Dustin Hoffman : Says that movies are the worst he's ever seen them

Says that movies are the worst he's ever seen them

In a recent interview, Hoffman praised TV for being the best he's ever seen it while saying that movies nowadays are terrible, the worst he's ever seen during his career. Do you agree? Any other thoughts?

Re: Says that movies are the worst he's ever seen them

I do agree that the 21st century has been the golden age of the TV drama, but I don't think movies today are any worse or better than any other time. Hollywood itself might be in a rough state, and if you're looking just at Transformers and the like then yeah that stuff is pretty bad, but you've also got stuff like Birdman, Boyhood, The GBH, Gone Girl, The Artist, Django Unchained, TWoWS, and tons of other great movies. You just have to look in the right places. Amazing stuff was being made in the 70's, but a lot of crap was made too.

Re: Says that movies are the worst he's ever seen them

Film at it's highest ended sometime in the late 80s. Part of the problem is just about all the great stories have already been written. Hence, all the re-makes. However, film is a visual and sound medium which means the most important aspect of film is the talent. There just are no more Bogarts, Brandos or Garbos. Those come along very rarely. Plus, too many of the current film makers are way to hung-up on "realism" and technical effects and forget that theatrical movies are not supposed to be 100% real. That's for the documentaries. Theatrical film is art. There just are not as many truly entertaining films anymore.

Re: Says that movies are the worst he's ever seen them


Part of the problem is just about all the great stories have already been written.


I don't believe that one bit. I hear people say the same thing about music.

As long as people are alive, there will be great stories to tell. The real issue is that the movie industry is a business with a product to sell. There are numerous factors that influence this.

Over the decades, demographics have become increasingly important in determining what that product is. Films used to be much, much more catered to the adult market. Now, movies are not only directed at a younger demographic, but society has become more adolescent in its attitudes, generally, as well. Additionally, sequels, spin offs, TV show adaptations, etc. (i.e., non-original material) are much less risky than, say, adult dramas featuring star actors with giant price tags (successful dramas nowadays seem to sneak in under the radar with very little marketing. This strategy tends to offset costs. If the film doesn't make a big splash, it's not as much of a loss). They already have a built-in audience. On top of it all, technology has changed our lives enormously, especially in the area usually associated with matuity - sustained attention spans. This has given rise to the special effects spectaculars which have tend to shift the storytelling to the back seat.

Re: Says that movies are the worst he's ever seen them

here's the full article:

Two-time Oscar winner Dustin Hoffman criticized the current state of cinema, saying it’s at the lowest point it has been in the half a century that he has been working.

“I think right now, television is the best that it's ever been, and I think it’s the worst that film has ever been — in the 50 years that I’ve been doing it, it’s the worst,” he said in an interview with U.K. newspaper The Independent.

Hoffman’s cinematic issues appear to stem from the increasing financial demands on directors to complete their films more quickly, pressures he says weren’t there when he first started out in the industry.

“It’s hard to believe you can do good work for the little amount of money these days,” he said. “We did The Graduate and that film still sustains. It had a wonderful script that they spent three years on, and an exceptional director with an exceptional cast and crew, but it was a small movie, four walls and actors, and yet it was 100 days of shooting.”

Having made his directorial debut in 2012 with Quartet, the British comedy-drama starring Maggie Smith and Billy Connelly, Hoffman added that he hadn’t yet found another project to sink his teeth into.

“I’m looking at everything that comes to me, I’m not getting much as far as directing is concerned,” he said. “I don’t think that has anything to do with whether you are good or not, it’s just about whether your films make money or not.”

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/dustin-hoffman-cinema-worst-50-806811


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Re: Says that movies are the worst he's ever seen them

Hoffman has a great point. Television offers more variety than movies now. While tv also produces garbage, it does offer a wide selection of drama and comedy while movies cater to the superhero market with "stars" who coast by on their looks and offer nothing else.

In Hoffman's youth he was in awe of stars like Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud and Alec Guinness. You don't get too many real actors like that anymore. Hoffman remains as one of the last real great movie star/great actor. Hoffman became a star in 1967 and is still renowned in 2016. Will Chris Evans or Henry Cavill achieve as much? When Hoffman was at his peak movies were still great, but that ended when computers starting making movies.

Re: Says that movies are the worst he's ever seen them

Hoffman's right. He was fortunate enough to come up as an actor during a time in which audiences were fascinated with humanist stories on the big screen. Much of that had to do with the advent of the rating system, allowing filmmakers to explore human truths with absolute honesty and frankness for the first time. Nudity, depictions of sexuality, graphic violence and spoken profanity were no longer prohibited by the censors, so screenwriters and filmmakers had a field day exploring new ground. Hoffman was front and center with that, and many of the great, character-driven films he took part in were hits with the public.

These days people aren't interested in going to the movies to see stories about everyday people and their problems, probably because those stories have been relegated to TV, where censorship is no longer an issue. As a result, Hoffman's claims that TV is more interesting than ever are absolutely true... but the big screen is now almost solely a forum for large scale escapism, all of which is utterly soulless, highly derivative and wholly unaffecting. He was in films like MIDNIGHT COWBOY, LENNY and KRAMER VS. KRAMER, and people actually went to see those films in droves. None of those films would make dollar one in today's horrendous movie climate, and it's frankly disgusting. I hate new Hollywood.
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