Like most guys, I like to think I’m a tough, strong Alpha Male who can take a lot of punishment. And maybe, as a controversial blogger and public figure, I can in certain areas. But I just can’t take it anymore. Hollywood has finally beaten me.
I just can’t keep seeing all these stupid movies. I can’t take the pain. I’m tappin’ out.
Longtime readers know that I see all kinds of movies, including and especially big stupid Hollywood blockbusters that often are objectively bad. I’ve always been like this because I love movies. I’ve always disliked TV, so movies have been my thing.
But in the last few years, it’s been harder and harder. 2017 finally broke me. The Underworld movie sucked ass. xXx: The Return of Xander Cage was so horrible that I actually felt like leaving the theater halfway through. I was really excited about the movie Gold, since I love both gold and business movies, but it was really lame. Ghost in the Shell was well done, I guess, but very forgettable. The last Fast and the Furious movie was the worst one yet. King Arthur was horrible. Horrible! Baywatch? Fucking kill me. The Pirates of the Caribbean movie was so bad that I can’t even remember watching the damn thing (and I did, sadly). The Mummy was probably the worst movie Tom Cruise has ever made. Rough Night was yet another “all men are pathetic betas” girl comedy. (Yet another one of these fucking movies? Aren’t audiences tired of them yet?) The Transformers movie was so bad I wanted to shoot myself in the face. Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets was pathetic as fuck to the point where it made me uncomfortable to watch it. Dark Tower was a shockingly horrible film that ruined the books completely. I couldn’t even make it halfway into Hitman’s Bodyguard. The Kingsman movie was so much worse than the first one. Star Wars: The Last Jedi was so bad that it was insulting. Justice League… what the fuck was that? And on, and on, and on, and on…
Fuck it. I can’t do it anymore. I just can’t.
Hollywood, you win. You’ve broken me.
I used to go see movies on a regular basis, as in several times a month. No more. As of now, I’m a normal person who only goes and sees those very few movies he’s really excited about.
I will not see any more Star Wars movies.
I will not see any more Transformers movies.
I will not see any more Fast and the Furious movies.
I will not see any more DC superhero movies.
I will not see any more stupid comedies.
I will not see any more predictable sci-fi movies (like Life).
I will not see any more tongue-in-cheek action movies (just the serious ones, what few there are these days.. there was a grand total of one of these last year).
I will not see any more disaster movies (like Geostorm).
I will not see any more remakes or reboots.
In other words, I’m barely going to see movies in the movie theater anymore. I might see some of the above things on home video. Maybe. But in terms of me taking the time to drive to a movie theater, by a ticket, and sit there for two hours, I’m done. The only movies I will see from now on are the few that I know have very high odds of being very good, at least for me. For example, I will continue to see the Marvel movies for the time being, since so far those are still reasonably good, although even those are starting to slip (Thor Ragnarok was fun, but way too silly to be taken seriously.)
Movies have gotten so horrible that even a guy like me who loves movies and can shut off my brain to enjoy the dumb ones actually can’t see movies anymore. Even though I saw much less movies last year than I usually do, I still saw a lot, and out of the entire year, I only liked three (Split, John Wick 2, and Logan). Another three were barely okay, barely (Kong, Alien, and Wonder Woman). Literally every other movie I saw sucked to some degree. Wow.
Usually, at the beginning of every year, I make a list of around 45+ movies I will go see that year. This year? Eh, Pink Firefly and I saw The Commuter this weekend (it was okay), and it was my first movie of the year. After that, there’s only five or six movies I plan on seeing for the entire year. If you’re curious, they are The God Particle, Black Panther, Avengers, Deadpool, Predator and maybe Death Wish or Venom. That’s it. Instead of 45+, I’m down to about six or seven.
It’s a little sad. Definitely an end of an era for me. But as I’ve said before, we always have the old movies to still enjoy. I recently watched the definitive movie of my life and the second greatest movie of all time (Raiders of the Lost Ark) and it still got me excited. Nothing can take that away.
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Movie Holict
Posted at 05:27 am, 31st January 2018What was the first one?
