I've lost all passion for film/cinema

I just don't get "entertained" by the films that are out there. I have no idea why.

• I agree - haven't seen a movie in the theater since Zodiac.

• Les Miserables is wonderful.

  AnnE

• Me neither. I'm the same with tv. I'm 26 and already jaded when it comes to Hollywood. Is this what growing up feels like?

• "Star Wars" ruined movies, by turning them into thrill rides and merchandising opportunities. But there are plenty of people who love real movies, and many of these people make movies. The secret is that, if everyone in the world is going to see a movie the weekend it opens, there's no reason to see that movie. We don't need a new movie each week, OP. Just do your homework and spend your time looking for films that are not a waste of your time.

• Les Miz was AWFUL! In fact, this year was a pretty disappointing year in cinema. The best thing I've seen was Rust and Bone (a French film).

  russell%20and%20hugh%20can%27t%20sing

• The first half hour of Les Miz is excellent...say what you want about the rest.

  AnnE

• I will give you that, Anne. You were the best part...

• OP you're just burn out of watching too many mindless films. I recommend you watch more independent cinema since this year promises to be one for the ages.

• Which one is more compelling: Anne or boiled broccoli?

  Sigourney

• I really liked Lincoln but my passion for film is kind of leaving me. If you lose passion for everything...then what?

• In the last 5-6 years I've seen a few Hollywood movies that were reasonably good or entertaining but very little that I was particularly impressed with in the sense that I would want to own them or watch them again in the future. Even when taking a long flight, I tend to go to the TV section of the inflight entertainment system instead of browsing for a movie.

• Even indies are getting dull. It's the same handful of actors, some of which are critically acclaimed but really are not very good. A good PR agency goes a long way these days. For the most part the scripts are unoriginal and feel tired. Those stories that don't have the "been there, done that" effect are so over-the-top and usually boarder on the ridiculous.

• OP, you need to see "Dawson's 50-Load Weekend."

• They're all junk. Watch old (preferably European) movies. I am watching Les Enfants Du Paradis tonight.

• There is a century of cinematic masterpieces out there. Other than the couple of good movies that open every year, try going back in time, and to other countries, to discover some great works of art. It's a new movie if you haven't seen it yet. If you truly love "film/cinema" then you won't be afraid of discovering silent, b/w, and foreign language films. Start with studying AFI's lists of top films in every genre, and other lists easily found doing a google search of the world's greatest films. Most of them did not come out of Hollywood.

• That is why there is Netflix. They have practically every picture ever made.

  Anonymous

• R15 makes an excellent point. When there are so many great films out there, why do we feel compelled to pay attention only to new films?

• Me, too. I rarely watch movies in the theater now. To re-energize my love for films, I re-watch older "art" films. Just had a Trois Coleurs marathon, in fact. Makes me remember why I loved cinema in the first place, when films talk to us instead of just shock and awe.

• OP I was just like you before about five years ago. That's when I started checking out older movies because I realized I was only watching what was thrown in my face. You should explore.

• You're just lazy, OP. There are plenty of good movies being made these days. You just have to broaden your horizons and look for them.

• I used to see at least two movies a week. I'd go see anything! Now, I hardly go at all. What happened? Hangover 2. It was the most cynical and disgusting money-grab of all time, and it made me realize that movies are no longer about artistic vision; they're about making money, pure and simple. It's been a few years, but I can count the number of tent pole movies I've seen since then on one hand. Seeing that movie, and realizing what movies have become, left such a bad taste in my mouth that will never come out.

• It may be the times -- I watched Altman's A Wedding and it was So Much. Then I watched Gosford Park and it was Far Less.

• I find myself turning to 70s movies for anything remotely interesting. That and foreign stuff from the 70s and 80s. But the last three or four decades have been going downhill for US cinema.

• R22, please don't confuse critical taste with your and the OP's anhedonia. You obviously have some serious issues clouding your aesthetic judgment. Oh. The word I used? Look it up.

• The movies are only half the problem. Even when I decide the movie is probably worth seeing, I start thinking about whichever bland little "Plex" is showing it, and the thought of sitting through the commercials and 20 minutes of horrible previews, and then spending two hours with obnoxious people talking, eating popcorn, and playing with their cellphones, and I lose all interest. I can wait 60 days and catch it at home.

• I only go to 1 or 2 movies a year - if that. When we go out, we go to live theater. Even when it sucks, it is so much more interesting and alive than the movies.

• Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is showing "Cabaret" tomorrow, in case you haven't already seen it. TCM is where I get a lot of viewing pleasure. Movies from long ago that explored the same issues we have today. I saw a pre-Code movie featuring Loretta Young and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Also, a young actor, very handsome and charming, who played his role campily. Fun! I could tell DFJr. was enjoying his performance. Coming soon is "The Mark of Zorro", with two breathtakingly beautiful leads: Tyrone Power and Linda Darnell. TP is a swashbuckler in tight pants part of the time. It has a fine script. Great direction by Rouben Mamoulian!

  anonymous

• Cable television has usurped film for great storytelling in a cinematic medium. This is because TV writers get paid more, frankly. So the best writers tend to veer towards TV. It's also more akin to novel writing (each episode is like a chapter) so it has better, more complex storytelling tropes to play around with. It also isn't so weighed down by network assholes telling them what to rewrite (which is why network TV tends to be different version of Grey's Anatomy).

• TV fuckin' sucks too. 900 channels and nothing on.

• i'm a former cinephile and i totally agree with OP. haven't been to te movies in ages. no desire to watch any movie. many tv series today are much more compelling and well done than movies.

  anon

• American movies are worse than ever. As a relevant cultural form, the 90-120 minute film has had its day. All the writing talent is working in episodic television.

• Yes, I know the Oscars aren't a good gauge of what is quality, but I do find it depressing that of the 7 best picture nominees I have seen, I don't think there was one movie where I thought "wow" when it was finished. (In case you're wondering, I haven't seen Django or Amour yet). BotSW probably was the most "original" of the nominees, and had some thrilling passages. Argo was very entertaining but it missed any deep themes that would make it resonate with me, and had some real eye-rolling moments toward the end. Lincoln moved in fits and starts and had a lot of good things going for it, but I don't think I'll look back on it years from now and say "That was a great movie" or "I loved that one". Les Mis was mediocre. Silver Linings had Jennifer Lawrence bringing much more to the table than the script provided for her, but that was about it.

• I've been a film-lover since childhood, but I almost never go to see anything that's in theaters today. Movies have largely been turned into pyrotechnic affairs anymore....over-cut, over-directed, over-computerized messes. Everything is frantically edited, chopchopfastfast, so that your eye has not a moment to drink in the image. I have the same complaint about television these days also. For me, the best days of cinema are behind us, when good stories were well told and lovingly photographed.

• For me it's mainly the ticket price that's made me lose interest. I'd prefer to wait until they become available at Redbox for $1.00. I also prefer to buy and rewatch older movies on DVD. A much better entertainment value than going to the theater, which is just not fun anymore.

• Only boring people are bored.

• I lost whatever passion I used to have -- and I used to go at least once a week -- when the audiences became too loud and too smelly to deal with. I don't want to sit near some asshole who's talking, and that only became 100x worse when everyone got a cellphone. And I absolutely don't want to smell bad perfume and eau de dryer sheets wafting off of some classless Tiffany or Amber. And the volume of the movies themselves is so loud, particularly the trailers. But there's a content issue, too. I see everything I want on DVD or streaming, but there's not that much I really want to see. Eventually, I'll see: Lincoln Les Mis Django Unchained (can't miss my girl Kerry Washington) The Queen of Versailles Silver Lining Playbook End of Watch (gotta watch Jake)

• [quote]Eventually, I'll see: Lincoln Les Mis Django Unchained (can't miss my girl Kerry Washington) The Queen of Versailles Silver Lining Playbook End of Watch (gotta watch Jake) This list of movies was supposed to be a list, i.e., I put each on a separate line, but it came out as a run-on sentence. What happened?

• You need to put a blank line between each item: Lincoln Les Mis Django Unchained (can't miss my girl Kerry Washington) The Queen of Versailles Silver Lining Playbook End of Watch (gotta watch Jake)

• Like this? Thank you very much, R38.

• I have felt this way for a very long time, OP, particularly about American cinema. Once in a while a good film comes along and I reset the indifference button. In the last 3 years the only 3 films has piqued my interest: "Up in the Air," "The Descendants," and "Wreck-It Ralph." Hollywood just isn't churning out films that interests me. I turn to foreign films to fill the void. I love French films, but I don't think they're churning out many gems anymore. The state of American cinema is bleak. The tickets cost more but the films continue on a downward spiral.

• One of my problems is that many actors don't transform into characters. They're actors doing yet another version of themselves. The worst ones are Leo, Tobey, and George Clooney. They got it from Jack Nicholson. Matt Damon becomes his characters. So does Matthew McConaghey. And Matt Dillon. I like Kevin Bacon and Ryan Phillippe, but they both usually make such bad movies. I don't bother seeing anything with Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise anymore. I haven't seen anything with either in it since whatever each did before the vampire movie. Oh, and I don't do vampires. At all. Ever. I've seen just enough to know I hate them.

• The last movie I saw in a theater was Titanic. I'll watch a good movie on cable if one happens to be on, but most movies today are crap and I don't get why these actors are so interested in doing movies when some of the tv shows they left had better writing.

• The compelling stuff is all on cable TV these days.

