The Wild Robot in theaters. Not a sequel or a remake. It is based off of a novel though.
2024 was apparently the first year where all the top-10 highest grossing movies were sequels. List doesn't include Moana 2 and Gladiator 2 which are expected to make a lot of money as well.
I'm not against sequels/prequels, just need some more than "it's the sequel to that one you liked".
OK, but why does it need a sequel? Can you make me interested in it aside from the fact it's a sequel? Is it any good....?
Not a movie or fully original, but I watched Arcane and I loved it. It was good without knowing about the game, and those who know the game say it's better if you do. That's what a sequel/remake/adaptation should strive for.
It's to the point right now that a young person 20 years of age could spend a decade just watching all the old classics from the past 80 years to enjoy great films. If they stopped making movies tomorrow, there's more than enough content now for people to watch.
My wife wants to keep watching the latest stuff but if it were up to me, I'd just take the time to watch at least all of the AFI top 100 films.... last I checked I think I've only seen about 30 of them and I thought I watched a lot of films. My last rough count of watched films that I could list was over 1,500 films. And I still have a waiting list of hundreds more I want to see.
I'm a Trek fan and I thought I watched lots but I've only seen about half of all the TV series and most of the films.
That's also not counting all the other TV series I'd like to see from the past ... MASH, All In The Family, Adam's Family, The original Batman series, The Munsters, X Files, Walking Dead, Arrested Development, Battlestar Galactica, Twilight Zone, The Office ...... and on and on
If my spouse wasn't so stuck in watching the latest stuff I'd probably be happy just spending my time catching up on everything I wasn't able to see for the past 30-40 years.
The Banshees of Inisherin
i watched it in a theater, because i've heard the movie was good. Didn't read up much on it beforehand and enjoyed watching it, albeit not fully getting it i guess.
It felt worth going to a theater for. Contrary to the last 3 or so Marvel movies i've seen in theater because friends dragged me and i ended up falling asleep every time.
The reason I believe sequels are doing good is:
- movie theaters have been perverted into massive and expensive hype fests
- in strong opposition, past movie theaters were not expensive to go to and got you entertained in a social setting
- due to the rise of large chains, small and cheaper theaters have died out.
- assumption: the price to rent a movie for your theater will probably be horrendous by now
- sequels have kind of a known quality which lowers the hurdle
- that means new movies could be watched in smaller theaters and would have to be sustainable for those
Poor marketing and limited theater releases is why and studios can blame themselves.
Movies and shows that I have watched this year in no particular order and not all released this year:
The Beekeeper
Iron Claw
Say Nothing
Altered States
The Substance
Oppenheimer
Peaky Blinders (rewatch)
Kneecap
In The Name of the Father
The Batman
Lord of the Rings (rewatch)
The Departed (rewatch)
Deep Space Nine (haven't finished)
The Devil's Own
Sicario
Additionally, my wife has recently started watching Gossip Girl but I only catch glimpses of that show. Did anybody actually like that show when it came out?
How original we talking?
I have seen The Substance (good) in theaters and I saw the TV glow (hated it). I also watched Megalopolis (weird) in theaters and if we want something really original I even last year watched the Onyx the Fortuitous movie in theaters (enjoyed the heck out of it)
I will likely watch Nosferatu in theaters and any smaller movie that puts the effort in and deserves my money.
But I am not paying for the movies that they make just to make money. I don't reward that kind of bad behavior and that afront to art and story telling.
There was a theory somewhere that this is about power play. If you produce Spiderman 245, power shifts away from the director and towards the production company. Less artistic freedom, more money management. If you let the director create their own movie, they are mostly in charge of how things go, movies become more artistic and less focused on money (alone).
I have nothing to confirm this and don't remember the source I have that from except "the internet"
What makes money is recognition.
Sequels are one way to do that. Another is a big name actor. Another is a big name director. What was the last thing you watched that fulfilled none of those?
