This post is all about your tastes in movies and how those tastes and appetites have changed over the years.

Did your tastes radically change at any point? Did your interest in movies and film culture / criticism increase or decrease? If so, did that change happen during or after a life-altering event (graduation from high-school, turning 18, getting access to a DVD player / Netflix / art-house theater)

its like even supposedly good movies leave me unsatisfied

i think the binge watching of shows on the net has ruined me

Also, I see WAY less movies now. I won't even entertain the idea unless it is supposed to be very good or has a trailer that really intrigues me. I've gotten extremely picky.

i can't tell if the itch is gone or it if somehow changed but my interest in movies these days is near zero, with the exception of documentaries, especially those focused on nature or science

i think this is partially due to tv having become the superior storytelling medium (at least long-form) and partially due to the fact that video games are getting to the point where they give me what movies used to give me (well-designed/carefully considered visual and audio stimulation, mostly, with the occasional good/interesting story) and video games have the added effect of being interactive and therefore scratching a larger, more pleasing-to-scratch itch (there is science behind this: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/129948/the_chemistry_of_game_design.php?page=2)

currently i see movies as short stories or novellas and i see tv series as novels. i've never really liked short stories. i'd much rather get more in depth with a novel. maybe in a few years my opinion will change

just wish studio execs would take more chances on scripts that go against the norm.

totally agree with the Tv comments already made in here by the way!
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"You can win with certainty with the spirit of "one cut". "Musashi Miyamoto

in 2000, when i was 17 and had a summer job, i started a project of a checklist of videos i wanted to rent (the oldest version archived is from a year into it at http://web.archive.org/web/20010412083543/http://howisya.tripod.com/film.html). i had disposable income and lived within walking distance from a hollywood video, where i always brought a printout of my list, and more importantly film went from something i might try to see to something that became works of art (or really notable entertainment) i needed to experience. my options expanded further a year later when i went to college and had access to the library with free video borrowing. then i didn't even have to spend money or walk that far to see a lot of classics and popular movies of yesteryear. with access, my tastes in film expanded not unlike my tastes in music expanded with internet access years earlier. when i graduated in 2005 and signed up for netflix, where i could rent pretty much anything with ease, it was game over. the only difference is i rarely ever rewatch old movies, i mostly watch things for the first time because there's so much i want to see.

i don't watch much tv for practical reasons, not because i disagree with all of you praising the quality of it these days.

Then I started going to art-house theatres at age 24 (by myself).
Now, most films today seem trite.
I like some tv series today. Not everything thats being hyped.

Even the ones that are touted as great movies aren't that good.

I finally got around to watching Silver Lining Playbook and thoroughly enjoyed it. Then I realize that it was an oscar nominee and won all sorts of awards and felt disappointed because it really wasn't THAT good.

One thing that happens when get older you can really do reach a point where you have seen it all before.

Also as the medium of film gets older, there are objective less and less new and innovative things you can do with it.



I've accepted that being blown away by movies like I use probably won't happen very often anymore. Thank god for TV.


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"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

I find there are dozens of new films every year I thoroughly enjoy. Many of them aren't Oscar nominated (Silver Linings is a great example, a film that left me lukewarm the first time and left me feeling icky the second time), therein lies the problem. You really have to search for them. It's a big reason why I'm trying to get acquainted with more foreign filmmakers-- to open my world up that much more, as I'm starting to see so much terrific work I missed from the last several years because I'm too focused on exclusively American cinema.

I also disagree that watching more films leaves me more jaded about new films. If anything, they only reinforce to me the staying power of strong storytelling and imagery. I just saw for the first time Bob Le Flambeur, from 1956. That didn't make me think at any point, "Man, they don't make em like they did in in 1956 anymore," it made me appreciate that nearly sixty years later, this film still feels as fresh as it probably did then. Hundreds of movies were made in world cinema in 1956, and only the few greats remain remembered by most. I think that's how every years is: sure, not every year has a Bob Le Flambeur or a The Searchers... but 1956 didn't have a Spring Breakers, a Before Midnight, a Computer Chess, a Pacific Rim. I don't want filmmakers to "make em like they used to," since I think that's sort of bullshit fueled by revisionist history and selective memory. Fifty-seven years from now, I bet they'll look at the greats from this year that have stood the test of time, forget about the Getaways and the Hangover 3s, and say, "Man, they don't make em like they did in 2013 anymore."

And to further reinforce the point about the Oscars being a lousy indicator of greatness, 1956 lives on in The Searchers and Bob Le Flambeur, who didn't win big Oscars. Few people still cyse Around the World in 80 Days anymore, yet at the time, the voters embraced the film with the big cast and the spectacle. Maybe the present Academy isn't so different from the old Academy after all.

I appreciate that !
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"You can win with certainty with the spirit of "one cut". "Musashi Miyamoto

I used to be all about the foreign and independent films. Maybe because I have real life probems now, and just want a bit of escapism.

when i was really young, i was all about mainstream movies anyway, and i never really stopped watching them, but when i was 17-25 i saw so many classics and foreign films that now i focus more on the forgotten gems and the popcorn movies i was too young or not alive for. not only are they entertaining, but also they help me unwind. i can appreciate them for the story, what if anything they brought to the genre at the time, etc., but i can also turn off or at least down the part of my brain that i engage the classics and foreign films with.

