this post was submitted on 18 Oct 2023
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[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (4 children)

So that's why my western war musical failed so hard.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

You can also try to recoup your money by releasing a behind the scenes documentary about the horrifying financial crimes that went on during production of the first film.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I heard about that western war musical. I was excited to see "Alamo!" but they didn't advertise it out here so I forgot.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

Just make a documentary about it

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Great, now I have Texans singing about the Alamo in my head.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Cool but awful design, why is every graph in a different scale

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

So that you can compare the relative changes over the years without having a tiny line for less popular genres.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

It actually tells you right below the title why they've chosen to do that

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Comedy looks popular but I feel lucky if I watch even one decent one in a given year.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

A lot of films are categorised as Comedy “something” these days, most notably Comedy Drama. I imagine this counts towards the stats.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I fucking hate modern categories.

If I see Lord of the Rings listed in my science fiction category again I'm gonna reach through the internet to back hand whoever decided that through their computer screen.

No, The Expanse does not count as Fantasy.

Is it fantastical? I guess.

Does it fit the movie genre of Fantasy?

Fuck no. It's 'Hard science fiction" as in science fiction based on real world science. Star trek is more soft science fiction. Possible, but basically magic to us. Star WARS on the other hand, I'd say fits into both.

Most of my gripes come from science fiction categories and how their movies are labeled. I swear I once saw Bridget Jones listed in science fiction.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

What genre are superhero films? Fantasy? Sci-fi? E.g. what is Superman or X-Men?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Both. Maybe leaning a little bit more on sci-fi since they try to explain many things with science like kryptonite. But definitely also fantasy for X-Men, mutants have superpowers because the DNA does ... things.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I dislike the common definition of sci-fi as science-flavored fantasy. It's just not a useful distinction to me vs plain 'fantasy'. What I love the most about sci-fi is the exploration of what it means to be human by projecting the implications of drastically improved technology. All a matter of taste, of course.

I'm curious, though: why should a kryptonite explanation be any more sciency than mutant DNA? I see one as an entirely unexplained magic rock, and the other as an extension of the scientific triumph of understanding genetics (plus hilariously and deliberately misunderstanding evolution). X-Men is very nearly sci-fi to me; if mutants were a human creation it would be.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I wanted to say that it's hard to define exactly what is or isn't sci-fi. Really I'm just a sci-fi enjoyer and am not qualified to say what is or isn't sci-fi :D

Kryptonite for me is clearly a magic rock but in the movie it is in the realm of their science. Also there was a movie where the existence of superman led to a lot of questioning on its implications in defense politics so it could fit some part of your definition I guess?

So like superman is science-based and X-Men is also you're right and it does clearly ask what it means to be human when there are augmented humans now. So clearly more sci-fi than superman.

But films can be both sci-fi and fantasy. It feels like a sliding rule depending on the amount the universe is based on hardcore science. On the DNA subject, Gattaca is not fantasy but X-Men is.

To me it feels similar to the debate about "hard magic" universes like Eragon (where every spell has a physical toll on the user, or other book series where the magic is really detailed in-universe and only mastered by experts who have to study their whole life for even a basic spell) and "soft magic" like Harry Potter where everyone can cast crucifixion spells at the speed of an automatic rifle (I'm slightly exaggerating).

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Absolutely, genres are muddy bullshit. That's what makes debates like these so fun.

Looking at things from the perspective of the characters is interesting, but I struggle to imagine how kryptonite would be 'science' even in-universe. I guess 'technology' is really what I mean, and kryptonite is a natural element. That's how I see it. There is some engineering around kryptonite-based anti-superman weapons, but that's ultimately ancillary to the philosophical meat of the series.

With Superman being a lens on geoplolitics, it's simply the fact that he's a natural being and not a human engineering accomplishment that makes it solidly not sci-fi to me. Many if not most great works examine the human condition to some extent no matter the genre.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

With this technology lens, would Dune still be considered sci-fi? They have different technology sure but in many ways worse than what we have now (except for space travel), they don't have computers and rely on hand to hand combat, their spies cannot hide mics so they hide in walls for days!

It's another hyper militarized universe like what the Cold War has brought but with religion and drugs :^)

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Perhaps not, interesting example. It's more of a political drama overall, though it's been ages since I read it.

The space travel is just a drop-in for different countries, really. The examination of humanity doesn't extend specifically from the implications of advanced technology; I feel like it could be pretty easily re-framed into a mideval drama about a fief rich in (magical?) opium poppies.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Bring back westerns and musicals!

Give us Blazing Saddles: The Musical!

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

It really is a shame, even though the actual west was nothing like most if not all westerns, it’s so unique and I think has a lot of untapped potential

Edit: I think the best we’ll ever get is westerns made in a different genre, this is my opinion but I think Inglourious Basterds is a western set in WWII. I could see more things like that from different directors, although in fairness you could make that comparison to a lot of Tarantinos work

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I think of westerns as a fantasy historical period genre. That period was chosen because it represented a jingoistic mythical American origin story. But we could build myths about a different period instead. There’s lots of untapped historical and cultural potential out there.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I agree, it effectively already is that, it’s just that at least half of those myths are fucking horrific. But the genre, in my very white opinion, doesn’t have to be problematic. And while I know it’s not a film but Red Dead 2 is a good example

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I'm so glad musicals are dying out.

Also the fact that Thrillers and Horrors are steadily becoming more popular is kind of concerning. There seems to be a growing latent appetite for murder in the general population. lol

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You lament the growing appetite for murder yet readily praise the death of musicals.

If I had 3 of my friends and a piano, we'd dance and sing our frustrations at you!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

musicals make me want to murder

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Alternatively, people's appetite is unchanged, but the way they express it is changing towards consumption of visual media.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This graph sucks, the y axis differs between the genres

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

It says so in the text there. This feels like the only way anyway, since the boundaries between genres are fuzzy and it's not possible to decisively compare genre tags on IMDB.