are we keeping that elephant alive?

If movies are so bad, why should we give that industry taxbreaks?

I never see movies anymore

I really don't. I gave up. I have like 700 illegally downloaded classics that I couldn't find in the store if I wanted to and netflix never has what I want to watch.

The real reason is the baby boomers

They've bin there done that too many times already so movie going is no longer high on the list of desirable activities for most. Also, the price of popcorn and a drink is too damned high.

Yes movies are at an all time low.

Tonight was a normal night, we rented 2 movies (new releases).

The first type of movie I now call America Porn, not due to sex, but due to the amount of bullets and tanker truck loads of blood.

The 2nd movie was turned off after 15 minutes, it was comedy it said, the opening line was Fu*k you Sh*thole, Fu*king A**, licking.....

The wife was right that movie ran 14 minutes too long for us.

For me I only watch about 20% of what I rent.

We buy 100's of movies, and have a VHS, DVD and Blueray machines.

Funny we look at the TV listings, then go pick a movie playing from our library, and it is a commercial free night, a nuts really!

Ridiculous article

Movies are certainly not at an all time low!

The Academy Awards has routinely chosen to single out terrible movies since it's inception - nothing new. It's not shocking that an "uplifting" schmaltz-fest about British monarchy isn't a brilliant film, who would expect it to be??

I watch countless movies - experimental ones from the dawn of film to whatever crap my shaw-on-demand happens to have kicking around day to day. I also go to the theater frequently and routinely enjoy new releases - whether domestic or foreign.

My experience of the past year was seeing a lot of awful movies (hated the new Bond film), a lot of really great films (loved Samsara) & countless unintentionally funny ones (Prometheus).

Right now on my list, I look forward to seeing "Amor," the new "les mis" & "Django Unchained." Of the three at least one is bound to be pretty decent.

I also watch a lot of TV and enjoy many series (though I find Game of Thrones only intermittently entertaining).

If anything I would say there is simply so much great content being produced (also books) that it's too hard to keep up with it all. I can hardly find the time to see all the movies I want to!

Just signalling out the newly restored version of old movies (i.e. "metropolis" on blu ray) shows film appreciation is alive and well.

Here's a thought - how about all the people complaining about film being dead instead concentrate on telling us what they DO like rather than why xyz sucks.

The smaller theaters shutting down is depressing, but the state of film is not!

All the pieces are there

Limitless good stories, talent, direction, all the physical aspects of production, if anything these are all better than ever.

What is making everything shite is the business decisions.

Hollywood Producers?

We might see more and better product from the Hollywood producers if they knew how to read. For the most part they prefer to re-do that which has already been done. That is the safest route for them, (grt ready for the blockbuster release of "Rocky 14"). Once in a while they will make a movie from a book, not because they have read the book, but because others have told them that it's a good story and the book sales numbers back them up. Sometimes even this is a mistake as all too often those who read good books don't want to be bothered with movies. especially bad movies.

Movies

The author is right. Almost all new movies suck. Usually they're full of senseless sex, swearing, violence, and no sensible story line.
I know a couple of serial downloaders, and even they will not download the newer movies, they go after the older stuff that is at least watchable.

Very Insightful

Ms. Rupp makes some very good points. With great prose.

I love the irony: beautiful prose describing terrible movies.

But indeed, the 'craft' of moviemaking has turned into an 'industry'. Think smokestacks, high speed production, efficiency, and money, money, money. Let us not forget that 'industry' is derived from the 'Industrial Revolution'. Where money trumped beauty and humanity. We've never really been the same since.

Scholars described in great detail the degraded quality of plays and poems as Rome unraveled. So too are we witnessing a similar fate.

Great coverage!

Oceans of Garbage

When only 6 companies control Hollywood & they are only interested in money then it is no surprise to find that the annual production of movies adds to the ocean of garbage in the world.
Yes, there are a few good films produced each year (e.g. 'Argo') but most of these get limited viewing. Some of the best 'product' today is in the form of documentaries, such as 'Inside Job' - we can only hope for more of these as creative types by-pass the Hollywood 'factory'.

