Does America Have The Worst Taste In Film?

[Pirate]

It may be an unfair question since the U.S. produces the most commercial films, but I’m curious what you think.

[ganthc]

No.



Have you seen Bollywood films? India has it pretty bad, imho.

[Pirate]

The reason this came up is because I was arguing with someone about America’s need to support bad films like Fantastic Four, Hostel, etc. He stated that he thought that the French had the worst taste and that their films were terrible compared to our bombastic summer fare. After I finished beating him to death, I decided I’d create this thread.

However, I think ganthc just finished the discussion.

[tomdkat]

I don't know about the "worst" taste but we certainly do appreciate some pretty bad films as well as create some pretty horrendous ones.

I've enjoyed more foreign films than I've hated but I haven't seen as many foreign films as I've seen "Hollywood" films or films made in the U.S.

EDIT: Why isn't this in "Film Discussion"? Seems more than appropriate...

Peace....

[Pirate]

Originally Posted by tomdkat

EDIT: Why isn't this in "Film Discussion"? Seems more than appropriate...

I actually wanted replies.


Moved.

[ganthc]

I will say that I have seen some terrible French films, and the only reason they stood out a bit was because they were French, and therefore "sophisticated." Also, the French can churn out some sexually depraved crap and call it "art." But overall, I think their sensibilities are less turned off by that stuff. That said, the sample size of French films isn't large enough to compare with American films.

[Pirate]

See, I've seen very few awful French films... and I watch A LOT of French cinema. Perhaps I'm seeing the "right" films, but French cinema rarely leaves me feeling violated. American cinema on the other hand...

I'd be curious to know what you considered to be a "terrible" French film.

It’s foolish to say that one country makes THE BEST films, but I do think there is a quality gap when it comes to the European studios and our own.

[tomdkat]

ganthc, post an example of a "bad" French film and PH post an example of a "good" French film.

I enjoyed Irreversible IMMENSELY.

Peace...

[Wirehed]

America makes a Hell of a lot more movies than anywhere else. And we sell a lot more tickets. American's simply watch more movies.

So given the percentage of bad movies Vs. good, I'm not sure you would find that American films are actually worse --American probably releases more good movies than any other country.

[tomdkat]

Originally Posted by Seamonkey

So given the percentage of bad movies Vs. good, I'm not sure you would find that American films are actually worse --American probably releases more good movies than any other country.

I'm not sure I agree with this. The number of movies made doesn't influence the quality of movies made. I think we made better movies in the past than we are making now so the percentage of "bad vs good" might be tipping in favor of "bad" but I've got no numbers to support this.

However, if we use general sentiment over the films made say within the last 10 years (1997 - 2007) I think there have been more "bad" ones than "good" ones. How many would consider "The Matrix" to be a "bad" film (just the first one). How many would consider "U-571" to be a "bad" film? How many would consider "The Hunt for Red October" to be a "bad" film?

Peace...

[Pirate]

Originally Posted by tomdkat

ganthc, post an example of a "bad" French film and PH post an example of a "good" French film.

I can't just do one.

Le Samurai
Le Cercle Rouge
Right Away
Joyeux Noel
Amelie
Irreversible
Lauberge Espangnole
City of Lost Children
The 400 Blows
La Moustache
Au Assaurd Balthazar
La Femme Nikita
À Tout De Suite
Pickpocket
The Double Life of Veronique
Swimming Pool
Ma Vie En Rose
Ponette
Cache
Leon


And here are a few I did not enjoy:

Love Me If You Dare
Not on the Lips
God Is Great and I'm Not
Camping Sauvage
Haute Tension

[tomdkat]

Swimming Pool rocked as well even though I didn't know it was a French film.

Peace...

[SeanL]

Originally Posted by tomdkat

I'm not sure I agree with this. The number of movies made doesn't influence the quality of movies made. I think we made better movies in the past than we are making now so the percentage of "bad vs good" might be tipping in favor of "bad" but I've got no numbers to support this.

I think what he's saying, is that since we make more movies (good or bad) than any other country, then we are still responsible for more 'good' movies than anywhere else. If say, 300 movies are released this year in the US, and 80 of them are good, and in country X they will only release 100 films...it's the law of numbers basically.

[tomdkat]

Originally Posted by SeanL

I think what he's saying, is that since we make more movies (good or bad) than any other country, then we are still responsible for more 'good' movies than anywhere else. If say, 300 movies are released this year in the US, and 80 of them are good, and in country X they will only release 100 films...it's the law of numbers basically.

I understand that but that doesn't relate to the ratio of good:bad films. If we make 100 films and 80 of them suck, then our ratio is 20:80 of good:bad films, despite us making "more" of the bad films.

