Originally Posted by
Onamist
The quality of cinema today is actually better than 10, 20, 30, 40 etc. years ago. The acting is for the most part better, the effects are better, lighting and cinematography is better and most directors know what they are doing. Think back to movies made a long time ago. How many of them are good? Not in the sense of 'were they good back then?' but in the sense of 'are they good now?'. Very few 'classic' movies made back then would be considered good in modern standards. If someone made Die Hard now it be considered a terrible movie, but because it was considered incredible when it was made, people today think it is one of the greatest movies ever.
Good point, but at the same time I dont think you are being exactly fair. Even if a movie is made with "perfect" acting and effects and music etc...it might still lack innovation, which is the thing I think is severely lacking in most films. If you mean that we have gotten closer to perfecting the asthetic aspect of film, I agree, and with movies like Avatar there have obviously been innovations made, but at the same time most of the other movies made and released on a large scale are either cleverly re-packaged ideas, or out and out re-makes of once "great" movies.
Here is a clip from Metropolis, before talkies and the like. Its is the sort of movie you talk about, and while a good deal of it does rely on putting into context with the time it was made, it also kept my interest the entire time, and has a rather complex bit of subversion to its plot.