Is Hollywood in the midst of a "Golden Age"?

Charlie Kaus · 03-12-2006, 11:18 PM

Tonight I just got to thinking about how the quality of some of the movies coming out in the past few years remind me alot of the films of the early to mid 70's which is considered by some to be Hollywood's last golden age. Just curious as to other people's thoughts on this subject.

Charlie

Inspector Hammer! · 03-12-2006, 11:28 PM

Eh, I don't know, with all of the pointless remakes and sequels that are saturating theaters as of late, I would say that Hollywood is in the midst of an "Aluminum Siding Age".

I kid, but there is a lot of good stuff that's come out recently, too.

Steve Felix · 03-12-2006, 11:53 PM

I don't know about Hollywood, but movies in general are much better than they've ever been. The system is breaking down, or loosening up, to put a positive spin on it. Either way, it's good for less commercial movies (70s movies).

With HD video cameras now at consumer prices, I expect the fine art side of filmmaking to grow rapidly.

Paul_Scott · 03-13-2006, 12:03 AM

in general, i would say Fantasy films are most definitely in a golden age...though i don't know how much longer that will last. Rothman over at Fox seems hellbent on killing it with slight productions like Fantastic Four and X3- but then you have Batman Begins which was a film that that wouldn't have felt out of place in the pre Star Wars 70s. One of the main thrusts of the film was this notion that the society was corrupt at every strata, and in need of a purification- especially in government- that's a fairly bleak outlook- but not inconsisitent with a culture in the middle of, or feeling the social effects of a protracted war. I think one of the reasons movies 'grew up' in the late 60s early 70s was the effect of the war (and of course, the spill over from other deep cultural conflicts-including race and womens rights, etc).

if we aren't in a golden age now, we probably will be soon.

although you have to be careful what you wish for here...

Simon Howson · 03-13-2006, 02:32 AM

The Golden Age of Hollywood to me means the Classical Hollywood era, roughly 1930 - 1960. The period describes certain industrial practices, and most importantly a particular style based on first rate craft standards, star actors, and genre based production.

**HTF Ads**

Steve Christou · 03-13-2006, 05:44 AM

Are you kidding with all the rubbish released each year, audiences staying at home, we're at a time when people are more excited, and get more chatty about weekly tv episodes than they do about the big movies being released at cinemas.

I agree with Paul it's been a long golden age for the fantasy and sci-fi genre's, the past couple of decades have been pure nirvana for fantasy/SF genre fans, television and cinema.

In the year 2525, if mankind survives they may find that the past 90 years was the golden age of cinema, before the advent of robot directors churning out entirely computer created movies for a bored jaded lazy futuristic society of (hopefully) peaceful people, who plug themselves into a 'multiverse' matrix simulation (and stimulation) every day, while obedient robots tend to their every need. Shite! I was born in the wrong time!

Carl_G · 03-13-2006, 07:55 AM

Hollywood is definitely in a rusty iron age.

Television, however, is now amazingly strong. I'll take BSG over any movie in at least the last 5 years, maybe 10.

The only good movies really never make it through the noise of Harry Potter and the Endless Sequels. I really loved The Jacket, but never even heard of it until digging down the used DVD bins at the video store. And don't get me started on gay cowboys....

Eric Peterson · 03-13-2006, 07:58 AM

While there has been a couple of absolutely fabulous and refreshing films in recent years, they are few and far between. On average, I watch about 200 films per year, of which about 25-30 are from said year. Of these 25-30, there are usually only about 5-7 that I have any interest in revisiting, and 1-2 that I will revisit more than once.

In other words "NO - Hollywood is not in another golden age!" Every other film is either a remake (intended or not) or a sequal to some other equally shitty movie.

In general, I would rather take a lottery pick of any film made prior to 1970 over a lottery pick of any film made since, and I was born in '72.

As has been said many times before "They just don't make 'em like they used to!"

MatthewA · 03-13-2006, 08:40 AM

I have to agree with those who say that not only are we not in another Golden Age, but that the early 1970s was nothing to write home about either.

This is a dark age so dark, light cannot escape its surface.

SteveJKo · 03-13-2006, 10:48 AM

Speaking of Hollywood today I'm reminded of that great line from KING KONG, where Carl Denham refers to the wall and the people who built it:

- And across the base of that peninsula, cutting it off from the rest of the island is a wall.
- A wall?
- Built so long ago that the people who live there slipped back, forgotten the higher civilization that built it.

While there's a lot of good films being made today, there's also far too many that seem to have slipped into a n