Controversial Opinions

[dubkitty]

modern movies, anyway. back in the day they knew how to use cinematography, set design, and great actors to create convincing atmosphere; nowadays it all seems to be sensationalism, sex, and CGI.

[JereFuzz]

modern movies, anyway. back in the day they knew how to use cinematography, set design, and great actors to create convincing atmosphere; nowadays it all seems to be sensationalism, sex, and CGI.

I CAN watch a movie here and there, but generally, it’s all been done. There aren’t many new ideas being tossed out there. Just rehash rehash rehash. As a result, I just assume there are not any new good movies and pretend movies don’t exist anymore.

[friendship]

These days I feel the same way about music tbh.

[dubkitty]

every so often i come across something that doesn't feel like refried something-or-other--e.g. i just heard the new-ish band that features Brix Smith and the Hanley brothers, Brix and the Extricated, which is first-class--but mostly it seems like the same old shit.

[JereFuzz]

These days I feel the same way about music tbh.

But there is much more music than movies. If you get tired with a genre/band there is a nearly infinite number of options or you can make your own music. Plot lines are more « finite » and get rehashed over and over again. That’s not to say there aren’t more ideas to pursue but I’m not willing to wade through garbage to find a diamond. I’m far more willing to wade through the music dumpster to find a diamond ...

[JereFuzz]

every so often i come across something that doesn't feel like refried something-or-other--e.g. i just heard the new-ish band that features Brix Smith and the Hanley brothers, Brix and the Extricated, which is first-class--but mostly it seems like the same old shit.

Honestly, I see much more potential in music as I discover new instruments. The genre/language/instruments/sampling/lyrical content mixes are endless. Imagine love song with a dutar playing death metal strumming with female vocals and synth bass backin? And here is my favorite dutar player:

[Sonaboy]

In regards to "new original" movies and music, I think one of the unfortunate side-effects of how the internet functions, is that it creates some kind of near-field atmosphere of "sameness" based on the assumption that we, as consumers, would like "this similar thing" based on behavior that's interpreted as us liking "that similar thing."
I play music a couple of days every week, and play out once or twice a month, so in those settings, I'm talking to other musicians and hearing about what they like, how they create, whatever.
The rest of the time, I'm "discovering" music and movies that are constructed to sound or be like other things I listen or watch, because my primary source for all of it isn't a person, it's some kind of code I generate AND respond to.


It's not a good thing if you want to feel like you're somehow "in the know" across a broader landscape, and it amplifies this feeling that I'm out of touch or approaching irrelevance.

But if I consciously go outside of my normal channels, then it's like walking into a massive room with EVERY RECORD OR FILM EVER MADE ready to be listened or watched, which gives me the feeling I have no direction or touchstone. It's pretty weird.

[dubkitty]

well, i agree that there's a lot of potential, it's just that folks aren't exploiting it much.

[friendship]

well, i agree that there's a lot of potential, it's just that folks aren't exploiting it much.

Or possibly they are, but the vast galaxy of music available to us on the web makes it much more difficult to find. I'm also completely out-of-touch so I blame my fatigue with new music on that, mostly. And also when you're young, new music can seem novel because you don't have a frame of reference... as you get older and watch the bands and genres come and go, you realize a lot of the differences are just window dressing. And let's not forget there is no art without rehashing. Everything is built from something that's come before it.

[dubkitty]

true that.

[coupleonapkins]

I tend to watch movies more than listen to new music these days, but then again there's this whole cycle of vetting whether or not something is worth my time (I probably coulda just watched DREDD seven or eight times instead). The deluge that the internet offers doesn't help, but dollar bins are my favorite place to unwind (always a mystery) for records and sometimes movies, as some sort of mini-history of neighborhoods and/or people I will never meet (polka kings of the midwest!). It's temporarily self-contained, approachable, and within my grasp/means, which is probably why Redbox is still around/seems more appealing than Netflix at this point, even if only one or two of the movies is fairly good out of a hundred.

Also probably a non-controversial opinion (apologies for waldo content) but relevant nonetheless:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m89uoXuylag

[dubkitty]

what i appreciate is bands/artists that do something with their influences that takes them out of their original context. e.g. i always thought that mid-period R.E.M. was obviously influenced by the Jefferson Airplane.

[JereFuzz]

well, i agree that there's a lot of potential, it's just that folks aren't exploiting it much.

Or better yet, people aren’t supporting it

[JereFuzz]

well, i agree that there's a lot of potential, it's just that folks aren't exploiting it much.

Or possibly they are, but the vast galaxy of music available to us on the web makes it much more difficult to find. I'm also completely out-of-touch so I blame my fatigue with new music on that, mostly. And also when you're young, new music can seem novel because you don't have a frame of reference... as you get older and watch the bands and genres come and go, you realize a lot of the differences are just window dressing. And let's not forget there is no art without rehashing. Everything is built from something that's come before it.

Yes, and to your horror, you realize what you really liked was a facsimile (with minor adjustments) of a previous genre or a bandwagon jumper of what was already happening. Note, the originator of a « sound » rarely gets the early credit.

[dubkitty]

e.g. everything i listened to today (Manic Street Preachers, The Fall, Aphex's Analord EPs, Galaxie 500) had bass lines that sounded like Peter Hook.