204 replies to this topic

[TWoP Dietrich]

Hello, freshly-revamped Movies Without Pity section! I'm your moderator, TWoP Dietrich, and I'm here to answer any questions you have. Allow me to show you around the place first.

Right now, you're standing in the "Movies General Gabbery" section. This is where discussion of the blogs goes, and also discussion of movies that don't have their own place in the other sections.

To your left, you'll see the brand new "In A Theater Near You" area. This is where current movies get specific threads. The definition of "current movie" is being purposely left vague. Some movies will get a thread when they open in theaters and that thread will be closed when the movie does. Other movies get a thread when the first pictures of the set start leaking and stay open until everyone's sick of watching their DVDs for the millionth time. If you think a movie that doesn't have a thread should have one, PM me and I'll take care of it. A quick note on spoilers in this section: since it's for specific movies, you don't need spoiler tags after the movie has opened. If someone doesn't want to know what happens in Max Payne, they shouldn't read a thread called "Max Payne" the day it comes out.

Finally, we have the "Genres and Series" section. This is so people can talk about "spy movies" or "Harry Potter" or "those British romantic comedies that they keep making" without having to be tied down to a specific movie.

This is a first pass at organizing this section, so if something turns out to not be working, we're open to other ideas. But let's see how this goes for now.

That's al!

[CantThinkUpName]

Ooo! New Forums! New Threads!

Here's a question/suggestion I have. Can we differentiate between "Moviefile" and "Movies We Haven't Seen Yet?" Is one supposed to be about movies just recently announced/rumored (e.g. Odyssey in Space) and the other is supposed to be about movies actually in production/post production?

Also, I'm not sure where we can go to talk about older movies. Because some movies have been out for while so it wouldn't fit in Current Theatrical Releases, nor would it really fit into DVDs Unwrapped, which I feel is more about new DVDS.

Thanks.

[TWoP Dietrich]

Here's a question/suggestion I have. Can we differentiate between "Moviefile" and "Movies We Haven't Seen Yet?" Is one supposed to be about movies just recently announced/rumored (e.g. Odyssey in Space) and the other is supposed to be about movies actually in production/post production?

I'm going to reconfigure those a little, I think. They're intended to have that distinction, but everything is just ending up in the "Movies We Haven't Seen Yet" thread. And it's not really clear what connection they have to the blogs of that name. I'll see if I can redirect things so there are separate threads for blog discussion and "any movie that's not out yet" discussion.

Also, I'm not sure where we can go to talk about older movies. Because some movies have been out for while so it wouldn't fit in Current Theatrical Releases, nor would it really fit into DVDs Unwrapped, which I feel is more about new DVDS.

I've just added an "older movies" thread to the Genres and Series subforum, and we can see if that works. Even if it does, I expect I'll have to subdivide it a few times based on what people are interested in talking about. I've been watching a lot of James Cagney lately, but I'm not sure a "Gangster" thread is going to be that useful if no one else is into it.

Edited by TWoP Dietrich, Oct 18, 2008 @ 1:29 PM.

[CantThinkUpName]

I've been watching a lot of James Cagney lately, but I'm not sure a "Gangster" thread is going to be that useful if no one else is into it.

Maybe it could be sort of a "cops and criminals/crime" movie thread which could encompass all sorts of things from Film Noir to James Cagney to The Godfather to Goodfellas.

Edited by CantThinkUpName, Oct 18, 2008 @ 1:44 PM.

[TWoP Dietrich]

Sold!

[CantThinkUpName]

I don't know if it's too early for it but how about an Oscar thread where we say whom we want to be nominated/win come awards season?

[TWoP Dietrich]

Yeah, what the heck.

[Stinger97]

So, when we say "Older Movies", how old we talking? Like, black and whites from the 30s? Or teen comedies featuring Molly Ringwald from the 80s? Because both, at least in relation to me, could be construed as older. And I'm not trying to be a smartass or anything, so please don't take it as such! I noticed in the thread it does mention TCM, which could suggest we're talking strictly about movies from the 60s and before, but I just wanted to make sure here before I started posting.

I'd also like to know where I could talk about The Goonies! Because, I mean, c'mon. Best. Movie. Ever.

Edited by Stinger97, Oct 20, 2008 @ 2:21 AM.

[TWoP Dietrich]

So, when we say "Older Movies", how old we talking?

Good question. I don't know.

I don't want to subdivide things too strictly, like making a separate thread for each decade. But on the other hand, I'm not sure "Classic" and "Old" will be immediately clear to everyone. So until someone comes up with a better idea, I'm going to say teen comedies starring Andy Hardy go in the same place as the ones with Molly Ringwald: the "old" section.

