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A review by livruther
The Last Decade of Cinema by Scott Ryan
1.75
I received an arc from netgalley & the publisher
(sorry this is the longest review ever)
holy pretentious, batman!
this book starts with a discussion of how everything these days is a superhero movie and films just aren't the same and audiences just want superhero stories instead of anything original or good. the author then makes a caveat that obviously not EVERY new movie is bad, but he still implies that audiences today don't want intelligent content. part of the reason he says people don't want smart movies anymore is because education has gone downhill, and he pairs this opinion with an anecdote about how his daughters never had to do a single piece of homework during their time in public school, which I just do not believe. he also adds in a sentence about how he's one of the only people on the planet that hadn't seen marvel, which comes off as so "pick me." like, you don't get a prize for not watching popular movies. he also says that controversial movie takes can't be said today because people will unfriend you over an opinion about movies they disagree with, which is crazy and not at all true in my experience.
he remarks that it is annoying when period pieces show Black and white people coexisting in the 50s, which I can kind of understand, but I think there is something powerful in focusing on Black joy instead of trauma. he constantly refers to women as "females," too, which wouldn't bug me unless I was already not enjoying the book, then it bothers me. he references "blacks" and "gays" during his pleasantville essay, which would have felt icky to me no matter if I was enjoying the story or not.
there are some instances of hypocrisy that I did not like either. the author praises films that wait a while before having the main characters on screen, then praises pretty woman for getting started quickly. so does he want a lot of exposition or not?? he says Malcolm X is a great biopic, but he doesn't mention that biopics are way more common today than they were in the 90s! he also mentions a lack of strong women roles in the past, which is a fair criticism, but there are tons of biopics today that have great, diverse stories. so not every movie is a superhero film; there are great stories of real people being made today that he fails to mention!!
I honestly could write more but I don't feel like it. if you're looking for a book about film, choose almost any book besides this one.
(sorry this is the longest review ever)
holy pretentious, batman!
this book starts with a discussion of how everything these days is a superhero movie and films just aren't the same and audiences just want superhero stories instead of anything original or good. the author then makes a caveat that obviously not EVERY new movie is bad, but he still implies that audiences today don't want intelligent content. part of the reason he says people don't want smart movies anymore is because education has gone downhill, and he pairs this opinion with an anecdote about how his daughters never had to do a single piece of homework during their time in public school, which I just do not believe. he also adds in a sentence about how he's one of the only people on the planet that hadn't seen marvel, which comes off as so "pick me." like, you don't get a prize for not watching popular movies. he also says that controversial movie takes can't be said today because people will unfriend you over an opinion about movies they disagree with, which is crazy and not at all true in my experience.
he remarks that it is annoying when period pieces show Black and white people coexisting in the 50s, which I can kind of understand, but I think there is something powerful in focusing on Black joy instead of trauma. he constantly refers to women as "females," too, which wouldn't bug me unless I was already not enjoying the book, then it bothers me. he references "blacks" and "gays" during his pleasantville essay, which would have felt icky to me no matter if I was enjoying the story or not.
there are some instances of hypocrisy that I did not like either. the author praises films that wait a while before having the main characters on screen, then praises pretty woman for getting started quickly. so does he want a lot of exposition or not?? he says Malcolm X is a great biopic, but he doesn't mention that biopics are way more common today than they were in the 90s! he also mentions a lack of strong women roles in the past, which is a fair criticism, but there are tons of biopics today that have great, diverse stories. so not every movie is a superhero film; there are great stories of real people being made today that he fails to mention!!
I honestly could write more but I don't feel like it. if you're looking for a book about film, choose almost any book besides this one.