Or rather do you have those kind of list in this blog?
CrabRangoon
Posted at 08:05 am, 31st January 2018I hear ya man-its tough to recall the last good movie I saw at the theater. I skipped Last Jedi after the Turd Awakens mess. Sounds like I made the right choice. Rogue One was enjoyable enough, mainly because of all the throwbacks to the original trilogy. As far as the DC flicks go, I wanted my money back after Suicide Squad-huge wasted opportunity to do something cool with villains. Justice League and Wonder Woman(waaaaay over-hyped) were just ok at best (I did like Man of Steel so it’s disappointing they are squandering that franchise). Marvel is really wiping the floor with them right now(with a few exceptions like X-Men:Apocalypse) which is a shame since I always tended towards the DC stuff.
I’m very tentative on Predator since the original is such a classic to me and anything predator related after that has sucked big time-same goes for Aliens after the 2nd movie. Don’t get me started on Predator Vs Alien…
Logan was the last really good film I saw at the theater. Hollywood has clearly run out of ideas so I rarely pay money to see anything at the movies-I just wait till it’s streaming or dvd.
Kumar
Posted at 09:07 am, 31st January 2018This is something that I told my buddy last afternoon. They don’t make good movies anymore. Like, not even an average movie with a good enough plot, and believable acting.
Iam a huge movie buff, but lately every fuckin movie has been a disappointment. I had high hopes for ‘Jigsaw’, considering it is directed by Spierig brothers, but it was a massive let down. Did not even gave a look to the POTC- sounded too boring.
So lately I’ve been indulging in foreign movies. I suggest you start checking out French and Spanish movies. The cinematography is beautiful, the acting remains top-notch, and the plot is riveting. They give a shit about what they are making. Recently released Spanish movie ‘Contratiempo’ ( The Invisible Guest), was actually one of the best thrillers I’ve ever watched.
And you can get them for free, if you know where to look.
Gil Galad
Posted at 09:12 am, 31st January 2018Lol I agree with literally everything in this paragraph. I’m also excited for Infinity War (I’d almost go gay for bearded Chris Evans :P) and who knows, maybe Black Panther won’t have enough PC to ruin itself, I have some hopes for it. Ragnarok was good but I’m a bit disappointed they dialed back the seriousness that much. Thor is great to watch at about 70% solemn 30% humorous (his own seriousness is often funny, I still remember his “this is beyond you, metal man” to Tony Stark), but they kinda turned it on its head. AND HOW THE FUCK DID I MISS THERE WAS A PREDATOR MOVIE THIS YEAR? I actually liked Predators; didn’t expect to with a lead like Adrien Brody, but I did.
Caleb Jones
Posted at 09:36 am, 31st January 2018The extended editions of all three Lord of the Rings movies (which I consider one big movie). That is my all-time favorite movie if I was forced to pick one. Raiders of the Lost Ark is the most important movie to me though.
No, but at some point I’ll post a top 10 list of all-time movies (for me). I’ve avoided doing that because that will be a really hard list to make. But I will at some point.
Same here. I expected to hate it, but it turned out pretty good, and it was surprising I didn’t hate him.
Magok
Posted at 09:49 am, 31st January 2018Talking about movies, which ones do you think it portrays Alpha 2.0 characters the best?
Any biographical movie would you recommend?
GOB
Posted at 10:24 am, 31st January 2018Same here as Caleb, but I was very much into good tv shows in the past, and I think they still suck less. But since January 1st this year I decided I only watch movies/tvshows which really interest me, or nothing. I managed to see three movies by far, two with women so that doesn’t really count. But I was really excited about the second The Man From Earth movie. I really enjoyed the original one when I saw that for the first time, needless to say the sequel wasn’t even close.
CF
Posted at 04:08 pm, 31st January 2018I actually get pissed off sometimes during movies.
The illogical stuff like Stormtroopers aim or inaccurate physics I can I accept half the time. But stupid things like dumb characters doing things like running into danger when they’re clearly incapable of handling the situation and making everything worse gets me muttering wtf or yelling at the screen (if I’m watching at home). Clearly the character is lacking common sense, why the heck do they get to play such a huge role in the movie. It’s like the writers and producers are secretly promoting idiocy….or some kind of bs SP.