• I have not been in a movie theatre in six years, when I saw Atonement, with James McAvoy and Keira Knightley. I have no idea why I chose to see it, as it's not really my type of picture (I need CC for British accents). Anyway, the movie itself was so loud, the sound of the movie in the next theatre was so loud, and the bitch sitting behind me and to the right was so loud, I have not gone back to a movie theatre since. And I used to go every week.

• I agree. I love movies so much while in school I started working a local theater and within a year was running a multiplex for over ten years. I got to go to NY premieres and saw thousands. In the last three years there has been almost nothing worth leaving the house for which means in six months nothing worth renting on disc and another six months nothing on HBO either.

• I still see two movies a week at a theater, usually independent or foreign films. I don't care for watching movies on TV. I prefer a big screen and watching with a group of people.

• I feel much the same way about the current state of American cinema. OP, why don't you give us 4-5 movies you really love and we can all chime in and recommend others. I'm a lifelong movie buff and completely agree that there is nearly a century of great film already and you can spend years watching movies that are already made that are outstanding.

• I used to be a huge film buff but I reached a point where I'd seen all the older films that I was interested in seeing and the new ones just didn't seem that tempting. I wouldn't say that they're not making good films any more, because they certainly are. I saw "The Hobbit" last Christmas with my nephews, which is totally not my kind of film, but I had a blast anyway. I'll probably watch "Les Miz" on DVD because I'm too lazy to see it in the theater.

• R27, TCM is a goldmine - my favorite place to watch and revisit movies. They're showing Bergman's "Wild Strawberries" later this week, and showed "Splendor in the Grass" last night.

• TCM is good during Oscar month but after that, they will go back to showing too many obscure British movies and westerns.

• It's cuz you're old, OP. Look around in a movie theatre and see how many oldies you can spot. It's mainly the young'uns who go to see movies. Guessing you're not too keen on that awful rap music and the latest fashions either.

• If you use the word "cinema" you're a pretentious twat anyway

• The realities of nepotism. It's become so blatant now that the victim cultures have elbowed their way to the front, the decay of 21st Century America will insure the victim cultures are victimized again.

• I only watch French or Brit films.

• [quote]TCM is good during Oscar month but after that, they will go back to showing too many obscure British movies and westerns. I'm happy to watch obscure British films, certainly more so than the much of the programming during TCM Oscar Month. Westerns I can do without, but the same can be said for musicals (any fucking musical), many of their newer titles, silent films, and month-long tributes to stars I don't like. Still, they have good films.

• I always avoid movies with the typical Hollywood A-listers. Pitt, Depp, Affleck, Cruise - all of them horrible actors and they leave me stone cold. I often go by choosing with my favourite actors, because when they are good and interesting actors they quite often choose interesting projects. Also checking with certain internet movie websites is informative. Those sites get a buzz about cool movies very early on when they come to festivals like Cannes, Venice or Sundance. Not all blockbusters are dumb and not all indie movies are clever. But because blockbusters have a way bigger advertising budget, they are just shoved down our throats more effectively. Cool Indie and arthouse movies you may never hear about if you don't make an effort to inform yourself. As with anything we are consuming, if you don't investigate about products you may get shitty stuff.

  Anonymous

• Another wavering cineaste here. Film was my life for the first 30 years of my life (almost). I was your typical geek - saw everything, read as much as I could: from Premiere Magazine, Sight & Sound, Cineaste to Fangoria and Shock Cinema (which I still get. fabulous magazine). It even brought me out to LA in the 90s, where I was a wanna-be screenwriter with a b-tier agent and a shitty assistant's job to a douche producer. But I didn't care because I was living out my dream, and still going to movies all the time. Cut to the last decade - I feel like i'm cinematically impotent. *Nothing* really stimulates me anymore. Not the way it used to. American movies are the absolute worst. I just don't feel it's vital to keep up with any of them. I still go frequently enough out of habit, however - but I'm usually completely detached and unimpressed. European movies have provided some compensation. But it's far and few between. I remember being really moved by The Secret in Their Eyes and The Lives of Others. I thought The White Ribbon was fascinating. That's about it lately (havent seen Amour yet). I rewatch a lot of stuff now at home on DVD. And I agree TV has filled that quality void. I'm a MASSIVE Game of Thrones and Enlightenment fan. What amazing programming. Movies now completely suck in comparison.

• I don't know how old you are OP but I've wondered sometimes if it's an age thing for me. I grew up watching TV and spent my twenties going to the movies a couple of times a week. I've gotten to the point where I can predict every plot turn and even the camera placement often tips off whats going to happen. Everything I watch seems to just be derivative. I see movies that are big hits and think "isn't this just a retread of X movie?" I think as I get older maybe it's just a lot harder for film to surprise or intrigue me.

• If you aren't into films anymore, pick up a book!

• [quote]Matt Damon becomes his characters. So does Matthew McCona[u]ghey. And Matt Dillon. McBongo? Surely you jest.