We're halfway through 2017, what are your movie/tv thoughts on the year so far?

[TheGodling]

Kind of a 'meh' year so far if you ask me, it seems more and more that studios are caught in dropping nothing but overly expensive blockbusters most of the year and save up "normal" movies for the awards season, because outside of T2: Trainspotting and The Lost City Of Z I honestly can't think of any noteworthy mid-budget dramas dropped by big studios at all, and T2 is a sequel.

Is this is a loss brehs? Or is it futile to expect these movies to stay afloat in the continuous flood of blockbusters that only low-budget horror movies can seem to withstand?

Regardless, here's a list of my five favorites of the year so far (no particular order):

Alipato: The Very Brief Life Of An Ember
Baboy Halas (Wailings In The Forest)
Personal Shopper
The Age Of Shadows
Tzu Hsu Hsian (The Last Painting)

I wish I had to say more about this year's tv-shows too but as some folks might know I don't bother with a lot of tv because I can't deal with the fukkloads of filler a lot of them have.

 

[Mr. McDowell]

Not one new series has dropped this year that I am interested in watching. As you mentioned we're halfway through the year and that is just bizarre as hell. Netflix just keeps releasing trash show after trash show and it's kind of sad. All that opportunity and they are just going to the well of terrible network writers we were sick of years ago.

As for movies, I thought THE BEGUILED was really good. I am hoping to see THE BIG SICK soon. Hopefully, it will play in London where I am for the next few months. I have almost all but given up on Hollywood blockbusters. Waiting for Cruise in AMERICAN MADE though.

 

[MartyMcFly]

You know what? The current Star Wars drama is a perfect microcosm as it relates to the state of Hollywood: Nothing but franchises that are micromanaged and engineered to make a billion, no chances taken, follow a rigid blueprint, and adhere to the vision of the producer or studio. Yeah, not every major studio does this on every big film, but I'd wager it happens more than we know and of course it's something that's always happened. But studios bet so much on the blockbusters being huge, they can't afford to take chances with them anymore. Especially because the smaller movies are forgotten, barely marketed, or can't get in front of enough eyeballs to warrant the investment.

That's why something like American Gods or even Power and GLOW are more interesting to me than a lot of what we get on screen. I do want to see The Beguiled and The Big Sick and I'm sure there are other smaller movies this fall that will pique my interest, but I'm not spending as much money in the theaters as I thought I would this year and a lot of that has to do with just feeling very meh about a lot of whats dropping.I will be seeing Baby Driver Friday morning though so hopefully that delivers for me

 

[Tical]

Only thing that has really stood out to me in a huge way was season 3 of The Leftovers.

I dropped a ton of shows this year. Better Call Saul after 301. The Americans after 505. Couldn't even finish the pilot of American Gods. Dropped Fargo after 2 episodes. Forced myself to finish The Handmaid's Tale but probably won't watch season 2. Silicon Valley was still good but way too repetitive, show needs to set an end date and start building towards it. Veep was great as usual I guess.

Heard unanimously good things about Glow (Netflix), so I'll check that out soon. Looking forward to Mindhunter (Netflix) and The Deuce (HBO) which are out in the fall.

 

[FlyRy]

I was actually thoroughly surprised with the output from the first 3 months of this year which is usually dumpuary (don't start @MartyMcFly )

I really enjoyed Wick 2, Get Out and Logan. Even something like Split.

It does suck that there are not more mid budget drama's. We need more indies period. I missed It Comes at Night and 2 weeks later it's down to only 2 night showings a day . Movies used to be in theaters forever in the 80s and 90s. Might as well make indies day and date with a digital release.

I've enjoyed TV this year for the most part, just been exhausting to keep up with. Most shows were also on seasons 3-5, but for new shows I have enjoyed Legion, The Handmaid's Tale and American Gods

 

[MartyMcFly]

I was actually thoroughly surprised with the output from the first 3 months of this year which is usually dumpuary (don't start @MartyMcFly )

I really enjoyed Wick 2, Get Out and Logan. Even something like Split.

It does suck that there are not more mid budget drama's. We need more indies period. I missed It Comes at Night and 2 weeks later it's down to only 2 night showings a day . Movies used to be in theaters forever in the 80s and 90s. Might as well make indies day and date with a digital release.

