stop the presses! Oliver Stone says stupid stuff!

[93curr]

film at 11.

videostoremag.com/news/html/breaking_article.cfm?article_id=6912

regarding DVDs: “It’s the end of movie-movies the way we know them,” he said during a Los Angeles press event for the film. “It’s like mail-order sex, Internet sex. It’s an easier way to access the person. It’s not good for us.”

“If you walk into a room with 5,000 DVDs, how are you going to respect movies? How do you know the good ones?,” Stone asked. “It’s going to the LCD — the lowest common denominator. It’s making movies into supermarket-shelf items, which is probably the best you can get at Wal-Mart. … It’s hopeless."


_____________________________________

well, I have over 5000 albums. guess that means I don't respect music.

and what movie theatres does he know of that don't show LCD movies? betcha your local WalMart has a better selection of classic masterpieces than is showing at your local cineplex.

what a dink.

[Rich Malloy]

I made the mistake of attending a showing of "Alexander" last weekend, and whatever promise this guy showed early on has not exactly been fulfilled. I've bumped him down to hack status, along with such luminaries as Tony Scott and Joel Schumacher.

But one more stinker like this, and he'll be trolling along with the likes of McG and Brett Rattner!

Plus, he's a dink.

[Ed Bishop]

Ignorant statement, of course.

Personally, I think it's kinda cool you can go into a WallyWorld and pay five bucks for an Annette/Frankie Beach Party film! :edthumbs: In the original widescreen aspect too, which is also not too shabby.

Any medium that gets people to watch more cinema--even if only at home on small TV's--is better than their not having any access to them beyond broadcast TV and VHS.

DVD isn't the last medium, of course, the upgrades are inevitable and ongoing.

And we won't even get into that little world of fantasy and horror that is JFK.....;)


:ed:

[93curr]

well, DVDs will never replicate the theatre experience for me until they come with a feature that provides the feeling of having someone kick the back of your seat non-stop for the whole film. maybe blu-ray will offer that, but I'm not holding my breath.

you could realy only get away with this nonsense in film, though. would any musician come out and claim that records ruined music or a writer claim that literature would be better if Gutenberg hadn't ruined it for everyone?

[Ed Bishop]

you could realy only get away with this nonsense in film, though. would any musician come out and claim that records ruined music or a writer claim that literature would be better if Gutenberg hadn't ruined it for everyone?

It's all a conspiracy, I tell ya, a freakin' conspiracy.....:D

:ed:

[dcooper]

On the other hand...

I think what he is talking about is the death of the big-screen motion picture experience. Technology & convenience of home theater notwithstanding, there is nothing quite like going to a grand theater and watching a gigantic movie (think 2001 or Lawrence of Arabia) on a huge movie screen. The modern multiplexes with small screens cannot compare - stadium seating or not. That's a shame.

[Ed Bishop]

The last movies I had to see as cinema were QT's two KILL BILL's and the three LOTR films....would have hated myself later if I hadn't...glad I did!

People still go to movies, but prob is, they don't make movies worth seeing, like a LAWRENCE OF ARABIA....and it's very sad you have to live in a big city--a VERY big city at that--to see these every once in a while, they never get to the hinterlands, though the local college used to show that sort of thing, but it's out of fashion.

I know what Ollie means, but he's trying to kill the messenger.....Marty Scorsese is big on DVD's, if only because they disseminate cinema to people who might otherwise not bother at all. His point is well taken: better to be seen in some form, than none at all.

:ed:

[PMC7027]

People still go to movies, but prob is, they don't make movies worth seeing, like a LAWRENCE OF ARABIA....and it's very sad you have to live in a big city--a VERY big city at that--to see these every once in a while, they never get to the hinterlands, though the local college used to show that sort of thing, but it's out of fashion.
:ed:


Of course, what makes a movie worth seeing is a very personal decision. I don't go to movies looking for art, just a couple of hours entertainment. That being said, I took the family to see National Treasure this past Sunday. I enjoyed it; it was very "Indiana Jones-ish." Not great art, but a fun 2 and a half hours for my family and me.

