Vancouver is about to E.X.P.L.O.D.E.

A still from Ghost Story (1981), directed by John Irvin

One of the reasons why I'm making this post is because I've recently enjoyed listening to a few film critics complain about how disappointing modern films are. I think that I should point out that the job of the overwhelming majority of film critics in the USA, and in the rest of the West, is to support the film industry and to repeat establishment propaganda. This isn't really anything new. This has always been the case. Even many of the film critics that appear to be independent aren't really independent because they know that if they oppose the establishment line completely they won't have opportunities to get ahead and to get their works released for wide distribution. Therefore, even the critics that seem to dislike modern Hollywood cinema still kind of support it by telling people to go and see some films in theaters. Is being a film critic one of the worst jobs now? Seeing one bland film after another for a whole year, year after year, and then having to review such films must take a toll. Well, I doubt that this kind of existence leads film critics to thoughts of suicide, but it still reflects in their reviews sometimes. I can bring up Roger Ebert as an example. Ebert was criticized by some people later in his career because he began to often award films with high ratings exactly when Hollywood cinema began to go into a creative slump, in the 1990s and in the 2000s. Early in his career, he was much harder on films, including on films that are now considered to be classics. Ebert did criticize modern Hollywood cinema in more than one book, but I think that he still awarded perfect ratings to many modern films that didn't deserve them, such as Argo (2012). I'm not calling Ebert a bad or dishonest critic. I think rather highly of him. I enjoyed reading his reviews and books. For example, when I sent him a message about the film Come And See (1985), he watched it and then included it on his list of the great movies. That was nice of him. But it's worth pointing out that he sometimes got political in his reviews, and, because of his status as a famous critic, he had to support the film industry by continuing to praise some Hollywood films even though they didn't really deserve praise. Anyway, I don't much care for what film critics have to say because of a number of reasons. This doesn't mean that I completely ignore the writings of film critics because even the bought and paid for film critics have something interesting to say from time to time, but their opinions aren't like mantra for me. It's worth noting that when I was in my late-teens and early-twenties I was more willing to see new films and to read the opinions of film critics, mostly because I wasn't as knowledgeable back then as I am now. With all of this in mind, I have to say that I don't have a hatred of modern Hollywood. I've already pointed out a few times on my blog that modern cinema in the West is bland and that it lacks quality, but, when I say that I don't want to see a film again, this doesn't mean that I hate it. This simply means that it doesn't have replay value for me. Numerous films that got made before the 2000s arrived have replay value for me. In these films, the music, the cinematography, the acting, the direction, and other aspects mixed into a very appealing whole. Even the black & white films that got made before the 1960s arrived have cinematography that looks lovely. Nowadays, films with beautiful cinematography are a rarity, and, if it is present, it's present almost exclusively in animated films. So, it seems that people that make animated films in the USA are more passionate and more skilled than people that make live-action films. American animation studios still manage to deliver good films almost every year. Anyway, I have to say that almost none of the films that got released in 2022 and 2023 disappointed me. But it's also worth mentioning that almost none of them have replay value for me. I know that I criticized Top Gun: Maverick (2022) a little in one of my posts, but this doesn't mean that I hate this film. I already explained why it doesn't appeal to me as much as Top Gun (1986). Top Gun: Maverick is obviously one of the best films of 2022, and there's plenty to like about it. It's worth mentioning that Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023), which is another film that Tom Cruise starred in, is one of the best films of 2023. As I've already pointed out in an earlier post, the summer of 2023 was crammed with enjoyable films from Hollywood, although the only new film from that period that has replay value for me is Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse. Avatar: The Way Of Water, which I got to see several months after it was released in theaters, turned out to be surprisingly good, although I must say that I didn't like a few aspects of this film. I understand why the director James Cameron bragged about the special effects of this film because they are indeed excellent. Avatar: The Way Of Water is an entertaining film, and, even with its running time of over 3 hours, the time went by very quickly for me. All in all, Avatar: The Way Of Water is one of the best films of 2022, but I think that it doesn't appeal to me as much as Avatar (2009) because there are some issues with the characters, the script, and the plot. Avatar: The Way Of Water can also be considered to be a return to form for Cameron because he hasn't made