Comments on: Open Forum Friday: Is It Wrong to Laugh at Old Movies Because They Are Dated?

By: European

European — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 13:59:45 +0000

I find new films laughable, and I find people who use word “dated” for a piece of art (be it film, song, etc.) very laughable.
What I find laughable in new films and TV shows is that many of them try so hard to portray “reality” that they finish in self-parody. One notable example of this is a crime TV show The Wire, which tries to play on a card of reality, but ends up as parody when watched by anyone who has some knowledge of politics and police work. Unfortunatley, most of film critics don’t have the knowledge.

By: devolutionary

devolutionary — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 01:01:31 +0000

Nothing wrong with laughing at older movies for whatever reason (outdated effects, silly plots, unrealistics sections, etc.) as long as you can appreciate the good merits as well. If you are ok with someone making fun or laughing at your favourite movies say 30 years from now then fair game to all.

By: Owozifa

Owozifa — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 07:07:48 +0000

@Gerry

That is a little bit of a ridiculous moment, but nobody can laugh at the bladed shoe fight.

By: Gerry

Gerry — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 19:17:21 +0000

@Maopheus.

I’m guessing they laughed at the gypsy women fighting scene. It’s attitudes to women were always pretty laughable.

By: Derek McFarland

Derek McFarland — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 17:03:25 +0000

I don’t think it’s wrong to laugh at something outdated, if you can still appreciated it for what it was, once upon a time….but then again, it also depends. There are some things I find funny now, that I thought looked pretty cool when I was younger (like Lou Ferrigno’s Hercules, Mortal Kombat, and Independent Day) ….and there are also outdated films that I still find to be badass, in a not funny kinda way (Like Robocop, Jason and the Argonauts, 1980’s Clash of the Titans, and Total Recall)

Just a year ago, my brother and I started watching the original Star Trek T.V. series from the 1960’s; for the first time…..and we couldn’t get enough of it? We found ourselves laughing our asses off at how outdated the FX and the acting was; but were totally entertained by how good the stories were as well, and couldn’t wait till the next weeks episode. We found the show to be more fun to watch then S.T.The Next Generation. It can be annoying at times though….trying to enjoy a good cult classic, like 1979’s Alien…..only to have some asshole in the same room, laughing at all the meaningless “computer button lights” and the one 27″ moniter; in “Mother’s” computer room.

I wonder…..Is It Wrong To Scream At New Movies, because they suck, and repeat shittier versions of these so called outdated films?

I mean really……what’s with the F%#kin CG blood, and fake ammo? It’s that kinda crap that has me looking for all these outdated classics.

By: Maopheus

Maopheus — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 16:45:18 +0000

I wonder what the scene(s) in FRWL that they laughed at. I’d like to know because I can’t think of any that really stand out. That’s the thing about a great movie is that it should be timeless, you shouldn’t notice the time period in which the movie is set. Especially if it was contemporary to its release date.
Oh now I know. It was probably the scene in the beginning when Bond is lounging with Sylvia Trench and he answers the “car phone” call.

By: Bas

Bas — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 06:38:33 +0000

I meant teenagers, but ‘little shits’ more accurately captures the emotion I’m going for. And secondly, leave it to punks to amaze you with their lack of knowledge of even the most basic stuff

By: Adam Lenehan

Adam Lenehan — Sun, 23 Sep 2012 22:36:15 +0000

@Bas: Wow! First of all I think you meant teenagers, because children are aloud to laugh at any film if they want to. Also Austen Powers and James Bond are so ingrained in pop culture these days that it’s really hard not to know who they are.

By: Bas

Bas — Sun, 23 Sep 2012 18:53:00 +0000

Maybe the little shits thought they were watching an Austin Powers movie? No, they’re probably too young to know who that is.

And it’s not just old films that are inexplicably laughed at by youngsters either. I saw Batman Begins at the theater and they thought Rachel slapping Bruce was the funniest thing ever! Fucking kids these days…

By: Gerry

Gerry — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 22:38:12 +0000

My only rule in watching movies is to accept them on their own terms.
This means I enjoy the shit out of movies of any type or from any era.

I’ll record old films from the 30’s 40’s and 50’s and I find a lot of them hold my attention a lot more than a lot of today’s films because they’re written and made with, seemingly, more skill, whether they be noir, a blockbuster of their time or a silly propoganda film.

The Grapes Of Wrath would feature in my top 5-7 movies of all time / my favourite movies.
Hitchcock, Wilder etc would number among my favourite directors.

Old movies are, to me, valuable historical documents as well as pieces of entertainment. They can be as revealing about their period as a history book.

Re Bond films, I find most modern Bond’s as silly as the audience found From Russia With Love. I still enjoy them, on the same level I would a cartoon.
I like the really old On Her Majesty’s Secret Service a lot as, to me, it’s more of a proper film than a Bond film.

By: MovieViewer-Man

MovieViewer-Man — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 22:22:08 +0000

I tried showing my nephew some of the movies in my collection because I thought he might enjoy them. To my horror, he laughed at most of them even though they were not comedies. If one of them had stop motion animation in it, he laughed his ass off. He had no appreciation for the work that went into it.

I no longer show him any of my movies. I know better.

By: bullet3

bullet3 — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 19:40:10 +0000

See, I can understand it with some of the 80s stuff, but the current obsession with “grounded” and gritty movies is not some crazy new-found realization. 70s action films are in many ways just as straightforward and realistic as something like the Bourne series. You look at French Connection or 3 Days of the Condor and they feel completely modern. If there’s anything that people might laugh at there it’s politically incorrect jokes or lines of dialogue, but other than that, I think the concept of older movies being necessarily “dated” or not “holding up” is completely bullshit.