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Old 15 January 2020, 04:30 AM   #1
Chewbacca
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Icon5 Why is the length of time it takes to watch a movie an issue for some?

Oscar noms came out and there’s chatter here and around the interwebs that longer than typical 90min movies are a pain. Or long movies in general aren’t good.

Why?

Its art.

Its like a 48mm watch vs 38mm. Someone designed it and signed off on it. You don’t like it, don’t buy it.

There’s always been long and short concerts, plays, songs, books, poems, etc.

The only reason movies were pushed to stick to 90min was so cinemas could squeeze more shows on a screen in a day and therefore sell more concessions.

If it takes 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 hours to tell the story in the eyes of the creators, so be it.

But to say something wasn’t good or necessary because of the length (giggitty) seems odd to me.

We all know the length beforehand (giggitty) so don’t take it in if it’s too long or too short (giggitty).


That’s my opinion, what’s yours?


And The Irishman was a good film.

Won’t win but if you like Scorsese, more is better.

1917 will win BP.



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Old 15 January 2020, 04:32 AM   #2
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I fast forward when I get bored

Sometimes I’ll jump forward to the end to back track.


I really have no patience
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Old 15 January 2020, 04:35 AM   #3
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Movies, and plays before them, were made in relation to the size/capacity of the human bladder.

Then movies were made so they could be sold to TV and fit into a 2 hour time slot which meant a 1 1/2 movie with commercials.

Back in the day, long movies like Ben Hur, Larry of the Desert etc all had intermissions. I don’t think theater owners like long movies because they could run a shorter movie twice and make more money.

Unfortunately now human attention span is only 15 minutes.

As for The Irishman, or Oldfellas, I thought the dialog felt extended, like De Niro’s shoes, noticeably so, as if they were trying to stretch the time for Netflix. Scorsese felt out of his element. It was OK. But not great. Joe was great.
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Old 15 January 2020, 04:37 AM   #4
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It totally depends on the movie (obviously).

To use your example, I thought the Irishman was a good film, but it dragged on needlessly at points. Just my opinion, but generally shorter films tend to keep me more engaged.
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Old 15 January 2020, 04:51 AM   #5
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It totally depends on the movie (obviously).

To use your example, I thought the Irishman was a good film, but it dragged on needlessly at points. Just my opinion, but generally shorter films tend to keep me more engaged.
Agree
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Old 15 January 2020, 04:56 AM   #6
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Old 15 January 2020, 04:59 AM   #7
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People have shorter attention spans and too many distractions.

It's hard for some to even put down their phones and focus for an hour or two. For me personally it can be a time issue. I watched the Irishman in two sittings only because I couldn't put three hours aside when it was released. If it's a movie I really care about, I will see it in the theaters and if I can't, then I'll make time with no distractions.
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Old 15 January 2020, 05:16 AM   #8
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Back problems. I can't sit longer than about 90 mins before i really start to stiffen up.
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Old 15 January 2020, 05:19 AM   #9
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Some of my all-time favorite movies are long. Braveheart, Dances With Wolves etc ... If it's good, I don't care how long it is. If it stinks , I'm ready to go 20 minutes in

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Old 15 January 2020, 05:23 AM   #10
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I like long movies if they are good! Prefer to watch longer movies at home for the comfort, but we have a dinner theater in town and that works too.
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Old 15 January 2020, 05:32 AM   #11
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I have grown accustomed to the 2-3hr movie.

Now, if a movie isn't at least 2 hours long, I feel like I am not getting my money's worth.
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Old 15 January 2020, 06:18 AM   #12
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I like a lot of long movies. I thought Irishman was very good, but at no point while watching it did I feel it was great.

There's great skill in being able to tell a complicated story well in a short period of time. Whether it's advertising, books...whatever...being brief can cut to the heart of the matter better than being long.
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Old 15 January 2020, 07:34 AM   #13
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There’s a saying in writing and screenwriting called “kill your darlings”, and it means cut the joke/line or “thing” you put in because you really want to but doesn’t advance the storyline, arc or plot.

It was just the author trying too hard to include something he always wanted to put in.

Tarentino does it a lot and so do a lot of writers/directors. Even Scorsese meanders in his dialog. This stuff can make movies overly long.
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Old 15 January 2020, 07:38 AM   #14
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As some have mentioned it depends for me also. For the right movie (a really good one), at the right time (typically at home) I don't mind.
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Old 15 January 2020, 08:23 AM   #15
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I like a long movie. And it should go without saying that I am talking about a good movie.

Nobody wants to sit through a bad movie short or long


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Old 15 January 2020, 09:09 AM   #16
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for me it's not so much about the actual length but only if it's a good movie yes I know before hand how long it will be but I can't know if it drags on or not. If the editing is great and it keeps the suspense for 3 hours - awesome. Unfortunately I can't say that was the case for the irishman...
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Old 15 January 2020, 09:13 AM   #17
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Read thru the comments and have forgotten the question.
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Old 15 January 2020, 09:26 AM   #18
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It is all about auteur directors who get carte blanche to take as long as they want to tell their story. And they refuse to have the films tightened up, which would make for a better movie.
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Old 15 January 2020, 09:37 AM   #19
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Why is the length of time it takes to watch a movie an issue for some?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Chewbacca View Post
Oscar noms came out and there’s chatter here and around the interwebs that longer than typical 90min movies are a pain. Or long movies in general aren’t good.

Why?

Its art.

