Can watching bad movies make you a worse filmmaker?

[Sleuth]

R U Hi

[soixante]

I think I understand what SoNowThen is getting at.

There is an expression -- "Bad company corrupts good character."  If one is not careful to limit his intake of Vin Diesel and Adam Sandler movies, along with bad TV shows, one could have his brain fried.

It is instructive to watch bad movies, just to know what NOT to do, but seeing too many bad movies can rewire your brain in a bad way.  It is like being exposed to nuclear waste for a prolonged period.

I have a strict rule -- no TV, under any circumstances.  The few times I'm exposed to TV shows, I realize how cheesy and "on the nose" they are, and they can rot your brain.  I also strictly limit how many bad mainstream movies I watch -- for example, I have completely boycotted Ron Howard movies after Backdraft, and I don't feel like I've missed out on anything.

Back in the 80's, I saw every movie that came out, and seeing too many slasher movies and teen sex movies can be bad for your mental health.  Now, I try to limit my intake to indie films and mainstream films that have some sort of artistic merit.  Too much junk food can be harmful to your health.

[SoNowThen]

I love you soixante.


Nail - on - head!!!!

[ono]

Good TV shows do exist.  They are hard to spot though, but highly stylized and usually cancelled in a year or two (The Critic, Family Guy, Sports Night) unless they do find their niche audiences in time.  Mass appeal shows that actually have good writing are few and far between.  Recently, the prime example would be 24.

[molly]

I don't know if this has to do exactly with your post but, I remember Kubrick once said that the thing made him want to be a filmmaker was watching bad films, he thought he couldn't make any worse than those; so he at some point you could say was influenced by bad movies in a good way.

Another SK story, when he was planning on making 2001, (IIRC) it has been claimed that he saw every film ever made that has to do with space or sci-fi in order to see what he could or couldn't use, rights and wrongs, then he came up with his own idea of the film, and rest is history.

he wasn't the only one, many artists do that, not only filmmakers

[cron]

This topic is terrific. Best one in weeks. It pretty much sums up what I've always wondered ....Do I need to see every film made to  acquire a good taste in film itself?   Not that I intend becoming a filmmaker,  I wouldn't dare,   but  I  know that some films are skip-able. For example, Horror is my least favorite genre, I've never understood it.

If there are Horror fans that can  defend the genre, please do so, for I have always found it the most generic genre. If you want to insult my short-mindedness , also do so.  I want to  learn  how does one gets to  like the Horror genre.

[grand theft sparrow]

I think I understand what SoNowThen is getting at.

There is an expression -- "Bad company corrupts good character."  If one is not careful to limit his intake of Vin Diesel and Adam Sandler movies, along with bad TV shows, one could have his brain fried.

It is instructive to watch bad movies, just to know what NOT to do, but seeing too many bad movies can rewire your brain in a bad way.  It is like being exposed to nuclear waste for a prolonged period.

I have a strict rule -- no TV, under any circumstances.  The few times I'm exposed to TV shows, I realize how cheesy and "on the nose" they are, and they can rot your brain.  I also strictly limit how many bad mainstream movies I watch -- for example, I have completely boycotted Ron Howard movies after Backdraft, and I don't feel like I've missed out on anything.

Back in the 80's, I saw every movie that came out, and seeing too many slasher movies and teen sex movies can be bad for your mental health.  Now, I try to limit my intake to indie films and mainstream films that have some sort of artistic merit.  Too much junk food can be harmful to your health.

Very true.  But I think too much of anything can be harmful in a way.  For example, a few months ago I was on this HUGE Wong Kar-Wai kick. I watched every movie of his I could get my hands on (which sadly, were only Chungking Express, Happy Together, Fallen Angels, and In the Mood For Love... and the BMW Films thing he did).  In turn, everything I was writing at the time was full of pregnant pauses and lots of voiceover, which just didn't fit in with what I was trying to do (and yes, I know that Wong improvises his scripts, which made it even more difficult to emulate him).  I had to clear my mind and watched some less idiosyncratic films in order to do that.

So watching too much of anything can be a problem, especially when trying to find your own voice.

[Chest Rockwell]

I think I catch your drift SNT, and I think I agree with you. I never see that many romantic comedies/slasher flicks, such as I'll never see TCM (the remake, that is), and I have a good feeling I'll never see something like oh say...Win a Date with Tad Hamilton, for example. Not very any detailed reason as soixante provided, but simply because they don't appear to be the kind of movie I'd like to see, and generally I'm correct in this. Back when I was interested in writing (not screenplays, mind you), I would absorb whatever I had most recently enjoyed and then my writing/story would suddenly come out mimicking that work. I have this idea for a movie that I plan on making after I grow up some, and the style that flits through my head keeps constantly changing to become more like whatever I hapen to be into at the time. For a while it was Tarantinian, and then it suddenly switched to Noeish after seeing Irreversible. I hope I'll grow out of this habit, but either way, I'm only citing this to show that yes, I do think what's been watched has influence on the writing, etc.

[NEON MERCURY]

[/quote

hahaahahaha!!!!! good choice....



but..... i got that one beat.....



....and as far as the thread goes.........as long as you realize your  watching a bad film(see above examples) then it can't hurt ya......

[Ravi]

I wrote and directed this.

Watching a bad movie now and then is good for learning what not to do.  I don't set out to see bad movies for this purpose, but sometimes a movie I see will suck and I usually can pinpoint why.

[modage]

For example, Horror is my least favorite genre, I've never understood it.

what dont you understand about it?  a good horror movie is as good as a movie of any other genre, as a bad one is as bad.  if they're just not your taste, i guess thats okay.  all types of films arent for everybody.  have you seen....

- alien
- an american werewolf in london
- bram stoker's dracula
- the evil dead
- the exorcist
- halloween
- a nightmare on elm street
- night of the living dead
- the shining
- the texas chainsaw massacre

if you watch all those you will see a little range of what the genre has to offer.

[Derek]

You need to expose yourself to bad movies. If you don't, and just see the good stuff, you'll come to appreciate the good stuff less.

You can't have steak every night. Sometimes you have to have a Big Mac. Or a Whopper.

[ono]

You aren't MrBurgerKing.  There can only be one.

And all horror flicks I've seen pretty much sucked, except for The Shining.  And Mulholland Drive, if you consider it horror, which I've sort of taken a slight shine to after hating it for so long.

I really try to avoid bad movies, because they're depressing and hurt my brain.  Why would I waste my time when there really are so many good movies I've yet to see.

[Chest Rockwell]

after hating it for so long.

WHAA???

[ono]

after hating it for so long.

WHAA???

Do a search.  We've been through it a lot, and some of my problems with it remain.  Let's just say it's not as bad as I once thought, and Naomi Watts pretty makes the whole damn film with one of the best performances ever.  Not gonna get into it here, though.