Now, I actively avoid things I know I'm not gonna like. Don't care if I'm missing something big, I know what things challenge and entertain me as a viewer.... and I know that anything involving British Aristocracy, awards or not, is not it. lol

I mean, that's just an example. But for the most part, I can't do Oscar fodder. It's just not for me. And I don't mean across the board. But you can smell the projects that seem like feature length versions of joke movies in EXTRAS. That's what I avoid.

I could always be blown away as a youngster by the skills of John Carpenter ("Escape from New York", "The Thing") or John Landis ("Animal House", "The Blues Brothers", "Trading Places") or George Romero ("Dawn of the dead", "Creepshow"), Martin Scorsese ("Mean Streets", "Taxi Driver")

but by the mid-90's it would seem I would have to really be on the extreme look-out for something to really blow me away (Wim Wenders "The Million Dollar Hotel", Gary Auerbach "Just your luck").

from being a kid in the 70's/80's, I just had the view very strongly around 77-84 that those adults who make movies, comic books, cartoons, etc. really WENT BEYOND ANYTHING THAT WAS ...eh.....

by 85, there was so much ".....eh...." around in all those aforementioned creative fields that there was a serious disconnect in me.

I went from being someone who told parents and family members I wanted to be a director and had my sights on NYU (and actually was accepted into NYU - I didn't go), to being someone who just didn't "feel it" about film anymore.

Some would say this is about "not wanting to look diligently for good stuff" but when an atmosphere is around, like the atmosphere of 70's to early 80's, the loss of that atmosphere will be felt. I definitely felt the loss.

Same exact thing happened to the field of music. Music was hot almost top to bottom. Nirvana hit and hip-hop was massive. Record stores etc. were all over and doing serious profits. I wanted in so bad I used to go into office buildings in Manhattan trying to talk myself into a music industry job (you could really get into an office building in Manhattan back then - early - mid 90's, as opposed to now where a person is stopped at the security desk). I worked at Tower Records village NYC and even a low level music industry job at RED Distribution (Bone Thugs and Harmony "the crossroads" was a big record RED worked on when I was there).

but, as we know, the music industry and record stores fell off and now the atmosphere just isn't there. So, another loss felt painfully.

I'm not nearly as adventurous as I once was regarding foreign and off-beat independent films

Then again, I'm no longer able to sit up in an equipment room and watch movies all day like I once was able to

I'll still catch the occasional foreign film or two, especially around awards season, and/or if the good folks here highly recommend something that's out...

My movie watching as a whole has dropped off a little, but that should be rectified with the fall movie season... I look forward to pissing more niggas off with my thoughts, or lack thereof... *grins*

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But Zootown, black people and media, so...

still get semi-excited for blockbusters now and again, but mostly I go in with low expectations. Have found that a lot of the foreign flicks that make it to US distribution are on average more satisfying to me (recent examples, just in the past month: The Hunt, A Hijacking, The Wall) than what Hollywood puts out.
Also try to prioritize older movies when I can. I love it when the museum here gets a good print of an old flick I haven't seen. That's how I discovered Pierre Etaix or Yilmaz Guney in the past year for example.

TV is good these days but I try not to watch it everyday so I'll watch 1-2 shows at one time at most. Have also cut down on sports a ton, there's just too much of it that's filler.

I used to be a fiend for superhero flicks until recently, i feel like there is an overabundance now. Also, starting somewhere like 3 or so years ago, my appetite for sci-fi steadily grew. I was always into sci-fi but as of lately, im straight up feending some good scifi. It always tends to change, I went through comedy stage, to anime stage, to horror. I know that I will always be into good adventure, but im straight up scouring sources for good scifi. Oh yeah, like stated before me, Im alot more into tv now, thanks to great shows

It's part of why I think I enjoy a lot of older movies now, from back in the studio system days. Shit was snappy.

the last Sight & Sound poll impacted me greatly. I've always watched a fair share of movies --indies, classics, and foreign included -- but the scope of that list made me realize how much I hadn't been exposed to.

I also see a ton more new releases. my local theaters are much more diverse than I'd previously been around, and I'm now seeking movies outside of social occasions (try asking a date or friends to see "Shame" with you...).

>(try asking a date
>or friends to see "Shame" with you...).

Perfect movie to see with your sister.

I'm now
>seeking movies outside of social occasions (try asking a date
>or friends to see "Shame" with you...).

Once I got over that "try to gather a group to see a flick with you" thing, I got to be so much more adventurous in what I would try to see.

>I'm now
>>seeking movies outside of social occasions (try asking a
>date
>>or friends to see "Shame" with you...).

took someone with me to see the skin i'm in

i enjoyed that movie so much

person i was with...well it was an experience lol

>Once I got over that "try to gather a group to see a flick
>with you" thing, I got to be so much more adventurous in what
>I would try to see.

ah this
some movies are def group movies
blockbusters etc

but the independent ones?
or film fests for the most part i'm on my on and its for the best
too much coordination and i miss the movie i wanted to see
and that it majorly irritating
thing is i forget to set calendars and miss the purchase time for festivals so it does help to go with someone to remind me
sigh*
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When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. Live so that when you die, you rejoice, and the world cries.
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You cannot hate people for their own good.

i can admit i watch more independents now because i have better access to knowing about them now (thanks shadow and act)
previously it was mainly blockbusters and scifi/fantasy type films as my mainstay

i seem to have fallen off my merchant ivory kick majorly
~~~~
When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. Live so that when you die, you rejoice, and the world cries.
~~~~
You cannot hate people for their own good.