Movies aren't what they used to be. It's rare today to find a film that has the same kind of magic that they did a few decades ago. Now, it's all about the franchises and predictable plots. Maybe I'm just a cynic, but I truly think there aren't a lot of directors and producers doing what made films great back then.
Fellow movie buffs on Reddit seem to feel similarly. VeggieBurger953 asked:
What is a thing that a lot of movies do that you absolutely hate?
It’s all about the big budget franchises these days. Not all of them are bad, but it’s rare to find a good ol’ stand alone film in modern cinema.
Too many cinematic universes.
“That EVERY movie nowadays is set up as the first part of a possible trilogy, making it non-commital and vague as a result."
“Not just a trilogy, a franchise."
A very familiar trope.
star wars no GIF
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“When a character doesn't immediately explain what happened, to stop the conflict.
Just let me explain, I swear that's not what happened. If you just let me finish, I'll tell you! Please, just listen to SHUT UP! JUST SAY IT!
I didn't kill your [insert familial person here] I tried to save them, but I was too late.”
No one fights like that.
“The choreographed fights where the villains always attack one at a time.”
“And choreographed fights where the cameraman is having a seizure.”
Probably the weirdest thing about most movies is how characters interact with each other. This is mostly due to bad writing and overused plots.
Why are these characters always the worst?
“In Rom coms, the two love interests are usually bad for each other. So, to make them seem less bad for each other, when they go through that period where they break up and try dating other people, the other people are the weirdest, most unlovable freaks anyone has ever laid eyes on. Men are instantly abusive, women behave like spoiled children.
It's the stupidest trope.”
We’re not falling for it.
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“Male lead and female lead with no chemistry end up together 'just because'."
“Also, there's always this 0.01 second of eye contact, that can weakly be described as mutual interest, and from that they go on to make wildly passionate and compatible sex with no awkwardness or anything.”
No one actually does this.
“When two people want to talk privately, instead of them going into the hallway, they make the other 20 people leave the room.”
“Or they move 5 ft away from the group and talk "privately". As if no one could hear them talking in normal volume just because they turned their backs to the group.”
Unfortunately, when movies are bad, it’s most likely due to the screenwriting. If your script isn’t good, it’s hard to make a good film.
Foreshadowing is an art.
“When something is foreshadowed and then revealed later in the movie, but instead of just letting you realize it yourself, one of the characters say it out loud. Like the audience is too dumb to make the connection.
Biggest pet peeve is the fact that EVERY comedy has to turn sad in a very cliche way halfway through the movie. It's the guy loses girl and has to win her back formula that's in every damn comedy.”
We need you, Mel Brooks.
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“Yellow filter when they enter Mexico.”
“I need a self-aware movie that has folks driving into New Mexico, filter coming on, someone complaining that it's still the US and the filter going back off until they actually cross into Mexico now.”
“Mel Brooks doesn't make movies anymore.”
Seems legit.
“When the FBI shows up to "take over" the case and then the cops butt heads with them. This does not happen. Cops are more then happy to let someone else do their work for them."
“Also the FBI is almost always portrayed as a bunch of overly bureaucratic folks who suck at "fighting crime" and only know how to follow their standard procedure. The original Die Hard is probably the most on the nose with this, to the point a central part of the plot revolves around the villain actually counting on this behavior."
Zombies make every plot better.
“An entire arc of the film has drama that is just based on a big misunderstanding or petty argument between two characters that is inevitably going to get resolved.”
“I want a RomCom that is like this after 20 minutes or so, you would think it is over and they live happily ever after, but then zombies from outer space invade. The last part should obviously not be mentioned in the trailers.”
Now that a random Reddit user mentioned it, every film should be directed by Mel Brooks. Every single one. We need more weird self-awareness in movies.
But you know what? We watch movies to embrace the unrealistic, so we can escape from real life for a bit. Maybe movies aren't so bad after all
But eventually, we need to face the facts, and these Redditors are ready to deliver the harsh truths about what it means to be human. SomeWillingness2960 asked:
What is the truth humanity is not ready to hear?
Let’s start with a few of the light ones, before we dive deep in what we’ve been overdue to hear.
Starting off with a very controversial one.
“The air in chip bags is important.”
“They replace the air (which contains oxygen and water vapour) with nitrogen so the chips don't get soggy or oxidise.”
“And they "over inflate" the bags on purpose to cushion the chips from crumbling during packing / transport.”
A universal work struggle.
season 8 episode 23 GIFGiphy“No matter where you work, or what you do for a living, there will always be That Person that nobody can figure out how they got hired, never mind why they are allowed to continue working there.”
“I remember seeing a post on Reddit that seems to answer it. It basically says that to keep most jobs you just need to tick two out of three of the following attributes(I might have misremembered 1)
- You actually show up on time
- Your work is
good/up to standardis not the worst and passable - Your colleagues and bosses
like youdon't hate you the most out of your colleagues
Edit. Adding 4 and 5 based on below discussions which can supercede the above 3 while also ammending the above three slightly
4. It's more difficult to kick you out than to keep you
5. You have some control over those in charge (some kind of relation, having some kind of incriminating evidence, etc)”
What is “normal”, anyway?
“We will never have a good sense of the world's "normal."
News won't focus on it, because it's boring by definition. Social media won't focus on it for the same reason. Word of mouth and fiction too. Statistics may get us close, but they're hard to picture in terms if human experience, and of course, more exciting stats get repeated more.
