Modern Film and the Best Era

[Destor]

Last year I spent a lot of time going through the 50s-70s and really digging into that 30 year peroid of film making. This year ive been going through the last 10-15 years and really contrasting them against one another. The big question im asking here is how do you feel about current film and if it isnt now what do you think the peak decade or so for film was? And what do you think is the worst?

When watching films from the 50s into the 60s from the US you can see when the Hayes Code was thrown to the wayside in 68 there's an immediate birthing of creative ideas. Its a startling contrast to watch films of this peroid and then skip foward 5 or 10 years and see something like Deliverance or Last House on the Left.

Some films obviously just did things because they could now be done but having the shackles taken off had a real energy about it and it led to one of the best decades in film. The 70s were innovative. Provocative. Clever. Daring.

The 50s werent all bad...outside of the states at least. Akira Kurwasawa throughout the 50s and 60s was making some of the best films ever made. Films that are just as thought provoking today as as they were then. But i really think the censorship of the Hayes Code takes guys like Hitchcock, who pushed the visual language of film forward in the way Shakespeare to the written word forward narratively, and puts Hitchcock creatively into a box where we have wonder forever what ideas he had locked away he could never get produced. Could he have made something like Polanski's Rosemary's Baby? I think so.

After the death of the Hayes Code the cinematic revolution could begin and the very late 60s, 70s, and very early 80s we really see a refining of the medium. At the end of this films begin to homogenize to a large degree.

As we get into the 80s we get into a huge down swing in quality films, on a global scale really. Especially out of the studios. Everything becomes safe and broadly marketable for the sake of being broadly marketable. The B and C tier films thrive in this era though a lot of which hold up. Science fiction and horror, albiet campy, find a fun niche but the decade by in large is really flat. For every 1 memorable movie you saw 30 identical forgettable travesties.

Jumping to now i see modern film as a combination of the worst aspects of the 50s/60s and the 80s. We have the same lifeless unispired broad appeal aspirations of the 80s and ever present self censorship of the 50s/60s. And the result is a product that more often than not is scrubbed clean of any individualism and completely sanitized of anything that might actually challenge you in even the slightest way. In a word vapid. The only brightspots being hold overs from 90s occasionally putting out meaningful work and the franchise films that atleast offer something to keep the lights on in what i believe to be a dying business: The Theater.

If this isnt the absolute low point in American Cinema id love to hear the counter point. Id say..2012 or 2015 to now give or take. Hard to say exactly when film imploded.

The best peroid though im torn between the 70s and the 90s. Both were really hot decades with a ton of teeth. Lots of films that still have bite decades later. The acting was good. Even the blockbusters of the 90s a lot of them still hold up pretty well.

Gun to my head i think the 70s have more undisputed classics but the 90s has more movies i love and rewatch 100 times over. Huge catalog of Disney masterpieces, huge catalog or crime dramas, huge catalog of peroid peices, scifi, etc. Horror was at a low point in the 90s compared to the 70s but i think in most genres...id give the edge to the 90s.

In any case is am i completely off the mark? Is now the best its ever been? Were the 90s absolute shit? Im sure there's some hot takes out there.

[drave]

Dunno what the code is that you reference. I will say there were an absolute TON of amazing films (and tv shows really) from this period that really, today, go unrivaled.

[Sepholio]

I think that code was like some kind of regulatory guidelines that the entertainment industry in general had if I remember. I don't even think it was an official thing, more of a wink and a nod and lets all agree to this set of moral standards that won't offend the status quo. When it was dropped is when you see that sudden shift in movies where they became edgier, more violent, started using profanity openly and sex/nudity became commonplace. It's way more in depth than that but I'm just generalizing here. I'm pretty sure that was the Hayes code although maybe I'm confusing the name.

[Sepholio]

fwiw I think the current era of film is terrible. Maybe the worst. Everything is so routine and formulaic. Super hero movies are fun but fucks sake there are just way too many of them and they dominate all major releases. This is the era of needless reboots and unnecessary sequels that are never as good as the original even when you put nostalgia aside. I'd say this is a very fun era for movies, which is a good thing, but the quality compared to previous eras isn't the same.

And like 98% of horror movies in this era are HORRIBLE.

In terms of best eras, that's hard. The 70's were amazing but...I just have a soft spot for the 80's/90's, even stretching into the early 2000's. Probably because that's when I was growing up and a lot of the all time great youth movies came out in that time. Movies I can still watch right now. The action movies in the 90s were in a league of their own imo as well. And comedy really started taking off for me in the 90s too, at least for a few years until most comedies became generic romcoms or so overly stupid that you weren't laughing because it was funny, you were laughing because of how unbelievably dumb it was.

[ron the dial]

Originally Posted by drave Dunno what the code is that you reference. I will say there were an absolute TON of amazing films (and tv shows really) from this period that really, today, go unrivaled.

the hays code. essentialy what seph said. more or less self regulated censorship.

i love movies from the 30s & 40s because of all of the workarounds they had to use to address "scandalous" topics while still staying within the rules. the screwball comedy genre especially. i'll have more to say on this whole thing when i'm not at work.

