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The question could easily be re-framed as - do you need a "star" to make a great movie? My wife & I recently attended the cinema for the first time in over a decade for "Theory of Everything" - hard to imagine a more prosaic subject, and for me not highly recognizable faces, but one of the most engaging films in recent memory. In many ways Eddie's physical acting was more amazing than any of the CG effect laden / wire riding action flicks, that are fun in their own way.
You have just hit the age where everything seems less good than when you were younger. People have been saying this every decade since films began. Others blame lucas and Spielberg for creating the whole blockbuster genre where if the golden gate bridge isn't destroyed in the first 5 minutes the audience loses interest.
I'm humming 'going underground' as I write this.
It all went down hill after that, more bling and dramatic effects with less substance to sink your teeth into. Bit like movies come to think of it...
The attention span of the youth today has plummeted. Not sure if being born with the internet has done this or not. The decline of good movies with any real plot/story is because of this "A.D.D." society and not video games. I get depressed because less and less kids are learning how to play music, it's a real shame and don't know what kind of human I would be with music.
Video games have evolved to become more like interactive movies, that you can be the star of the movie and even change the outcome. Some video games that span several releases like Halo and Mass Effect actually have well developed plots and characters that are far better than most movies imho. Role Play Games are based on character development and requires a lot of attention and time. Also video games can keep your mind and reflexes sharp, by making you think and react quickly. The medical community has embraced this and use first person shooters to rehabilitate head injury victims.
Now that I think about it again video games are so much better then movies maybe they did replace them
Video games have evolved to become more like interactive movies, that you can be the star of the movie and even change the outcome. Some video games that span several releases like Halo and Mass Effect actually have well developed plots and characters that are far better than most movies imho. Role Play Games are based on character development and requires a lot of attention and time. Also video games can keep your mind and reflexes sharp, by making you think and react quickly. The medical community has embraced this and use first person shooters to rehabilitate head injury victims.
Now that I think about it again video games are so much better then movies maybe they did replace them
If you ask me, it's because movie studios keep churning out fluff with big budget CGI, well known actors and awful, formulaic stories. Nothing really memorable has hit the theaters in a really long time.
I've got a couple of free movie passes that have been sitting on the coffee table since October. Every now and then the girlfriend and I check the movie listings to see if there's anything new/unique that's worth seeing, and end up disappointed.
The Imitation Game is worth seeing, even if you have to pay, but I think you may have missed it playing at the theater. We saw it on Boxing Day.
My wife didn't think it all that great thou.jeff
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Don't buy any of that. When I was a kid I had what they now call ADD. Half my teachers had a real problem with me, the other half didn't. Good movies are still made, you just have to search them out from the carp as you always had to do.
At the schools my kids go to there are more music performances that we did when I was a kid, so I think MORE are learning music.
I really think there is a combination of grumpy old man, rose tinted glasses and the four yorkshiremen in these sort of threads (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xe1a1wHxTyo).
And if kids have such bad ADD how come they can play video games for several hours straight? At least one of my 4.5 children has proven herself to be both academically and musically more talented than me and I am proud of my younger generation.
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It goes without saying that I'm a grumpy old man, if not I'd be playing video games instead of messing about here !
I suspect that the change over is due to the big $ that the big games can make compared to what was the case in the past.
I'm not so much worried about my kids, this is about me - I like good movies, when I can find one.
I suspect that the change over is due to the big $ that the big games can make compared to what was the case in the past.
I'm not so much worried about my kids, this is about me - I like good movies, when I can find one.
List of most expensive video games to develop - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
vs
List of most expensive films - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Doesn't suggest more money is going towards games, although the gap is closing.
Revenue comparisons are harder to find the raw data to work with so it gets easier to quote abe simpson ' I used to with it, then I wasn't. Now I don't even know what 'it' is'
vs
List of most expensive films - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Doesn't suggest more money is going towards games, although the gap is closing.
Revenue comparisons are harder to find the raw data to work with so it gets easier to quote abe simpson ' I used to with it, then I wasn't. Now I don't even know what 'it' is'
It's not perception, it's real. It's because Hollywood has become more and more corporate over the past few decades and as such is more dedicated to cranking out 'product' that is synergistic with multiple platforms/media and marketing.
There's a reason Transformers 4 was made despite the relatively unimpressive performance (compared to budget) of the 2nd and 3rd: Merchandising. These films are considered nothing more than commercials for the merchandise which represent the REAL profit.
The other reason: International box office. China and Russia now generate MORE money for tentpole films than the U.S. That means storylines that are as basic as possible to allow for translation/cultural differences and more and more action and FX. They didn't greenlight Pacific Rim 2 until China weighed in and they made sure the cast reflected their box office aims (which in this case was a plus - I'm all for diversity).
But make no mistake they are not making a new Star Wars because they care about the franchise. They are making it because of the ridiculous amount of $$$$ Disney stands to make in merchandising.
Same for Pixar. Same for Marvel. Both of which are owned by Disney, which also owns ABC and so on and so on.
Low to mid budget films are no longer viable from a profit standpoint. Just like so many other areas now the REALLY good small films are being bankrolled by mega wealthy philanthropists like Larry Ellison"s (?) daughter who runs Annapurna Pictures.
'Across the Pond' the Brits have developed a well oiled machine cranking out great low to medium budget, but even they stick close to a recognizable formula.
Finally Hollywood studios and their corporate owners no longer even bother trying to have creative 'creatives' in executive positions. They want to sidestep creative input altogether which is why we are bombarded with remakes of 'property' they already own.
Has ZERO to do with video games. Especially given the fact that the best stories are no longer found in the theater but on your cable TV...
Cable TV: AMC/HBO/Showtime/Netflix, etc. THAT'S where all the creativity and success is going.
