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Comment by ajmurmann | Hacker News Reader

As someone who doesn't like the Marvel movies and is losing interest in Star Wars it feels like the are fewer movies for me to enjoy in the cinema than there was even just a year ago. There were times my wife and I went to the cinema twice on one weekend because there was so much stuff we wanted to see. This year we've watched Isle of Dogs. Before that was Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri which was in December. Last summer we had Dunkirk, Babydriver and shortly after the new Blade Runner. This year everything seems dominated by Marvel and SatWars. Even upcoming movies on IMDb look bleak to me.

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Spare a thought for those of us in developing countries. I can now watch the latest Marvel or Star Wars blockbuster in 3D as soon as it is available in western markets, but little else. Many of the films you mention never saw the light of day in my neck of the woods and the Disney et al titles seem to stay forever, where I live Infinity War is still being screened.

A lot of that could have to do with film quotas that require cinemas to screen a certain percentage of ‘local’ films, regardless of demand and thus leaves only the most profit-generating American films available. Film quotas, while they sound good, result in essentially the subsidization of sub-par national films since they don’t have to worry about competing with the rest of the world; it essentially lowers the bar because these films don’t have to compete for screen time against so many, often better, foreign films.

Note, I am not saying American films are the best, I am just saying that film quotas make it easier for mediocre films to be exhibited because they aren’t competing against a full slate of imports. Look at the current French film industry as an example — pretty much crap except for the occasional standout. Although to be fair, the quota system in Korea actually resulted in a pretty vibrant cinema industry, but that seems to be an exception.

Do you have any insights in to why the Korean film industry is so vibrant? The local films in Australia are pretty sorry, and I'm curious about the local/political decisions that have gone into making it so good. Including K-Pop, South Korea seems to hit above its weight culturally.

Asian movies in general stand out (to people that don't live in Asia) because the motivations for all of the characters are very different. It can be very refreshing to not see the same retarded tropes that you see every day, which are generally really hard to relate to (for me). Why Korea in specific, I have no idea. Although it is important to note that there are also plenty of good Chinese movies.

Korean industry is far more horizontally integrated than western industries. The Korean entertainment production industry is far more tied with their consumer product verticals.

They don't need a given series to be a smash investment if they control the actors/actresses/clothing choices/product placements, etc.

I feel for you, and when you watch a horror movie dubbed in spanish, it stops becoming a horror movie..

Same here in my poor country. It's either superhero or ultra-action movies or nothing. I still dream to watch a nice drama movie in a cinema.

This is why we have cheap big-screen TVs now: you can just watch this stuff in the comfort of your own home, and not have to deal with: sticky floors, overpriced and unhealthy concessions, screaming children, conversing or texting viewers, inability to pause to go to the bathroom, etc.

I remember when "Jaws" ran for 6 months on the only screen in town.

It seems like you like good films from auteurs - Dunkirk (Christopher Nolan), Isle of Dogs (Wes Anderson).

The great thing about films like that is that if they do age, they age very well, and there are hundreds of films by auteurs you'd probably enjoy.

AFI Top 100 movies, the Criterion collection, or just going through a director's previous films.

If you liked Dunkirk, have you seen the Band of Brothers TV series?

I highly recommend checking out a film festival if you like seeing original films. Most film festivals only show movies that have yet to be public. There are hundreds of movies a year that are shown at film festivals and never seen again.

Yep, that's all you true. I loved Band of Brothers and The Pacific. These days we watch a lot of old movies on films truck/criterion collection and mubi which sometimes even partners with festivals to bring their movies to steaming. I do miss going to the cinema more often though, especially during summer days that are too hot to do anything outside.

Via streaming, I can watch most of the best films made at any time in almost any country. At the theater, I can watch the best film, almost always domestic, that happens to be showing at the local theater. The screen is bigger and the sound is better, but the local theater can't compete; almost everything I watch now is streaming.

If someone would provide a streaming service that cared about video quality, even basic things like compression artifacts, I'd pay more for it.

Fret not! Based on your tastes you may enjoy these:

* Won't You Be My Neighbor?

* Sorry to bother you

* Leave No Trace

* Eight Grade

* The Rider

Sorry To Bother You was my favorite movie this year.

A film that can combines fun and avant-garde is a rare thing, and it does so brilliantly.

Leave No Trace and The Rider look amazing. Thanks for sharing.

The issue is whether any of those are available in movie theatres near the OP.

Thanks for the recommendations! Especially "Sorry to bother you" looks great.

As someone who never liked Star Wars and always hated superhero and comic based movies, fully agree.

Just found out about Kanopy, it was mentioned on a previous HN thread, check it!

That does look really interesting. I'm watching a lot on filmstruck through which also has the criterion collection. Kanopy looks very similar to that but seems to have more new movies. When my annual filmstruck subscription expiries I might switch. What I'm really missing is more cinema options though. On streaming I have more than I can watch. Especially with mubi that always seems to have something interesting that will expire soon.

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