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Is this a valid criticism?

post #1 of 9
10/11/05 at 3:21am
Thread Starter 
Is it alright to not like a movie because its "too 80's" (the 1980's)?

I was talking to a guy who's a film school teacher on another forum a few months back. For some reason that I forgot he was showing his students some John Woo movies from the eighties. He was telling me about how they laughed at the films because they thought the movies were too 80's.

Just last week I was reading a DVD review of Michael Mann's "Thief" on The Digital Bits website and the guy writing the review wrote that one of the reasons he didn't like the film was because he thought it was "too 80's".

I'm not a film critic of any sort but the argument for not liking a film because it's too 80's seems odd. I would love to hear from you, especially Nick or Devin, or anyone who reviews movies for anything, whether it's for a newspaper, another website, or their blog.
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post #2 of 9
10/11/05 at 4:42am
I guess it means that it was a film of it's time and has lost relevance now. As oppossed to 'timeless films' that are still watchable in any era.

Often I like films of the 80s cause you get a nostalgic look at the different values and styles then. (I love the synth soundtrack to Assault On Precient 13).
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post #3 of 9
10/11/05 at 5:07am
It can be humorous... but it doesnt mean it makes it a bad film, least not back then, cause now Hind Sight is 20/20.... I mean the 40's 50's 60's 70's had a charm... for them to show their age was fine. The 80's though were just embarrasing. The filmakers of that Era didn't know better not to date a film, cause it hadn't turned out so embarassing yet (well maybe the 70's to a extent, but not laughably)...

Though today, you have to look back at the 80's and realize that putting stuff from your era that is obviously not gonna stick around cause it's so F'ing stupid is bad film making. Referencing reality shows (or anything else that obvious won't stay popular) will date your film in two years tops (Is that your final answer?). Music, unless it's really good and fits the tone of the film (even if, GO WITH A SCORE!) will probably date your film. Unless you get lucky and that music catches on and isn't laughed at in 10 years. Britney Spears is already dated. If I hear "Hit me Baby" on a movie, I laugh.
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post #4 of 9
10/11/05 at 5:20am
It's certainly not a valid criticism to not like a film because it's too 80's. It is a valid criticism to say a film has dated badly.
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post #5 of 9
10/11/05 at 5:28am
I dunno.... I thought American Psycho was just WAY too 80's. And I am also of the opinion that Back to the Future II was too 2015.
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post #6 of 9
10/11/05 at 2:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by bobblemonkey
Back to the Future II was too 2015.
It's a period piece, you jerk.
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post #7 of 9
10/11/05 at 4:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mattcruise
It can be humorous... but it doesnt mean it makes it a bad film, least not back then, cause now Hind Sight is 20/20.... I mean the 40's 50's 60's 70's had a charm... for them to show their age was fine. The 80's though were just embarrasing. The filmakers of that Era didn't know better not to date a film, cause it hadn't turned out so embarassing yet (well maybe the 70's to a extent, but not laughably)...

Though today, you have to look back at the 80's and realize that putting stuff from your era that is obviously not gonna stick around cause it's so F'ing stupid is bad film making. Referencing reality shows (or anything else that obvious won't stay popular) will date your film in two years tops (Is that your final answer?). Music, unless it's really good and fits the tone of the film (even if, GO WITH A SCORE!) will probably date your film. Unless you get lucky and that music catches on and isn't laughed at in 10 years. Britney Spears is already dated. If I hear "Hit me Baby" on a movie, I laugh.

On the nose.

It's simply how these things haven't aged well. The melodrama of stuff like the work of Douglas Sirk loses a lot of its luster when placed out of its time period, but that doesn't mean they're bad, simply with weaknesses.
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post #8 of 9
10/11/05 at 9:57pm
Time will eventually make this a moot point. I remember watching a lot of films from the early seventies when I was young- in the 80's- and laughing at the clothes and hair style. I assume that's what they mean by too 80's. Unless they're talking about the training montage or some device that reeks of 80's. Or maybe they're all just stupid, like when I was showing Hard Boiled to my old room mate and all he could do was laugh at the Chinese names. Chow Yun FAT, hah, hah, hah, fat.
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post #9 of 9
10/11/05 at 10:18pm
I have this problem with my best friend, he can't watch anything too 80's-ish, he also can't watch black and white. Often he'll just watch the trailer for the film and not want to watch it, even though I tell him it's great. Really pisses me off.

Tried to get him to watch the brillant To Live and Die in L.A. He watched the trailer and said no, I pleaded, he watched the first ten minutes and turned it off. He also won't watch King of New York, Thief, and The Hustler.

As far as a FILM class not "getting" or "loving" John Woo films from the 80's (or that LOOK like they're from the 80's) like A Better Tommorow, Bullet in the Head, The Killer and Hard Boiled, well fuck them, and I hope they never make any films for me.
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