Wasted movie weekend.

[buzzard]

Folks are, of course, allowed to stop watching a film whenever they wish. I personally feel that our collective need for instant gratification is doing bad things to our media, in general. While it is true that time is valuable, it is also true that good things come to those who wait, and that patience is a virtue. That may not save this film for anyone in particular, but it might make for better films and television, in general.

I am usually willing to wait through a boring part of a movie to see it improve. However when I find a movie painful (oh say, Rushmore), I will bail on it fairly early. Mind you, this is on DVD. When I pay theatre price, I generally won't leave (though have come mighty close).

buzzard

 

[fanboy2000]

I personally feel that our collective need for instant gratification is doing bad things to our media, in general. While it is true that time is valuable, it is also true that good things come to those who wait, and that patience is a virtue. That may not save this film for anyone in particular, but it might make for better films and television, in general.

It seems to me that movies are getting longer, not shorter. Actually, it seems that everything in entertainment is getting longer. Not only are individual movies getting longer, but one story is being told over multiple movies. In the theaters, each LOTR movie was over 3 hours. The Harry Potter movies are getting longer, just like the books. Oh, and books. Story lines in books often cross several large novels. Many high-rated TV shows do season length stories with cliff-hanger endings.

I remember a thread hear about short stories. People said that short stories simply didn't have the character depth they wanted in a story. When I was on a Buffy mailing list, the monster of the week episodes were always the least liked.

I think delayed gratification is actually the way all entertainment is going. That seems to be what people want: grand sweeping tales with lots of character development and lots of action. This is good for Hollywood, they can practically charge people in installments for one gigantic movie.

 

[barsoomcore]

Actually, it seems that everything in entertainment is getting longer.

Are you unfamiliar with the works of William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens or Cecil B. DeMille?

 

[fanboy2000]

I am familer with their works, you can't be a theater major without working on Shakespere. And Great Expectations is one of my favorite novels of all time. I'm only familer with DeMille's Ten Comandments though.

I didn't mean to imply that long works are a modern invention. I meant to say the average run time is going up. Serial storytelling where each installment is a full-length novel or moive is up to. Television shows are telling storys over a single season, or multiple seasons. While these are not new inventions, they seem to be more popular today than they were a couple of decades ago.

Think about it, when was the last time they aired new half-hour drama? Have Gun, Will Travel was a half-hour drama that was episodic. That's unheard of today.

 

[ssampier]

I haven't seen either of these movies, so I cannot comment.

I will state that I enjoy the longer movies, it gives the time to build the suspense/rising action.

I still cannot tolerate a bad ending. The movie can end on a sour note, but at least show some sort of a change or epiphany; something.

One example I can give is Apocalypse Now by Francis Ford Coppola. The movie ends badly

Spoiler

with Captain Willard's crew all massacred. But does Cpt. Willard change? I'm not so sure. He finishes the mission successfully, but at what price?

 

[barsoomcore]

I meant to say the average run time is going up.

Well, we disagree. If you've got facts to back up your assertion, I'd be interested to see them.

 

[Banshee16]

I watched Lord of War tonight....liked it. Was going to pick A New World but didn't. Guess that might be a good thing..

Banshee

 

[fanboy2000]

Facts

Facts are good things.

Top 10 Grossing Movies of 1955
Name: Time in minutes
Lady and the Tramp: 76
Mister Roberts: 123
Sea Chase, The: 117
Tall Men, The: 122
Galapagos (1955): 78
Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing: 102
To Catch a Thief: 106
Love Me or Leave Me: 122
Trouble With Harry, The: 99
I'll Cry Tomorrow: 117
Average Running Time: 106.2
Shorest Run Time: 76
Longest Run Time: 122

Tom 10 Grossing Movies of 2005
Name: Running Time in Minutes
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: 157
Revenge of the Sith: 140
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe: 140
War of the Worlds: 116
King Kong: 187
Madagascar: 86
Mr. & Mrs. Smith: 120
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: 115
Batman Begins: 141
Hitch: 118
Average Running time: 132
Shortest Run Time: 86
Longest Run Time: 187

The original King Kong was 100 minutes.
Tim Burton's Batman was 126 minutes
The 1948 Hamlet that won Best Picture was 155 minutes. Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet was 242 minutes.
Prior to the Special Edition, the original Star Wars was 121 minutes (acording to IMDb)
Revenge of the Sith was 140 minutes

 

[Fast Learner]

I just watched A New World and thought it was really excellent. Amazing cinema.

 

[fanboy2000]

While I was at it...

I grabed the top 10 grossing movies from 1985
Back to the Future: 116
Rambo: First Blood Part II: 94
Rocky IV: 91
The Color Purple : 154
Out of Africa: 161
Cocoon: 117
Witness: 112
The Goonies: 114
Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment : 97
A View to a Kill: 126
Average Running Time: 118.2
Shortest Running Time: 91
Longest Running Time: 161

Some choice Classics:
Casablanca: 102
The Ten Commandments: 220
Gone With the Wind: 222
Citizen Kane: 119
Romeo and Juliet (1968): 138
West Side Story: 152
The Producers (1968): 88
The Producers (2005): 134 (Not a classic, but a useful comparison.)
Lord of the Rings (Animated): 132
Superman (1978): 143 cut to 127 for video, and then restored to 153 in 2000

In my list self-selected classics, I find it interesting that most of the movies I picked were over two hours. Of the three that are under two hours, only The Producers (1968) is a favorite. Cassablanca and Citizen Kane are there because they are classics, whatever else I might think of them.