Panel discussion on movies/cinema

[Eja117]

What movies were great back then, and now kinda aren't so good? And what movies were great and became greater?

These are my initial thoughts.
 
It was absurd when Shakespeare in Love beat Saving Private Ryan for the Oscar. Then we hit two wars and now it's even more absurd.

Glory was a very very good film then. It's a masterpiece now, but is sorta a travesty they only used one actual historical figure when they had Medal of Honor winners to choose from

Gladiator and Braveheart.  Great great then. Kinda good now. Don't know what happened. I think we became saturated with violence and everyone tried to copy them with the whole FREEDOM type stuff and now it's cliche.

Titanic.....um.....pass. Notable for making everyone instantly forget The English Patient.

The Batman franchise.   Now that we have the new one we can pretty much throw away the old ones. Maybe keep the first two.

There were a few films I thought might make to cult status like The Program and it just didn't happen. I would, however, like to consider some stuff like Friday Night Lights its grandchild

Field of Dreams.  Great then. Even better now. You just don't hear about it lots because of all the other stuff. And there's too much money and hype in sports now. Entire generations just don't get playing ball in a field.  And honestly this movie and Hoosiers is..well...too....white. We have a far more diverse society now. Unless you throw in some shared history these films aren't going to cut it anymore.

Good Will Hunting.  Was great then and should have beat Titanic for an Oscar in a fair world. Is even better now.

[dark_lord]

Gladiator and Braveheart.  Great great then. Kinda good now. Don't know what happened. I think we became saturated with violence and everyone tried to copy them with the whole FREEDOM type stuff and now it's cliche.

[Eja117]

Darklord....have you seen the Eagle?   Just don't watch.


Dances with Wolves. Great then. Better now.  We just need the Avatars to stop copying them even though they copied Little Big Man.  We've seen enough of the gone-native thing and it was perfected. So stop. Maybe make the natives come to you or something.

[Eja117]

Really good then....we should have listened....great now


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtLr-UUUVI8

Best piece of movie advice ever

[Eja117]

The Matrix...great then....just as good now

[CelticG1]

Forest Gump

Great then

Better now

[Drucci]

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - great at the time, even better now (especially after Kingdom of the Crystall Skull). Same for Blade Runner.

[nickagneta]

The Princess Bride...pretty good then, absolute classic now.

Rocky...awesome then, maybe even better now.

Star Wars... see Rocky.

Rocky Horror Picture Show...see The Princess Bride.

The Fellowship of the Ring...awesome then...the weak link in an unforgettable trilogy now.

Anchorman: The Ron Burgundy Story...dang funny then, classically funny now.

[RebusRankin]

The Original Karate Kid. Loved it as a child. Saw it again a few weeks ago. Holds up well. Great story, good acting. Fun viewing and something an entire family can watch and enjoy.

Disagree on Braveheart and Gladiator.

Rocky is a good one. I'd add the original First Blood.

[CelticG1]

Just saw scarface for the first time yesterday.

Thought it was great now and assume it was great then

[Kwhit10]

Movies I saw as a kid such as Home Alone and Uncle Buck were good back then.  But now when they're on TV they seem even better.  More so for Uncle Buck, man is that movie funnier now.

[indeedproceed]

A Christmas Story: Great then (because you see it as a kid from Ralphie's eyes) and great now, because you apprecaite the nuance from the adult characters, esp the father/mother.

WHen I was watching it this year, it got to the point where the lamp broke, and the father was absolutely crushed, but was a man, and a kind man, so the only thing the man could say to his wife who had clearly declared open war on that 'major award' was, "NOT A FINGAH!!!!"

Man I just laughed so hard. I never got what that felt like until I'd had a truly important (6 and a half years and engaged now) woman in my life.

[guava_wrench]

I was abroad when I saw Titanic so I was surprised at how American men seemed to hate the movie. Brilliant movie if you aren't allergic to romantic themes.

I really agree with the Batman comments. The last 2 movies have really made the first few seem way too campy.

Rambo 2 was acceptable when it came out, horrible now. First Blood was good when it came out, just bearable now.

Rocky may be a timeless classic, but Rocky 3 and 4 are pretty dopey now. Way too 80s.

I probably agree that Braveheart got played out and there isn't enough substance in a move like Gladiator to keep me past one viewing, even if the first viewing was amazing.

Tron aged horribly. Was fine before people were computer literate. The Porky's series were fun a loooooong time ago, ridiculous now.

The Big Lebowski gets better at every viewing. I kinda feel the same about Being John Malkovich. I usually can only watch funny-ish movies multiple times -- though I have seen the LOTR movies all countless times.

[Eja117]

The Princess Bride...pretty good then, absolute classic now.

Rocky...awesome then, maybe even better now.

Star Wars... see Rocky.

Rocky Horror Picture Show...see The Princess Bride.

The Fellowship of the Ring...awesome then...the weak link in an unforgettable trilogy now.

Anchorman: The Ron Burgundy Story...dang funny then, classically funny now.

Fellowship was the weak link?  The middle one was nothing  but fighting.

I usually find the first one very good like this and the Matrix. Phantom Menace not so much

[Roy H.]

Avatar...  I thought that one was decent when it came out.  Looking back at it, especially without 3-D, I think it's borderline garbage.

Star Wars:  great then, worse (but still good)now.  Mostly because George Lucas changed them and added new scenes that nobody likes.

Most movies, though, I either like them and continue liking them, or don't like them and I never like them.