Now, if country X made 50 films and 40 of them rocked, they would produce more "good" films than us even though we made more films in total.

I think PH's question was more about quality of films than quantity.

Peace...

[Pirate]

But couldn’t we do the reverse of that and use percentages? For example, if country X releases 100 films and 70 of them are good, that would mean they have a higher percentage of quality films. on the other hand, math is silly.

EDIT: Or what Tom just said.

[Astrakan]

Small correction: American does not make the most movies in the world. Each year, India produces about twice the number of movies the U.S. does. Which ties into ganth's post above.

KM

[tomdkat]

Originally Posted by Astrakan

Small correction: American does not make the most movies in the world. Each year, India produces about twice the number of movies the U.S. does. Which ties into ganth's post above.

Wow! That's a lot of movies!

Peace...

[tomdkat]

Originally Posted by ganthc

Have you seen Bollywood films? India has it pretty bad, imho.

But the women tend to be much, much hotter on average.

Peace...

[ganthc]

Originally Posted by tomdkat

But the women tend to be much, much hotter on average.

Peace...

Yes, but they are inexplicably falling in love with tubby, hairy, ugly guys. So they have issues, obviously.

[Efstar]

Yes, everything has to be made for kids which is sad.

[ganthc]

Originally Posted by Efstar

Yes, everything has to be made for kids which is sad.

Wow, welcome back, Efstar. I don't think that everything has to be kid friendly, but I do know that an NC-17 rating on a movie is a box office killer. So you shoot for the R rating.

[Pirate]

Originally Posted by ganthc

So you shoot for the R rating.

Unless you're making Die Hard. Then you cut the film into a PG-13 (for the kids) and then release the real cut as an "unrated" DVD.

Remember, theatrical releases are just trailers for the DVD

[tomdkat]

Originally Posted by ganthc

I don't think that everything has to be kid friendly,

Certainly not. Most of the Hollywood and U.S. generated movies I've really enjoyed have not been "kid friendly".

Peace...

[ganthc]

Originally Posted by tomdkat

Certainly not. Most of the Hollywood and U.S. generated movies I've really enjoyed have not been "kid friendly".

Peace...

Ah, but they are still rated R, which means kids can see it with the company of an adult. NC-17 movies will not allow children in at all, even with an adult. Just clarifying, that it is still "kid-friendly" in a way.

[tomdkat]

Originally Posted by ganthc

Ah, but they are still rated R, which means kids can see it with the company of an adult. NC-17 movies will not allow children in at all, even with an adult. Just clarifying, that it is still "kid-friendly" in a way.

I disagree since the adult being present means the responsibility is on the adult to deal with the affects the movie content has on the kid. The fact that an adult must be present doesn't mean the content in the movie is "kid friendly".

Besides, the rating doesn't directly relate to the quality of the film. My point is I've seen good movies that are "kid friendly" (e.g. Finding Nemo, Toy Story, etc) and some that aren't (e.g. The Departed, Closer, etc).

Peace...

[ganthc]

Originally Posted by tomdkat

I disagree since the adult being present means the responsibility is on the adult to deal with the affects the movie content has on the kid. The fact that an adult must be present doesn't mean the content in the movie is "kid friendly".

That's just quibbling. If it were not kid-worthy, it would be nc-17 and no kids could watch it, period. Bottom line is that there is a rating for movies that no kids are allowed to watch, and seeing that any movie that doesn't have that rating is allowable, means that it's okay with supervision. Even PG has the notation of Parental Guidance, and all of them are kid friendly.

Besides, the rating doesn't directly relate to the quality of the film. My point is I've seen good movies that are "kid friendly" (e.g. Finding Nemo, Toy Story, etc) and some that aren't (e.g. The Departed, Closer, etc).

Peace...

Completely agree. I was just responding to efstar, and how he said all the movies are made for kids.

[tomdkat]

Originally Posted by ganthc

That's just quibbling. If it were not kid-worthy, it would be nc-17 and no kids could watch it, period. Bottom line is that there is a rating for movies that no kids are allowed to watch, and seeing that any movie that doesn't have that rating is allowable, means that it's okay with supervision.

Being "okay with supervision" certainly DOES NOT mean or imply "kid friendly". It's the nature of the content that determines the "kid friendliness".

Even PG has the notation of Parental Guidance, and all of them are kid friendly.

Yep and I have yet to see a PG rated movie with the same kind of "mature" content a R rated movie has. Whether "all" PG movies are "kid friendly" is debatable but generally speaking they tend to be moreso than not.

Completely agree. I was just responding to efstar, and how he said all the movies are made for kids.

Your post in response to him did that admirably.

Peace...