Things You Want CHUD.com to Do - Page 2

I'm going to be boring and second most of the ideas here, but especially the idea of a column for stories, fact or fiction, that would make great movies. That could be really fun, especially if it looked at all the different angles and shapes the movie could take.

EDIT: Love Admiral Shark's idea for a series reviewing all the Godzilla films. I'd definitely read that. Hell, I'd even want to contribute to it.

I would like to see more MCP reviews. I realize that I'm probably the only one here who wants to see this, though.

Tag-team reviews should be a mainstay, more unique lists, maybe add 5 new Essentials a year(let's not get too crazy). In a similar vein, continued retrospectives on a series, like 'Jesse' Morse's Lost and Found for TV shows or the Friday the 13th saga. Godzilla is an interesting suggestion.

And more, more, more CHUD Show. Very excited for Steve's re-arrival. Hopefully he can stay longer this time.

I got it. To combine the two thoughts - and since Devin took Star Trekkin' with him - Steve needs to review every Star Trek film from the beginning. I must have his hatred for Generations in composition form.

I'd like to see more focus on foreign films, maybe have Alex have a weekly column on the latest and greatest Asian and foreign films or retrospectives on great foreign films from the past would be interesting.

I remember ages ago, there was a column which consisted of articles written by readers, I think that could be interesting.

Love the idea of a column that focuses on foreign films - current or past.

The List of Dumb Version 1 is one of my favourite regular features. While I enjoy the One-Shot nature of daily "Dumb" entries, it doesn't have the same punch as the longer version because it can't build up the same momentum. I'd happily trade frequency to get those back, because they're definitely worth the wait.

Certainly a welcome addition.

I'd rather both. And lots of them.

That's a great call.

Nick Nunziata, I want...CHUD.COM, to remain the greatest site on the net. I want to see CHUD, continue to feature hard working people, writing... brilliant, in-depth articles, that are moderated by, Nick and Company. I of course love the...Best Message Boards on the net, as well!

Thirded. I know it makes sense that CHUD focuses on American/English language movies in the first place, but on the other hand: there's a whole bunch of non-English speakers on the site, and besides if there's any movie community on the web that would be interested in cool but unknown movies from around the world, it would be this. A reader-written column would be nice, but I'd rather see foreign movies that are worth the exposure getting a full-blown treatment, if you know what I mean.

What do I want CHUD to do?

Have Consistency. Don't start doing something and then lose interest half way through. You've been fairly consistent on "what I'm thankful for", but the "worst CG" (of which there is so much to choose from) is starting to drop off and become less frequent like so many other CHUD features that drop away. It makes readers feel like you have a very half-assed attitude about the site.

I still think one of the best things you did in recent years was the Kubrick box set review. Seems like y'all actually put a lot of work in to that, and it was well worth it.

Improve the page navigation so we can actually find that shit once you create it.

No one minds captia (or whatever), they mind a captia that does NOT work. You search functions kind of suck, too. I've been looking forever for an article you did, maybe, 4+ years ago on why CG sucks vs. traditional hand-made effects. It was very well written, and I'd like to share it if I can ever find the damn thing. (It talked about the fake big mouth thing. I hate the fake big mouth thing. I digress...)

And, of course, to always stay really close to its horror, sci-fi, cult, and underground cinema roots.

I've brought this up before and you nixed it, but it's worth another mention: CHUD debates. Front page articles where smart cinephiles argue for and against something about the film world. You recently mentioned that you and Devin had conflicting opinions about 3D technology; I would love to see an actual debate about it. I'm sure the crew debates about all kinds of movie-related shit behind the scenes or during drunken gatherings. As long as it's smart and entertaining why not make it a feature? This kind of thing occurs on the boards constantly, but because anyone can contribute it usually devolves into chaos and butt-hurtedness. So, front page CHUD debates, please.

It's been mentioned already, but I'd like to see CHUD reevaluate older releases. I always find it interesting when a film that was once loved becomes hated, and vice versa.

If at all possible, more Andre. His pre- and post-weekend box office summaries are stylish and informative and he's written one of my favorite CHUD pieces, the mock Batman review.

Also great? Jeremy Smith's Play It Never Again. A terrific article and the kind of thing CHUD should have more often.

I have to second this. I recognize that time and/or personnel issues can affect the more ambitious CHUD projects (the Star Trek Appreciation series is one of the most regrettable losses) but it's really disappointing to see a good feature die of neglect.

Oh, and MARY WORTH.