[Ed Bishop]

Of course, what makes a movie worth seeing is a very personal decision. I don't go to movies looking for art, just a couple of hours entertainment. That being said, I took the family to see National Treasure this past Sunday. I enjoyed it; it was very "Indiana Jones-ish." Not great art, but a fun 2 and a half hours for my family and me.
My dream afternoon is a film festival of any of the following: Marx Brothers; Welles; Tarantino; Annette & Frankie(talk about mindless fun!); Frankenheimer; Lean; and the three SW films, with Spielberg tossed in for good measure.



:ed:

[Ken_McAlinden]

I love the beautiful illogic of: "How do you know the good ones?". Well, for starters, if they were directed by Oliver Stone within the last ten years, you can remove them from consideration.

Regards,

[reechie]

regarding DVDs: “It’s the end of movie-movies the way we know them”
Back, and to the left...Back, and to the left...Back, and to the left...
:D

[Sckott]

I THINK what I'm getting from Oliver Stone's material is the fact he's feeling the disenchantment with how home video is being sold and marketed. DVD is a throwaway thing? It's starting to become that in many ways. Ever see that Circuit City commercial? Lady starts the commercial saying "We have a policy in our household. If a DVD is too expensive, we won't buy it."

So if a DVD costs over $10, it's not worth buying. So says the tight-financed American family. Sad.

[Ed Bishop]

Every time I buy a Criterion title, my wallet is sadder, even if I'm not....:D

:ed:

[Mike B]

What Stone is expressing here is, as is typical of him and his films, a lot of cryptic nonsensical fluff with an elemental of truth at its core.

The fact that we can go into a store and buy any movie, with scores of "making of" stuff, takes us out of the film. When many are sold in the wrong aspect ratio or sound mixes, the "wrong" film is ingrained in our minds (though fortunately this happening less). And yes, when not viewed in the theater, the communal, enveloping experience is gone.

As an extreme example, watch 2001: A Space Odyssey on DVD and at a theater with a good print and tell me it's the same.

Even with Alexander, I am "guilty" of what Stone is saying, because I kind of want to see it, but not so strongly as I've been burnt out on BIG EPICS lately, so I'm in the "wait for the DVD camp." Maybe w/o the DVD market, I would get my *** to the theater and appreciate it more. Maybe not, who knows?

DVDs, though, are just one small factor of why the public, in general, has less respect for film. One is the often mentioned misbehavior in theaters. Another is the almost-sick obsession the public has with celebrities and the "business." It seems like people talk more about computer effects and how much a film earns than the now seemingly quaint qualities of character, story, and if or how a film moves us. It feels as if attending the latest blockbuster is like going to fashion show, not viewing a film.

[pdenny]

I love the beautiful illogic of: "How do you know the good ones?". Well, for starters, if they were directed by Oliver Stone within the last ten years, you can remove them from consideration.

:laugh:

It's been all downhill for Stone since SALVADOR (a truly great film). The despicably irresponsible JFK soured me right off and his incomprehensible love affair with Fidel Castro has turned me off forever, I'm afraid.

[guy incognito]

All I know is that home video has given many people in all parts of the world access to all kinds of films (including truly great ones) that they wouldn't otherwise have.

Not everyone lives in Manhattan or L.A. Do you really think those of us out here in flyover country would have access to something like, say, The 400 Blows, if movies were restricted to actual theater screenings?

[guy incognito]

“If you walk into a room with 5,000 DVDs, how are you going to respect movies? How do you know the good ones?,” Stone asked.

How about letting us watch the damn things and arrive at our own conclusions? Or get reviews from people (critics, friends, family) whose opinions we trust and respect?

We don't need self-appointed cultural "gatekeepers" deciding for us what we should watch, Oliver. Least of all not you.

[Michael]

..another brilliant OS comment, after all he solved the Kennedy assassination, gave us the lowdown on Jim...I'm thrilled we have DVD's, finally FULL CIRCLE in the pocketbook!...gone are the cash sucking days of over priced Laser Disc's :goodie:...how did they justify those prices?...while sucking collectors dry...we always pay the price...NO MORE!!!

[Ed Bishop]

gone are the cash sucking days of over priced Laser Disc's :goodie:...how did they justify those prices?...while sucking collectors dry...we always pay the price...NO MORE!!!
One of the reasons the laserdisc never quite took off was the price. But, to be fair, it should be noted there was a time when pre-recorded VHS & Beta tapes were as expensive as many laserdiscs....

