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Dear Hollywood and people in general: be more Ethan Hawke-ish.

Cudpug

Cudpug

Member
Nov 9, 2017
3,586
It is a shame now that a lot of people, myself included, avoid a lot of films because you just look up the score and if it hasn't reviewed well we don't even bother. Partially this is due to me having limited time and not wanting to waste it on a crap movie, but he is right that everything is reduced now to its RT or Metacritic score (games included).
 
Helix

Helix

Mayor of Clown Town
Member
Jun 8, 2019
24,007
EVERYTHING IS COMPETITION AND WAR IN CAPITALISM, ETHAN HAWKE!
 
Soundscream

Soundscream

Member
Nov 2, 2017
9,239
Does it really matter what someone's opinions on movies are? This is such a silly thing to worry about.
 
Calabi

Calabi

Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,498
Personally I kind of prefer the lower rated questionable reviewed movies it tends to be more interesting to me usually less homogenised and generic.

But yeah people fighting and obsessing over the numbers is getting ridiculous.
 
astro

astro

Member
Oct 25, 2017
57,210
Agree with him.

There is definitley a bit of an overcorrection happening at times, though, to the point that people start getting a kind of reverse snooty about people who don't enjoy certain films. There was a thread a while back for a blockbuster action film (I forget which one), and one person said it looked pretty bad (the comment was very benign and not tinged at all imo) and got quoted by a half dozen people telling them to stop being a snob.

Like what you like, tbh. If you think all super hero films are trashy, and you only like arthouse movies ,that's absolutely fair, just don't be a dick about it.... but that last part goes both ways.
 

Deleted member 25606

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 29, 2017
8,973
I have never got the obsession with numbers, in any media but especially film with it being as subjective as it is. I especially learned not to trust critics on horror, until recently they called everything trash no matter the quality. And even now they only give props to the art house films and even then it seems like a "we don't hate horror" shield because if it doesnts say Blumhouse or A24 they still trash it no matter the actual quality.
 
Prophet Five

Prophet Five

Pundeath Knight
Member
Nov 11, 2017
7,693
The Great Dark Beyond
I wonder how many posters in this thread agreeing with him also get a raging hard on while talking about the superiority of The Criterion Collection.

He's right, btw. But the pissing contests, here and otherwise, are never going to end. You can't put that Christina Aguilera back in her bottle.
 
HStallion

HStallion

Member
Oct 25, 2017
62,364
Probably not his intention considering the context of his comment but felt like a bit of a back handed comment about a lot of those superhero films he loves having heart.
 
Dan-o

Dan-o

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,919
Hawke is great. When 'fans' talk about aggregated scores and box office numbers and budgets, I always find it perplexing. Hell, even referring to creative work as 'content' and 'IP' is really fucking weird. These are business terms that have creeped their way into fandom.

"There's no game to win, that's not what art is."
Oh sure, says the guy with an average RT score of 6.7! LOL Got 'em! /s

Prophet Five said:
I wonder how many posters in this thread agreeing with him also get a raging hard on while talking about the superiority of The Criterion Collection.
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Come on now... this isn't blu-ray.com ;)
 
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SuperEpicMan

SuperEpicMan

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,809
He kinda put my views into words. People are way too tribalistic and negative about films (and most other things) they don't like and it gets seriously tiring at times. I also think there's a lot of pseudo intellectual toxicity in the world of film, where people throw thinly veiled criticism at people for enjoying certain films.

Being able to enjoy films like Paddington and an MCU film, or something like Parasite aren't mutually exclusive. I know people have personal tastes, but I see way too many people broadly discounting films they perceive as lesser. I was actually recommended a podcast by a colleague listing the top 50 films since 2000. I ended up checking out of it when they blanket ruled there were no "silly" Wes Anderson films in the list, but then in the same breath listed Amelie and Star Wars. In my mind "silly" isn't a criticism, in the same way "bad" isn't. If you only want to include films you perceive as elevated kino or whatever, you just come across a but insufferable.
 
beelzebozo

beelzebozo

Member
Oct 26, 2017
2,078
i think where i land on this is what he says first: the movies where someone's heart is clearly in it are the ones that really connect. two of the movies he mentions, Logan and TDK, have clear points of view and emotional resonance that isn't always present in this sort of mass market film. this has always been the case, of course—in the 80s/90s it was action movies filling this space. the difference now is that the financial elements of movie-making have changed so much, and smaller 40-50 million dollar movies that would have modest returns in 1990 and considered successful are less likely to get made, in favor of 10-20 million dollar movies or 200+ mil movies. concern about this is largely academic and insider baseball, but does have an impact on the kinds of stories people end up seeing.
 
Indy in the Fridge

Indy in the Fridge

Banned
Oct 30, 2017
15,278
Hawke is a real one. I feel like when people talk about lovable Hollywood stars they completely forget about Hawke. He's an incredibly talented actor and collaborator and I don't think I've heard one scandalous thing about him.
 