AlphaSD
Posted at 04:49 pm, 31st January 2018I agree in many ways, Caleb and I agree with your star wars reviews. I’m always selective with what I watch – I use reviews to make a more informed choice. I’ve got an unlimited card so it’s good value for money. The shape of water was a beautiful film that I watched the other day. Del Toro is a wonderful film maker.
Downsizing is the most atrocious film i’ve ever seen; we walked out after an hour. Just couldn’t take the liberal propaganda and pandering. The fact that in a downsized world they still made an underclass (even though money was worth 10,000 more than the real world was a joke.) DO NOT WATCH THAT FILM.
I also felt the commuter was average and convoluted with no sense to it.
Marty
Posted at 06:21 pm, 31st January 2018Me too! Its insane now the amount of liberal propaganda in films.
The only films I’ve found worth watching lately are ones based on some sort of historical story. They still pad them out with PC bullshit. Like a multi-racial couple or gay couple as friends in older stories where you know that was probably unlikely. But its much harder without getting away from the real story.
Watched Molly’s Game last night. Not a bad movie. Given the real character is a strong independent female and it throws negative light on wealthy powerful guys I guess they didn’t have to PC it up too much. Although of course they had to have a black lawyer who doesn’t exist in the real story as a key character.
Dave from Oz
Posted at 08:33 pm, 31st January 2018Movies, these days, make me go “Eh. Was that it?”
Hollywood does not do the tragedy, where the hero dies at the end. Comes a time in kife where that’s what speaks to you. If you still want to love movies, maybe it’s time to start watching foreign films. Or rediscovering classics. “Every book is new to the man who hasn’t read it yet”.
Johnny Ringo
Posted at 12:34 am, 1st February 2018I’m with you!
I’ve been spoiled by good narratives such as Game of Thrones, where you don’t know who is going to win or lose.
Truly, it’s hard to watch anything nowadays, but it’s been good for getting work done! 🙂
Andrew
Posted at 02:29 am, 1st February 2018Do you like old movies?
if so I’ve got a good one for you from 1961.
its called one two three with James Cagney playing a cocoa cola executive (who’s pretty much an alpha male 1.0)
whos stationed in West Berlin and has to deal with the fallout of his bosses daughter marrying a communist on his watch.
i think you’ll really like it, its very funny the way Carney’s character deals with both the Germans and the Russians.
and if that doesn’t convince you there is a very ahem curvy blonde secretary who gets quite a lot of screen time ?
Miguel Guzmán
Posted at 03:31 am, 1st February 2018Agreed.
I consider 2 types of scripts or stories:
The “realistic” type, where people do realistic stuff, characters have their worldview and they react to the things that happen according to their values, their goals and their intelligence level. Someone might do some stupid thing, as long as they are stupid or greedy or whatever. In these stories, the things that happen can be expected or unexpected, because people can react in typical or in weird ways. I don’t mind something being predictable as long as it makes sense, and not because it’s a cliché.
The “formulaic” type is where something has to happen because the script writer, or the movie producers, want it to happen. Like a romance, or a final fisticuff fight with the bad guy in a movie that has been all about gunfighting. Here, the plot has to go to some place specified, and has to go there no matter what, even if the characters have to do totally stupid things, totally out of character.
And in these formulaic movies, when there is a plot twist, is a completely stupid and absurd plot twist that doesn’t make any sense.
Well, the movies and most tv series nowadays are from the formulaic type. And it sucks. Because they are so predictable is absolutely boring. In Wonder Woman I guessed who the bad guy was the moment he appeared on the screen, because it’s a totally trite trope.
There are good realistic type movies, and they are awesome for me.
Best example: Casino Royale. This move is perfect. Is the “10” of action movies.