I"m glad someone else thinks

I"m glad someone else thinks that Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris sucked wind, it was a terrible film, boring, the comedy overdone, and I couldn't understand the raves for it: was I jaded? oversaturated? in a bad mood? well, possibly the last one, but really: I felt like that kid in the story about the king's new (nude) clothes, the only one in the room to say, This is a piece of shite.

Hollywood has only Hollywood to blame. When I worked in the film industry as a grip, here in Vancouver, for seventeen-some years, most of what I worked on were movies I wouldn't bother seeing for free, let alone pay for. I think there were maybe two or three of which I was proud. I was a celluloid salt miner, and it was a decent job but really, it wasn't capital C cinema.

Watch the cinema from Iran, from Brazil, from Indonesia, if you want to see good films with compelling stories. And to be sure, there's always a James Bond, the kind of film Hollywood excels at, but for cinema that matters, its the Vancity and Cinematheque that are the only venues showing the kind of films that keep the art form alive.

Look outside the continent...

I agree in regards to movies coming out of North America.
I have downloaded movies for a long time and you can easily tell the quality of the movie by how available it is on torrent sites.
People started realizing NA movies were going down the toilet when the biggest summer hits were remakes of 80's movies and TV shows.

However, when I download movies from Europe I get a lot of reactions from everybody on how much better the movie is then anything they have seen in years from NA. These movies get almost no theatre time here and no mention.

Profitability

Is it not strange, that the single minded pursuit of profits seems to destroy the values we cherish. Possibly it is time to sit back and take stock.

For Better Quality Movies

I think we should pay a theatre what we think a movie is worth AFTER watching it. That might encourage more quality films and less hype.

Excellent Work Ms. Rupp

You nailed it with finesse.
One thing that bugs me is how we're constantly subjected to the "biggest box office" hits, which has nothing to do with quality.
Perhaps the movie industry is only meeting market demand.
YouTube consumers, for the most part, aren't that discriminating.

Bland is worse than bloody

Several times in this thread I hear the sentiment that movies are bad now due to 'senseless sex, swearing, violence' and I'd like to know what films you're talking about, and where I can find them, because those at least sound like cheap thrills. I perceive an opposite problem: theatres are now ruled by boardroom-calculated, bland, safe, PG-13, focus-grouped CGI tech-demo films targeted at 12-year-olds. Very few 'cheap thrills' there at all -- to say nothing of challenging themes, intelligent social commentary or quotable wit.

There ARE good films out there, even in the mainstream, and they are (and always have been) a minority, but in previous decades it really seemed that film studios were willing to take risks and surprise audiences with new stories. There were audacious, unsafe, yet somehow bankable filmmakers all over the place in the '70s and '80s. These days we've got a small handful (Tarantino, Wes Anderson, a couple others) that everyone argues about, chiefly because nobody else is interesting enough to argue about.

This is what you get when you put cinema storytelling entirely in the hands of people who've never left their cubicles. I'm glad audiences are starting to figure this out.

Movie Reviewers Take Note.......

There is now a comment available to you for that special flic that previously required a wordy description and can now be evaluated much more concisely:"Not Worth Pirating"

Lost me at "Gone With the Wind."

Looking at those old movies from the point of view of an Aboriginal person, person of colour, I find a lot less to celebrate. "Gone With the Wind" is notorious for its rewriting of history. The book came out parallel and in sympathy with "Birth of a Nation" upholding the KKK as heroes for fighting back against the same issues GWtW raised, re post-Civil War Reconstruction. Both fit into the dubious category of "racist masterpieces" along with John Ford's Stagecoach and most of the Western genre. I love many old movies but they suffer for me for being the product of a racist, classist, sexist society. When I encountered Disney's Absent Minded Professor saying--of his professorial wife, in a children's movie--"no wife of mine will ever work," I stopped being nostalgic.

Really.

For some I guess it is true that you walk into a room full of crap, and know there must be a pony in there somewhere.

My town is now down to 1 video store and they sell all there new releases after a month for 2 for $9.99

One big thing I have noticed is the lack of big studio releases. I look for Paramount and Warner Bros, fact is most videos are made by small companys and there lays the problem of low budget and movies made to order using the formula, of more smut, more blood, more deep south retarded speech, can I say retarded? LOL.

