Flipside Movie Emporium

[The Third M?n]

I've been wondering this for days. Does a film that's boring [note: not just "slow-moving"] therefore mean that it's bad? But what if the director's intentions are to bore the audience [regardless of what the purpose of it all is]?

I feel like discussing, you see, because most of the time, when people dismiss 2001 as a bad film it's because they found it "boring". It doesn't matter whether they're right or not, but if they believed the film was bad because it was tedious, then...

[the night watchman]

Well, yes, I think the worst movies are boring movies, next to those that insult my intelligence. But what's "boring" is all subjective, of course. Bad Boys II bored me, even though it was loud and fast. 2001 kept me enthralled, even though it was very slow moving. The word "boring" is rightly pejorative, but it doesn't mean the same thing as "slow".
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"If you're talking about censorship, and what things should be shown and what things shouldn't be shown, I've said that as an artist you have no social responsibility whatsoever."

-David Cronenberg

[The Third M?n]

[the night watchman]

We must also remember that the quality of a movie is not completely objective. One man's garbage is another man's treasure. But I'd say that you would have much less to support the argument that 2001 was a bad movie, whether you liked it or found it boring, than you would to support the argument that LXG was bad.
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"If you're talking about censorship, and what things should be shown and what things shouldn't be shown, I've said that as an artist you have no social responsibility whatsoever."

-David Cronenberg

[beltmann]

[matt header]

Andrei Tarkovsky once said something like, "We all know there is no place for entertainment in the movies." That's sort of a ludicrous thing to say, but his own movies are perfect examples of slow-moving films that are enthralling in their beauty, ideas, and pacing.

I don't really have anything to add to this discussion; I just thought Comrade Tarkovsky was a good example.

[beltmann]

[the night watchman]

[beltmann]

Agreed! When I talk about The Scarlet Letter, a few students always ask, "But isn't it possible to completely get a book and still think it's boring?" I'm forced to admit that yes, of course, that's possible... and I have no doubt something like The Astro-Zombies qualifies! The trick, though, is making sure we actually have totally understood the work. Better to have doubts than to merely assume, I think. I'd rather rise to the level of the artist than force the artist down to my level. While that may not really apply to Astro-Zombies, it probably does for something like In the Mood for Love.

And I also agree that bad and boring are mutually influencing--like symbiosis.

Eric

[the night watchman]

You just brought up an interesting issue: Disliking a work is not necessarily the same as deeming the work bad. I didn't like The Scarlet Letter in high school either -- in fact, I was bored by it -- but that doesn't mean I thought it was a bad novel. In fact, I found the in-class discussion and my own personal research on it (okay, Cliff's Notes) fascinating. In other words, I thought the story was interesting; I just didn't like how Hawthorne told it.

There are certainly movies I dislike, and find boring, but don't think are bad, like Tarkovsky's Solaris; and there are movies that I know are bad, yet still enjoy, like Maximum Overdrive.

I think we can agree that no good movie is inherently boring, like The Astro-Zombies is inherently boring, but we as individual can be bored by a "good" movie -- or, as least, a competently made movie successful in its endeavors.
_________________
"If you're talking about censorship, and what things should be shown and what things shouldn't be shown, I've said that as an artist you have no social responsibility whatsoever."

-David Cronenberg

[The Third M?n]

[beltmann]

[Erickson]

[GimmickAccount]

[Erickson]

I seriously doubt you have ever done anything involving an axe and lighter flamethrowers.

If you have, though, more power to ya.
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I hate quotations; tell me what you know