Fuck movies!
—Mr. Plinkett
Movies Suck Nowadays
It’s practically cliche at this point to bitch about the state of movies.
It’s all corporate bullshit now! Marvel ruined the movies! The writing in movies sucks nowadays! CGI is ruining movies! They should go back to practical effects! Budgets are too big! No one takes any risks in Hollywood anymore! Nostalgia! Politics! Pandemic! Disney! JJ Abrams…
Not that I don’t agree with many of these complaints, but the truth is, not all movies suck nowadays. And I realize you have to go out and support them or zip your trap when all that’s showing at the multiplex is Avengers 7, Star Wars 17, Sonic the Hedgehog 5, or Halloween 28.
The thing is, for the first time in probably my entire adult life, I just don’t care. I don’t care. And I’m not entirely sure why. Accepting the fact that the movie business has problems and not all movies suck nowadays, I still can’t really bring myself to care about the ones that are worth caring about.
When Movies Didn’t Suck
I remember when I didn’t need a reason to go to the movies.
In my twenties, I went to the movies to see films as varied as Eyes Wide Shut, Godzilla, 8mm, Showgirls, Reality Bites, Batman Forever, Romeo + Juliet, The Blair Witch Project, Sphere, Jerry Maguire, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Armageddon, From Dusk til Dawn, The Postman, Stir of Echoes, Spawn, Scream, Go, Deep Impact, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Office Space, Mission Impossible, LA Story, Swingers, Strange Days, The Ring, Ghost Dog, 12 Monkeys, The Game, The Green Mile, Braveheart, LA Confidential, Seven, Fargo, Fight Club, Saving Private Ryan, Pulp Fiction…
If you think that list was just an excuse to pad out this weak-ass editorial, you’re probably not wrong. But it also serves as a contrast.
A Movie Desert
Last year I saw six movies. Total. Four of them I saw in a theater. The year before? 11. The year before that, three.
Now, granted, those three years could all be roughly considered pandemic years, and the effect that had on movies and the movie business probably cannot be underestimated. But even looking back at my movie watching habits prior to 2020, there’s a noticeable decline from what it was over the previous decade where I usually watched an average of 20-30 new movies in a calendar year. Which means that I watched fewer new movies in the last three years total than I used to watch in a single year. Something obviously changed. But even as I write, I struggle to pin it on a single thing.
Maybe I’m watching the wrong movies. Maybe I’m looking at the whole thing the wrong way. Maybe it’s ok to take a break from something you love and come back with a fresh perspective. Maybe I’m old and cranky, and come to think of it, there are probably people on my lawn that I should go yell at, but right now I need to think of a way to wrap this shit up.
Do Movies Suck Nowadays?
And since I can’t think of anything witty, I’ll hand it over to you: What am I missing? Why are the movies worth paying attention to in 2023? Which ones are you looking forward to?
Or maybe you agree with me and want to commiserate. In which case, feel free to share your complaints below.
Thanks for reading. Bye.
