Movies Have Gotten Longer and More Boring Since the 2000s

Movies Have Gotten Longer and More Boring Since the 2000s

I recall going to the movies at the movie theater as a kid in the 1970s, 1980s, and the 1990s, and I also recall that most movies during those decades lasted about an hour and a half.

Starting a About six to seven years ago, unfortunately, the length of most movies crept up to about two hours.

 To make matters worse, within the last two, three years, movies have grown even longer: two hours and twenty minutes seems to be the norm now.

We’re living in an age where it’s never been easier to watch movies whenever and however we want, thanks to iPads, cell phones, Disney plus, NetFlix and other streaming services, and so forth.

The computer graphics used to create special effects in movies have become even more advanced, too.

And yet, all of that, the fancy special effects and the extra length of movies, have not improved the quality.

If anything, movie quality has gone down.

Hollywood: Please Stop Marketing Some of Your Movies as Being “Feminist”

Hollywood: Please Stop Marketing Some of Your Movies as Being “Feminist”

I’m a conservative, but unlike many other conservatives, I don’t get upset by having more diversity in casting in movies – within reason and depending on how it’s handled, at least.

If Hollywood wants to include more women, black people, Asians, or Hispanics in movies, I have no problem with it, and I welcome it.

I do actually tire of seeing primarily white, 30 year old guys play the lead in most movies, and it’s been this way for decades now.

(Note: I do not hate white men. I’m just saying it gets tiresome seeing mostly nothing but white guys on screen constantly.)

My one area of exception: I do think, however, the Trans activists and LGBT crowd go way too far out though in their anger over LGBT diversity in movies – such as getting upset over a cis, hetero actress playing a transman in a movie. (See Amid Backlash, Scarlett Johansson Drops Transgender Role as an example.)

At any rate, I’m by no means opposed to having more women or black people in films – as a matter of fact, I think movies can look very strange if everyone is white and male, because I live in a world that has more types of people in it, one that is populated by more than 30-something white men.

While I believe it’s wonderful to include more women in movies, I think Hollywood should be careful about how they go about doing this, otherwise they end up shooting themselves in the foot and creating a sexist backlash – which is what happened in the case of the Paul Feig Ghostbusters.

Creating Backlash By Marketing a Movie as Being “Feminist”

If a studio wants to include more women in roles, and does in fact cast more women, especially in these gender swap movies, the best way to go about it is to not call attention to it, which may seem counter-intuitive, especially if you think advertising a movie as being “feminist” or “pro-woman” will attract more women audience members.

If that is what you assume, you would be wrong, and I don’t care how many focus groups you’ve run on this subject.

Contentious Movies: Ghostbusters Answer the Call

Contentious Movies: Ghostbusters Answer the Call (Ghostbusters 2016)

Posted August 2018

This movie is one of those movies that angered and upset a lot of people when it came out in theaters – well, in this case, this movie angered people even before it was released.

I seldom drive to the movie theater. I don’t stream anything. I don’t do Netflix.

I do, however, have cable television (minus HBO).

By the time I see a movie on television, it’s approximately two years old. I’m usually running about two years behind everyone else in movie-viewing.

The F/X channel ran their premiere of “Ghostbusters Answer the Call” (also known as “Ghostbusters 2016”) one or two weeks ago.

I watched it.

Even before this movie was released, though, back in 2016, some were angered by it.

Then the first trailer was released, and a lot of people hated the trailer.

There were many men who disliked all four leads in Ghostbusters being replaced by women, as the original 1980s Ghostbusters had all-male leads, including Bill Murray.

I saw the original Ghostbusters in a movie theater in the 1980s when I was a kid – one of my older siblings took me to see it.

Going ‘Overboard’: Hollywood’s Glut of Gender-Swap Remakes

Going ‘Overboard’: Hollywood’s Glut of Gender-Swap Remakes

I first found the gender swap remake movies interesting, but as this has been going on for a few years now,  I’m getting a little tired of it.

I support more diversity in movies and television shows (as in more women characters), but it would be nice to see original content, as opposed to taking a movie or show from the 1980s and replacing male leads with female leads.

This must be a cyclical trend – the author of the piece below says gender swapping in movies is nothing new, but I don’t remember it being a ‘thing’ in the 1980s or 1990s so much.

Going ‘Overboard’: Hollywood’s Glut of Gender-Swap Remakes

June 2018, by AFP Relax News

From the polarizing “Ghostbusters” remake to the controversy over female versions of James Bond and Doctor Who, Hollywood’s proclivity for gender-swapped retreads is among its most enduring and contentious.

The trend — seen as empowering or annoying, depending on who you ask — is getting fresh attention with “Ocean’s 8” due for release on Friday, “Overboard” still in theaters and “What Men Want” coming out in January.

Toxic Fandom, Politicization of Entertainment Is Killing My Enjoyment of Movies – Including the Star Wars Franchise

Toxic Fandom, Politicization of Entertainment Is Killing My Enjoyment of Movies – including the Star Wars Franchise

(posted edited: new links added below) | Toxic Fan Culture: Michael Jackson Fans

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I’ve enjoyed watching movies since I was a kid.

I’ve also enjoyed reading professional movie reviews and critiques – and this was years before the advent of the internet.

In the last several years, though, things – especially online – have turned so negative that it’s been souring my excitement or enjoyment of movies (well, that, plus finding out that certain actors are not as nice in real life as they are in some of their movie roles).

Not only do average joe’s in comment boxes under professional movie reviews seem to have gotten bitter, hostile, and angry in the last few years, but professional movie reviewers have become extremely nit-picky.

At least one article I reference below contains quotes by someone who thinks fandom has always been negative, and had there been a Twitter in the 1980s and 1990s, that the fans would have been just as bad back then – I’m not sure I agree with that.

I do think social media has changed things (for the worse), but I also feel there’s been an overall shift in culture itself. I am not so sure that fans back in the ’80s and ’90s would have been as hateful as they have been behaving the last five to ten years.

Professional movie critics these days seem to have a personal vendetta against movies generally, or certain film franchises, genres, actors, or directors.

I don’t recall seeing that level of animosity from professional critics in the 1970s to the early 2000s.

Film critics back in the day seemed more detached, even-handed, and objective (which made their critiques easier and more enjoyable to read).

Melissa McCarthy and Discouraging Comments – Re: Bridesmaids Movie

In most interviews I’ve seen of her, Melissa McCarthy comes across as being a nice person.

McCarthy played the character “Megan” in the 2011 film ‘Bridesmaids,’ which I didn’t see until 2015, when I saw it on TV.

Melissa McCarthy as Megan – screen cap of image via IMDB

Before I explain why I am a little upset with McCarthy, I wanted to say several things up front so you can see where I am coming from.

One of my favorite scenes from this film is when Megan gives a pep talk of sorts to the character Annie (who is played by Kristen Wiig).

At the time of filming this movie, I believe Wiig was 38 years old – which may be a somewhat pertinent fact  for some of the things I say below.

A summary of things from the movie: The character of Annie has fallen on hard times, has no self esteem, and is very down on herself.

(I have a lot in common with the Annie character, which I’ll explain more below.)

Annie is broke, lost her job, her last boyfriend dumped her when her business, (a bakery), was a financial failure, and she feels as though she’s losing her best friend, Lillian, as Lillian is engaged and about to be married.