Mine is probably Oddity, and I watched it on Jellyfin. It's honestly tricky to find things like that that aren't £2 DVD bargain bin trash from the depths of Netflix.
Does Barbenheimer count?
People want to watch good movies. With remakes people want to see the original but with different actors and usually studios fuck them up by trying to fix what wasn’t broke.
In theaters: Heretic, and before that The Substance
Recently at home:
Saturday Night
Man on the Moon
I saw the TV Glow
Edit: for line breaks
I watched A League of Their Own last week. Very watchable, not at all flashy, and refreshingly earnest. I hate that so many modern movies are so wised up and meta, and I find myself watching older movies more and more.
Recently it's been Ghost, Bull Durham, Forrest Gump, and Field of Dreams. (I don't even like baseball, no idea why so many of these are baseball movies!)
- Boondock Saints
- The Wiz
- Corpse Bride
- Joe's Apartment.
I have a bad movie night with family every week, and these were the recent ones. We watched via streaming services.
The last Marvel movie I watched was the end game one. Haven't bothered with another Marvel TV series or movie since. The last star wars movie I watched was the one where Luke projects his appearance and the bad guys shoot it a lot without doing anything. I haven't bothered with any of the other tv series or movies for star wars either.
I'm not the usual customer though. The last movies I saw in theaters was wicked and inside out 2.
Wild robot at home, My last theater movie? Spider-Man into the Spider-Verse.
The theaters used to pack everybody in for every show. And they just crank the prices up and up. I'm sure that they think home streaming and piracy is what killed them. But you can buy a TV the price of taking a family afford to the movies.
Sure, it's the customers who decide the market. That's how it works.
The Substance. I streamed it using the free trial to MUBI.
I used to go to the movies weekly as a matter of course and never missed opening weekends. I only saw Dune 2 in the theater this year, and between the IMAX ticket for just myself, a popcorn and a coke it was $60. Plus, I don’t like being in public anymore.
Snatch. With my eyes.
Hmm, either Oppenheimer or Poor Things I think. I support new IPs in Hollywood in concept, but a lot of them just don’t interest me is the problem. Looking forward to Nosferatu this month tho!
Finally got around to to watching Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3. I liked it a lot. Rented it on Amazon Video.
Before that, I watch 'The 5th Wave' which I think falls under the context of OPs question. Rented on Amazon Video. Garbage movie. Saw it because I saw a single clip of the movie that looked good. It was the only part of the movie that was good.
And before that one, I watched 'Smile'. Dumb, lazy, predictable writing. Rented on Amazon Video.
Before that, I watched 'The Edge of Sleep'. Very good series. Also Amazon Video.
Finally, 'The Menu', also Amazon Video. I liked it.
I saw all that for probably the cost of a single movie theater ticket. A matinee ticket right now, for my local theater (ordered online) is $17.60. I think the rent price of each of those movies was maybe $4 and 'Edge of Sleep' is free.
The substance last week in a rocking indie theatre. Lots of.collective "ohhhhhhhhhhhh."
I've watched a few older original movies here and there on streaming at home, but I guess the last time I went to the theater for one was Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. I don't really go to the theater much in general anymore. Last time I went was for Dune 2 (mostly because I like the director more so than I'm interested in the franchise) and it was so loud I thought it was going to damage my eardrums.
That aside, if I'm gonna go see something, I want some reason that isn't just brand recognition. A director I like, some good reviews, maybe an interesting premise, etc.
Oppenheimer was the latest original movie I watched for the 1st time. I watched it at home... 'nuff said
Embrace of the Serpent at home on streaming. Simple and beautifully shot in black and white. It was what I wanted from a movie, a great story that was well told. It’s definitely original.
Upgrade was an original movie i saw that wasn't terrible. Although I'm sure the idea of a guy putting an AI in his head plot has been done before.
A lot of it has been in horror.