[Destor]

Originally Posted by drave Dunno what the code is that you reference. I will say there were an absolute TON of amazing films (and tv shows really) from this period that really, today, go unrivaled.

Originally Posted by Sepholio I think that code was like some kind of regulatory guidelines that the entertainment industry in general had if I remember. I don't even think it was an official thing, more of a wink and a nod and lets all agree to this set of moral standards that won't offend the status quo. When it was dropped is when you see that sudden shift in movies where they became edgier, more violent, started using profanity openly and sex/nudity became commonplace. It's way more in depth than that but I'm just generalizing here. I'm pretty sure that was the Hayes code although maybe I'm confusing the name.

what we have now is more aptly described as a wink and a nod system. The Hays Code was a literal document that could be read and referenced. All the major studios agreed to it as a way to not be regulated by the government. Its closer to the ESRB or the MPAA but instead of private trade group it was a document that governed.


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hays_Code

[Destor]

After a Supreme Court ruling in 68 it was abandoned and the MPAA was formed

[Emperor Smeat]

Current era of films is alright but has the same problem as AAA gaming these days where its mostly just chasing trends or whatever is the hottest genre at the moment.

In gaming, its been the strong push towards live service type games and Season Passes while in films its been the strong focus towards superhero/comic style films over the years.

Then you have companies like Ubisoft who have pretty much homogenized all of their games and series to fit a very specific format since that's been a safe bet for them and Netflix who doesn't hesitate to drop a tv series if it doesn't hit very specific target numbers early on regardless of its popularity or critical acclaim. Both lead to a strong focus towards "safe bets" type stuff being released at the cost of artistic diversity.

[Destor]

Originally Posted by Sepholio fwiw I think the current era of film is terrible. Maybe the worst. Everything is so routine and formulaic. Super hero movies are fun but fucks sake there are just way too many of them and they dominate all major releases. This is the era of needless reboots and unnecessary sequels that are never as good as the original even when you put nostalgia aside. I'd say this is a very fun era for movies, which is a good thing, but the quality compared to previous eras isn't the same. And like 98% of horror movies in this era are HORRIBLE. In terms of best eras, that's hard. The 70's were amazing but...I just have a soft spot for the 80's/90's, even stretching into the early 2000's. Probably because that's when I was growing up and a lot of the all time great youth movies came out in that time. Movies I can still watch right now. The action movies in the 90s were in a league of their own imo as well. And comedy really started taking off for me in the 90s too, at least for a few years until most comedies became generic romcoms or so overly stupid that you weren't laughing because it was funny, you were laughing because of how unbelievably dumb it was.

lotta good points here. Ill try to touch on them all

I dont inherently mind formulaic. Some stories arent about new twists and turns sometimes its about the ride. Its the ride thats failing.

With everything being CG now what we're seeing a rigidity in the production phase. If something isnt a working you cant pivot because the crew doing these massive digital productions has been at work on this sequence for 3 months already so youre married to whatever was discussed in the pre-production phase. This leads to films not being able to make adjustments and you end up with really rigid structures that suck the life out of the audience. Tired.

This definitely effects the big super hero films and is why all the action in those movies is so bland. Its not coherent with a directors vision. The action is largely so paint by numbers that you can nap during the action because the only time anything of note occurs is when the talking heads come back. The action does not in any way enhance the narrative. Its closer to a burden.

That said i do largely give the marvel films a pass and not just because i do tend to enjoy them. They are currently the only thing keeping the theaters doors open. So as flawed as they may be without them the entire industry would crumble. Its hard to be too hateful about that.

The writers are another big issue. Theyre hacks. Theres always been hacks of course but in this studio dominated climate now there's no room for visionaries on the big screen. Theyve all had to run to long form television for the most part...and thats getting strangled a bit too but thats a conversation for 2025.

Horror outside of South Korea is basically dead. Hasnt been a meaningful horror film since...fuck...Blair Witch? Scream? You might be able to say The VVitch but its not American it was just distributed by an American company. And if we do go back to scream as the last cultural horror hit thats a pioneer of the 70s carrying out his legacy. Which makes it even worse.

The comedy genre...social mine field. I dont know how you make a comedy in 2023. Every joke has a subject and behind every subject is a wounded duck to be championed and defended. All good comedy finds the line and intentionally crosses it...and what studio is going to even flirt with that. What does get released is so sterile that im perplexed that anyone involved didnt actively stand up and ask a pretty obvious question: "is any of the funny?" Like the song says you couldnt make a Mel Brooks movie today.

Originally Posted by ron the dial the hays code. essentialy what seph said. more or less self regulated censorship. i love movies from the 30s & 40s because of all of the workarounds they had to use to address "scandalous" topics while still staying within the rules. the screwball comedy genre especially. i'll have more to say on this whole thing when i'm not at work.

Id love to hear more. Old film doesnt get it its due. We've had decades to refine the craft but watching old films trying to solve problems we've since solved is fascinating to me.

And I'd like to resubmit the question to anyone not in agreement: if now isnt the worst peroid for film ever when was it?

