Yet another Ghostbusters movie

lowkey13 · Jan 24, 2019

*Deleted by user*

cbwjm · Jan 24, 2019

lowkey13 said:
So, a long time ago, I was sitting in a restaurant eating with a cute girl (who would later become my wife!). Seated at another table were some kids, around college age. One of the kids was boasting, in the manner you do, about how worldly he was and how much he loved Japanese food (which, at that time, was still a little adventurous!). Anyway, at one point, he said very loudly, "Yeah, what have the French ever done for world cuisine, anyway?" Not humorously, or ironically, but as a straight-up statement of fact. Anyway, that statement (which I know you understand to be ludicrous on its face) has become something of touchstone going on, so that when I see someone proudly being arrogant about their ignorance, I (or my SO) say, "Yeah, what have the French every done for world cuisine?"

There is a point to that anecdote. People like what they like. If you enjoy Stephen King, that's great! But that doesn't mean that Faulkner, or Pynchon, are any less. And if love to look at Thomas Kinkade painting, more power to you. But that doesn't devalue a Kandinsky. Heck, if you love you some AfterMASH reruns, I'm not going to force Halt and Catch Fire on your tired eyeballs.

And if you love sushi and sashimi, great. Doesn't mean the French haven't done some good cooking.

The important thing to remember is that while taste is subjective (and there is no accounting for it), you can appreciate other aspects of a particular art form. No one will force you to watch or understand or appreciate cinematography, for example. But if the only purpose of movies is to entertain, then we might as well be watching Ow My Balls from Idiocracy. And, again, nothing wrong with that- I can curl up and watch comforting trash TV with the best of them (*cough* Ultimate Beastmaster *cough*).

But the issues start to happen when we elevate our personal taste to denigrate appreciation of the art; when we say that the appreciation of great art as cinema is "snobbery" or "elitism" - which is not only a bizarre thing to say (it's not hard to watch any of these so-called great movies if you want), but betrays the opposite emotional impulse that should be familiar to anyone that once heard "nerd" ringing through hallways; specifically, that the enjoyment of something intelligent is elitist or snobby, and we should only be doing things that are entertaining, like watching the popular movies, or the football games, or whatever is entertaining.

Sorry, but that's not what I signed up for.

First of all, I wasn't boasting that I would prefer to sit down and watch Ghostbusters over citizen Kane, that's just you reading too much into what I said.

From what I've seen in this thread, it seems people are taking offence when someone comes out and say that because a movie, in this case ghostbuaters, doesn't have all the high points of a movie like citizen Kane that it can't be considered a classic. That does come across as a bit snobbish and people aren't being all anti-intellectualism to disagree with that stance.

lowkey13 · Jan 24, 2019

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ccs · Jan 24, 2019

lowkey13 said:
We all know that, traditionally, things that were of childhood were meant to stay there for a reason.

Says the 40-50 year old guy preaching on a D&D forum....

lowkey13 · Jan 24, 2019

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Blue · Jan 24, 2019

Making the theme music a bit more metal...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hF39e_hnFb8

trappedslider · Jan 24, 2019

Deset Gled said:
If Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, Tron, War Games, Terminator, Buckaroo Bonzai, ET, Flash Gordon, Excalibur, and Blade Runner aren't vaguely appealing to your more nerdy side...

Most if not all of those you listed are considered as classics for one reason or another be it the way it was made (Tron), the way it portrayed an activity (War Games), what it added to a genre (Blade Runner)

The word "classic" may also be seen as an intensifier of sorts, implying works that have become seen as cult over the years, similar to a Sleeper Hit — due to factors such as Audience Participation, Notable Quotables, or other engrossing aspects that attract a select audience who proselytize fervently and disdain non-believers. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CultClassic

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_Hollywood_cinema sadly looks like nothing since the 60s has been a "classic"

lowkey13 · Jan 24, 2019

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ccs · Jan 24, 2019

lowkey13 said:
Well, someone has to remind all the whippersnappers that the Paladin was a mistake.

No, not all paladins. Just the non-human, non-LG ones.

Imaculata · Jan 24, 2019

cbwjm said:
All I care about is how entertaining a movie is. I dont care about cinematography or how great a shot is. If I was going to sit down with someone and they said I had the choice of citizen Kane or Ghostbusters, I'd choose Ghostbusters every time. I find it more entertaining and I think it still holds up well as a great movie.

Citizen Kane is still gathering dust on my shelves, waiting to be watched. But every time I try to put the DVD in, my eyes lean over to movies like Ghostbusters, Back to the Future, Terminator, and I choose to watch that instead.