I watch a lot of movies and I have been watching even more recently. I have found only two memorable movies from 2006 and that's V for Vendetta and Running Scared. Every other movie I have seen that has been released in theaters or straight to video for '06 has just...sucked. There has been a lot of movies I have been so excited about and I walk away dissappointed.

Hostel
Shes The Man
The Omen
Fast and the Furious: TD
Basic Instinct 2
Pirates of the Carribean: DMC
Click
Scary Movie 4
An American Haunting
Just My Luck
Pink Panther
Poseidon
Silent Hill
Bloodline *direct to video*
8 below
The Ringer
When a Stranger Calls
Kids In America *dissappointed, had so much potential*
Nanny McPhee *not my choice ugh*
Wolf Creek
Syrianna


I could do that all day if I wanted. Sure, I have seen some really good ones this year, but they were all released in 2005.

Satans Little Helper
Crash
Brokeback Mountain
Transamerica
Cry_Wolf

You get the idea..

Is it just me or is anyone else resenting '06 in the movies department?

Quoted from shelbyoops Shes The Man The Omen Fast and the Furious: TD Basic Instinct 2 Pirates of the Carribean: DMC Click Scary Movie 4 Just My Luck Pink Panther Poseidon Silent Hill When a Stranger Calls

You were actually excited about these movies? The rest I either haven't seen yet and wanna check out, or already saw and thought they were alright . The above however I could tell sucked just from the previews though.

I think the biggest problem is that there's no originality anymore, and people are running out of ideas, hence a lot of remakes and sequels. I personally think you should stear clear of remakes and high budget eye candy movies. ie. fast and the furious and pirates. To some extent you can't really blame it, because a lot of the landmark films for just about every genre and topic has been made. ie. The godfater for mob movies, Rocky for boxing movies, etc. But some good ones can still be made even if themes are repeated.

You have to shop around for good movies. usually, if they have a lot of special effects, there's no plot and it's probably gonna suck. Most of the really good movies are independent. Hollywood just keeps doing the same formula over and over. With all their dance and teen movies, and "bring it on" style movies. ie. You got served, stick it, etc.

There needs to be a lot of young independent filmakers who need to get their shots to make movies, which I don't think Hollywood is interested in ever given a chance. good plots and stories just aren't sexy. Hollywood just wants popcorn movies that they could throw at the dumb youth of America, who don't know the difference between good art and exploitation.

Well, at least Final Destination 3 isn't on that list. I loved that movie. The Omen, Silent Hill, and Poseidon were awesome movies, Scary Movie 4 I thought was hilarious, and I might watch When a Stranger Calls tonight.

I have to agree about the Pink Panther movie though...

Sean

Lol, I know, I know it's risky, but hey, if it kills me, we all have to die some time...

Sean

Quoted from Zombie Sean I might watch When a Stranger Calls tonight.

I HOPE you mean the original.

Nope, the remake. Haha. Half of my friends said it was terrible, the other half said it was scary. I like scary movies so hey, I might like it...As long as it makes me jump or makes me want to cover my eyes (though I don't do that anymore )

Sean

It's lack of originality and lack of creativity.  There hasn't been an original idea in years but talented filmmakers have still been able to create what looks like something new.  I mean, every film these days is getting a sequel and now that automatically merits a trilogy--and sometimes a quadrilogy even!  I've found that unless the trilogy is planned from the beginning, it usually doesn't work.  Lord of the Rings is one of the best trilogies of all time in my opinion because the whole project was planned out from the start.

Then you take the Fast the Furious.  The first film was okay(cause, you know, there's empty streets all over LA for racing), the second stunk, and the third?  Bow Wow?  Come on now.  I think it's just Hollywood throwing millions of dollars at filmmakers and telling them to recycle old ideas rather than trying to create new ones, or even alter them so they're brand new.

Alot of big-budget films just aren't impressive anymore.  Specifically the past 2 years there have been several 100 million dollar flops, and the ones that didn't flop have since been forgotten.  Who talks about "X-Men: The Last Stand" anymore?  Superman is gonna take a domestic loss of about $50 million.  The Omen spent two weeks in the top ten.  Two!  

Movie flops can be blamed on poor marketing strategies.  Bad movies can be blamed on lack of originality or creativity.

Quoted from tomson I don't think anyone sets out to make a bad movie! A lot of money is at stake and I'm sure everyone involved do their best.

No...Uwe Boll doesn't. ha ha.

But I've seen quite a few good films this year. And whether we could make a better film or not doesn't take our right away to not like a film, I don't think. We shouldn't be compared like that. That's like saying "Well, I don't really like that house." and someone saying "Well, can you build a better one?"

Not being a butt hole.

-Chris

After watching movies in theaters for half the year now, I'm starting to believe the poor quality of films nowadays is more than just lack of originality. I think most filmmakers these days just flat out suck at making movies. Even movies I thought were good when I saw them in theaters, I've now forgotten because they just weren't anything special, just mildly amusing.