Criterion always offered a premium product, and hence, a premium price. That hasn't changed, but the lower prices of all other DVD's did force them to reduce accordingly. The deluxe sets tend to sell for $30-35, rather than the $100-plus we had to spring for LD's.

:ed:

[Michael]

One of the reasons the laserdisc never quite took off was the price. But, to be fair, it should be noted there was a time when pre-recorded VHS & Beta tapes were as expensive as many laserdiscs....

Criterion always offered a premium product, and hence, a premium price. That hasn't changed, but the lower prices of all other DVD's did force them to reduce accordingly. The deluxe sets tend to sell for $30-35, rather than the $100-plus we had to spring for LD's.

:ed:
No, VHS was rarely priced as a laser...you must be confusing the RENTAL PRICE that video stores paid...put it this way, VHS prices fell way before laser which was never priced right, until it's demise...DVD kicked it's butt outta the picture literally, yes I know some early DVD's weren't up to smack...considering the overwhelming improvements of DVD...I'm a happy camper..EVERYTHING I desire is now in my grasp with Internet sales, trades, etc...NEVER in the laser days was that possible...sometimes progress is wonderful, when it benefits EVERYONE! :goodie:

[Mike B]

The venom in this thread for Stone is astounding.

Did he say DVDs should be banned or discontinued? His own films are on DVD. Actions speak louder than words. The only director I have a problem with when it comes to DVDs is George Lucas.

JFK was not a definitive conclusion on what happened and is best taken as a treatise on a moment in history. As a piece of filmmaking, it is brilliant. It is not a documentary.
I feel sorry for anyone who can't get past their politics to dig some good art.

[Michael]

I feel sorry for anyone who can't get past their politics to dig some good art.

Spoken as a true fan :D...feel no sorrow. I quite enjoyed "Natural Born Killers"...everyone was brilliant, including MD Jr...

[Ron Stone]

I love the beautiful illogic of: "How do you know the good ones?". Well, for starters, if they were directed by Oliver Stone within the last ten years, you can remove them from consideration.

I think NIXON (1995) is Oliver Stone's best picture. Because Richard Nixon was just as paranoid and conspiratorial as Stone himself, it's a perfect meeting of material and mediator, and Stone infuses the film with uncharacteristic empathy and ambivalence.

Unfortunately, Stone also infuses Nixon's real life conspiracies with his own assassination theories, practically lifted whole from JFK, thankfully sparing Nixon anything except incidental benefit. Because the rest of the film is so well done -- does anyone mix chronology and media better than Stone? -- I choose to view NIXON's Kennedy-killing Cuban exiles and Texas oilmen as the witches or Fates in a Shakespearean drama.

[Michael]

I think NIXON (1995) is Oliver Stone's best picture. Because Richard Nixon was just as paranoid and conspiratorial as Stone himself, it's a perfect meeting of material and mediator, and Stone infuses the film with uncharacteristic empathy and ambivalence.

Unfortunately, Stone also infuses Nixon's real life conspiracies with his own assassination theories, practically lifted whole from JFK, thankfully sparing Nixon anything except incidental benefit. Because the rest of the film is so well done -- does anyone mix chronology and media better than Stone? -- I choose to view NIXON's Kennedy-killing Cuban exiles and Texas oilmen as the witches or Fates in a Shakespearean drama.


..and having Sir Anthony Hopkins didn't hurt either...He did an amazing job, as usual...high quality actor indeed!

[Beatlesfan03]

No, VHS was rarely priced as a laser...you must be confusing the RENTAL PRICE that video stores paid...put it this way, VHS prices fell way before laser which was never priced right, until it's demise...DVD kicked it's butt outta the picture literally, yes I know some early DVD's weren't up to smack...considering the overwhelming improvements of DVD...I'm a happy camper..EVERYTHING I desire is now in my grasp with Internet sales, trades, etc...NEVER in the laser days was that possible...sometimes progress is wonderful, when it benefits EVERYONE! :goodie:

Agreed. I never remember laserdiscs coming down in price like DVDs (and VHS after the rental demand dropped) after they were out for awhile. Occasionally Camelot would have cutouts that might have included some A-list titles, otherwise, LD prices were fairly static. I remember Austin Powers was $40 new on LD and the same store had the DVD for $15.00. Guess which one I bought?

Perhaps he's just upset that we're buying up the DVDs on the cheap while his 10 DVD box set sits on store shelves with its rather overinflated price.