Movies today have no suspense/pacing

[Doctor Jones]

^ It makes the suspense even better now that we know Nolan used inspiration from The Godfather films for the assassination scenes. Now that I think about it, there are similarities in terms of cutting and the pace of it. The music building up also.

It just makes it even more kinds of awesome.

 

[Sarge 2.0]

its all about the score!
without a proper score you won't have any goddamn suspense!

What?

A good film should be able to build suspense without the score, a good score should just add to it.

 

[The Dark Defender]

1408, Zodiac, Sunshine, Sweeney Todd, Shooter, Rambo, Pitch Black, Blood Diamond, 3: 10 To Yuma, Crank, The Descent, Insomnia, Memento, Munich, Unbreakable.

All of these films use build up, tension and suspence in their own unique way. Doesn't necessarily have to be within horror trappings.

Those were the big two that I instantly thought of when reading the original post. The build up at the camp leading up to RAMBO saving Sarah from the rapist, the race through the forest to escape the explosion, the build up to RAMBO rising up behind the burmese soldier before the decap...that stuff was about as intense as it gets; and The Descent is about the single most atmospheric film I've ever seen.

Jeepers Creepres, The Ring, Haute Tension, The Hills Have Eyes, Inside, The Strangers, Open Water, Cloverfield...all of those did very good jobs building tension.

Jackson's Kong (mainly the V-Rex battle and the Empire State Building) did a great job of building intensity; and Apocalypto, can't believe I forgot to mention that one, intense as hell and very much built around suspense.

 

[블라스]

I partly blame increasingly stupid audiences that flock to see "horror" movies like Saw and Hostel.

 

[Bobber]

What?

A good film should be able to build suspense without the score, a good score should just add to it.

Yeah i know, it was an actual question. The film was very well executed and i honestly didn't even notice.
Dog Day Afternoon created suspense without a score as well..
I'm just saying that a well crafted score can enhance suspense.

yuppo

 

[The Dark Defender]

I partly blame increasingly stupid audiences that flock to see "horror" movies like Saw and Hostel.

I blame short-sighted audiences for discarding the subtext of SAW because of preconceived notions and grouping them in with tripe like Hostel.
SAW has a symbolic meaning behind most of its violence and each film builds to a climactic finish...Hostel is bad porn with horrendously acted torture scenes thrown in.

 

[블라스]

Haha ok.

 

[The Dark Defender]

Strong counterpoint...about as as strong as I've come to expect from SAW-haters.

 

[Bobber]

Strong counterpoint...about as as strong as I've come to expect from SAW-haters.

You're saying people who don't like Saw are stupid?..

 

[The Dark Defender]

You're saying people who don't like Saw are stupid?..

Where did I say that?

I'm saying that many people that lambast the films dish out very empty, shallow criticisms that consist of little or nothing more than saying the films suck and laughing at or calling the people that love them stupid...ie. the poster that I was responding to.

 

[Brian Braddock]

I enjoyed the 1st Saw movie.

Not so much the 2nd, 3rd, 4th or 5th one.

The likelyhood is that I probably won't enjoy the inevitable 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th or 10th either.

 

[The Dark Defender]

Sans SAW IV, the first SAW film was my least favorite of the series.

 

[Bobber]

Where did I say that?

I'm saying that many people that lambast the films dish out very empty, shallow criticisms that consist of little or nothing more than saying the films suck and laughing at or calling the people that love them stupid...ie. the poster that I was responding to.

Right, that's fair.
I don't really spend a lot of time talking about Saw, nor have i seen any of the films, so i don't know the average hater/lover.

 

[The Dark Defender]

I'm a huge fan of the series, and I've very grown very accustomed to the annual outpour of empty lambasting of not only the series, but the people that love it.

If I had a dime for every "OMG This series sucks!" or "OMG Not another one of these pieces of ****!" post that didn't have the slightest bit to do with genuine filmmaking criticism from someone that completely missed the of the film(s) that I read in October I'd be a mutli-millionare by now.

 

[블라스]

Strong counterpoint...about as as strong as I've come to expect from SAW-haters.

Heh...whatever, guy.
This is a thread to give opinions about the lack of suspense/pacing in today's movies, and I gave mine. Don't like it? Fine, move on.
Keep loving the saw movies. If they make you happy, that's kool & the gang.

We could take it up to the saw thread, but I tried to go there one time, and I don't make mistakes twice. There's something about those stupid torture porn movies that make their fans defend them to death, something that is inexplicable to me.

