Why modern movies suck - they teach us awful lessons

[darkwillow]

What I don't get is why Directors write scripts instead of actual professional writers.

 

[Ryujin]

What I don't get is why Directors write scripts instead of actual professional writers.

Likely it's the sort of arrogance that results in may indie film directors thinking that they can do a spectacular job as producer, writer, director, camera 1, and crafty.

 

[ninjayeti]

What I don't get is why Directors write scripts instead of actual professional writers.

Some of the best writers in Hollywood today ARE directors : Christopher Nolan, James Gunn, Quentin Tarantino, the Cohen Brothers, Guillermo del Toro, etc. etc.

(edited out my edit to add the point later in the discussion)

 

[Jer]

If you go back and watch older movies without cherry picking, you'll find that most of them also teach awful lessons. It's just Sturgeon's Law at work.

What I don't get is why Directors write scripts instead of actual professional writers.

The view of the Director as "auteur" has a lot to do with this - upholding the idea of a film as being the vision of just the Director has had an impact on how films get made now. Too many directors buying into that narrative instead of realizing that auteur theory is just one kind of film theory and not every movie should fit into it.

(Directors in the old days knew you just stole the public credit for how the film turns out rather than actually trying to do all of the work yourself. Let the writers and actors make you look good while everyone attributes the success and message of the film just to you.)

 

[BookTenTiger]

The last good movie was the one in which the train was coming straight at the camera.

 

[BookTenTiger]

Seriously though, modern movies suck??? That is such a weird take. I'm not going to watch the video (it is my eternal pledge to never watch a YouTube video posted in a discussion forum), so @darkwillow I'm wondering if you would explain your view instead.

What do you define as "modern?" Based on the picture of Mulan, are you only talking about Disney / Marvel blockbusters, or all of film?

What lessons, if any, do you think cinema should teach?

 

[billd91]

Yeah, yeah, more of the "Rey's a Mary Sue" BS.

 

[Fifth Element]

The view of the Director as "auteur" has a lot to do with this - upholding the idea of a film as being the vision of just the Director has had an impact on how films get made now. Too many directors buying into that narrative instead of realizing that auteur theory is just one kind of film theory and not every movie should fit into it.

And yet so much film criticism today is about how we should return to the 70s where directors were auteurs, because modern film is too safe and corporate. So turns out that people will always complain about film these days, finding different reasons to do so.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

The director is the author of the movie. A better question would be why don't all screenwriters direct their own movies?

 

[Sacrosanct]

Saying modern movies suck is like saying modern music sucks. It's all subjective and usually based on cherry-picking There are great movies today, and great movies from decades ago. Just like there are crappy movies today just like there were crappy movies before. Unless one wants to argue Highlander II, Speed II, and Jaws the Revenger were good movies...(don't get me started on the Sci-Fi movies from the 70s and 80s lol)