I have a VHS copy of Stephen Kings "The Stand" and "IT" now these movies need to be on DVD or Blueray and I've been told you can't buy these movie. Hey if you know how I can find these movies let me know!!!

And somewhere in LA

A big time producer is scowling at the latest bottom line and furiously muttering to himself about how if only he could destroy the internet he could get bums in theater seats again.

Fllms

I'm lucky.

My wife is allergic to two things: perfume and American movies.

Thus we don't go to movie theatres and take movies out of the library. Mostly French movies though we'll take Spanish and Quebecois films out too.

I think it was Claude Lelouch who said the French make small movies out of big ideas while the Americans make big movies out of small ideas.

And they don't seem to know what drama is without guns. I was in Seattle for three days last year and there wasn't a TV drama on that didn't involve gunfire.

What do you expect?

What do you expect when Hollywood's main source of script ideas for the last number of years has been old TV series, comic books and video games?

Not everybody thinks you can't make money from showing movies.

Here in the Okanagan, we have had a number of new theatres built within the last 10 years. Penticton's Landmark theatre just opened a 6 theatre complex -- very nice,steep seating so your view isn't blocked, very big screens and seats that are totally comfortable.
Some lineups to get in at times, although they have a number of computers set up where you can get your own seats and pay with your credit card. Right now they are showing:
Diarngo Unchained
Gangster Fraud
Hansel and Gretel Witch Hunter 3D
The Hobbit - An Unexpected Journey 3D
Lincoln
Coming up:
Parker
Silverlings Playbook

I saw Lincoln and fell asleep during the pauses as the great men were speaking. I like history but this was crap.
As for the rest of the list, there's nothing there for me.

Rogers and Shaw Suck!

I would agree that overall the quality of cinema seems to be deteriorating. I also agree that many of the HBO-type serials are well done. But I would also suggest that accessibility to movies and made-for-TV serials is getting more difficult.

In Victoria, I hold Rogers and Shaw responsible for disrupting my viewing pleasure. I used to rent videos from a locally owned store which had an amazing library of obscure movies, documentaries and music videos. It was enjoyable to patronize the establishment talk with the movie enthusiasts at the counter. Now I would have to drive across town to get to the nearest video store.

Not long ago, Rogers opened up video rental stores throughout Victoria and often undersold the locally run operations. Once these independent stores went out of business, Rogers closed it's own operations down, although, according to Rogers' employees, the branches were earning money.

Now, I have the choice of Shaw or online providers such as Netflix. Shaw has a "Movie Central" channel that is mediocre at best, it's expensive (for what you get), and has few of the good made-for-TV serials and about 25 of B movies that they rarely change. If one wishes to rent a movie from, it costs $6.99 for HD and $4.99 for standard viewing. That's on top of the cable TV bill. I don't want to pay that kind of money to a corporation that screws it's clientele. Netflix has varying content, but most if it is crap.

Also, I don't download movies. It takes too much time and attention, and it is illegal. Apparently, downloads are being monitored - I don't need another bill.

So, with the loss of many independent video stores that were convenient and served the public well, and because the online and TV options are poor, I am resorting to reading. I think greedy providers, such as Shaw and Rogers, are contributing to the problems of the movie industry.

argo sucked

argo was boring, the Hobbit was ok, enjoyed the girl with the dragon tattoo series

Antidote to Bad Films

The best antidote to the awful fare being served up by Hollywood and corporate TV? Cancel your cable TV. Rent DVD's from Zip.ca (European films are our favorites).

But most importantly. Read. Read. And read some more. Books. Articles. And the Tyee!!

Good for the soul. Good for the mind. And good for civic society.

Partial

You are partially right here. The content is sucking hard, and getting more formulaic by the minute. As one commenter puts it, this is what happens when an ever-shrinking number of companies control all media.