[SPOILER]
The bad guy owes money to some even badder guys. As he cannot pay them, the organization sends a killer to kill him. So the killer headshots him and coincidentally saves Bond, who keeps wondering why the killer left him alive. Turns out the girl was working for the bad guy all along and she intervened to spare Bond, but ultimately at the cost of her own life
[/SPOILER]
Compare to the abominable Skyfall. The bad guy has an explosive exactly at the right place at the right time so that he can detonate it and throw an underground train on top of Bond chasing him. Yeah, whatever. Suspension of disbelief broken, I’m out of this sucky movie.
Game of Thrones is also realistic up to the books. The first seasons are really good because Martin is a realistic writer. The last seasons are shitty because the showrunners are formulaic.
Two examples: the Battle of the Bastards does not make sense, at all (the action is good but Sansa’s decisions are absolutely out of character. Not because of Jon Snow, this character is actually pretty dumb. But they had to dumb down Sansa to have the cavalry arrive at the last moment. Sansa is WAY smarter than that. Railroad plot).
[SPOILER]
And do NOT get me into Littlefinger’s actions in the last season leading to his death. The books’ Littlefinger is smarter than every scriptwriter of the tv show combined. He would NEVER have done what the show’s Littlefinger has (starting by NOT giving Sansa to the Boltons, an absurd change by the showrunners).
And the petty Littlefinger in 7th season is a totally different character with a silly machiavellian streak for no reason at all, no goals in mind and no sense of self-preservation. Formulaic. Change the character to reach the fixed railroad plot goal.
[/SPOILER]
Also, I don’t know why you think Logan is a good movie. Is as formulaic as a movie as they can be. I could write another long-ass comment as this one explaining how they perverted Logan’s character to make this a silly road movie, but as a quick example: when they fight X-24 outside the family house and the father hits it with the truck, Logan’s character would have killed X-24 there and then, not run away from him. For a million reasons that can be summed up in “that’s what he does”. But no, he has to spare x-24’s life so that he can regenerate for the final fight.
I think Logan is the most overrated movie that has come out in years.
And I could go on with many, many movies. I could write a whole blog post series on this. But I won’t because long ago I decided to do what you’ve done, stop seeing movies except if the trailer shows me it might be a realistic, well thought out movie.
Only maybe 1 in 10 are realistic. For example the latest Saw (Saw VIII Legacy) was a very realistic movie with logical plot twistes that I truly enjoyed because it can be correctly deduced from the hints it gives you, and everything makes sense at the end.
The rest are basically examples for tvtropes.org cliché collection.
Best regards,
Miguel Guzmán
Gil Galad
Posted at 03:38 am, 1st February 2018Too bad, I guess I won’t watch the sequel then. Man From Earth is amazing, I never get tired of rewatching it.
hey hey
Posted at 08:35 am, 1st February 2018Life was pretty good actually. Not the average happy ending we expected. Soundtrack check, suspense and tension check. The early killing of a main actor is not something that happens regularly.
It’s a little gem like Sunshine.
Caleb Jones
Posted at 12:21 pm, 1st February 2018Per my book:
– James Purefoy in the HBO series Rome
– Robert Downy Jr. in the Iron Man and Avengers movies
– Guy Pearce in the movie Lockout (the best example)
– Idris Elba in the movie Prometheus
Not off the top of my head. Alpha Male 2.0 is not an archetype Hollywood would promote, or even ridicule.
Yes! If I had more time I would watch more.
The ending was good, everything else sucked:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRWnNm8P5Jo
AnonDude
Posted at 02:31 pm, 1st February 2018Man I was hating Split more and more as the movie went on but that ending left me speechless and suddenly everything made sense. The ending literally changed the genre of the movie. God damn genius.
I was avoiding seeing John Wick 2 thinking it will be a stupid unnecessary sequel like Kingsman 2 or the last two Pirates movies. So it’s actually good? How does it compare to the first one?
joelsuf
Posted at 05:00 pm, 1st February 2018You’re better than me, Caleb. It’s been nearly 15 years since I’ve given up. The last movie I was really excited about seeing in theaters was Team America World Police. Now, I doubt Hollywood will ever let Parker and Stone make another movie at all.
Even when Blade Runner 2049 was announced, I shrugged and said “meh.”
Maybe its just me, I haven’t really liked any movies since Hollywood decided to make ALL THE COMICS into movies around 2005 or so.