As of now, I've only seen three movies in theaters this year that I, personally, regard as noteworthy:

Hostel (way overhyped but good nevertheless; say what you like, it's just my opinion)
Lady Vengeance (probably shouldn't be here since it wasn't made by a Hollywood studio)
Clerks II

I have high hopes for The Descent. Hopefully, it won't let me down like so many others.

movies have been pretty awful for the last 2-3 years. in 1998-1999 i saw a movie almost every weekend... now? i think ive seen 4 movies in the theater this year. FOUR. i just rent movies now. its cheaper.

too many movies suck.  

Oh yeah..Ill get some crap for this...High School Musical...I just love it!!! You have to see it before you get it. Seriously. I didnt want to watch this at all...EVER. And Then I was forced one night...I fell in love...

I agree there were a lot of mvies this year said to be great and ended up very bad in my opionon. Iliked a few movies, The Ringer, Miami Vice, World Trade Center (sneak peek), The Benchwarmers and a few others i forget (not that good memory) but a lot of movies did have me walking away revolted. I think the ads for it and commercials ruin the movie if they advertise a lot and show some of the better parts. oh ya and V for Vendetta was good

Anyway, I've been impressed with this years offering and so have a lot of people. Just look at the box-office sales slide, it has almost completely bounced back. Ticket sales are up again and the movie industry was spared from a terrible death.  

-Zavier

edit: Cleaned up the thread, it was getting off-topic

99% of the movies I watch, I catch on video. Netflix is a wonderful thing. So of the five I've seen from this year, Over The Hedge was decent. I do have Hostel, A Stranger Calls, and Underworld: Evolution lined up, but I'm taking my time. I'm sure the number will grow as I get back to watching new stuff. I've got 46 from last year I've seen and there were some that worked for me. But lately, I've been going through IMDB's top 250 list and watching those instead. Caught some good flicks lately. Real good stuff. Curiously, there's nothing from 2006 on it.

I would like to think I've a pretty decent judge of film. God knows, I've seen a few. (for the purposes of sheer insanity, here's a list I made and keep up with...I'm sure I missed a couple). But from what I've seen the last couple of years, I've seen in pretty much every year. You have your share of a half dozen absolutely amazing films. I haven't seen one of those yet from this year. You have your popcorn films, your romantic ones that use the tried and true RomCom plot that dates back to at least "It Happened One Night" if not before, your sci-fi eye candy, your big budget action flicks that aren't worth watching more than once, and then everything else.

No one wants to make a bad film, but when you start with the vision and then move on to what the producers think everyone wants to see, something gets lost. Could I do better? I know I probably could, but what will it look like when it's released? Will it be the film I finished, or will it have been chopped up a little more to make it into something the producers think the kids who snuck in will sit through?

Who knows? The fact of the matter is that we're here to write films that are supposed to be good. When we hand over that precious script, it will be chopped to pieces by the director, producer, and everyone else who touches it until it will barely resemble what you started out with.

If you produced and directed it yourself, will you get a better result? Hard to say. Peter Jackson was behind all aspects of LOTR, and it worked. George Lucas was behind all aspects of Star Wars and it didn't always. It's a toss up. Are you really good enough to command the ship and steer it too. Everyone who touches a film has their own little contribution, and the more power that person has, the more that contribution will stick.

Here's a shocker. The Butterfly Effect was a great film. I loved it. It had a couple of shortcomings, but nothing too major. What ruined it? Nothing in the film. It was the public opinion of Ashton Kutcher that destroyed the film. He had been making a certain type of film to that point, and therefore his target audience went to see it and hated it. The film's target audience didn't want to see Ashton Kutcher.

I'm possibly waivering off topic, but the point is this. Somewhere out there are those half-dozen films from 2006 that are awesome. The Godfather of 06, if you will. Apparently, we haven't found them yet. And we won't find them looking in horror. So Hostel, Stranger Calls, FD3...these films won't be the cream of the crop. It's almost always in drama. I mentioned that IMDB list? Read it sometime. Almost 100% drama with a smattering of other genres. You're looking for great films in all the wrong places.

Quoted from George Willson I would like to think I've a pretty decent judge of film. God knows, I've seen a few. (for the purposes of sheer insanity, here's a list I made and keep up with...I'm sure I missed a couple). But from what I've seen the last couple of years, I've seen in pretty much every year.

Holy Creeping Crap. That is some undertaking to remember every single movie you've watched!

I also tried to write down everything that I watched before. I was bored at work and so started marking off all the movies I have watched in one of those movie/dvd review books. I think I made it to the "C" section and gave up...

Also, I 100% agree about selective and target audiences. There are 2 fantastic movies out there that flopped because it was aimed at the wrong audience:
Butterfly Effect
Wicker Park

Two fantastic movies, right there.

You know what, maybe I'll go back and start marking down all the movies I've seen again...