regarding the butthurt, there’s someone on here who is rather butthurt and likes to express it.
regarding the movie, I have not seen it recently but I am a film buff. It was part of my film education in the 90s, so i have recommendations for a few different people
if you’re into film (you want to make it or you just want to watch a lot or maybe all of it), absolutely yes watch it. There’s stuff in there worth picking apart and figuring out what they did. What appeals to you might be different than what appealed to me, so go into The Great Movies (or even just ones you hear are good) as fresh and unbiased as you can so you can form your own opinion and see what you want to learn out of them. As soon as you’ve decided to see something, ignore everyone about the film, no trailers (unless you’ve decided you want to make trailers i guess, i hadn’t considered that) and go see it. Then once you’ve made up your mind, go ask us nerds what we think and tell us you JUST SAW IT we will be so excited. Half of us will run off to our little homemade movie caves and watch it again just so we can keep up with the conversation.
If you just kind of like movies and are getting into them as a hobby: what can it hurt? if it doesn’t grab you, you can always turn it off. THIS IS A GOOD THING TO PRACTICE [note to self] since the only real commodity you have is time.
if you don’t like movies and are just looking to make noise on the TV while doing chores or something: i mean why are you asking? just turn it on and do chores. I don’t remember loud explosions.
Okay, I don’t know if it sounds bad but I saw the Taking of Pelham 1-2-3 (2009) with John Travolta and Denzel Washington. I can’t say I enjoyed it but I didn’t dislike it either.
I actually didn’t know there was a 1970s version. It’s definitely on my list! Thanks!
I’m around the age group that connects to it, but I simply never saw it at that age, so it totally missed me. A lot of people around me did, and have a strong affinity for it because they connected with it while in high school.
It’s worth a watch just to know what other people are talking about. Objectively, it’s well-made and tells an interesting story. That being said, you’re probably not going to connect with it. It’s a product of its time and the social issues affecting mostly Gen X kids. Exploration of young people’s personal traumas and issues was, at the time, sort of novel. Today it might seem trite and surface-level.
It’s a little bit like the movie St. Elmo’s Fire, where it’s a “one of each type of people” ensemble movie before that became an over-used trope, haled as a classic, but if you don’t connect to the characters or the time, it’s easy for it to overshoot you entirely on an emotional level.
I’m an 80s kid (so barely Gen X) but I did miss a lot of movies … didn’t have the ability to see whatever movie I wanted at my age. However, there’s been so many references to these “formative” movies I’ve noticed throughout the decades … so recently, I don’t know what’s wrong with me but instead of going through a lot of the soulness Netflix movies (yes, I know there are a LOT of gems too) … what I’ve decided to do is watch a lot of these classics and then I watch YouTube analysis/review videos of them. So even though I may not get to see people talk about the impact it had on them.
You just listed St Elmo’s Fire so I may have to add that to my list.
Understood. We’re probably about the same age then, and might have grown up in similar circumstances. I missed maybe half of those same “formative” movies. Goonies. Dark Crystal. Labyrinth. Flight of the Navigator. Karate Kid. Breakfast Club, the ones I can think of off hand. Simply never saw them, or never saw more than 10-15 min of them until I was an adult.
It sounds like you’re being thoughtful about this, which is great. Many are worth watching since they’re well made on top of their cultural significance. And Netflix doesn’t have that many gems. Don’t feel bad about what you’re doing, you’re doing it right.
And At. Elmo’s Fire is maybe a curiosity at best. I didn’t care for it much, but the 80s had some terrible fear of Yuppies, and it was basically the Breakfast Club dynamics in a post-high school world. Who goes to college, who drops out, who gets a job, who stays cool, who becomes the dreaded Yuppie. Meh. It was fine as a Brat Pack cultural artifact and not much else, IMO.
Hmm, at this point it is a period piece. It struck a chord in its day because it captured pieces of teenage life and the culture of its time period that were relateable for many people. There are representative character archetypes that are timeless, and at its core it is a coming-of-age story that is always relevant, but the culture that it is set in is now the past and may not feel as relatable if you’re younger and/or not American.
If you are a movie enthusiast, it is worth watching because it has well-written characters, because it is a highly referenced piece, and because it is representative of its time period.
Thanks for your insight. I watched Ghost In The Shell this year as a part of my blast of the past viewings. I felt if I watched it closer to when it came out I would have had my mind blown. Now, I’m still impressed with what they came out with but I definitely can’t appreciate it in the same way.
I’ve also noticed how some older movies can feel quite sexist or abusive towards women. However I still like watching them regardless. I still like seeing what the zeitgeist was at the time. I think Breakfast Club has a lot of pop culture references to it as well and I enjoy catching up on those (albeit decades late).
