.

[Prussian to the Iron]

how so? they are hidden. I want to go to a movie, and come out saying "That was AWESOME!!!!......with a pretty good story." like Gladiator, or Troy. both great movies, both enjoyable to everyone.

I don't care about the themes or meanings in a movie or story, I just want a good story with some kickass action.

[Subotan]

how so? they are hidden.

Exactly. If I wanted movies where the message was clearly spelled out for me, I'd watch Disney movies.

I want to go to a movie, and come out saying "That was AWESOME!!!!......with a pretty good story."

Me too. I just put more emphasis on the latter.

like Gladiator, or Troy. both great movies,

Gladiator is OK. But Troy makes a mockery of Homer's poem, verging on insult.

both great movies, both enjoyable to everyone.

Interesting. I never knew my own taste in films was not my own.

I don't care about the themes or meanings in a movie or story. I just want a good story with some kickass action.

You're missing out then. You've just shut yourself of from most of artistic cinema. Besides, there are plenty of films which have great fighting scenes and amazing plots. Oldboy comes to mind, as does any film with Lupin III.

[CountArach]

whatever; maybe i'm not some artsy-fartsy critic who takes totally hidden meanings out of stuff, but I do think I can represent the common intellectual; I don't give a damn about hidden meanings, I want a good movie.

Que?

Out of interest Prussian Iron, did you see District 9? If so what did you think?

[Megas Methuselah]

Intellectual?

[Aemilius Paulus]

Okay, the temperature of the thread is rising , and while Subotan's criticism is correct, there is the other side of it as well...

As for myself, I do not watch he telly, and rarely a film. Mostly the oldies - generally pre-1980s. CGI and other special effects pay well, but too little focus is spent on the story, as Subo said. Before these times, special effects were special and rare. Making a film based on them was an absurdity. Sure, Industrial Light and Magic changed a great deal, along with earlier Hitchcock, but for the most part, films had to be moulded from other things. Such as a great story-play.

All that said, just as heinous as the 'story? what story - we have special [sic] effects!' side, you also have the small segment of wannabe-sophisticados - or whatever you call them (not you Subo, but such people do exist). I personally think Gladiator was rather shoddy too, but its emotional and most importantly, historical (Rome, Rome!), drama made it quite appealing to me, even if in reality it was a mediocre film. As for Troy, well - what Subotan said. Right. But let's not bash films simply because they fail to live up to our standards. This 'I am so sophisticated' stuff makes me queasy, even if it is mostly true (most films are crap - and only time can truly filter the best from the not-so).


Prussian Iron has his interest, and you and me, Subo, have ours. It is not always about how smart or sophisticated a person is - what sort of films we prefer does not have to correspond with our personality. Like anything in life, it is complicated. All people have different expectations about films. Some, such as me (and from what I understand, Subotan) want the film to have an underlying message (Cool Hand Luke, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest to name my favourites), a solid story, un-cliched and clipped dialogue. Perhaps a sort of a satire as well (Dr. Strangelove).

Yet there are others, such as my mother, who would rather have an emotional drama, or romance (how incidentally stereotypical). Or my father, whose choice would be a comedy to lighten up the mood. Or an action film, like PI said. My mother, well, she is a woman, what can I say. My father is a lawyer, and while he likes what he does, the stress is high, and he simply wants to have a laugh. He is not a shallow, superficial, and frivolous - but from some of his movie picks, one may deduce that.

Prussian Iron is a teenager who is interested in military history, TW, CoD - he prefers to see something with historical or military action.

We all have our expectations which we seek in television. Books satisfy most of my so-called 'intellectual' needs, and so I play games such as TW, EB, AoE, EE, Anno series, RoN, etc on the computer. Am I a mindless video-game addict? I hope not, but in comparison to my uncle, who plays only those indecipherable, abstract puzzle games, I am. Is PI what you are implying simply because he watches those films? No. Television is simply not his medium for that so-called sophistication. Just as computer games are not my medium for that same substance.

[Megas Methuselah]

What??

[Aemilius Paulus]

What??

Tehehehee. You will never guess

[miotas]

I like seeing get blown up as much as the next bloke, but I don't like movies in which that is the main focus, I much prefer something that makes me laugh or think.