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I fell away from ritualistically watching movies about 4 years ago. The overacting, F-word every second line, terribly fake action scenes, and thin plots became unappealing. It's like they have to break every inch down to the lowest common denominator. That oversimplification doesn't appeal to me.
In contrast, video games have taken a Hollywood-ish role without the same boundaries. They seem to be adapting to find and fit what makes an interesting experience. Some of them require a high level of manual hand to eye dexterity, reasoning, and in some cases even moral decision making. For some, the plots are rich and the music is quite fantastic...even full orchestrated.
I'm not sure if a blanket statement really applies to either. As with anything, there is the good and not so not. Person simply needs to find what suits themself.
In contrast, video games have taken a Hollywood-ish role without the same boundaries. They seem to be adapting to find and fit what makes an interesting experience. Some of them require a high level of manual hand to eye dexterity, reasoning, and in some cases even moral decision making. For some, the plots are rich and the music is quite fantastic...even full orchestrated.
I'm not sure if a blanket statement really applies to either. As with anything, there is the good and not so not. Person simply needs to find what suits themself.
I had it bad, but ADD wasn't well understood in the early 60's. I could not pay attention to the boring crud that my teachers were pouring out, and therefore got in trouble. So much trouble that I got removed from public school by the 4th grade. One of the school shrinks suggested music as a possible outlet, since it worked with other "misfit" kids, so my parents got me a cheap electric guitar and amp. The amp was confiscated within a few months.
I did learn to play the guitar quite well. Necessity also provided me the reason to build a guitar amplifier. The first one was made out of a Magnavox HiFi that my parents were discarding because they upgraded to stereo. That led to another, and another, due to the availability of junk tube radios, HiFi's and TV sets as the world upgraded to solid state. This was the real beginnings of Tubelab.
From the mid 60's through the 80's the availability of musical instruments to kids remained pretty much constant. You needed $$$$ to purchase a guitar, keyboard, drums, or possibly rent a band instrument. You also needed $$$$ for lessons, although some kids are capable of learning on their own or from a book. Almost every public school had a band, and many offered music classes on individual instruments. Many churches also provided music instruction, or at least provided an avenue to practice.
The digital revolution in the 80's brought us cheap keyboards and digital drums. Today's kids can plug a cheap plastic MIDI controller into a PC and play, compose and record a complete song in software. There are video games dedicated to teaching music, or at least providing a means for practice. I use Rocksmith. You can now play, compose, and record a complete song on an iPad, or smartphone. I even have a guitar tuner app in my phone, and it works better than many $$$ tuners (Pitchlab).
The barriers to entry into music have never been lower, although many don't call what today's kids make "music". My parents said the same thing about what came out of my guitar......My mom didn't know it at the time, but she actually paid for my ticket into a Jimi Hendrix concert.....he was the opening act for the flippin Monkees.
Sadly, music is no longer taught in many public schools, or it has a very low priority.
In 1985 there was a published design for home brew digital drums that used piezos and flower pot bases with the samples on eprom
Luckily schools here really push music. The annual school plays generally have live bands, with varying degrees of success!
The 5 highest grossing games according to Business Insider are:
5) Wii Play ('06) $1.25 billion
4) GTA IV ('08) $1.35 billion
3) Mario Cart Wii ('08) $1.4 billion
2) CoD:Black Ops ('10) $1.5 billion
1) World of Warcraft ('04) >$10 billion
5 highest grossing movies according to wiki since 2004:
5) Iron Man 3 $1.2 billion
4) Frozen $1.28 billion
3) Harry Potter Deathly Hollows 2 $1.3 billion
2) The Avengers $1.5 billion
1) Avatar $2.8 billion
WoW seems a bit of an outlayer to me but I know nothing about games and their popularity.
Even without WoW it seems games cost less and give a similar return so that is where the money will go or has already gone.
Also games are less prone to illegal copying/streaming than movies.
I am happy to see across the pond that music education is still a priority. Most of the public school systems where I live have cut music and or gym class. Kids seem to be getting fatter and stupider here in the states. I am not sure if I have a form of ADD because Tubelabs description of himself sounds like how I was in school, very bored, and it got me into trouble too. It's not until middle school where I found marijuana and it helped me retrain my brain. I figured out that school is for the masses and just trains you to follow orders and have a schedule, if I actually wanted to learn something I had to do it on my own. So I got a couple books and learned music theory extensively, now I can play a lot of different instruments. Currently I am trying to teach myself circuit theory and is why I find myself posting on here quite a bit, guitar amps interest me a lot! In high school I was in the jazz band and between the music director and couple of us students we got music theory 1 and 2 as actual courses. There were 3 people in my music theory class back in 1997 it was considered dorky and not a cool class. Yes technology has turned any retard with a laptop into a "recording engineer" and there are video games like Rocksmith, but they do not teach you anything about music, only to play other peoples songs verbatim, which to me is boring. I just think todays society there is a very high demand for instant gratification, not a lot of people want to put forth any sort of real work to understand or learn anything. The instant gratification thing is probably why movies are all special effects and no plot these days, it's easier to blow something up then to come up with a real story.
it was considered dorky and not a cool class. Yes technology has turned any retard with a laptop into a "recording engineer" and there are video games like Rocksmith, but they do not teach you anything about music, only to play other peoples songs verbatim, which to me is boring. I just think todays society there is a very high demand for instant gratification, not a lot of people want to put forth any sort of real work to understand or learn anything. The instant gratification thing is probably why movies are all special effects and no plot these days, it's easier to blow something up then to come up with a real story.
Instant gratification is nothing new. Look how popular drugs were in the 60s in parts of America! It's just each generation when they hit late 40s starts to grumble about the same things the previous generation grumbled about. And will always be so. Films would seem carp to you with or without video games!
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