“I am always fascinated by people’s double standards with films.
“A schlocky, fun, genre movie from 1981 is a masterpiece. A film with equivocal production values, plot, and acting from 2015 is garbage.
“I just don't get it. Even more baffling, films like, say, The Guest - which has all the great elements of films that we are nostalgic about - get slapped around for the same reasons we love films like Escape from New York or Evil Dead 2.
“If you don't enjoy movie, you don't enjoy the movie, but I feel a lot of armchair critics are unaware of the hypocrisy of their reviews on current genre cinema versus classic genre cinema.
“I will totally relent that some things just aren't as charming. And in a lot of super low-budget pictures, CGI has replaced practical effects, especially in the case of things like ultra low-budget movies and SyFy channel fair.
“The visual effects are atrocious, but are they any worse than their parent films of 60’s and 70’s monster flicks? While I find practical always comfortable, even the practical effects are way more charming than clunky N64 looking creations. Even good CGI falls flat for me - it's just not real. I'd be more aroused by an ugly or average looking naked person in real life, than a drawing or animation of Wonder Woman or Ryan Gosling. It's tactile, it's real, my eyes tell my brain that it's real, and the chemicals in my body act accordingly. Your suspension of disbelief isn't much different than that. If your brain sees a guy lumbering toward you with ping-pong balls for eyes and green face paint, while you probably won't be tricked into thinking it's scary, it's still a real live guy. Something is actually there. You realize that the guy could hurt you even if you're stressed ridiculously. A cartoon cannot. The brain processes the whole thing differently, and for the most part CGI doesn’t work and cheap CGI is just awful; it's simply bargain-basement movie-making.
“Perhaps these are all bad examples - I'm not particularly invested in these films on either end of the spectrum. An old Ed Wood nugget is just as interesting to me as one of those CGI shark movies: "That's funny." *turns channel*
“I recently woke up to Tiny Wight defending the film The Guest to someone who was tearing it apart on the Facebook group The Gentleman's Guide to Midnight Cinema. I think The Guest is a pretty great flick. It cemented my love for the work of Simon Barrett and Adam Winguard.
“If that film came out in 1985 with equivocal acting, special effects, and overall production value, it would be considered a bona fide classic. In fact, I'd go as far to say it would be in the majority of exploitation fans’ top 10. I honestly think with significantly worse acting, facts, and what not, it would still be that well regarded.
“So why does the same movie in 2015 get panned? As viewers, are your rose-tinted glasses fueled strictly by nostalgia?
“Now this is just one dude’s opinion and most folks I know love The Guest.
“But what happens to make someone love a film from 1973 or ‘83 or even ‘93, but dismiss a film of equal or better quality from right goddamn now?”
I was rambling. I had been asleep for 9 hours. I looked down at my iPhone to do the math and make sure that's all I lost. If I hurried I'd make it to the Independents’ show In time. I'm always prone to rambling but I'm at my crazy worst when I'm awoken and surprised.
"What do you think I asked?"
The perfect stranger in my room shrugged aside his sports coat so I could see his badge.
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