Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by Dan G. (i) on July 31, 2001 at 12:25:02

In Reply to: Makes one think twice about looking for film commentary via an Asylum forum... lord posted by mobile homeless on July 31, 2001 at 08:41:46:

You are fooling yourself if you think the goal of every film is to mentally stimulate you or wow you with fantastic dialogue or development.

Some films are escapist fantasies ("fiction") designed to help us forget about "thinking" for a few hours and enjoy ourselves by living vicariously through screen characters. Their modern popularity attests to this success, and the public's desire for it.

If the goal of these films is to entertain, and they do it well, how are they any less masterworks of their genre than Art house films designed to intrigue and tease the mind that are similarly successful (and have a 95% sleep rate for me, personally)?

To filter all modern works through an elitist assumption about what a medium is or should aspire to is folly.

To see the-real-CarlEber excited about this film is great- that is exactly what any terrific film should do- excite and interest us!

Honestly I see no difference between his recommendation of this film and Victor K's recommendation of some obscure Italian art house flick from the 40's - both were inspired to recommend a film. Neither's taste should be questioned in absolute terms.

Please also remeber that the 100 or 200 Classic films people regard highly today are the product of an era that produced 10's of thousands of films (back in the day people went to the cinema several times per week, studios turned out flicks weekly). So comparing a modern movie to Rules of the Game (or some other masterwork of the past) is basically like comparing to the top .0001% of movies from that era.

Dan G.