Movies

You're on crack if you think Netflix caused this. They're just a symptom; The last 30+ years of corporate fuckery caused this, private consultation, advertisers and media monitors caused this, capitalism caused this, but people refuse to look the real enemy in the face at every turn. There's always another scapegoat.

"...screenwriters who work with Netflix often receive the note: “Have this character announce what they’re doing so that viewers who have this programme on in the background can follow along.”

We really are becoming dumber as a society. One benefit of AI is that it will give screenwriters the ability to create their own movies without these studio notes. The problem will be oversaturation because non-creative people will create their own stuff and that will make it difficult to find the gems among the slop.

I haven't had Netflix now for a couple of years after one of their price increases, and I haven't really missed anything I feel like.

The focus group reacted favorably.

I rarely watch TV shows, but there have been some bangers. Watching The Expanse again ATM. GoT showed that Hollywood level production could be done in a TV show. The new Shogun was mind blowing, maybe my favorite all-time miniseries.

I could list a dozen others, and about anyone here could add another dozen. If you think it's bad now, LMFAO, you should have been stuck with 3 station and the mindless, vanilla garbage they threw at us.

If it aims to please a vast audience and it succeeds, then that means more people are happy.

The opposite is a film aimed at a very specific niche.

The best movie I've seen is the Japanese film 君の名は。. It's (maybe) not for everybody. It is somewhat popular (a bit more so when it was new, 9 years ago), people know what it is, I'm pretty sure it's in the IMDb Top 250, it's one of those movies everyone should see at some point, but most people wouldn't Top 10 it. I like movies with certain elements that appeal to me, and some of the movies I like, "most people" don't. Like maybe if they gave it a chance they'd like it, but they wouldn't watch it. The algorithm wouldn't recommend it to them. And niche films keep getting made by studios like A24 and Blumhouse that give creators more control. But anyway, I also like KPop Demon Hunters, which is like, the #1 movie right now. I recognise it's a formulaic movie. I see the formulae. I still bop to "Soda Pop" and "What it Sounds Like" along with the kids, teenagers, and millions of other people who made it the top film. I listen to the songs in my car, and at home. I was one of the ones in the theater watching it last week, but I did not sing along, I was just there to enjoy it on a bigger screen.

There's nothing wrong with liking popular movies, or movies that are marketed to you. There's nothing wrong with marketing working, doing its job, serving its intended purpose.

It's only wrong if you can't find movies that nobody else but you (and a few others like you scattered around the world) like.

(P.S. I'm not trying to be obtuse, or a smartass. 君の名は。 is called "your name." outside of Japan. I simply prefer to use the original title as a personal choice, and I can pronounce it correctly as well (something like "key-me no nye-wah." The literal translation is "what's your name?" which is where the international title comes from. I also prefer to watch it in Japanese without subtitles, despite it being fully translated to English as an option. I don't know Japanese. I've just seen it enough to know exactly what's going on at all times.)