a film this entertaining and this action-packed since Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991). So, I got to see more than a dozen films from 2022, and most of them are critically-acclaimed. But do any of them have replay value for me? I would say no. It seems that 2023 was a somewhat better year for cinema because at least two of the films that I got to see have replay value for me. These two films are Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse and The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes. I must say, however, that I didn't see every critically-acclaimed film from 2023. Perhaps I will spend some time in the future in order to see more films from 2023. But, again, 2023 wasn't some great year for cinema. It was just another typical year for modern Hollywood. I kind of enjoyed seeing almost every film that I got to see, but spending my time on doing something else, like seeing old films and television shows, would have been a lot better. I had no interest whatsoever in the Barbenheimer cultural phenomenon, which turned both Barbie and Oppenheimer into some of the highest-grossing films of 2023. Perhaps if J. Robert Oppenheimer had lived long enough to see this phenomenon, he really would have wanted to blow up the world. So, thanks to the term Barbenheimer, and to all of the talk that developed around it, two average films got a major boost in 2023. I've already seen Oppenheimer, but I haven't yet finished watching Barbie, and I'm in no hurry to do so. I must say that Oppenheimer wasn't really a disappointing viewing experience for me, but it also wasn't something that impressed me. When it comes to Christopher Nolan's filmmaking, my opinion is neutral. There are aspects of his filmmaking that I like and there are aspects that I don't like. Oppenheimer is a rather dull-looking biographical thriller. The cinematography of this film doesn't really appeal to me. It seems like no attempt was made in order to make the early 20th century, which is the time when the story of the film takes place, look interesting or even somewhat glamorous. For example, I just finished watching A Passage To India (1984), which is a historical film too, and I can say that it looks much better than Oppenheimer, even though the story takes place mostly in India. The presence of several famous modern actors in Oppenheimer distracted me. I think that Cillian Murphy is good in the main role, but I can't say the same about the performances of the other actors. After one viewing of this film, I can say that their performances are fine, I suppose. Nolan did succeed in making Oppenheimer an entertaining film. This effort is reflected in the poster of the film, which makes a theoretical physicist and a bomb look thrilling. Well, J. Robert Oppenheimer himself was an interesting personality. Although I have some complaints when it comes to Oppenheimer, I can say that it's easily one of the best films of 2023, but I don't have an urge to see it again. My favorite scene in the film is the one in which Oppenheimer talks to Harry S. Truman, who's played by Gary Oldman. I should point out that one of the big reasons why I usually don't look forward to going to a theater is the unpleasant experience of going to a theater nowadays. The center of Vancouver, which is the area where it's most convenient for me to go to a theater, has become a repellent place in the last several years. The center of Vancouver is now an overcrowded and filthy place that's full of homeless people and facilities that don't work. There are mentally ill or mentally unstable people wandering about. Prices have risen for everything that's sold in stores. Some of my favorite stores have closed down in the last decade. Well, Vancouver isn't as bad as Detroit or Neo-Tokyo yet, but, nowadays, I keep on thinking if getting attacked by a pack of unemployed Canadian hockey players (or by any other pack of neurotypicals) is a possibility or not while I'm in the city. These are actually some of the signs that Canada and other states in the West are in a crisis. When a state or an empire is in crisis or in decline, overcrowding, deterioration, and cultural degradation take place. I'm currently reading 'The Mind Alive Encyclopedia: Early Civilization' by Jane Brown. This book has already become one of my favorites in my book collection. In the chapter about Harappa, it's written, "The end of the cities was abrupt and violent, but they had been falling away for some time from their earlier standards. There are smaller houses and even pottery kilns encroaching on the streets, and everywhere there are signs of overcrowding and deterioration. But Mohenjo-daro was apparently sacked and burnt in a final overwhelming attack. Men, women and children were massacred in the streets and houses and were left lying - a fairly sure sign that the city was at least temporarily abandoned. In one lane are nine skeletons, including five children, and in another place several people were apparently climbing steps from a well-room to the street when they were knocked over backwards and fell dead at the bottom of the steps. The weight and probability suggests that these invaders were the first wave of Aryans, whose onslaughts on the cities of the aborigines are celebrated in the Vedas. If so, then the peak of the Harappan civilization may be placed between 2500 and 1500 BC and its destruction at about 1500. We must hope that one day the decipherment of its script will tell us more about this enigmatic