There’s so many movies that pierce the cultural barrier lately (or it could be my lack of keeping up) so I enjoy seeing it. So I’ll keep what you said in mind! 🫡
On the topic of Ghost in the Shell (assuming you mean the original 1995 animated version, not the 2017 live action) I want to point out that it helped establish the cyberpunk genre, and was an inspiration for many works that came after (such as The Matrix). If the ideas presented in it didn’t feel so compelling to you, it is probably because you were already exposed to them through other media which drew from GitS originally. I think the animation still holds up well today, and the music is masterful.
I think it’s also important to understand that at the end of the movie, Motoko’s origin (human or artificial) is uncertain, and this is intentionally unresolvable. Without the ambiguity, the conflict between Motoko and the Puppet Master doesn’t matter, and the conversations they have don’t make sense. The story hinges around Motoko’s humanity.
Don’t watch the live action version, it completely misunderstands and abuses the source material.
I’ve also noticed how some older movies can feel quite sexist or abusive towards women.
This is certainly true, and I think it’s important to watch those examples in order to understand where we came from, and how we got to where we are today, and to help identify similar behaviors in the present. When you grow up with something it seems normal, but seeing the same thing in a less familiar context can break it loose from that perceived normalcy and make the problem more obvious. When you notice those problems in older media, take them as lessons.
It’s also worth noting that acting as a profession has long been a home for progressive thinking. I think this is because portraying different characters in a believable way requires the examination of human behavior. In order to play a bad, antisocial character on the stage you must observe and study bad, antisocial behavior. Acting becomes reflective of human society.
The point being that some (some, not all) of the examples of sexism or abusiveness that you’re referring to are intentionally so. That behavior was not included in the plot by accident. Writers and actors put them into their stories as a commentary on the social norms of the time when the work was made. Portraying them for an audience made the problem visible, it held a mirror up to society, it made people talk about it, it forced people to address it in some manner rather than continue to ignore it. If it seems less relevant in the present, that is because society became aware of itself, and the behavior changed.
I’ve never seen the Breakfast Club. I went through some oldies recently like: Cape Fear, Chinatown, The Thing, Primal Fear, Airplane …
Anyone that’s seen it, can you tell me if it’s still worth catching up?
[edit] lol why the downvote … I’ve expressed no opinions? [/edit]
regarding the butthurt, there’s someone on here who is rather butthurt and likes to express it.
regarding the movie, I have not seen it recently but I am a film buff. It was part of my film education in the 90s, so i have recommendations for a few different people
if you’re into film (you want to make it or you just want to watch a lot or maybe all of it), absolutely yes watch it. There’s stuff in there worth picking apart and figuring out what they did. What appeals to you might be different than what appealed to me, so go into The Great Movies (or even just ones you hear are good) as fresh and unbiased as you can so you can form your own opinion and see what you want to learn out of them. As soon as you’ve decided to see something, ignore everyone about the film, no trailers (unless you’ve decided you want to make trailers i guess, i hadn’t considered that) and go see it. Then once you’ve made up your mind, go ask us nerds what we think and tell us you JUST SAW IT we will be so excited. Half of us will run off to our little homemade movie caves and watch it again just so we can keep up with the conversation.
If you just kind of like movies and are getting into them as a hobby: what can it hurt? if it doesn’t grab you, you can always turn it off. THIS IS A GOOD THING TO PRACTICE [note to self] since the only real commodity you have is time.
if you don’t like movies and are just looking to make noise on the TV while doing chores or something: i mean why are you asking? just turn it on and do chores. I don’t remember loud explosions.
The best movie ever made about New York City.
Frank Costanza is the quiet voice of intelligence and compassion.
https://youtu.be/lFl_XI3H1Z0
The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3
Okay, I don’t know if it sounds bad but I saw the Taking of Pelham 1-2-3 (2009) with John Travolta and Denzel Washington. I can’t say I enjoyed it but I didn’t dislike it either.
I actually didn’t know there was a 1970s version. It’s definitely on my list! Thanks!
I tried to watch the Denzel version and gave up about 20 minutes in.
Trust me, the original will blow you away.
I’m around the age group that connects to it, but I simply never saw it at that age, so it totally missed me. A lot of people around me did, and have a strong affinity for it because they connected with it while in high school.
It’s worth a watch just to know what other people are talking about. Objectively, it’s well-made and tells an interesting story. That being said, you’re probably not going to connect with it. It’s a product of its time and the social issues affecting mostly Gen X kids. Exploration of young people’s personal traumas and issues was, at the time, sort of novel. Today it might seem trite and surface-level.
It’s a little bit like the movie St. Elmo’s Fire, where it’s a “one of each type of people” ensemble movie before that became an over-used trope, haled as a classic, but if you don’t connect to the characters or the time, it’s easy for it to overshoot you entirely on an emotional level.