On top of that, there's definitely something wrong with any movie that makes fine actors like Danny Glover and Cary Elwes look like horrible amateurs.

So yeah, in my opinion (and I'm not the only one I'm sure), these clown ass movies that try to pass a "horror movies with deep messages about violence and human nature" can kiss my ass.
They're part of the reason why we have more stuff like this and less stuff like "Alien", "The Thing", "Psycho", etc.

Jigsaw? "You waste your life, so I'll make you appreciate it"? Give me a break.

 

[The Dark Defender]

Thanks for proving my point about ignoring the subtext, dismissing them as "torture porn", and offering virtually no genuine filmmaking criticism.

I'm aware of what the thread is about, I'm also aware that if you don't want to get into a discussion about a particular franchise, than you shouldn't label than fans of it as idiots.

Yeah, you could go to the SAW thread, and if you did, you'd find posts I've made that give 10x more insight into the filmmaking quality of the series than you just gave into the lack of it.

"Jigsaw? "You waste your life, so I'll make you appreciate it"? Give me a break."

That's kinda how I feel about someone that relies upon a quote followed by a sarcastic "give me a break" as the entire backbone of their viewpoint.

 

[블라스]

Thanks for proving my point about ignoring the subtext, dismissing them as "torture porn", and offering virtually no genuine filmmaking criticism.

You're welcome

I'm aware of what the thread is about, I'm also aware that if you don't want to get into a discussion about a particular franchise, than you shouldn't label than fans of it as idiots.

I didn't use the word "idiots", I said "stupid"
Seriously, in a place where we all get called stupid for liking anything (Batman Begins, Casablanca, Shaun of the dead, Steven Seagal movies, LXG, The Carebears, et-freaking-cetera), there's no point in getting your panties in a bunch like that.
Also, I wasn't looking to get into a discussion. I was just expressing my point about the topic on this thread. But you had to go ahead and defend your movies.

That's kinda how I feel about someone that relies upon a quote followed by a sarcastic "give me a break" as the entire backbone of their viewpoint.

Goodie for you.

Yeah, you could go to the SAW thread, and if you did, you'd find posts I've made that give 10x more insight into the filmmaking quality of the series than you just gave into the lack of it.

Heh let's just stop. Let's just wait for your next witty post about how life-altering Saw is and how little I know of real filmmaking, call it your win, and move on with the topic.

 

[The Dark Defender]

I didn't use the word "idiots", I said "stupid"
Seriously, in a place where we all get called stupid for liking anything (Batman Begins, Casablanca, Shaun of the dead, Steven Seagal movies, LXG, The Carebears, et-freaking-cetera), there's no point in getting your panties in a bunch like that.
Also, I wasn't looking to get into a discussion. I was just expressing my point about the topic on this thread. But you had to go ahead and defend your movies.

Again, there's a difference between simply expressing ones own opinion and labeling those that don't share it idiots (or stupid, since it really makes no difference which word was used); and I wasn't getting my panties in a bunch, I was responding to a false claim.

The rest of the post I wouldn't even bother quoting, since it's nothing but more mindless sarcasm.

 

[블라스]

Going back to the topic...
I also blame studios (Fox, I'm looking at you) caring more and more about squeezing more showings per day, instead of letting a movie breathe properly.
Cutting important plot/character scenes and do straight to the money shot/cheap scare? Bogus

 

[xisaacx]

I just finished watching se7en amazing movie

 

[The Apatow Crew]

I partly blame increasingly stupid audiences that flock to see "horror" movies like Saw and Hostel.

I take offense to that.

Sorry not every movie is the exorcist. or whatever movie you consider horror.

 

[The Chris]

The Dark Knight!

The Dark Knight!



Chris Nolan's flick really feels like an action blockbuster from back in the day.

QFT. Remember last week watching it and thinking, damn this feels like it was made in the 70's or 80's.

 

[The Apatow Crew]

If anyone could go a day without mentioning nolan or TDK in a thread or comparing it to something else, i'd be freaking amazed at it!!!

 

[The Dark Defender]

I take offense to that.

Well then get ready for some babbling about panties in a bunch and picture comments that have nothing to do with anything since that's how he shares his expertise of filmmaking with you.

Wolf Creek was another strong recent horror film that was very good with atmosphere and suspense; more in line with what the TCM remake should've been than the TCM remake was.

 

[cerealkiller182]

If anyone could go a day without mentioning nolan or TDK in a thread or comparing it to something else, i'd be freaking amazed at it!!!

agreed!!!