I've enjoyed TV this year for the most part, just been exhausting to keep up with. Most shows were also on seasons 3-5, but for new shows I have enjoyed Legion, The Handmaid's Tale and American Gods

I ain't starting breh lol just telling you it's changed. Especially because May-August is blockbuster season now and September-December is awards season. January-March/April is ripe to put shyt like Get Out and John Wick in and EAT. it'd be stupid for a studio to not take advantage of that since you know the summer months will be filled with nonstop franchises

 

[FlyRy]

I ain't starting breh lol just telling you it's changed. Especially because May-August is blockbuster season now and September-December is awards season. January-March/April is ripe to put shyt like Get Out and John Wick in and EAT. it'd be stupid for a studio to not take advantage of that since you know the summer months will be filled with nonstop franchises

I'd say Blockbuster season now starts in March judging by the past 2 years and how insanely loaded it was this year

 

[MartyMcFly]

I'd say Blockbuster season now starts in March judging by the past 2 years and how insanely loaded it was this year

And that's only because they realized why not take advantage? So then January-February are for smaller flicks now that will make a killing, like get out and split and john wick. Atomic Blonde should be in that spot for next year but we'll see how it does this summer. I'm looking forward to it

 

[Mr. McDowell]

I should also note that I warmed up to Crashing on HBO. I am now watching I'm Dying Up Here (Showtime), some of these shows are turning into background noise. What I wouldn't give for an intense action-thriller TV series that keeps me watching week to week. Seems like there is a huge void there. Still no geo-political premium shows set in Africa or Europe, which makes no sense.

Maybe Jack Ryan on Amazon will be good. It's on my agenda.

 

[TheGodling]

You know what? The current Star Wars drama is a perfect microcosm as it relates to the state of Hollywood: Nothing but franchises that are micromanaged and engineered to make a billion, no chances taken, follow a rigid blueprint, and adhere to the vision of the producer or studio. Yeah, not every major studio does this on every big film, but I'd wager it happens more than we know and of course it's something that's always happened. But studios bet so much on the blockbusters being huge, they can't afford to take chances with them anymore. Especially because the smaller movies are forgotten, barely marketed, or can't get in front of enough eyeballs to warrant the investment.

That's why something like American Gods or even Power and GLOW are more interesting to me than a lot of what we get on screen. I do want to see The Beguiled and The Big Sick and I'm sure there are other smaller movies this fall that will pique my interest, but I'm not spending as much money in the theaters as I thought I would this year and a lot of that has to do with just feeling very meh about a lot of whats dropping.I will be seeing Baby Driver Friday morning though so hopefully that delivers for me

Yeah, the micromanaging has reached ridiculous levels. I mean, even in the ol' 90's days of summer blockbusters you had the studio interference stuff and blabla but it seems to get more ridiculous every single year. I mean, even a widely praised "author" studio like WB isn't just blindly trusting directors anymore because they have too much invested in some projects.

 

[MartyMcFly]

Yeah, the micromanaging has reached ridiculous levels. I mean, even in the ol' 90's days of summer blockbusters you had the studio interference stuff and blabla but it seems to get more ridiculous every single year. I mean, even a widely praised "author" studio like WB isn't just blindly trusting directors anymore because they have too much invested in some projects.

Yup. Again, Spielberg and Lucas predicted this shyt a few years back. Seems like Hollywood is reliving the stuff the US banks went through before the collapse in 08

 

[TheGodling]

Yup. Again, Spielberg and Lucas predicted this shyt a few years back. Seems like Hollywood is reliving the stuff the US banks went through before the collapse in 08

The weird part is that WB actually made the most money of their comic book movies when they let the guy in charge (Nolan) do his thing. You'd think they'd pick up on that.

 

[MartyMcFly]

The weird part is that WB actually made the most money of their comic book movies when they let the guy in charge (Nolan) do his thing. You'd think they'd pick up on that.

They have. He still gets autonomy. They put out a story in thr last week saying they're cutting back on hiring guys who want final cut for their smaller budget flicks also. Unless it's someone like him or Eastwood

 

[TheGodling]

They have. He still gets autonomy. They put out a story in thr last week saying they're cutting back on hiring guys who want final cut for their smaller budget flicks also. Unless it's someone like him or Eastwood

Wait, you're saying they're not hiring directors who want the final cut? That's the opposite of my point, lol. Nolan or Eastwood get that free reign because they've been loyal to the studio since day one. Even George Miller was allowed to bleed money all over the place with Mad Max: Fury Road (not really his fault of course because of the shytty luck they had) because the original Mad Max movies made WB a ton of money. Once you're part of WB's club, you're set for life but that once glorious reputation has been fading fast.

 

[MartyMcFly]

Wait, you're saying they're not hiring directors who want the final cut? That's the opposite of my point, lol. Nolan or Eastwood get that free reign because they've been loyal to the studio since day one. Even George Miller was allowed to bleed money all over the place with Mad Max: Fury Road (not really his fault of course because of the shytty luck they had) because the original Mad Max movies made WB a ton of money. Once you're part of WB's club, you're set for life but that once glorious reputation has been fading fast.

Yeah I know it's opposite lol I'm being a smart ass and saying yeah you're right they learned their lesson...which is why he's one of the only few who'll get final cut now on non franchise flicks. So basically if it's not Harry Potter Lego or dc they're not fukking with auteurs anymore. Minus Nolan and Eastwood and I'm sure miller