...unless I make a "Genre: Teen Comedy" thread.

[Stinger97]

Oh, and another question. If we want to discuss the Halloween series, should it be in its own series thread in the "Genres and Series" subforum or in a horror genre thread?

[TWoP Dietrich]

Let's put those in a Genre: Horror Movies thread (which has been freshly created) for now.

[ScribblerGuy]

So, when we say "Older Movies", how old we talking?

Good question. I don't know.

I don't want to subdivide things too strictly, like making a separate thread for each decade. But on the other hand, I'm not sure "Classic" and "Old" will be immediately clear to everyone. So until someone comes up with a better idea, I'm going to say teen comedies starring Andy Hardy go in the same place as the ones with Molly Ringwald: the "old" section.

I don't think that decades threads would be a good idea. Nor, do I think have several film era threads would work either (because some of era distinctions I've seen are a bit too arbitrary). Though, I do think that two threads would work:

• A "Hays Code Era (and earlier)" thread for films made while the Hayes Code was still in effect or before it, which would be for films made up to 1967/68.
• A "Post Code" thread for films made in 1968 and after.

(And some of the films on the cusp of this moment could conceivably be discussed in either thread -- there's no need to have a strict cutoff.)

The years of 1967/68 are a key watershed moment for a number of reasons, including: (1) the already mentioned Hays Code; (2) the rise of a new group of directors (e.g., Mike Nichols, Francis Ford Coppola, Woody Allen, Steven Spielberg) over earlier legends (e.g. Alfred Hitchcock, Frank Capra, George Cukor, Billy Wilder) who had either already retired or in the twilight of their careers; (3) a changing society (end of the Civil Rights movement; the Feminist movement beginning to take hold; escalation of Vietnam); and (4) the move to almost-exclusively color films. Plus, in the '70s, the concept of a movie blockbuster is born with Jaws.

Thus, the "Code Era" thread can essentially talk about the older, "classic" films while the "Post Code" thread can be for more recent films.

Other thread suggestions:

• A Foreign (Language) "genre" thread
• Procedural and Legal Genre thread - I think the "Crime" thread should be mainly for gangster and criminal-centric films, while a Procedural thread would be for detective and courtroom films

[TWoP Dietrich]

I like the concept, but I don't want a "Hays Code Era" thread to be the right place for pre-Code movies. Someone who wants to talk about Night Nurse or Three on a Match would be confused. Plus, I don't think most people these days immediately identify the code movies.

I agree that 67/68 is a good break; I just want a cleaner way to identify it. I think I'll break from strict chronology and have two categories: "The Black and White Era", and "Relatively Modern". And "Silent", I guess. I'll just hope that modern B/W movies end up in the right thread.

Edited by TWoP Dietrich, Oct 28, 2008 @ 11:20 PM.

[CantThinkUpName]

Is there going to be a forum for people like writers/directors/actors? And would a "What is your favorite [movie, actor, director]?" thread be considered improper?

[alynch]

It seems to me like trying to separate old movie categories into a "Color Era" and "Black and White Era" will get kind of confusing, particularily for 50s & 60s films, since the two styles coexisted peacfully in about equal supply for a good 15-20 years. B&W didn't really completely disappear until the 70s. Might it be better to define them with specific year ranges?

[ScribblerGuy]

TWoP Dietrich:

I like the concept, but I don't want a "Hays Code Era" thread to be the right place for pre-Code movies. Someone who wants to talk about Night Nurse or Three on a Match would be confused. Plus, I don't think most people these days immediately identify the code movies.

I agree that 67/68 is a good break; I just want a cleaner way to identify it. I think I'll break from strict chronology and have two categories: "The Black and White Era", and "Relatively Modern". And "Silent", I guess. I'll just hope that modern B/W movies end up in the right thread.

alynch:

It seems to me like trying to separate old movie categories into a "Color Era" and "Black and White Era" will get kind of confusing, particularily for 50s & 60s films, since the two styles coexisted peacfully in about equal supply for a good 15-20 years. B&W didn't really completely disappear until the 70s. Might it be better to define them with specific year ranges?

Maybe we could use the terminology of "New Hollywood" and "Old Hollywood" instead of the Hays Code wording I suggested earlier. This New/Old dichotomy is based on Mark Harris' recent book "Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood" (which takes a look at the five films up for best picture of 1967).

Then, the "Old Hollywood" and "New Hollywood" could be used along with year ranges that alynch suggested:

• the black and white thread would become Films of "Old Hollywood:" From early talkies up to 1967
• the "Color Era thread" would become Films of "New Hollywood:" 1967 and later

As for Pre-Code films, couldn't that just be a genre thread?