civilization." In contrast, in a chapter about Rome, it's written, "Augustus brought dignity to Rome's public life. He rebuilt and beautified the city, claiming in later life that he had found it a city of brick and left it a city of marble. He encouraged the arts and patronized writers like Virgil, Livy and Horace, who glorified the destiny of Rome. Under Augustus, Rome's population grew to more than a million. Its citizens enjoyed a water supply, clean streets, and amenities that were not to be equalled for another 1,500 years. Augustus left Rome with an empire that covered most of the Western world. An army of 300,000 men kept peace and order throughout every province, and good roads promoted the prosperity of the Empire. Later, men called the reign of Augustus the golden age of the Roman Empire. After his death Augustus was regarded as a god, and later emperors, following the custom of the East, became gods while they still lived." Anyway, what's also worth adding is that the number of theaters in the center of the city has shrunk in the last two decades. Empire Theatres, which was a movie theater chain in Canada, no longer exists. One of its theaters, Empire Granville 7 Cinemas, closed in 2012. This theater was my favorite in Vancouver, and, after it closed for good, the experience of going to see a film in a theater has become less appealing to me. The quality of management at the theaters that still exist has clearly deteriorated in the last several years. Well, at least the washrooms in these theaters are still working like before, at least most of the time. I must say, however, that besides a few very good films that got released in 2023, there was another bright spot in 2023. This bright spot consisted of the several films that got made by DC Studios. Since Marvel Studios failed to deliver at least a few enjoyable films in 2023, what DC Studios put out brought some fun to me in theaters last year. That is, in 2023, DC Studios managed to do what Marvel Studios did very well in earlier years, which is to release at least a few enjoyable films in theaters in one year. Sure, what DC Studios managed to pump out in 2023 isn't as good as the best that Marvel Studios has to offer, but I still enjoyed seeing every DC Studios film last year. When it comes to Marvel Studios, there were two very good releases (Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 and Loki season 2) and three disappointing releases (Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania, The Marvels, and Secret Invasion). I think that season 2 of Loki is the best TV show that Marvel has made so far. I didn't expect for it to be as good as it is. Unfortunately, when it comes to films, Marvel continues to disappoint. While the TV shows that Marvel has been making have almost all been good, the films are another matter. The people that got assigned to make Thor: Love And Thunder, Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania, and The Marvels really dropped the ball, and I must say that these films left a bad taste in my mouth. Well, at least Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania features a good music score by Christophe Beck. So, 2023 was the worst year yet for Marvel Studios. Of course, I never expected Marvel Studios to continue to deliver one enjoyable product after another. All good things come to an end eventually. The films of The Infinity Saga have made Marvel Studios so successful and so popular that now every amateur film critic and every jackass on the internet yaps about what Marvel puts out. Contrary to what some people say, however, there wasn't some Marvel apocalypse in 2023 because Marvel Studios still released a very good film and a very good TV show in that year. Since I'm not some amateur internet film critic that tries to earn as much money as possible on YouTube by making provocative videos, and since I'm not some nerd that goes to a movie theater every other day or every week, all of the talk about the fall of Marvel doesn't interest me. Even if Marvel Studios doesn't repeat its past success, I won't be heartbroken because there are plenty of other films and TV shows to watch. Perhaps the biggest reason why I wanted to make this post was to point out that I had a good deal of fun when I watched some old films that I've seen before. These films brought a lot more enjoyment to me than any of the films that I got to see in theaters lately, for obvious reasons. Ghost Story (1981) is the film that I enjoyed watching the most because of its cinematography and because it has a number of inspired scenes, like when Edward Wanderley sees a female apparition during a snowstorm and falls to his death. I enjoyed watching The Changeling (1980) almost as much because it too has no shortage of memorable scenes, like the one when John Russell holds a seance and overhears the voice of a spirit on audio equipment. Another film that came alive for me when I watched it again recently is Flashdance (1983). It has charming cinematography, and Donald Peterman was nominated for an Academy Award because of his work on Flashdance. I think that one of the reasons why Flashdance became very successful is because it's an inspirational film. Jennifer Beals appealed very much to me this time in the role of Alex Owens. I got to see The Exorcist (1973) in a theater several months ago, and I realized that it's now one of those films that I can watch again and again, just like Predator (1987) and A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984).