This topic is a hot one in my circle. We are constantly annoyed when we see long running times. John Wick 4 did not need to be nearly three hours. It is the fourth film in a series about a guy killing people. Yeah, they are fun, but I didn't need all of the Star Wars-like mumbo-jumbo.
I also believe that the increase in lengths can be attributed to the shift from film to digital. Forty years ago, film cameras and the film that went into them were expensive. On top of that, it had to be developed, etc. But, with digitalf, they can shoot, and shoot, and shoot...
Long movies and, even worse, remakes of movies that now span 4 or more episodes, have made me feel for quite a while already like: Where's the editor? Don't waste my time. I recognize bloat and redundancy and I don't like it one bit. I like a well-paced story where the images matter, and where I feel the hand of a judicious editor's choice. -- I think the time bloat needs to be relegated to the dustbin of Covid-home-isolation. It's over!
I'm clearly obsessed with this post, so thank you for writing it. This is exactly why I started my exercise of writing about 90-minute movies. I miss a "quick trip" to the theater. I've skipped recent outings with my friends because I simply do not want to spend 4-5 hours (incl. trailers) seeing a movie. I had to dip out to the bathroom during The Batman and miss, well, whatever I missed because I haven't found the time to re-watch.
I agree with you that some movies require the length to tell the story, but I also believe constraints sometimes create the best art and we're missing out on that.
Noah, would you ever consider writing about your experience and reaction to film scores?
I was never really cognizant of film scores until I lived in NYC and regularly listened on WQXR to David Garland's Thursday evening program of film music. I learned to much, and suddenly my way of watching movies became so much more intense and nuanced. I think, "American Beauty" was the first score that blew me away, by Thomas Newman. But there's so much, from Dimitry Tiomkin's classic scores of Westerns and dramas. And just tonight, when Bob suggested a total throwback to "Colossus - The Forbin Project" I had to go down the rabbit hole of the composer Michel Colombier. -- So much in the magic and diversity of film scores.
This topic is a hot one in my circle. We are constantly annoyed when we see long running times. John Wick 4 did not need to be nearly three hours. It is the fourth film in a series about a guy killing people. Yeah, they are fun, but I didn't need all of the Star Wars-like mumbo-jumbo.
I also believe that the increase in lengths can be attributed to the shift from film to digital. Forty years ago, film cameras and the film that went into them were expensive. On top of that, it had to be developed, etc. But, with digitalf, they can shoot, and shoot, and shoot...
Long movies and, even worse, remakes of movies that now span 4 or more episodes, have made me feel for quite a while already like: Where's the editor? Don't waste my time. I recognize bloat and redundancy and I don't like it one bit. I like a well-paced story where the images matter, and where I feel the hand of a judicious editor's choice. -- I think the time bloat needs to be relegated to the dustbin of Covid-home-isolation. It's over!
I'm clearly obsessed with this post, so thank you for writing it. This is exactly why I started my exercise of writing about 90-minute movies. I miss a "quick trip" to the theater. I've skipped recent outings with my friends because I simply do not want to spend 4-5 hours (incl. trailers) seeing a movie. I had to dip out to the bathroom during The Batman and miss, well, whatever I missed because I haven't found the time to re-watch.
I agree with you that some movies require the length to tell the story, but I also believe constraints sometimes create the best art and we're missing out on that.
Noah, would you ever consider writing about your experience and reaction to film scores?
I was never really cognizant of film scores until I lived in NYC and regularly listened on WQXR to David Garland's Thursday evening program of film music. I learned to much, and suddenly my way of watching movies became so much more intense and nuanced. I think, "American Beauty" was the first score that blew me away, by Thomas Newman. But there's so much, from Dimitry Tiomkin's classic scores of Westerns and dramas. And just tonight, when Bob suggested a total throwback to "Colossus - The Forbin Project" I had to go down the rabbit hole of the composer Michel Colombier. -- So much in the magic and diversity of film scores.