I totally agree with this, I love the idea of differening points of view debating a film, when both sides offer well thought out points it makes for damn good reading.

I'm afraid I'm going to have to be boring and also call for the return of the Tag Team reviews; I love the hell out of them.

1. The "Rep House Pick of the Week." Similar to what Cuch posted on the first page, but a weekly rundown of stuff that's happening around the country or in major cities that folks need to watch out for. I think this is because I'm a snob, but movies should be seen on the big screen, and especially here in New York, there's great stuff happening all the time.

I would recommend starting focusing on one city and seeing what response you get from readers; each weekly entry (similar to Dellamorte's Box Office thread) would end with a call for readers to send in tips to screenings around the country.

2. I'd like to see more consistent tv coverage as well. I really enjoyed working for THUD back in the day, before work became too overwhelming for a while, and the TV coverage has been some of my favorite stuff on the site. Personally, I really enjoyed the editorial aspect of that (writing about what was going on in TV, emphasizing shows that didn't get enough love, etc) beyond reportage, and I'd love to see more of that in the future.

3. Finally, with Devin leaving, you're losing not only a great writer but someone with a deep knowledge of film history. As others have said, one of the things Beaks' brought to the site was a greater exposure to the classics, and I'd love to see that continue. You know what my favorite article in recent memory was? Elizabeth's "Leave Her To Heaven" piece, and not just because I love that movie. It's very rare that CHUD acknowledges beyond a cursory mention here and there that there are movies before 1960, and I don't think that's entirely the site's fault. Odds are, there aren't a lot of opportunities for it yet, because I don't think Criterion sends its stuff out for review, or maybe people aren't claiming the older movies. But whether it's a series on classic films, the return of The Essentials, maybe something like making Classic Edition of "Movie of The Day," tie-ins to the rep-house theater idea mentioned above, perhaps a "watch-along" similar to how the AV Club does books, I think emphasizing the past as well as the future needs to be a big part of CHUD to come. I really like the approach the AV Club has used with its Sound & Music series where they explore the use of a song in a film, and in their series where they look at one key scene from a movie, and use it to discuss the movie at large.

4. This is my one out-there idea: Partner with Kickstarter or one of the other crowdfinancing websites to highlight the great community of writers, producers, and directors that visit the site, whether it's projects that are happening/need financing/are in pre-production, etc. If you look at the budding filmmakers thread, there are some supremely talented dudes. Some of them even write for the main page. Going all the way back to Ryan Rotten and SJR through Sean Bateman and Slater and Troy N, CHUD has a long list of people who went on to success as writers/filmmakers/et al., and that's not even counting the people like Greg Clark or horrid who are out there making their shorts and features on a regular basis. And in the past, the only time that seems to have extended to the main page in terms of highlighting indie film projects from community members has been 11 Colonels Attack, which was mostly the Atlanta crew. It's hard out there for an indie filmmaking pimp, and it's only going to get harder. So whether it is using CHUD as a place to bring attention to things that need money, using the main page as a site for production diaries for films in progress, trailers for Chewer films (like Renn's grad thesis), or just more articles about pieces in production by "up and comers," I'd like to see CHUD acknowledge the fact that it's got a history with this sort of thing. An idea: How about an article series called "One Thing I Learned", each one a short/long/humorous/informative piece from a site-related filmmaker about, well, one thing they learned from making movies?

More Creature Corner please.

Bring back the column you used to do where you would tear apart news stories because they really weren't news.

Actually, any of the fun little bits you used to do that aren't around anymore, like the CHUD Obits.

Seconding this. Maybe a "what to Tivo on TCM this week"-type feature.

I really like the "This Should Be a Movie" idea. I'm big on retrospectives as well, although I don't know many more film series that can be covered. But a Bond retro would be tremendous.

Please, no more comics. They are a distraction and they rarely go anywhere. Could be fun for a bit but it ends up not adding real value or film discussion.

I am fully behind Rath's comment about losing a huge film history writer with Devin leaving.

His pieces on the classics or history of film or behind the scenes shenanigans were my favorites. Along with the "movies that never were".
I come to the site to be a better film lover. And learn.
Teach me something.

One thing I miss: you had a feature where you would show current movie posters for terrible films. On the posters, you would have funny zingers from the countless bad reviews for the film. I remember laughing my ass off at these, especially the one for 'Stealth'.

I absolutely loved the column from a few years ago that had the greatest/worst on screen deaths in cinema. I remember it the first time around, and then the second pass through the same subject. Now that we've had a few more years of CGI gooey death, how about a revisit to that....