However, you are mistaken if you believe over-production of chaff is unique to this era. Even long before television became the first real threat to the film business, there were plenty of garbage films made every year. The Marx Brothers liked the first film they were put in so much that it is widely believed they themselves had it destroyed. The reason many people seem to think only "classics" were made prior to 1960 or so is because the studios only expended the effort to preserve their product with what are thought of as classics today. A contrast to the present day, where anyone with slightly more than half a terabyte of free disc space can preserve a film in 35mm resolution with lossless audio.

There are many great films made today, and even a small handful come out of the major studios (mainly by accident or through subversive acts on the part of the filmmakers). But the problem as I see it comes in two parts. One, the simpler part, is that the film industry has made the big mistake of thinking that more expensive necessarily equals better. Given that we live in a world where consumers are increasingly unable to afford to consume, one would expect them to hit a ceiling in terms of how much they can expend on a film and see any kind of reasonable return. They passed it a while ago. As Chinese, British, and European cinema is proving, you can make just as good a film for less than half of what Hollywood expends on negatives alone.

The second, more complex part, is that as the number of companies making films has declined, the desires of less and less of the potential audience have been getting served. Recall the De Laurentiis production of Flash Gordon, Repo Man, or the real Total Recall. How many films like those get made today? None. Because the focus groups and studio accountants cannot get it through their heads that not every film has to cost upwards of a hundred million dollars, or that variety is the spice of life.

Not all new films suck. There have been a handful in recent years that are quite great. But I think we can agree that they occur in spite of the powers that be in the industry, not because of them.

Film is not dead, it's just smothered in drivel.

I suppose this discussion is long since over, but I'm with Hublocker.

There are enough good movies out there. Simply avoid anything made in Hollywood or any of its clones and the fare improves dramatically. I refuse to watch anything made in the USA, even though I know there are occasionally some good films made there. Just not worth the risk.

If I'm desperate and there is nothing else available I watch Hollywood movies in French. I've been trying to learn French for decades and if I've learned to recognise a single word in French I've salvaged an otherwise dismal experience.

The films chosen for the

The films chosen for the recent Festival Cinemas Ridge closing line-up were likely determined by what is available in 35mm.
According to Mr. Leonard Schein, by 2014 there won't be any 35mm projectors left in North America.

Like that near-final scene of Inglorious Bastards (where the film reels explode in flame) The Ridge and its 35mm glory will soon be turned into Vancouver condo commodities, not by match but by the modern equivalent - the developer.

Sure there's an issue with North American cinema and the demand for mass market pap, but maybe we're also seeing the demise of the Great Filmmakers.
Cinema Paradiso is closing up shop and North America's lightweight populace with an insatiable appetite for pap is likely to blame. Those 'dumb marketers' are only giving North American audiences what their used to consuming. As usual, those with deeper thoughts need to look to Europe and other cultures for sustaining fare.

As Vancouver closes the door on it's 35mm cinemas I feel very fortunate to have miles of memories of Vancouver's 'cinematic golden days.'

Zip DVD's

I agree with Jeffery J. Zip.ca has a great selection of movies. They're delivered to your door with a reply paid return envelope to boot.
Finding a good movie to watch is a bit like finding a good book to read since the eBook revolution and self-publishing changed the landscape. You've got to sift through the mindless and badly produced crap to find the gems, but they're there.

Movies are like Rock concerts you know.

Hockey games start at $100, why not Everything else.
Oh, and by the way NO SMOKING anything anymore EVER!
ah ... Remember the midnight madness shows.
Nevermore.

"Movies Suck" -- Right on!

Great article. I am glad that I'm not the only person who thinks (for the most part) contemporary movies suck. I gave up going to the movies about 15 years ago (I'm age 49) and since then, I've been "getting into" watching silent movies and early movies from the 1930s/1940s and as a result, I've "discovered" incredible movies such as "Die Bergkatz" (1921) and "The Passion of Joan of Arc" (1928) - which beat anything made today! Again -- great article!

broaden your horizons, please

Shannon, I've had consistently mind-expanding film experiences at Pacific Cinematheque and during the VIFF. Perhaps you need to push out of your comfort zone a bit. Everyone knows Hollywood movies are for dumb audiences. Why waste time complaining about the obvious?