Nick
Posted at 03:46 am, 2nd February 2018Predator??? you mean Hollyweird is planning a remake of the classic 1987 sci-fi action movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger??? one of my fave movies?? seriously?
Gil Galad
Posted at 05:44 am, 2nd February 2018@AnonDude: yes, watch it.
Xyz
Posted at 06:10 am, 2nd February 2018Man I wanted to ask this so much since a long time since i read your book but didnt know where since it’d be off topic!
Apart from Guy Pearce in lockout (who looks quite obvious), I wanted to know how did you categorize RDJ, Idris Elba and James as alpha 2.0/ outcome independent ? Where was the outcome independence?
Any given examples for each character where they show OI will be really helpful!
Xyz
Posted at 06:19 am, 2nd February 2018Also, are you like them ?
Do you have any similarity like any of these characters?
Gil Galad
Posted at 07:38 am, 2nd February 2018I’m guessing Idris Elba is outcome independent in Prometheus when he’s hitting on Charlize Theron early in the movie. RDJ seems pretty obvious, just rewatch the Marvel movies with OI in mind and you’ll see it all over the place in his acting (though you do see him get reactive/controlling/outcome dependent every now and then, he just has a way of keeping it relatively likeable. There’s no denying that Tony Stark can be an authoritarian asshole sometimes). James I don’t know because I haven’t watched Rome.
Xyz
Posted at 08:45 am, 2nd February 2018Doesn’t Tony crave attention all the time? That’s not alpha 2.0
Gang
Posted at 09:22 am, 2nd February 2018I really loved “Blade Runner 2049” in iMax3D. It’s a real sequel. So thankfully, the day before, I watched again “Blade Runner” the final cut 2007 version (the original version sucks balls because the production interfered with the director’s vision, including forcing an horrible voice over), because it was a very long time I watched it, and didn’t remember the details of the story.
Caleb What did you think about Blade Runner 2049? And did you like Blade Runner the final cut 2007 edition?
If it wasn’t for the terrible miscast of Dane DeHaan as Valerian (and Cara Delevingne as Laureline is also a bad casting), for me Valerian would have been pretty good entertainment in iMax3D.
Gardians of the Galaxy 2 was entertaining, especially the part where they control the matter to build their own planet. Star Trek was acceptable as well.
I didn’t like Arthur either.
All the DC Extended Universe movies suck balls for me, including wonder woman, it was pretty crappy. Didn’t watch justice league yet.
Caleb Jones
Posted at 02:19 pm, 2nd February 2018Yes, John Wick 2 is very, very good. I like the first one a little better, but part 2 is fantastic.
That would be a good topic for another article; too off-topic for me to discuss here.
It was good. Not great, but good. I agree it’s one of the best sequels ever made.
Yes, I’ve always considered that version the “real” version.
I thought that movie was “eh, okay.” I liked the first one much better.
Exactly; it was “eh, okay.” I’m tired of “eh, okay” movies.
I don’t hate the DC movies like I hate the new Star Wars movies; I can watch the DC movies and enjoy them. Man of Steel was pretty good. Batman V Superman was watchable but with problems. Etc. The problem is they’ve had four chances now to get it right and they still can’t for some reason. It’s weird.
Gang
Posted at 08:42 pm, 2nd February 2018Do you watch them blockbusters in 2D or 3D?
I watch them in iMax3D whenever it’s available. Normal theater 3D when not available. I love 3D so I am probably more forgiving for such blockbusters when I see it in iMax3D.
I haven’t watched in theater a movie in 2D in 2017, but I regret that I didn’t go watch in theater “Professor Marston and the Wonder Women”. I really liked it. Not a blockbuster though but this could perhaps be an article in the blackdragon blog by the way as polyamory is at the center of the movie.
Qlue
Posted at 02:23 am, 3rd February 2018the only good movie the past year was the new Bladerunner movie, everything else was SJW Agenda driven or just crap in general.
Gang
Posted at 04:45 am, 3rd February 2018Talking about Blade runner, I just watched the first episode of “Altered Carbon” in Netflix, holy shit that was really good!
