[Laminar]

Well, at least I can take solace in the fact that music today sucks and it was a lot better years ago.

[ApertureValue]

Originally Posted by Laminar 

Well, at least I can take solace in the fact that music today sucks and it was a lot better years ago.

Oh, for the love of pack mules! Why, WHY did you have to start this?!!

[SpaceMonkey]

Mwahahaha.

[Person Man]

Originally Posted by ghporter 

Series television is VERY demanding both physically and mentally. Performers work very long hours-often bored out of their skulls waiting for a shot to act in, but other stuff gets in the way and they wait, wait, wait. There are major compromises in how the actor gets to perform, based on a production schedule that usually means six, 14+hour days to get all the script filmed without any of the shots being too bad. Performances are driven by the director and the script-you'd be surprised how GOOD a lot of television actors are when they have a solid script and a decent director-and a little elbow room for actually performing.

Of course that all really only applies to hour-long dramatic shows. Most of television is still sitcom rubbish that is SUPPOSED to be formulaic tripe because that's what Joe Sixpack (aged 22.34, income between $31,500 and $45,5000, education between 0 and 2 years of college, living alone in an urban location, no pets) ASKS for through supporting the shows' advertisers. And still, a LOT of those performers are WAY better than you see on TV because sitcoms are made on a production line too.

American TV, yes. Greek TV is something totally different.

[angelmb]

I watched a movie yesterday, and let me tell you, it was AWESOM·E

[ghporter]

Originally Posted by Person Man 

American TV, yes. Greek TV is something totally different.

Sort of like Mexican TV, I guess. I haven't ever seen anything on the two big Mexican networks available here that wasn't a REALLY stupid "variety show" or a "telenovela" (bad to horrendously bad soap opera-caveat: I don't like soaps to begin with). Except for fútbol, and you can enjoy that without having to listen to the commentators (worse than American football commentators). I really don't understand that, since there is quite a lot of real literature from Mexico, and really solid performers. But prime time doesn't seem to have much of anything but stuff like "Sabado Gigante!!" (one of the worst so-called variety shows around; a combination of the worst of "Hee-Haw" and a frat party) and more soap opera stuff. And dubbed US shows, but we're talking about home-grown TV here.

[Chuckit]

How could you forget Infarto, which is like Candid Camera or Punked only really horrid and mean?

[Eug]

Hmmmm...

Infarto (Spanish for heart attack) is a hidden camera show on TV Azteca / Azteca América. People appearing on the show have been subjected to pranks such as the victim believing that they will be sacrificed in a cult ritual or believing that they will be murdered by axe-wielding neighbors in the midst of a blackout. Because of the extreme and traumatizing nature of the show's content, the authenticity of the show is heavily debated. Sci-Fi Channel's original show, Scare Tactics is modeled after this concept.

[ghporter]

I get Galavision and Univision, not TV Azteca. And I don't think I'd sit through the first segment of such a show-I certainly don't watch "Scare Tactics."

[hayesk]

More people watch stupid movies than intelligent movies. It's that simple. If you want it to change, convince everyone you know to stop going to stupid movies. Good luck with that.

[jokell82]

Originally Posted by hayesk 

More people watch stupid movies than intelligent movies. It's that simple. If you want it to change, convince everyone you know to stop going to stupid movies. Good luck with that.

Sometimes that's hard to do - there isn't a single theater in my area playing "500 Days of Summer".

[abbaZaba]

Originally Posted by gradient 

There are tonnes of comedies from the last 5 years that are as good (or much better considering that I don't consider several of those listed movies "smart" at all) as the ones you've listed.

How about:
..
Kocked Up

is this a really funny porno?

[turtle777]

-t

[putrid]

Movies and TV are supposed to be stupid. You can watch ever episode of 'Tool Time' and still never really know how to use a table saw. Might become more aware of tool safety. LOL The more brainless the entertainment the bigger the audience.

[LaGow]

All I know is that I saw Star Trek five times and I still cried every time Captain Kirk was born. And I didn't care that Cameron had him. Now that's a good movie in my book.

And all I can say about movies in the 70s is that Jaws cost me $3.50 to get in the door and I was shocked at the price of the ticket. Then again I went sailing in Puget Sound that summer and was very anxious about sharks.

Anyway, I've been alive during the whole period in question and I've never noticed an overall trend towards suckiness. Some years are better than others, but I think it's unfair to judge a summer movie from any era. I mean, I liked Star Trek II (and I'm a die-hard Trek fan, obviously) when I saw it in the theaters back in the day, but Dark Knight completely, utterly, blew me away. My kids and I watch it on DVD at least once a month now. I simply can't remember any performance as harrowing as Heath Ledger's in that flick.

And if we're not talking about just summer movies, then Eastern Promises, which came out last year, scarred me for life. And I can say that over my reaction to Clockwork Orange, which really freaked me out. All that throat slitting...I suffer just to think of it.

Hollywood puts out about 300 movies a year, so I've read (don't ask me where). Is that more or less than previous eras? Is the ratio of good to bad (and that seems sort of subjective unless you're counting box office receipts, I guess) any different? I saw a lot of good movies this year.