I LOVED Smile and Smile 2, and enjoyed the hell out of *Abigail *and M3gan. Another good one is Happy Death Day.
Bad Genius was fun, as was Wolfs.
There's a wealth of original content out there.
Civil War in the theater, at home, I just recently watched They Live, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Wizards, and X at home. I have a biweekly movie night group and we were the only ones in the theater for Beau is Afraid.
Went to the kinoplex to watch Megalopolis, I didn't think it was that bad, the acting was just more like a regular theater than movie acting.
Watched A Real Pain in the theater with maybe 5 other people.
The last great movie I watched (TV) has been "Arrival". Enjoyed it a lot.
wtf have they done to the book
One new IP coming right up!
Here you go... Rebel Moon
Enjoy(jkjk I love new IP but not all of them are bangers)
Define "people." The biggest box office hits have been underbaked trash.
They see that retromarketing works, so they keep doing it
a Serbian film.
Marianengraben
I watched it in a movie theater, and brought two friends along to show them.That shading work on the meme tho, excellent
This year I would've loved to see A Real Pain but it was only showing at one theater near me and only for one showing that I couldn't make. For original movies I actually had access to in theaters, last year I saw Dream Scenario, American Fiction, Polite Society,, Theater Camp, Zone of Interest, Problemista and Poor Things. All great. I also watched Rotting in the Sun on Mubi's app and it was just okay.
I Saw the TV Glow. Watched it at home and then in theaters when the theater near me did another run of it. Best movie of the year and my new favorite. Arguably the best trans representation in all of cinema, truly a masterpiece
Jackpot on amazon prime
I hate remakes, I normally don't watch them. Even sequels, especially 3rd or more.
But I believe people - generally - do want to watch remakes, (or formualic films based on cartoons), since that's all I ever seem to hear about. People seem a lot more likely to talk about "captain bat-spider 5 the egg-sack years" or "starwars the phantom plot connexion " than anything that seems intertesting to me.
I used to live by a cinema that did cheap mondays a few years ago, I think maybe 'Looper' and 'Sightseers' I remember seeing there most recently. I've doubt I've seen a new film since then.I think they're 'original ish'?
I don't even know where my nearest cinema is in this town, I think theres a small artsy one in town, but for proper cinemas i think you need a car drive out into the sticks fuck that.
All that aside, I liked lethal weapon 5 more than any other lethal weapon film. Does that count?
I watched "city of darkness" in the movie theatre two days ago, man that was shit. The trailer is all you need.
Asteroid City. Theatre. Weird but entertaining / good.
The Substance
Round and Round, a Hallmark Hanukah time-loop Rom Com that is immeasurably better than it has any right to be. Seriously worth a watch, as is Hallmark's previous and first Hanukah movie, Hanukah on Rye.
I watched Oliver! the 1968 musical a few nights ago, but it's an adaptation of a very famous novel, and based on a Broadway play of it too.
In theaters? Speak No Evil. In general I watched Lars and the Real Girl like a week ago.
Omni Loop, at my friend's house (almost certainly pirated). It was a lazy crap movie with lazy crap writing that actively tries to make the viewer feel like they're too stupid to get it. I'm glad nobody paid for me to watch that tripe and I'd genuinely rather watch the Star Wars sequels again.
Memoir of a Snail at a theater a few weeks ago. It was a good movie and my partner and I enjoy going to the theater, I regret nothing.
I watched The Union on Netflix last night. It was not good.
But that is not a diss on original movies or even Netflix movies I was just not in the mood to search too much. A good original Netflix movie that I still think about it regularly was Annihilation, it really left a mark on me.
Dune if adaptions allowed. The Creator if completly new. In cinema of course.
I think it was The Whale, in theaters with my sister
I can't speak for all people, but I just don't want Hollywood to add an unwanted aftertaste to my favorite movies. Other than that, they can do whatever they want as long as I can ignore it.
