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i thought I was the only one who felt this way. I just sat through the latest transformers movie and firmly believe it was written by an 8 year old with attention deficit disorder. At the end of the movie I kept expecting something to happen to tie everything together and make sense of the jumbled mess.
Sadly, many movies are unable to live up to the hype which must be ever more awesome to bring people to come to the theaters.
This is why you pick and choose. Yes, you get some bad picks, but you better your chances
This is why you pick and choose. Yes, you get some bad picks, but you better your chances
Mike, even the mindless action flicks of the 90s had a semblance of a coherent plot and story because studios weren't as desperate for billion dollar box office success and a plethora of other considerations such as international appeal, tent pole films, over the top product placement, etc.
These days films are all over the map. And yes I agree these days you have to carefully choose your entertainiment whereas back then you could somewhat rely on a film being somewhat coherent albeit mindless.
Comedians - a couple made me laugh in my teens, but now I find them all boring. There's something about attaching the "comedy" label that instantly makes me think "canned humor" (which I guess is what comedy is). I remember watching movies with friends or at school and it seemed like everyone instantly laughed during certain scenes, but I had absolutely no reaction. I would often fake a laugh to not seem too weird. Kevin Hart, Dane Cook, Will Ferrell, Louis C.K., Schumer, etc - hearing them makes me want to start clawing my eye out.
I also find about 90% movies and 95% of popular tv shows to be unentertaining. Most of my friends can talk non-stop about tons of tv shows and movies. In the last 10 years the only tv show I've watched was Breaking Bad (watched it all 4 months ago in about two weeks). After watching that I was craving more, but couldn't stand to watch more than 1 episode of anything else I tried. I have absolutely nothing on TV that I MUST watch - if I'm flipping through I'll typically stop at the news, Shark Tank, American Greed, Lockup, 600lb Life, Intervention or sports.
So are there any other people like me who aren't easily entertained like 99% of people seem to be? In some ways it's a blessing because you get more done, but in some ways it's a curse because you don't get the all the joy of being entertained.
BTW - I've never downloaded any music either. The only music I listen to is a little bit of country on the radio while driving. I know almost nothing about who sings what or who's in what band. This is another conversation killer when talking to people because everyone loves music.
Is an area of my brain not functioning?
I am just like you on the TV and movie side. Everything is just blah. However I enjoy all kinds of music: rock, country, jazz, blues, soul, pop, classical, etc.
I also don't connect with characters anymore, especially in comedies. I don't even recognize the people in those comedy or rom com movies in real life. I've never met people that annoying, insufferably yuppie, insecure, lost in life or debauched. It's as though writers live in a bubble between NYC and LA and forgot what regular people were like and what regular life was about. Regular life = urban yuppie/hipster with serious emotional issues.
I think this sums up the current status of Hollywood quite nicely.
I figured it was about time that someone would chime in with their counter-counter culture narrative that because there was schlock back then that we shouldn't criticize the utter crap that mainstream media has succumbed to today. In the main, the standards have been lowered to market to endless array of over the top ridiculousness in search of a tent pole franchise. In their pursuit the writing takes a back seat and we get insultingly bad writing, plots and stories.
There are still good movies and good tv I agree but in the mainstream especially as far as for the summer flicks, it's mind numbingly bad. This is near universal feeling that quality has sunk in the main and I don't get the reaction that says otherwise. Do you think people are being more hipster than thou by pointing this out?
A lot of people, not all, are just less entertained by the stuff out there because they know the movie itself isn't the end product anymore. Things are written with the expectation that there will be sequels, reboots, spin offs, the carreer launch of a certain actor or actress, promote rides at Disney, etc, etc. I mean the product placement alone is just over the top ridiculous. We've gone from the kid in ET eating recess pieces to Batman finding a perfectly nice looking jeep in the middle of a war zone to use. I saw it Avengers Age of Ultron too.
Complaining about schlock today is fine.
Just don't think or pretend that popular entertainment hasn't mostly been schlock.
OP, how old are you? This could just be generational. I'm sure our parents thought the same thing. Times change, people change, tastes change.
I'm close to 30.
I liked a lot of "adult" movies in the 90s when I was a kid, but the last 10-12 years have been pretty blah. The only TV shows I've watched in the last 10 years are Breaking Bad and the first 10 or so episodes of Walking Dead. I tried many others but was bored after 1-2 episodes. I don't like any of the currently popular comedians. The last comedian I really laughed at was probably Dave Chappell back in the early 2000s. I also thought movies like Road Trip (found Tom Green hilarious in the 90s) and The Hangover were funny at the time. Borat made me laugh for a few weeks when he came out.
No one needs to defend not liking, being bored by, and finding desperately uninteresting low common denominator offerings because one has an interest in more artistic, deeper works of art.
Things are pretty grim at the movies these days unless you're a teenage boy. Pop music the same, for teenage girls. I too find most standup comedy boring and obvious.
There is, however, is a sort of golden age of TV going on these days. "Breaking Bad" was pretty good -- same for the prequel, "Better Call Saul." But also, the TV version of "Fargo." And then "Orphan Black," "Animal Kingdom," "Humans," "Turn," "Black Mirror," "Walking Dead" (off and on), "Louie," "Wolf Hall," "Young Pope," "Atlanta," "The Knick," "Vikings" ... YMMV.
It seems like a lot of talent has migrated from film to "cable TV." Network TV remains dreadful, however.
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I think this sums up the current status of Hollywood quite nicely.