Also, a link to those old threads would be handy.

The place doesn't have to degenerate into Entertainment Weekly/Cracked territory, Nick, but it's doesn't have to morph into My Top Fifteen Favorite Pre-Nazi Propaganda Films either.

I know Nick said not to mention specific people, but I have to ask- where is the Hot Animal Machine these days? Crazy passionate about movies, great writer, funny guy, and really knows his genre shit. I miss that dude!

Ok, I'll be that guy. One of the things I miss about the past was that (unless my memory is shot) there were no vendettas carried throughout multiple main page articles over long periods of time. I think the AVATAR coverage was the absolute nadir but generally the occasional and random-seeming but ultra-vindictive hammering away at one person or property really altered the character of the site for the worst. So bring back the lack of... that.

Otherwise, my way-back memories are almost exclusively centered around individuals rather than specific content. Nick, you've got some sort of weird voodoo for bringing people with great voices and great ability to CHUD's front pages (Butane, Rotten, SJR, Russ, Dave, Devin) so hopefully that remains a focus for you.

I did enjoy CHUDStories too.

Also, the past year or so, there really weren't enough theatrical reviews. The only things that got reviewed were tentpoles and other big action and comedy films. 2005-2006, it felt like EVERYTHING was getting reviewed, and I really enjoyed it. But the news has always been the least favorite part of the site, honestly, so maybe I'm alone there.

I agree that the news is the least interesting bit. I'd like to see more reviews of current and older films and any of the fun features mentioned above.

The video reviews are a good idea but you cannot favor them over Chud's written ones. You (Nick) and Devin have written many thoughtful reviews that have taught me things about film and those are the type of reviews that I enjoy most.

Reading Nick's editorial makes me realize that Devin's was an important voice to counteract Nick's. I hope other writers are going to be given the chance to do editorials.

I am the Video Word made flesh.

Nick,

I asked a Question for... and you answered it. It was about seeing Don't Be Afraid to make CHUD some money. You said no matter how many times I saw it money would not end up in your pocket.

How about a column explaining the various roles of the movie business or even an FAQ. Did you get paid a flat fee as a producer? What does a producer do exactly?

I also asked a question on the boards one time about how actors get paid. Do they get a Ed McMahon giant cardboard check for $20 million dollars? Do they get paid in installments during shooting? What is scale? Where do B- and C-List actors fall on the pay rungs of Hollywood?

Yeah, I can Google and Wiki it but maybe if something like that brought people to CHUD via searches then it would keep them around as long time readers.

Many of us are film fans but not all of us went to school or immerse ourselves in the technical side of it.

COLUMN NAME
Behind the Scenes with.... and interview someone; a producer, a director, a DP, a key grip, etc. about their job then give a more detailed rundown of how these hardworking people bring us the work they bring us.

Totally agree. I think somebody asked Devin for a similar installment about script rewrites too.

Personally, I've always loved the "If CHUD Ran the Movies" posts. I know you get a lot of shit for them, but they're always good for a laugh. Maybe a special area of the new site where users can submit their own? I think there might be a thread for people to submit their own, but a more formal place would be cool.

This would be cool. I very much dug Renn's articles on sound editing, and making this a column that fleshes those things out would be amazing. Hell, there are so many Chewers that are part of the industry in so many different capacities. When the one guy (sorry I can't remember his username) said that he worked on one of the worst examples of CGI you listed (sorry, I can't remember which one), that was a pretty great moment. Also, the Chewer who wrote Stan Helsing.

Point is, these are people in the industry who you could interview about their work, etc. It'd be very interesting, I think.

Hey, didn't Domingo work on a TV show?

Shit. Did I just ruin my own idea?



But glad to see some love for a column of this sort. Unsung heroes these people have to be. The stars are front and center, I'd like to know about the craft services guy.

more merch?

I know we have a Chud app coming up for the Iphone but is it possible to make said app work for other smartphones....say Blackberries for instance?

They still make those?

I keed, I keed.

Can this kind of redundancy be eliminated? It especially irks on Dre's Box Office articles.

List of Dumb main page feed

List of Dumb Sticky update

If the main page feed threads are generated with an eye towards main page links that go directly to the message board, cool, but it seems like it may fragment discussion.

I think I might take this one.
1st iPhone.
if it goes well, what will the future be? Here's a clue. Then maybe these.

Sounds good to me, I was starting to think I had bought the Betamax of Smartphones.