TV/Movies Megathread

[celedhring]

I do not hate superhero movies per se, I just wish they didn't dominate the action/blockbuster segment so much and we got some more different stuff. But it's the market dictating that, so not much hope until people begin tiring of them (which hasn't happened in 10 years of saturation)

[celedhring]

I kinda miss Ide jumping in every time somebody criticized superhero flicks.

[Malthus]

I do not hate superhero movies per se, I just wish they didn't dominate the action/blockbuster segment so much and we got some more different stuff. But it's the market dictating that, so not much hope until people begin tiring of them (which hasn't happened in 10 years of saturation)

Very much this - superhero movies are okay, but a constant parade of them has become tiresome. Not that it will end any time soon, too much cash to be made ...

[Oexmelin]

I do not hate superhero movies per se, I just wish they didn't dominate the action/blockbuster segment so much and we got some more different stuff. But it's the market dictating that, so not much hope until people begin tiring of them (which hasn't happened in 10 years of saturation)

The market?

[grumbler]

Very much this - superhero movies are okay, but a constant parade of them has become tiresome. Not that it will end any time soon, too much cash to be made ...

The problem isn't that there is "too much cash to be made," it is that money, as always, is a coward.  Money sees the 30th consecutive superhero movie as less risky than the first of any other kind of movie.  There's lots of writers, directors, and producers out there with visions of non-superhero big-budget movies, but the money doesn't want to risk the bet that people will go to non-superhero movies.  And the money decides what movie gets made, just like it always has. 

[Valmy]

The international market. Anything they make now has to appeal broadly across dozens of cultural lines. Superhero films do that.

[Malthus]

The problem isn't that there is "too much cash to be made," it is that money, as always, is a coward.  Money sees the 30th consecutive superhero movie as less risky than the first of any other kind of movie.  There's lots of writers, directors, and producers out there with visions of non-superhero big-budget movies, but the money doesn't want to risk the bet that people will go to non-superhero movies.  And the money decides what movie gets made, just like it always has.

That sounds about right to me.

Point is the money and I have a dispute about making movies entertaining to me, one I'm currently losing. 

[Oexmelin]

The international market. Anything they make now has to appeal broadly across dozens of cultural lines. Superhero films do that.

Only because of relentless marketing, and a constant presence of American pop culture. Heroism may have broad cultural appeal, but it takes many form - and the American Superhero is not some kind of cultural universal. As China continues to pour tremendous resources in the production of their own heroic tales, we may find that the teenage angst that dominates so much of American superhero movies may recede in favor of other moral/political messages.

[Valmy]

Ok and when that happens we can talk about it.

[grumbler]

That sounds about right to me.

Point is the money and I have a dispute about making movies entertaining to me, one I'm currently losing. 

Oh, me, too.  But it's not like non-superhero movies like The Hateful Eight rescued us from that.  Of last year's "best movies" only Darkest Hour was time really well-spent, IMO.  And that wasn't a big-budget film.

[Syt]

The last Marvel movie I watched was Age of Ultron which was trying to cram a bit too much into its runtime for my liking.

[Malthus]

That sounds about right to me.

Point is the money and I have a dispute about making movies entertaining to me, one I'm currently losing. 

Oh, me, too.  But it's not like non-superhero movies like The Hateful Eight rescued us from that.  Of last year's "best movies" only Darkest Hour was time really well-spent, IMO.  And that wasn't a big-budget film.

For a long time now, TV seems to have been the better entertainment bet. Of course there is lots of garbage on TV (Sturgeon's Law), but there is good stuff as well. My particular interest, Western animation, has fared well over the past decade or so.

[The Minsky Moment]

Very much this - superhero movies are okay, but a constant parade of them has become tiresome. Not that it will end any time soon, too much cash to be made ...

The problem isn't that there is "too much cash to be made," it is that money, as always, is a coward.  Money sees the 30th consecutive superhero movie as less risky than the first of any other kind of movie.  There's lots of writers, directors, and producers out there with visions of non-superhero big-budget movies, but the money doesn't want to risk the bet that people will go to non-superhero movies.  And the money decides what movie gets made, just like it always has.

That's a big part of it but it's also a self-reinforcing process. Because content based on established IP is a safer bet, it increases the value of the underlying IP.  If you are Mouse Corporation and you've spent billions acquiring that IP, then then it becomes a corporate priority to make those assets earn their keep.

[dps]

I'm just not into superhero movies; if I want a superhero story, I'd rather read a comic book.  I haven't seen a superhero movie since Batman and Robin, and of the newer Marvel or DC films, the only ones I'm even somewhat interested in seeing are the Guardians of the Galaxy movies.

[The Larch]

Back when they started coming out I'd watch every single Marvel movie that hit the theaters, but nowadays it's much more pick and choose, and I've skipped a lot of them. I believe the last one I watched was Thor: Ragnarok, and Dr. Strange before that. I have not seen either Age of Ultron or Civil War or Infinity War, and to be honest I'm kinda tired of the big massive ones, I find the smaller ones way more interesting.