Of course, it would help if there was already a well defined and commonly accepted set of film eras, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

Edit:

Some other thread suggestions I forgot to mention:
-Romantic Comedies
-Musicals
-War Films

Edited by ScribblerGuy, Oct 29, 2008 @ 6:42 AM.

[Kel Varnsen]

Some other thread suggestions I forgot to mention:
-Romantic Comedies
-Musicals
-War Films

A war movies thread would be cool. I think there should also be a Westerns thread.

[TWoP Dietrich]

Is there going to be a forum for people like writers/directors/actors?

Individual people might get threads if their work commonly gets talked about as a whole (so, people like Coppola, Hitchcock, Seagal), but not everyone.

And would a "What is your favorite [movie, actor, director]?" thread be considered improper?

Hmm. I'm not crazy about threads like that because they don't necessarily lead to discussion. Compare it to things like "Who's your favorite American Idol contestant ever?" But it might work. Let me think about it.

Might it be better to define them with specific year ranges?

I thought about that, but I want people to be able to watch a movie and promptly know where to talk about it without having to look up its release date. If nothing else, the difference between "black and white" and "color" is clear. Mostly. Except for The Wizard of Oz. And Schindler's List. And Sin City, which might be the first time those three movies have been grouped together.

-Romantic Comedies
-Musicals
-War Films

Very nice!

Edited by TWoP Dietrich, Oct 30, 2008 @ 1:58 PM.

[Redtracer]

TWoP Dietrich:

Can the Oscar Party thread be used to discuss anything about the Oscars (within reason)? Such as, the voting procedures, how the Oscars are covered in the media, etc. Or, should we stick to stumping for particular people?

[CantThinkUpName]

I'm not sure if it's proper for us common folk to start new threads but what about a Sci-Fi thread?

[isiscloud]

What kind of threads can be created? What about movies that have been in the theater but are not OnDemand or premium channels? Where would a thread for that go? Sweeney Todd's no longer out, but where would I talk about that? in Horror films?

What about Direct to Video films or films shown on TV for the first time but aren't shows?

Adult films?
Teen films?
Children's films that aren't animated?
Animated films? In general

[Czerri]

There's no thread yet for action films.

[TWoP Dietrich]

Can the Oscar Party thread be used to discuss anything about the Oscars (within reason)? Such as, the voting procedures, how the Oscars are covered in the media, etc. Or, should we stick to stumping for particular people?-

What the heck, let's make it all Oscar-related stuff.

What about movies that have been in the theater but are not OnDemand or premium channels? Where would a thread for that go?

Those movies should be discussed in the most relevant genre/series thread, unless there's a move-specific thread for them.

Sweeney Todd's no longer out, but where would I talk about that? in Horror films?

Actually, I think Musicals is most appropriate.

Adding threads now for:

what about a Sci-Fi thread?
Children's films that aren't animated?
Animated films?
There's no thread yet for action films.

[CantThinkUpName]

Sorry to keep making requests but I don't know the thread starting policy for this forum. I know there's a DVD Unwrapped thread but what about a "Not On DVD" forum for movies only available on VHS/not yet released/discontinued on DVD like Barfly. I want to know some of those movies that I might have forgotten about/never heard of because they aren't regularly available on DVD.

[TWoP Dietrich]

Don't worry about making requests; I'm certain that we're still missing obvious threads.

The one you mention, though, doesn't work with our current setup. The "DVDs Unwrapped" thread is for discussing DVD-specific features; discussion of movies themselves should go in the appropriate Genres/Series thread. Let's put Barfly in a "Genre: Dramas" thread that I'm going to go make right now.

Edited by TWoP Dietrich, Nov 5, 2008 @ 12:24 AM.

[isiscloud]

Thanks for adding the genres.

Can there be a Movies Rec Room as well?
-Survival games
-Quote games
-Who/who should be in a movie together
-My pitch is this

Thanks

[TWoP Dietrich]

Hmm. Not a crazy idea. Maybe, but I don't think it would happen right away, because the mucky-mucks are busy with the the whole "television" section of the site.

[alynch]

Wow, I just noticed that we don't have a thread for Westerns in the Genre section. We must be some lousy movie geeks.

[TWoP Dietrich]

Oh, good call.

Edited by TWoP Dietrich, Nov 17, 2008 @ 3:04 AM.

[Czerri]

Could we possibly get some potluck threads, like 'unintentionally funny moments' or 'movie moments that went over your head' etc?