Caleb Jones
Posted at 12:53 pm, 3rd February 20182D. I hate modern 3D. It just makes the picture darker.
Marty
Posted at 07:01 pm, 3rd February 2018Even though I enjoyed Jon Wick 2 and the new Blade Runner they both had main characters who were sitting around pining over ex’s that had been dead for years. Still pushing that stupid “one true love forever” narrative like these guys lives are only defined by the women in it even if she’s long dead.
Gang
Posted at 07:17 am, 4th February 2018Only when the theater’s brightness is not properly calibrated. Which unfortunately very frequent in standard theaters. Have you ever had the oportunity to try in iMax3D? The bightness is properly calibrated in iMax3D.
Perhaps you’re also part of the 1/3 of population that don’t fully percieve stereoscopy and thus don’t find depth as an impotant part of the cinematic experience. 3D is a commercial flop partly because of that.
Caleb Jones
Posted at 12:10 pm, 4th February 2018Correct. This is the best you can expect in a left-wing culture.
Yeah it’s fine but not worth double the ticket price.
Nope. I see the 3D just fine. I just don’t consider it worth a darker picture and double the ticket price.
Duke
Posted at 06:08 pm, 5th February 2018I wonder if that Den of Thieves is any good. I guess I’ll find out when it comes out on video/tv. I haven’t watch any movies in a theater in about ten years. That shit’s a rip off. Who pays that much to get in, plus popcorn and candy? Not me that’s for sure.
epi
Posted at 10:54 am, 6th February 2018I think movies are a waste of time. They teach you thinks that aren’t true, and those falsehoods are even counter-productive to your success in life.
Throughfare
Posted at 03:48 pm, 7th February 2018Hmmm,
It looks like the Star Wars franchise is kaput … finished . . . toast!
The suits at Disney have been slowly killing it with their vapid films, but now some ignoramus executive has delivered the death blow.
They’ve hired Benioff & Weiss of the Game of Thrones series to produce (& write) a Star Wars TV series
http://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a16667859/game-of-thrones-star-wars-bad/
It’s a classic demonstration of how Hollywood suits don’t understand how real entertainment is created. They go by numbers instead of following the pulse of people who do understand, and what they’re saying.
Their logic: “Game of Thrones is the biggest moneymaker in the history of TV. Let’s see if we can get the showrunners to do our Star Wars series.”
So Benioff & Weiss sign on.
What the suits don’t understand is that George Martin is the guy who made Game of Thrones the series it is. He knows how to create a story that draws people into a world, that enchants them, and leaves them thinking about what goes on in the grander storyline.
Benioff & Weiss understand how to create mindless, quick-change, music video style entertainment, and their writing is shitty, replete with appallingly corny dialogue. Martin was the guy who was keeping the series on track. Here’s what’s happened to the series since Martin stopped writing for the show to focus on finishing his books and other projects
https://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2017/07/30/game-of-thrones-is-starting-to-suffer-without-george-rr-martins-writing/#3b88ad882320
And now critics, bloggers, and legions of fans, are abandoning the show in droves. Just do a search on “game of thrones has jumped the shark” and see what pops up.
Here’s the real beancounter story the Disney suits are too stupid to understand: “Game of Thrones became the biggest moneymaker in TV history while George Martin was participating in the project and supervising the writing, but now the series is alienating one of the most loyal fan bases in the world, and numbers are plummeting.”
Sound a bit like Star Wars?
With those two running the show, Star Wars is a goner.
Oh, and George Martin has been trying to distance himself and his Song of Ice and Fire book series from the show lately. He obviously knows how the Benioff & Weiss fiasco is going to taint anyone who stays associated with this trainwreck.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85XrjUmeKy4
CTV
Posted at 10:38 am, 8th February 2018Star Wars Han Solo prequel may have some hope. It’ll be hard to put all that Progressive Feminist dog whistling crap into that movie, same if they do one with Boba Fett or the Old Republic.
Ergeniz
Posted at 06:08 pm, 15th June 2018CTV, it may be difficult but not impossible.