You are so right. I am a huge movie critic. I have been trying to see classics lately. I watched Taxi Driver, The French Connection,The Shawshank Redemption, and The Empire Of The Sun with my dad this weekend. We were up late. There just aren't enough good directors or actors. I don't really know what we are missing but there are some amazing classics and so few amazing recent movies. Anyway, I am curious, what movies did you see with your dad? What were your favorites? Did you watch The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly?

I agree, there are still a few gems (like War of the Worlds) that come out every once in a while. For the most part thoughmovies today are pretty poor quality. To me it seems like the downhill slide began with Independence Day. It was the beginning of the big Hollywood summer blockbusters that are all flash and no substance.

War of the Worlds was mediocre. The dialogue was bad, the plot was ripped, and the ending was atrocious. The special effects were fair, but special effects don't make a classic.

I think Hollywood is churning out as much crud as it ever did, it's just that the lousy movies of yesterday get forgotten, while the gems are remembered. There are still good movies coming out occasionally, but they're buried in the crud--give them time, and they'll lift out of it.

Can't agree with you on Desperado, though--any time characters snap their wrists while firing a gun, as if they were throwing the bullet down the barrel, I give up on the movie. That said, Salma Hayek is completely smokin'.

...Do we have nowadays something equal to Kurosawa's masterpieces like the 7 samurai, Throne of Blood, Kagemusha the Shadow Warrior, and of course Ran??? The best sci fi flicks are 20 years + old: Alien , Blade Runner. I'm an inconditional fan of Eastwood's spaghetti westerns. Even my favorite mangas are from the 80s & 90s. Some recent movies are quite decent, but where's the lasting value of past classics? From the 2000s, only Gladiator boasts one in my heart, though it doesn't match the historical drama of Braveheart ( 1996 ).

Perhaps it's really the time for the anticipated merge of mediums in the industry: video games+movies+scripting+design+engineering=?

I agree Prophet. Also Fuzzy did mention a movie that I've heard is good as well, War of the Worlds, but it's a remake and while it seems like some remakes are good I think it shows that the movies of older are better than many of the new ones. Documentaries are doing good though but they aren't in the same field as regular movies so I don't think they count towards hollywood's slump. Is is interesting to note that while many people say they are in a "slump" they are still making more money than ever overall, although in my book ticket sales don't always go along with a movie being good.

There are too many remakes coming out now...it seems like there's a lack of good writing in Hollywood recently. I think the talent is there, but the good actors/actresses aren't getting good opportunities to display their ability.

I think the issue really reflects our whole society on a larger scale. Entertainment acts as a pretty good gauge of our society, I believe, and the recent trend of relying on older ideas to make money has disturbed me a bit. It's happening everywhere: in video games (EA notably), books (the first example that comes to mind is Harry Potter), music (too many to list)...the movie industry isn't the only one that is relying on remakes to cash in the big bucks.

I believe the reason why remakes succeed with such frequency is because we as consumers know what to expect. We can trust that our money will be spent on a product we will enjoy, because we enjoyed the past iterations of the __________ franchise.

This disturbs me, because this trend stifles creative thinking. If we keep relying on the past, what will become of our future? I personally think the trend can be partially attributed to the recent conservative dominance of American politics...call me crazy, but it seems like you can draw some parallels if you think about it.

Crash was a recntly released gem...rent or buy it on DVD when it is released.