The way we talk about movies has completely changed in the last ten years

I remember going to the video store with my dad in the late 90s, picking a VHS based on the box art and maybe a friend's word. Now, you can't even mention a film without someone bringing up its 'Rotten Tomatoes score' or its 'cinematic universe' connections. The whole conversation shifted from 'did you like it?' to 'what's its rating?' and 'how does it set up the sequel?'. It feels like the fun of just watching a story got buried under a pile of numbers and shared universe plans. Has anyone else noticed this, or is it just me getting old?

3 comments

3 Comments

taylorcarr1mo ago

ben436 said it feels more like checking a spreadsheet and that's exactly what happened to my buddy Mark. He tried showing his little cousin The Thing (the old one) and the kid kept asking what its tomato score was and if it connected to some new movie. Mark was like dude just watch the dog turn into a monster, but the kid pulled out his phone and started looking up the director's other movies. It bummed Mark out because we used to just toss in a random tape and laugh at how bad the special effects were. Now everything's got homework attached to it and the magic of just sitting there is gone.

ben4363mo ago

Totally agree, it's all box office numbers and post-credit scenes now. I miss when a movie could just be a weird one-off story that people argued about. The whole thing feels more like checking a spreadsheet than talking about art.

ruby_grant3mo ago

Ugh, tell me about it. Now you need a second screen just to track all the cameos and sequel teases. Remember when the biggest debate was whether the ending meant the guy was a ghost or just crazy? Good times.