[Destor]

Originally Posted by Emperor Smeat Current era of films is alright but has the same problem as AAA gaming these days where its mostly just chasing trends or whatever is the hottest genre at the moment. In gaming, its been the strong push towards live service type games and Season Passes while in films its been the strong focus towards superhero/comic style films over the years. Then you have companies like Ubisoft who have pretty much homogenized all of their games and series to fit a very specific format since that's been a safe bet for them and Netflix who doesn't hesitate to drop a tv series if it doesn't hit very specific target numbers early on regardless of its popularity or critical acclaim. Both lead to a strong focus towards "safe bets" type stuff being released at the cost of artistic diversity.

The problem with gaming is easier to understand. Its all economics. They cost far too much to make and theyre sold for far too little. We're now reasonably expecting a 5-7 year dev cycle for the current hardware meaning the average studio will only be able to churn out 1 game per console generation. The industry chased power and visual fidelity instead of concepts and its killing them at every turn. The secondary monetization efforts dont enrich the experience and only serve to skirt around the fact they are charging about half of what they should be charging (at minimum) per title.

A 2nd gaming bust isnt far off. There's a reason the middle-ware studios have been selling off for half a decade or so. The risk is far too high. We've heard the head on Sony say theyve hit a cap at 20 million units sold for their major titles and that 20mil the RoI isnt comparable to Sonys other ventures. Thats gamings issue. If games like the messenger sold 20mil it would be one thing...anyways im getting off topic.

[Seanny One Ball]

The Hayes code led to some subversive genius movie making, and some blatant false witch hunts.
If communism wasn’t such a hot topic the Hayes code might have seriously damaged film making. As it stands if arguably laid the groundwork for psychology in film that was sorely missing up until then.

There are an abundance of extremely twee blockbusters and b movies from that time though… it can be hard to tell a quality picture from a terrible one by poster and synopsis alone. The western scene was pretty safe around that time, only a few stand outs that pushed the envelope. It pretty much cemented John Wayne as the number 1 popular star because all of his films were merely flirting with peril and the formula was as basic as it gets.

[Seanny One Ball]

Johnny Guitar is a good example of a film that feels deeply psychological but looks like a fever dream within the confines of the code.
It’s still too class though even if your leading lady is fifth and buttoned up to her chin and the gun play amounts to no more than some red paint down a boys blouse.

[Destor]

Artists are going art. There's certainly good work occurring inside the studio system and people working over the regulations theyre forced to comply to. The claim certainly isnt "nothing good can out for the entire decade." 12 Angry Men is one of my favorite films of all time for example. Dr. Strangelove came out of this era.

What im driving at is we arent actually seeing the artistic vision of the era. We are seeing creatives trapped in a box and pushing at the corners trying to let light in. When we do get a subversive picture its subversive out of pragmatism. And there's a daring to the pictures that manage it. But it isnt free. It isnt the film they would have made had they been freed to make the film they wanted.

If we look away from the classics of the era and toward the commercial schlock of the peroid though thats where you really see the damage. The bulk of the releases are closer to propaganda than art.

If we're judging the peroids based soley on the top tier films id say the 70s were better than the 90s for example. But if we take a step back and take in the full picture in the 90s you can pick a movie at random on any given day and have a better shot and seeing something enjoyable.

In the 50s? Or now? I wish you the best of luck surviving to the credits.

[Destor]

I would definitely love hearing your take on when peak cinema was though

[Seanny One Ball]

I’d say that genre quality dominates specific time periods as much as social standards so it’s a tough question to answer.
I have a couple of days off coming up so I’ll think about this at work tomorrow.

I can tell you that the 60’s is the best decade for Westerns. The Western was at its most formulaic and predictable between 1930-1950 which is the classic period, then in the 50’s the anti-western/subversive western was all the rage. The 1960’s is the ultra violent spaghetti period and even the American films are increasingly physical and explosive. The 70’s gets nostalgic in a revisionist way and the 80’s did its best to pretend the west was in outer space or New York.
So going by that metric the 60’s is where I’d start. The fifties was really great for Westerns though. It’s a close race.

[ron the dial]

destor i swear i'm gonna try to give this some proper thought and post something at least 1/4 intelligent this weekend!

[Destor]

Haha you do you. Im trying to see whats provoking for tpww. If this aint it ill poke another bee hive. There's a broad amount of tastes on here just a matter of finding the right cross section....

[Seanny One Ball]

The thing about this question is that it’s hard to commit when I know so much more about modern cinema than I do older stuff. I am fairly certain that for me, it’s the 60’s or the 2010’s though.
The 2010’s is stuffed with incredible films by incredible directors and the formula rules seem to have gone by the wayside. You can argue the same about the 60’s though…

[Seanny One Ball]

The only other decade I’d consider is the 90’s but that whole decade has a lot of one step forwards, two steps back thinking in it.
Still, it gave us Shawshank and two of Scorsese’s best efforts…also Dumb and Dumber.

[Destor]

Maybe we can approach this from another angle: Lets throw out the totality of any given peroid. If you had to estimate, based on your general intuition, the cumulative quality of films youve seen for any given era which era would you think had the highest success rates and which had the lowest?