OT-Movies, Then and Now

[dvlvan26]

Hello Cousins!
I am off from school this summer. I start back in September as a Business student.

I read an article about movies in the latest issue of Time and I found it quite awful that Hollywood keeps remaking old movies done before and rehasing awful movies with terrible themes.

I am a movie lover, I mainly watch old films, not these newer films that have awful taste. I even saw Night of the Iguana with Grayson Hall a few months ago.

I watched a special last night about James Dean's legacy. He is one of my favorite actors on the old silver screen.

Even for me being a young adult, I think that today's movies are appauling and disturbing. Sometimes, I wonder when did Hollywood stop making good films.

Alright, cousins, please give your thoughts and feelings about old and new movies in general.

Love, dvlvan26

[CrazyJenny]

I love old movies too, but I think that there are still some good movies being made.  I mean I wouldn't compare Dude, Where's my car?? to Sunset Blvd, but I'm sure there were evn some clunkers made back in the days of "old hollywood".  My most recent favorite is Phantom of the Opera.  Gerard Butler is VERY handsome!

[Barnabas'sBride]

I like some old movies, I like some new movies. I'm open to anything if it seems interesting to me, whatever the age.

I agree though that there's a lot of mediocre/bad stuff out there, but I've felt that way for as long as I can remember.

CrazyJenny - I love The Phantom of the Opera too. Just picked up the DVD. Gerard Butler was fantastic, IMO. Another recent favorite of mine is Pirates of the Caribbean. I adore it.

[AMKR]

I'm actually pretty easy to please when it comes to horror movies. I love the new ones, I love the old ones, I love the silents, B & W's, etc...Hell, I even love the cheesy B-Movies and movies that most people say suck I find funny. I've only seen one or two horror movies that have truely dissapointed me one being Terror Toons.

[jeffreywj777]

What most people don't realize is that Hollywood has always cranked out a boatload of bad movies, even during the hey day of the studio system. We just have the benefit of replaying all the good films from that 100 year history. For every good film that is fondly remembered and replayed there is probably ten bad films that have been completely forgotten.

This is the case with television as well. For every successful and well loved series, how many get dumped or become summer replacement stock. The problem is only compounded by the continuing increase in entertainment outlets on cable. The fact of the matter is, there are only so many talented people available with way to many outlets to fill. The result is that most efforts are poorly executed and quickly forgotten.

Hollywood has always gone in big for redoing previous efforts. Many silent films were redone and updated when sound became available in the thirties, and these films were again redone in the forties. This is because successful films even when redone still bring in money. How many times has the "The Three Musketeers" or "The Four Feathers" been done in the movies or television. There is constant talk in Hollywood trade papers about people wanting to redo films like "Casablanca" or "East of Eden" with current stars. Part of this is out of respect for these masterpieces but part is also the money efforts like these could generate.

My take on this is that I rarely go see movies based on TV shows. The TV shows in question I probably saw as a kid and I want to keep my memories of them intact. Once in a while I may go see a redone film if they have an interesting actor or director involved so I can see there interpretation.

[Birdie]

I love the old movies and tend to watch a great deal of TCM and Fox Movie Channel.  There are a few movies that have come out that I have truly enjoyed in the last year  One is DE-LOVELY.  It was wonderfuly done and the Cole Porter music was and is still fantastic.  I also enjoyed Finding Neverland.  Dark Shadows is about all the horror I watch.  I don't go for too much blood and gore.  I do love suspense though.

I feel it is my duty to expose my kids to the great classic movies.  Not to mention the classic DS

Birdie

[nedstuart]

This is a very intersting OT that has been brought up. I am always telling my parents about how they don't make movies like they used to. Although I do like a few of the newer movies, nothing beats sitting back and watching an old B/W movie. In fact I would say I watch more older movies then I do the movies today. I love actors such as Joan Bennett, Jean Simmons, Joan Crawford, Joan Fontaine, James Stewart, Robert Mitchum. Some of my favorite directors are Hitchcock, Fritz Lang, Cecil B. DeMille.

Thanks for bringing this up.

Jeff