I guess it also depends on what means are available at whatever region of the world you live in. I may not be able to easily get huge amounts of current films from other countries, but compared to 1, 2, or 3 decades ago, access to foreign films is definitely easier and more abundant. I can access a free streaming service called Kanopy and as long as I have a library card, I can stream lots of stuff from lots of places. Granted, since it is a public library service, they don’t get stuff right away. Then there access to VPNs and stuff…
movies suck hard lately, feels like if it’s not rinse and repeat then it must be a politically correct blockbuster… imo netflix movies are the worst, it’s like they’re not even try to hide the fact they’re just copy pasting stuff and doing it horribly.
I especially despise the scifi realm, watched that 65 movie which made After Earth look like a masterpiece.
I want to give MUBI a shot, didn’t have the time to install it yet, it should have a better catalogue…
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Give me a film. I can have it for you in two hours. There’s other options than just streaming.
The ratio of great to average to poor hasn’t changed, we just remember the good stuff that stood the test of time and conveniently forget the rest.
I will say the the algorithmic streaming stuff didn’t exist before but the Hollywood studios always tried to land on formulas that “worked”, they can just analyse the viewing data more accurately now.
I have one specific complaint - every single idea doesn’t need to turn into a franchise. Unfortunately with the ludicrous budgets being spent they need some reassurance of having a previous audience ready to go.
But in answer to the original question - no, movies don’t suck now. You just have to be selective and that’s always been the case.
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It’s worth pointing out that many people misunderstand this idea of a “Netflix movie”. It’s true that Netflix produce some their own stuff from the ground up, but they also buy a lot of movies that have been produced and shopped around but nobody else was interested.
In that regard, they act like a combination of the traditional distributor and the cinema all in one. The reason for the possible poor quality and volume is basically that they are the equivalent of what used to be straight-to-video i.e. if nobody else wants it for the big screen then we’ll take it.
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If you were to meet yourself in a time machine. It would say, "Wow, you have a lot to choose from now. I have the same with music sometimes. 
It’s even called video on demand?
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I only went to the cinema once last year, having not been in years. There are still occasional movies I want to see but it does feel like most of the industry’s output is an infinite conveyor belt of super hero films and Disney sequels. Having said that it’s also probable that the smaller films struggle to break through the noise and its me not putting in the effort to find them anymore… Friends always used the give recommendations for new movies and now we never even talk about them.
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…yup…new plots are harder and harder to find…soooo many stories have been told already…
on one end, apart from setting, time, and place there are only three basic stories u can tell…
those with a happy end, a sad end and those with an open end…
on the other end, we’re talking about THE most expensive/complex artform, the one where kind of all artforms must join forces, there is…so, taking risks, trying something new, introducing new concepts can end up pretty fast in total desaster…so, what has prooven to work already, get’s repeated again and again…
what makes it worse, is that the once biggest industry in entertainment and common arts, the filmbusiness, got 2nd placed by the games industry almost two decades ago…ooops…
since the throne is gone, but prestige factor remains, it’s even harder to pitch new ideas…
so, any great idea is an even better idea, if the production don’t need too much of a budget in first place, since only that makes it easier to take the risk and just give it a try…
the good news, the need for big production budgets are coming down a lot…formerly expensive shots can now still look good, without blowing up budgets…we’ll gonna see a lot of fresh 'n extraordinary stories soon to come…
but puh, we’re aaaalllsooooo spoiled already in what to expect…we’ve seen it all…literally…
so, the bad news…since everything’s on demand to consume right away, we see that same uberdiversification as in music…too much of everything already right in our faces…we’re fed up…
we all still wanna see great movies, but there are soooo many half good ones and bad ones we have already seen, puh, if ur not really into it, it’s hard to see through…
and that daily option paralysis when u try to pick something for the eve on one of the usual suspecious streamingfarms is a pretty common thing/feeling…
i go to watch something on the big screen only twice a year anymore…
not because i’m too old for the next “reinvention” of the next comicverse of next superhero versions, since even my son can’t catch up anymore which spiderman he likes the most, but because i’m really fed up with all this fast food for my eyes and ears, that screams at me all the fuggin’ time…
last time i was really enjoying great entertainment on a streaming service, as far as i can still remember, was “don’t look up”…what a truuly great satire on where we’re at in society meets dystopian black humour…
next time i gonna watch something on the big screen, i’m actually really looking forward to is the next chapter of “dune”…settings and stories taken far out of common place and time, still do the trick for me…
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There’s still plenty of good films around.
