Some Musings I've Been Having...

[clear_tranquil]

about the WGA strike, the sorry state the television and film industries are in right now (at least the American industries) and how storytelling is getting better and better in video games (or always has been.) I was reading Entertainment Weekly and there's this article about the ten best tv episodes the editors chose for this year and number one

Comments

[caffeinatedjedi]

I was reading Entertainment Weekly and there's this article about the ten best tv episodes the editors chose for this year and number one was the Lost season three finale.

That surprises you? I think it's always been the rule that popularity, not quality, is what gets rewarded in the entertainment industry.

The entertainment industry in America as a whole (that even includes the video game industry) just hasn't been that great these past several years at all.

I'm not sure if this is necessarily true. I think we just tend to remember the highlights of previous years, forget the rest of the crap that came out, and start reminiscing about how good things used to be. I will probably remember 2007 as a good year for movies, because I saw and loved Pan's Labyrinth, Tideland, Grindhouse, and Beowulf. (I really hope Sweeney Todd is good enough to make that list, and yes, I know two of those movies didn't even come out this year.) I'll forget the movies that disappointed me, mostly because they weren't that terrible, but simply failed to

[clear_tranquil]

Well, Pan's Labyrinth wasn't American. :P

I guess maybe I have different standards and tastes. 300 was a big movie this year, but I thought it was just awful. Good special effects, but beyond that there was nothing else. And even with the special effects, you would need to see it on a high end HDTV to get the full effect. Watch it on a standard definition TV and it's just a big orange mess. Yet, that was the most popular movie of the year and even beat out Grindhouse which I feel was the superior movie (both parts of it.)

[mochibuni]

I liked 300 better than Grindhouse. >.> Especially Death Proof, it was completely gratuitous, I almost stopped watching.

300 was definitely very Romanticism and I liked the "epic story" like structure they gave the film. It was over hyped, but I'd like to give it a second watch sometime. I don't think I was able to fully appreciate it over all the YAY!action.

[caffeinatedjedi]

Well, Pan's Labyrinth wasn't American.

Yeah, I know. I didn't say it was. XD I hadn't gotten around to addressing the issue of American vs. foreign entertainment, since I don't actually know if, say, European films and TV are any better. If it seems that way to us, it may be that we're only getting the media that's worth importing.

I really enjoyed 300 when I saw it in the theater, but it's not very memorable to me. I have this sense that it was a great story, and I'd like to read about it, but I guess I'm a bit tired of epic movies. On the other hand, Death Proof didn't have much of a plot, but it was incredibly fun to watch and something about it worked really well for me.

[mochibuni]

I think animation is the highest point of story telling.

But as of the late, I haven't seen anything that's really wowed me. The closest was probably Ratatouille, but that was because the animation was amazing. I did love Hair Spray as well. The last movie I added to my favorites is Crash which I saw right after it was released on DVD, and I think that says something.

However, I still really want to see Lars and the Real Girl and Juno. Perhaps I'll have a different opinion after that.

And LIES ON THE SCI-FI. Firefly is the best thing ever. Nevermind it came out in 2002...

But anyway, no, it's not lately. The Culture Industry is a topic that's been heavily discussed for some time.

[caffeinatedjedi]

Why animation? I mean, you know I love animation, and I'm not asking you to defend your opinion on it or anything. I'm just bored and I want to engage my brain at work, for once. XD

[mochibuni]

Because animation is the perfect venue to know whether or not you have a great story. Animation is entirely man made and you have complete control over the look of the movie and the only limit is the amount of money you want to put into the quality of the art. A mark of a good story is when the consumer becomes completely wrapped up in the story and not once remembers that it's fictional. This makes animation perfect because if you can get the viewer so emotionally invested in a cartoon singing lion that they forget and don't question the believability of a lion being able to sing, let alone that it's flaming orange or "that it's a lion, why the fuck am I treating it as a human," you know you've successfully told your story

[caffeinatedjedi]

Ooh, good point. I hadn't even thought of that, and I forget that a lot of people assume animation is for kids.