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Post by davey on Feb 24, 2023 18:12:14 GMT
And no one has mentioned Marshall McCluhan yet, so I will: Marshall McCluhanI’ll throw in Neil Postman and Walter Ong.
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Post by davey on Feb 24, 2023 18:14:36 GMT
I think it might help the discussion if someone (not me, ffs, I've had enough) would nail down what 'culture' actually means (to them at least). Sociologists and other academics lump it together to mean the concerns, mores, beliefs, modes of communication, architecture and so on of a particular group, not just forms of entertainment. For the sake of this conversation, I think we’re probably talking specifically about media culture.
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toomanyhatz
god
I've met him/her. He/she's great!!
Posts: 3,265
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Post by toomanyhatz on Feb 24, 2023 19:51:27 GMT
The bottom line here for me is, I'm not trying to convince anyone that Tarantino is every bit the artist John Ford was. I'm well aware that would sound foolish. What I am trying to say is that there are movie makers out there - I gave three examples - that are making great movies that deserve to be seen that would have been relegated to the filmmaking ghetto - or never gotten made, or made with such a ridiculously low budget that the original vision could not have been preserved, in the supposed heyday of movies (whatever that is for you - for me it probably runs about 1939-1975 or so).
I will also say that paradigms have shifted. Looking at the Oscar nominations from this year gives a good example. For me the good stuff's all in the lower categories - every single animated short nominee is great, and one in particular ('My Year of Dicks', which I highly recommend) would not have gotten made possibly even 10 years ago, let alone be my favorite to win. Maybe we're producing less Hitches and Fords, but there are at least some advantages in the opposite direction. Maybe there's a black woman out there that's at the same level of genius. Maybe, as GB suggests, it'll be evident to the next generation. But I know for sure that we produced geniuses from a limited pool. And the pool has gotten bigger.
So many of the movies I enjoy from the past few years would probably be called 'tokenistic' in some way - pretty much all of the shorts in every field, Moonlight, every nominated movie by a female or black director...all being done, at least in some eyes, to meet a 'quota.' If they were shitty movies, that'd be one thing - but at least one 'old Hollywood' movie also gets nominated every year. And they're usually the shitty ones - the Fabelmans this year, Mank a couple years ago, a bunch of remakes for the past several, etc. The 'token' movies are generally much better.
Every single year of my life is filled with movies I really want to see and don't get the chance to. Like I said, that hasn't changed this year - if anything it's gotten worse, because I HEAR about more of them.
Add to that the fact that those John Ford movies haven't gone anywhere, and in fact more films that have been relegated to the dustbins of history - including many by black filmmakers, foreign filmmakers, precode films, etc., are being revived and discussed anew - and I'd say the art of cinema is not in any imminent danger.
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Post by Half Machine Lipschitz on Feb 24, 2023 20:00:35 GMT
Cinema's dying MY ASS! Exhibit A:
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loveless
god
Bringing ballet to the masses. Sticking to the funk.
Posts: 2,981
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Post by loveless on Feb 24, 2023 20:07:54 GMT
Jesus, you just beat me to it.
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Post by Half Machine Lipschitz on Feb 24, 2023 20:21:47 GMT
Early reviews are in - it's a billion times better than Citizen Kane!
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Post by Stacy Heydon on Feb 24, 2023 20:43:00 GMT
Probably (and I have not read the entire thread, by any stretch, so sorry if I'm rehashing) cable/streaming television series - I feel like things like Six Feet Under, Sopranos, True Blood, Downton Abbey, Orange is the New Black, Russian Doll, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul (and I'm not ranking or evaluating any of these, just trying to illustrate a sense of people watching and experiencing en masse) managed to both expand the form and engage a collective shared experience. I think the golden age for long form tv drama actually peaked about 15 years or so ago.
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Post by Stacy Heydon on Feb 24, 2023 20:44:55 GMT
Video games are, essentially, mathematical propositions first and foremost. They rely on logic and coding language. ..and shooting things very quickly!
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Post by Stacy Heydon on Feb 24, 2023 20:46:43 GMT
I think it might help the discussion if someone (not me, ffs, I've had enough) would nail down what 'culture' actually means (to them at least). Sociologists and other academics lump it together to mean the concerns, mores, beliefs, modes of communication, architecture and so on of a particular group, not just forms of entertainment. For the sake of this conversation, I think we’re probably talking specifically about media culture. I did have a wider remit than that in mind when posting the thread, but I guess it's easier to focus on media culture.
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Post by fonz on Feb 24, 2023 22:56:03 GMT
Probably (and I have not read the entire thread, by any stretch, so sorry if I'm rehashing) cable/streaming television series - I feel like things like Six Feet Under, Sopranos, True Blood, Downton Abbey, Orange is the New Black, Russian Doll, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul (and I'm not ranking or evaluating any of these, just trying to illustrate a sense of people watching and experiencing en masse) managed to both expand the form and engage a collective shared experience. I think the golden age for long form tv drama actually peaked about 15 years or so ago. I’m just finishing BCS. EXCELLENT.
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Post by tory on Feb 27, 2024 18:28:33 GMT
I've gone back to Red Dead Redemption 2 as my game of choice recently. It's magnificent. Arthur Morgan's voice is a thing of wonder and dispatching various criminal gang members with a Lancaster Repeater is supremely enjoyable.
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Post by fearlessfreap on Feb 27, 2024 19:04:57 GMT
The Skipidi Toilet phenomenon today's youth seem to be infatuated with makes me optimistic for the future of art.
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Post by Stacy Heydon on Feb 27, 2024 23:59:14 GMT
Just for the record, I do agree fully with this part. But I also think TV has improved, or at least expanded. As far as geniuses, I already named three. I think Tarantino and Lynch and a lot of others still have the maverick nature of a Hitch or a Ford, though they may not produce as much and have more failures. The point about Hawkes, Ford and Hitchcock is that they were working within a studio system that placed certain restrictions on them. They also made films that were highly collaborative in nature. The script writers, dp's and editors were hugely important in the finished films. By contrast Tarantino tries to do it all and was terribly indulged by Miramax. He'd have been a much better director working within the studio system of 60 years ago.
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Sneelock
god
I write the songs that make the young girls cry
Posts: 9,010
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Post by Sneelock on Feb 28, 2024 0:48:33 GMT
I don't think he would have lasted a DAY. he couldn't sit still that long.
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