But there’s even more shit ones. I think thats the thing that has changed. More crap.
Same with music.
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I’d say movies are just as good, if not better, than they ever were. I don’t know what the fuck you guys have been watching/smoking to say otherwise.
@nfim makes a great list of very recent movies I (mostly!) feel are must see if you think all we’re getting is shit lately.
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Golden age the 90’s.
Who can forget classics like It’s all fields round here and I don’t hate clouds yet.
Great days.
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70’s black kung fu ghetto drama movies are all I can stomach these days.
Nice turn over Kareem, nice…
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The average middle-budget erotic thriller from 1983 is better than anything Hollywood’s made in 20 years. Yes, HOLLYWOOD movies kind of suck now.
There are still good movies being made outside of that system sometimes.
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I’ll take JDVC or even some of the Schwarzenegger ridiculousness over the modern “action” bullshit, at least it’s funny…
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Movies don‘t suck. It‘s just different and we have way too much of them.
Shure something like the Matrix might not come along again but that was also due to the effects almost a star wars moment.
I have seen so many good films in the past years but you don‘t always apreciate them because you are watching multiple netflix shows side by side.
Killers of the flower Moon
Saltburn
The Killer
Oppenheimer
The Creator
Everything Everywhere all at Once
The Batman
The Menu
The Banshees of Inisherin
Joker
1917
All Quiet on the western front
Jojo Rabbit
Triangle of Sadness
Just to name a few and not even scratching the surface.
And on top of that we have all the classics like Alien, Predator, Terminator and Rambo we can rewatch over and over again. So there is no shortage of good Entertainment.
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/// 20 caratteri of porcodio ///
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Most of the movies I‘m seeing are chosen by my local indie-ish cinema. I find it hard to come up with a movie which I saw there over the last five years that sucked. I can easily come up with some of the films that had the biggest impact on me from the last two or so years: Drive My Car, Tar, All of us Strangers, Perfect Days, Banshees or Inisherin, Nomadland, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Marriage Story, Holdovers, Licorice Pizza, Three Billboards, Aftersun …
The Worst Person in the World had the most touching scene about death I‘ve ever seen that made me cry for minutes because it’s horrifying and beautiful at the same time. As Bestas was the most tense movie I‘ve probably ever seen and made me feel so uncomfortable throughout.
Maybe mainstream cinema has become more boring as it‘s increasingly focused on franchise based action movies. But I can’t really speak to that, as my gut feeling is that this wasn’t so different twenty years ago, maybe minus the Marvel factor.
I‘m struggling more with finding good movies on streaming platforms by myself. It’s hard to find the hood stuff on the bigger platforms and trailers are rarely intriguing without spoiling the whole plot. Most MUBI stuff is a bit too particular and requires you to be in the mood for artsy stuff and other languages and styles.
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Three Billbords…how could I forget. Great Movie!
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/// 20 caratteri of porcodio ///
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Guys for real, all of us has lost sight. We live in total abundance of everything and therefore are not able to care for one special thing. We have all the storys told in movies and shows. I have so many computer games that I litarally can play till I am dead. I might think there are no special Albums anymore like Nevermind. Bullshit, there is just so much music…so much. And there is good music, it just is covered by too much crap. Everyone feels the need to share even the badest piece of crap.
With movies its almost the same. Netflix is producing one crappy movie after the other. So good stuff is buried under a lot of crap. But there is stuff and its damn good! My two cents.
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