Its like a 48mm watch vs 38mm. Someone designed it and signed off on it. You don’t like it, don’t buy it.

There’s always been long and short concerts, plays, songs, books, poems, etc.

The only reason movies were pushed to stick to 90min was so cinemas could squeeze more shows on a screen in a day and therefore sell more concessions.

If it takes 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 hours to tell the story in the eyes of the creators, so be it.

But to say something wasn’t good or necessary because of the length (giggitty) seems odd to me.

We all know the length beforehand (giggitty) so don’t take it in if it’s too long or too short (giggitty).


That’s my opinion, what’s yours?






There is so much to unpack in your questions and point of view that I hope you’ll accept this general opinion. Length doesn’t matter if one is immersed in the cinematic experience.

The filmmaker has only a few minutes to suspend your disbelief. Once you are living within his/her defined world, the story can not become lazy regardless of its context. It must remain faithful to the premise or a viewer’s mind will wander back into the real world. And when that happens people will complain.

We must be unconsciously side-slipped into a defining moment that resonates with our own experiences. The more universal emotions that the filmmaker taps into, the greater emancipation of emotions are shifted to an individual and collective experience. An example of this successfully executed theory is when nearly all of the audience gasps in unison. That is whether it is a shocking surprise, an emotional delight or disappointment, a joyful moment or due to an elaboration of our unconscious deeply held beliefs.

Now there are new viewers who need a different approach to willingly enter the filmmaker’s world. Many won’t unless it is totally immersive - as in VR gaming. That will be a challenge for the film companies as well as the exhibitors.

In the future, a traditional movie house may morph into a high bandwidth BT-connected VR streaming media center. You’ll bring your own headset (a’la Oculus) and become part of the “movie” to the extent that characters will seem to interact versus act. This would allow multi-threaded story lines to have more than one resonance with the audience who has now become participants.

Now where’s my popcorn???


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Old 16 January 2020, 01:57 AM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 77T View Post
There is so much to unpack in your questions and point of view that I hope you’ll accept this general opinion. Length doesn’t matter if one is immersed in the cinematic experience.

The filmmaker has only a few minutes to suspend your disbelief. Once you are living within his/her defined world, the story can not become lazy regardless of its context. It must remain faithful to the premise or a viewer’s mind will wander back into the real world. And when that happens people will complain.

We must be unconsciously side-slipped into a defining moment that resonates with our own experiences. The more universal emotions that the filmmaker taps into, the greater emancipation of emotions are shifted to an individual and collective experience. An example of this successfully executed theory is when nearly all of the audience gasps in unison. That is whether it is a shocking surprise, an emotional delight or disappointment, a joyful moment or due to an elaboration of our unconscious deeply held beliefs.

Now there are new viewers who need a different approach to willingly enter the filmmaker’s world. Many won’t unless it is totally immersive - as in VR gaming. That will be a challenge for the film companies as well as the exhibitors.

In the future, a traditional movie house may morph into a high bandwidth BT-connected VR streaming media center. You’ll bring your own headset (a’la Oculus) and become part of the “movie” to the extent that characters will seem to interact versus act. This would allow multi-threaded story lines to have more than one resonance with the audience who has now become participants.

Now where’s my popcorn???


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I concur with a lot of this.

The thing we also have to remember is that in the 1930s about 65% of Americans went to the movies. Adults and kids in the same theater. Most stories were almost American propaganda movies with happy endings and through the Depression, made to cheer people up. Basic escapism.

During WW2 movies were a continuation of the propaganda to rally the citizens on a war that was not going well early on.

After television became a thing in every home the percentage of people that went to movies went way down and the movies were targeted to basically dating teenagers and people in their 20s.

That has continued to this day, and now people have a far different attention span than they had years and decades before. Movies now are also made for a worldwide audience instead of just basically and American one, and that shift happened with the concept of the blockbuster with movies like Jaws and Star Wars and due to the fact that the movie business was bought up by major corporations, instead of just movies studios.

So everything has changed, the age of the moviegoer, the worldwide audience, the use of CGI tech, and how even adults can't sit still for more than 2 hours, has affected how movies are made.

Now with streaming and venues like Netflix new trends like long series and bingewatching has changed the landscape as well. So things like The Irishman can be made in a long form and watched at your leisure, where young people and the bladder challenged can watch and pause and watch tomorrow.

Not many people today would be able to go to a theater and watch Lawrence of Arabia at 3 hours and 48 minutes, no matter how good it is.

The story dates to 1914-18, the movies was made in 1962 and every decision made at the time had a direct affect on the Middle East and our world today one hundred years later.
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Old 16 January 2020, 02:17 AM   #21
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Actually, long running films have done well with the Academy Awards. Godfather II, Schindler's List, Titanic, Lawrence of Arabia. Gone with the Wind won everything and it ran for four hours. Me thinks that if people comment on a movie as being 'too long', then what they're really saying is that it dragged in far too many places. Storytelling is an 'art', just the same as film making, but being good at one doesn't always mean you're particularly good at the other.
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Old 18 January 2020, 08:12 AM   #22
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Mark Twain (and perhaps Cicero?) once said, “I apologize for such a long letter - I didn't have time to write a short one.”

Length does not always mean more better.
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Old 18 January 2020, 08:13 AM   #23
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Me thinks that if people comment on a movie as being 'too long', then what they're really saying is that it dragged in far too many places. Storytelling is an 'art', just the same as film making, but being good at one doesn't always mean you're particularly good at the other.
And a great explanation for some films.
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