tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4045057682441280238.post6981866098136114475..comments2024-02-24T08:17:41.032-08:00Comments on One Bite at a Time: Catching up With the MoviesDana Kinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01350344882342624735noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4045057682441280238.post-62878185006135366562014-10-13T11:43:10.947-07:002014-10-13T11:43:10.947-07:00I'm with you, Mike. Somewhere in the 60s the s...I'm with you, Mike. Somewhere in the 60s the stylized, staccato dialog of previous movies started to break down. By the 70s acting styles had changed dramatically, so much so even older actors started to pick up on it. Lines had more time to breathe, and directors (cinematographers, set and costume designers) began to realize new techniques allowed them to create higher levels of verisimilitude, and not to depend so much on "Hollywood magic." Now people expect to be brought into the movie. At least when Hollywood makes an honest-to-God movie that's about something you haven't seen in a comic book.Dana Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01350344882342624735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4045057682441280238.post-32871807504427917272014-10-13T08:26:48.003-07:002014-10-13T08:26:48.003-07:00Dana, I think you've encapsulated a mini-arc o...Dana, I think you've encapsulated a mini-arc of the effectiveness of Hollywood storytelling.<br /><br />Time was, you could walk into a theater and see the famous actors up on the screen, with their fake Hollywood accents and exaggerated gestures and wardrobe-department clothing (NEVER dirty, mind you), and be transported to the world of make-believe.<br /><br />Hollywood magic.<br /><br />That was what fueled movies like THE GUNS OF NAVARONE and THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE. They weren't serious attempts at telling a compelling story as much as they were come-ons for moviegoers to sit in their seats and be carried away by all that star power. Throw in a little action and everyone walks out saying, "Ooh, what a great movie!"<br /><br />On the other hand, films like JACKIE BROWN, LA CONFIDENTIAL, and, really, almost any Christian Bale film, zero in on telling the story through realistic dialog and pacing, centered around high-powered actors who bury themselves in character.<br /><br />That, I believe, is why the newer films are believable and therefore, much more enjoyable, while the older ones are, generally speaking (and there are exceptions), emblematic of a bygone Hollywood ethic.<br />Mike Dennishttp://mikedennisnoir.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4045057682441280238.post-51515863632947408202014-10-13T06:44:59.887-07:002014-10-13T06:44:59.887-07:00For some reason the charms of THE BUDAPEST HOTEL e...For some reason the charms of THE BUDAPEST HOTEL eluded me. Maybe I need to see it again. Some of this films work for me but not all of them. Loved his last one though. pattinase (abbott)https://www.blogger.com/profile/02916037185235335846noreply@blogger.com