Our view of the world outside of our own personal experience will always be shaped by the outliers, and there's not much way around it.”
Ok, now it’s time to dive deeper. Prepare yourselves.
This one hurts.
“Most people simply don't care about the things you're passionate about no matter how much you try to convince them that they should be.”
“As I've gotten older I've had to learn that my friends don't find joy in the same things I do. It's nothing personal.”
I’ll never understand this.
Mermaid Man And Barnacle Boy Superhero GIF by SpongeBob SquarePantsGiphy“Much evil not only goes unpunished but is rewarded.”
“Not only that but a lot of evil behaviour is rewarding itself for many people.”
Unfortunate truth.
“The loudest among you are mostly a bunch of wankers. Unfortunately you usually let them lead you.”
“A big part of that is because they tell us what we want to hear.
You ever hear a politician go "We're going to have open borders, lower corporate tax rate, higher sales tax, reduced prison sentences, laws forbidding employers from looking into if they're hiring a criminal, a ban on beef, and we're doing it all because that is what the experts say we should do and I have a giant book of sources on that"? No, because even though that's very much what experts advise, it's not at all what people want to hear.
So instead, when you hear someone going "Don't listen to that guy, what we really need is better border control, huge taxes on corporations, no taxes on the poor, criminals get treated like the scum they are, and corporations are the main ones behind climate change, and don't ask me for sources", you're still much more likely to support him. Because when you want to believe them, they're so much easier to believe.”
Those would be some very smart monkeys.
“There's a good chance that humans simply don't have the capacity to fully understand the universe.
A monkey will never be able to comprehend calculus, macroeconomic theory, or how a car works. It makes sense that we too have an intellectual ceiling that will prevent us from ever understanding how the universe works.”
Ready to face the music? Keep reading.
Oof.
Giphy“Humanity is the largest threat to itself. Not some natural disaster or outside invasion. We will kill ourselves off at this rate.”
“Yes. It's sad that the most successful and intelligent species in the solar system is most likely going to cause its own downfall.”
Same.
“For most people the last thing left of them will be an eroded name on a headstone.”
“I want to be one of those taxidermied drones.”
Username checks out.
“Are you special? Maybe a little bit. Are you as special as you think you are? Certainly not.”
“We are all the same decaying organic matter.”
Well, I hope y’all aren’t too messed up from reading that. Especially that first one about the chip bags. How dare they.
But in all seriousness, just do your part to make our world a better place. That’s all we can do.
Most of us would be content making sure our family and friends were set for life and bettering the world the best we can.
Redditor ApArAmY wanted to hear what everyone else dreamed of doing if they had no limit on funds.
“What is the first thing you would buy if you had infinite money?"
Dreaming of affordable health care? Must be from the US...
“Every single medical provider facility in the world. Make healthcare free for patients. Since I have unlimited money, I can afford whatever drug/device/material/salary/etc that would treat patients.”
“Then everyone can get on with living life knowing that they'll get good medicine and not be saddled with high costs. And taxes could go down because governments wouldn't have to pay for healthcare.” Specialist-Ad475
20 trillion, no big deal...
“I'd fund all efforts to further the fight against climate change, global warming, pollution, etc. I'd probably try not to spend that much money for a while so as to prevent inflation, but adding ~20 trillion dollars to the global economy wouldn't be that bad, right?” PixelGMS
The orange one wouldn't like this idea...
“I'd buy Mar a Lago, make it into a homeless shelter and install wind power turbines on all 18 holes." Mr-Warmth
Someone come get their dad!
“A new butt, my old one has a crack in it!" drewdwagy1966
seth meyers dabbing GIF by Late Night with Seth MeyersGiphyHuman rights and green energy...
“Buy Amazon, Nestle, and as many $1billion+ corporations as I can. Once I'm CEO, I would stop every human rights violation they cause and give all the profits (since i have infinite money I won't need it) to charities and funding to green energy and stopping climate change." crispier_cream
So pure...
“It sounds silly, but an ice cream sandwich. Several years ago, I was living paycheck to paycheck and had a fair amount of credit card debt. I fell behind in my mortgage and lost my home to foreclosure. Shortly after I was notified, I drove over to a 7-11, bought an ice cream sandwich, and ate it while crying in my car.”
“Unfortunately, every time I eat an ice cream sandwich, it's still a bittersweet feeling. I always think of the day my favorite childhood comfort food became forever intertwined with my sense of complete and utter failure. After coming into life-changing money, I would hope that an ice cream sandwich would taste as good again as it did when I was a kid.” Steve-in-rewrite
“Just….. a huge chunk of land.”
“Land. Just….. a huge chunk of land. Build a house for my parents, one for us, and one for my In-Laws, and another small house for the family to stay at when they come to visit. Maybe two. We got a big family. And then just spend my time building my farm." Unusual_Amphibian_20
Just make sure to funnel it through a PAC first...
“A US Senator! Or several of 'em. I've always wanted my own senator.” a_dangerous_noodle
Susan Collins Thank You GIF by Election 2020GiphyThe who’s got a bigger one game...
“Judging by the world we live in, apparently I'd enter into the private space race.” Cool-breeze7
Back to the bartering system perhaps?
“I would distribute it all evenly so that it's literally worthless. I would expect this to collapse the economy but what do i know, I'm not an economist.” Jham_jam
It seems like mostly these Redditors want to help others and the planet. Although for that one person, may all your ice cream sandwiches be delightful.
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