PeakPointMatrix

PeakPointMatrix

Member
Oct 25, 2017
19,288
Unfortunately, none of the people that drive-by post with labeling certain movies as children's entertainment as a veiled insult will watch of listen to this.
 

jackie daytona

Alt Account
Banned
Feb 15, 2022
1,240
I guess Ethan Hawke and I are kindred spirits.

I've always thought people discussing weekly box office numbers or video game sales numbers to be…extremely, off-puttingly odd, to put it kindly.
 
Ryuelli

Ryuelli

Member
Oct 26, 2017
15,209
Prophet Five said:
I wonder how many posters in this thread agreeing with him also get a raging hard on while talking about the superiority of The Criterion Collection.

He's right, btw. But the pissing contests, here and otherwise, are never going to end. You can't put that Christina Aguilera back in her bottle.
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It irrationally annoys me the Criterion version of Parasite isn't in 4k.
 
Shyranui

Shyranui

Member
Oct 29, 2017
744
Spain
As an horror movies fan... yeah, I learned that a long time ago. If I based my views on scores and the opinion of random people I would not watch shit.

I don't even know how to score things, I know if I liked it, loved it, or if it was middling or whatever. What is the difference between a 7 and a 7.5? I don't care.

Some people seem to like to hate things and feel superior about their "tastes"
 
Idde

Idde

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,699
dancingphlower said:
Yeah people (especially here) focus too much on what movie is "better", whether that's in box office success, reviews, or awards, and can't just enjoy what they enjoy. They gotta tell everyone how much the thing they enjoy is better than what other people enjoy, and consistently shit on the things they don't like.
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"Portals scene or Ride of the Rohirrim?"
 
nihilence

nihilence

nøthing but silence
Moderator
Oct 25, 2017
16,073
From 'quake area to big OH.
GATTACA one of my favorite.

It's easy to get caught up in the opinions and momentum of reviews and revenue like it's the end all of meaning. Sometimes it's easy to be afraid or forget to appreciate things on your own.

The aggregation of scores and revenue is another form of marketing that feeds our tribal tendencies.

How many people will admit to having a guilty pleasure. Why should you be guilty for liking something?
 
Elegant Weapon

Elegant Weapon

Member
Oct 31, 2017
6,749
I was never one to let reviews influence what I'm interested in watching so I'm always flabbergasted when people bring up IMDb scores

I won't belabor the point I've been making about snobby fanbases that think hating everything makes them smart or is their excuse for personality
 

Deleted member 7148

Oct 25, 2017
6,827
He's totally right and it's refreshing to hear that from such a high caliber actor. Same can be applied to music as well.
 
SuperEpicMan

SuperEpicMan

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,809
beelzebozo said:
i think where i land on this is what he says first: the movies where someone's heart is clearly in it are the ones that really connect. two of the movies he mentions, Logan and TDK, have clear points of view and emotional resonance that isn't always present in this sort of mass market film. this has always been the case, of course—in the 80s/90s it was action movies filling this space. the difference now is that the financial elements of movie-making have changed so much, and smaller 40-50 million dollar movies that would have modest returns in 1990 and considered successful are less likely to get made, in favor of 10-20 million dollar movies or 200+ mil movies. concern about this is largely academic and insider baseball, but does have an impact on the kinds of stories people end up seeing.
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I think we still get those films, they just get drowned out by the popularity of larger budget films, and/or bought up by streaming services.

Also, even thinking with my most cynical jaded parts of my brain, I still think the overwhelming majority of films have been made with passion. Whether that be a very singular passion project by a director with a strong vision, or the sum of a bunch of people working creatively on a film. Blockbuster films have thousands of moving parts and are incredibly difficult to make, I just don't think most projects would get off the ground if they didn't have someones heart in it. Whether that always translates to a film that resonates with broad audiences is another matter though.

Personally I have tried to appreciate films a bit more lately. Even picking a film such as Alice Through The Looking Glass, which you could say is a very corporate film, which didn't get great reviews or commercial success and generally looked down on. I watched it and while I didn't love it, it was a great vehicle for costumes, set design etc and I could at least appreciate the work that went into it.
 
Bengraven

Bengraven

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Oct 26, 2017
27,060
Florida
As a writer it fucks me up. I just want to write fun shit but the drive to write pretentious "truth" drives me nuts.

Growing up with pretentious friends who told me "please write something like Running with Scissors and not Blade Runner". Basically write something Oprah would want on her book club, not Jim Butcher or Christopher Moore like I wanted to.
 
Jombie

Jombie

Member
Oct 27, 2017
10,392
And it reflects in his filmography. He's played all kinds of roles, and in different movies.
 
Kain

Kain

Unshakable Resolve - One Winged Slayer
The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
7,668
He's not wrong but putting your heart in it is not enough. I imagine hacks like Snyder pour their heart in every movie they make and

zacksnyder-necksnap.gif
 
Bengraven

Bengraven

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Oct 26, 2017
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Kain said:
He's not wrong but putting your heart in it is not enough. I imagine hacks like Snyder pour their heart in every movie they make and

zacksnyder-necksnap.gif
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You're proving his point though, right?

Snyder is happy with what he makes and has fans and money from doing it. He likely doesn't care that people call him a hack. And he shouldn't.
 
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