I’m an 80s kid (so barely Gen X) but I did miss a lot of movies … didn’t have the ability to see whatever movie I wanted at my age. However, there’s been so many references to these “formative” movies I’ve noticed throughout the decades … so recently, I don’t know what’s wrong with me but instead of going through a lot of the soulness Netflix movies (yes, I know there are a LOT of gems too) … what I’ve decided to do is watch a lot of these classics and then I watch YouTube analysis/review videos of them. So even though I may not get to see people talk about the impact it had on them.
You just listed St Elmo’s Fire so I may have to add that to my list.
Understood. We’re probably about the same age then, and might have grown up in similar circumstances. I missed maybe half of those same “formative” movies. Goonies. Dark Crystal. Labyrinth. Flight of the Navigator. Karate Kid. Breakfast Club, the ones I can think of off hand. Simply never saw them, or never saw more than 10-15 min of them until I was an adult.
It sounds like you’re being thoughtful about this, which is great. Many are worth watching since they’re well made on top of their cultural significance. And Netflix doesn’t have that many gems. Don’t feel bad about what you’re doing, you’re doing it right.
And At. Elmo’s Fire is maybe a curiosity at best. I didn’t care for it much, but the 80s had some terrible fear of Yuppies, and it was basically the Breakfast Club dynamics in a post-high school world. Who goes to college, who drops out, who gets a job, who stays cool, who becomes the dreaded Yuppie. Meh. It was fine as a Brat Pack cultural artifact and not much else, IMO.
Hmm, at this point it is a period piece. It struck a chord in its day because it captured pieces of teenage life and the culture of its time period that were relateable for many people. There are representative character archetypes that are timeless, and at its core it is a coming-of-age story that is always relevant, but the culture that it is set in is now the past and may not feel as relatable if you’re younger and/or not American.
If you are a movie enthusiast, it is worth watching because it has well-written characters, because it is a highly referenced piece, and because it is representative of its time period.
The soundtrack is pretty great also.
“Don’t You (Forget About Me)” might be the best '80s song ever, complete with the band (Simple Minds) originally hating the song.
Thanks for your insight. I watched Ghost In The Shell this year as a part of my blast of the past viewings. I felt if I watched it closer to when it came out I would have had my mind blown. Now, I’m still impressed with what they came out with but I definitely can’t appreciate it in the same way.
I’ve also noticed how some older movies can feel quite sexist or abusive towards women. However I still like watching them regardless. I still like seeing what the zeitgeist was at the time. I think Breakfast Club has a lot of pop culture references to it as well and I enjoy catching up on those (albeit decades late). There’s so many movies that pierce the cultural barrier lately (or it could be my lack of keeping up) so I enjoy seeing it. So I’ll keep what you said in mind! 🫡
You’re welcome.
On the topic of Ghost in the Shell (assuming you mean the original 1995 animated version, not the 2017 live action) I want to point out that it helped establish the cyberpunk genre, and was an inspiration for many works that came after (such as The Matrix). If the ideas presented in it didn’t feel so compelling to you, it is probably because you were already exposed to them through other media which drew from GitS originally. I think the animation still holds up well today, and the music is masterful.
I think it’s also important to understand that at the end of the movie, Motoko’s origin (human or artificial) is uncertain, and this is intentionally unresolvable. Without the ambiguity, the conflict between Motoko and the Puppet Master doesn’t matter, and the conversations they have don’t make sense. The story hinges around Motoko’s humanity.
Don’t watch the live action version, it completely misunderstands and abuses the source material.
This is certainly true, and I think it’s important to watch those examples in order to understand where we came from, and how we got to where we are today, and to help identify similar behaviors in the present. When you grow up with something it seems normal, but seeing the same thing in a less familiar context can break it loose from that perceived normalcy and make the problem more obvious. When you notice those problems in older media, take them as lessons.
It’s also worth noting that acting as a profession has long been a home for progressive thinking. I think this is because portraying different characters in a believable way requires the examination of human behavior. In order to play a bad, antisocial character on the stage you must observe and study bad, antisocial behavior. Acting becomes reflective of human society.
The point being that some (some, not all) of the examples of sexism or abusiveness that you’re referring to are intentionally so. That behavior was not included in the plot by accident. Writers and actors put them into their stories as a commentary on the social norms of the time when the work was made. Portraying them for an audience made the problem visible, it held a mirror up to society, it made people talk about it, it forced people to address it in some manner rather than continue to ignore it. If it seems less relevant in the present, that is because society became aware of itself, and the behavior changed.
2017 gits is just RoboCop with an Asian skin.
Which cultural elements have gone?
Big hair, muscle cars, oversized sweaters, hair bands, etc.
Classic teenage movie.