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1. Embed this notice
   Eugen Rochko (gargron@mastodon.social)'s status on Sunday, 15-Mar-2026 11:36:29 JST Eugen Rochko

   • かき@GNUsocialJP

   I know 100% that people will argue with me over this, but I miss when movies were professionally lit, when actors were intentionally blocked, and when more than teal, orange and beige were allowed to be on the screen. The medium has something to do with it--film made a lot of these things fundamentally necessary--but I think it's more complex than just that. The last few years' movies are just not pleasant to look at, with very few exceptions, and the change occurred sometime around 2015.

   • GreenSkyOverMe (Monika) repeated this.
   • Embed this notice
     Michael Cook (foobarsoft@mastodon.social)'s status on Sunday, 15-Mar-2026 11:57:34 JST Michael Cook

     in reply to

     @Gargron Faming went through a similar pallet in the early 2000s. I’m glad that passed.

     And I know how you feel. It may be part of why I like animation so much, it hasn’t been hit so hard with browning. It’s so great when a movie has colors that really pop.

     Yeah a movie about a guy trapped in the middle of the Sahar or Death Valley is going to be low on color. NY, LA, Minneapolis, other real cities have colors.

   • Embed this notice
     ethan daniel (undergrounds@mastodon.social)'s status on Sunday, 15-Mar-2026 12:14:28 JST ethan daniel

     in reply to

     @Gargron if you haven’t seen ‘The Eight Mountains’ by Groeningen you should. Came out in 2022, and gave me a lot of hope about what films can create these days. Another standout is ‘Happy as Lazzaro’ by Rohrwacher in 2018, unusual in plot and beautiful cinematography.

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     Vincent 🌻🇪🇺 en 🌹☘️ (photovince@mastodon.social)'s status on Sunday, 15-Mar-2026 12:43:44 JST Vincent 🌻🇪🇺 en 🌹☘️

     in reply to

     @Gargron You place that cutoff remarkably late. Otherwise, who do uou expect to argue? I won’t

     Money is the reason. Movies have become investment vehicles, and investors want safety. Thus akming for the biggest audiences, and most people want slop. Not just the looks, the storylines, characters, anything, aren’t much better.

     Am Into cynical? Think not

   • Embed this notice
     contranym (makeitmythic@mastodon.social)'s status on Sunday, 15-Mar-2026 13:00:57 JST contranym

     in reply to

     @Gargron i mean, ok, but my kingdom for proper sound mixing. im so tired of music/sfx being so loud and dialogue being so quiet. even w subtitles (enshittified by ai), it sucks.

   • Embed this notice
     Jeremy Jackson (jeremyjackson@mastodon.social)'s status on Sunday, 15-Mar-2026 13:14:23 JST Jeremy Jackson

     in reply to

     @Gargron No, no, you’re right.

   • Embed this notice
     Owen 🇦🇺  (vanitalo@mastodon.social)'s status on Sunday, 15-Mar-2026 14:09:31 JST Owen 🇦🇺 

     in reply to

     @Gargron The obsession with HDR — super dark scenes to mimic realism in light levels is also annoying. It’s more difficult to enjoy what you’re watching if you’re struggling to see what’s even on the screen. I get that in real life, something might be happening in pitch black conditions but I think for cinema it’s still better to just give the suggestion of darkness rather than the complete actuality of it. 🤷♂️

   • Embed this notice
     Gryphon Myers (gryphonmyers@mastodon.social)'s status on Sunday, 15-Mar-2026 14:17:27 JST Gryphon Myers

     in reply to

     @Gargron on the topic of movies that look good: The Ballad of Narayama (1958) 🤌

   • Embed this notice
     Chris 🦑 (sturmsucht@mastodon.social)'s status on Sunday, 15-Mar-2026 14:20:25 JST Chris 🦑

     in reply to

     @Gargron nothing to argue here. The movie industry right now is a noob photographer who thinks "great, with that dynamic range I don't even have to expose correctly anymore". And that's what they are literally doing.

     When has "I don't know if this scene will be in daylight or night time right now, let's shoot anyway and fix it in post" became a thing?

   • Embed this notice
     Sean Bala (seanbala@mas.to)'s status on Sunday, 15-Mar-2026 16:30:51 JST Sean Bala

     in reply to

     @Gargron RE: Blocking in Film - you are reminding me of director Mike Nichols (The Graduate, The Birdcage). He and his stage partner Elaine May were some of the earliest improve comedians in the US. His films were meticulously acted because the casts would rehearse the films like a play for weeks before filming. That allowed them to inhabit their roles, have natural reactions, and to get the blocking just right.

   • Embed this notice
     Fabien (fabienmarry@mastodon.social)'s status on Sunday, 15-Mar-2026 16:52:03 JST Fabien

     in reply to

     @Gargron what about tv shows? Pluribus was one gorgeous shot after another.

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     Robert Belton (shiawase@mastodon.social)'s status on Sunday, 15-Mar-2026 17:07:51 JST Robert Belton

     in reply to

     @Gargron
     "90% of everything is crud" - Sturgeon

     You don't like the aesthetic, but unfair to say it's 'unprofessional'.

     Maybe you need to look elsewhere besides Hollywood. Digital production and distribution has opened up filmmaking to so many talents that couldn't afford it previously. Drama aside, nature photography and documentary can be better quality now.

     The most interesting drama I've seen is no-budget Japanese films. "One Cut of the Dead", "River", "Beyond the Infinite 2 mins".

   • Embed this notice
     Hanja (hanya@mastodon.social)'s status on Sunday, 15-Mar-2026 17:53:36 JST Hanja

     in reply to

     @Gargron Absolutely! It's enshittification across various industries

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     Raindrops and Roses (raindrops_and_roses@mastodon.social)'s status on Monday, 16-Mar-2026 00:25:06 JST Raindrops and Roses

     in reply to

     @Gargron 💯 The point to watching is a movie is for the fun of it. Nothing's fun anymore. Everything has to be a big statement. Broody. Moody. Real. We all live in broody moody real. I don't want to see it for "fun"!

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     Sir Farts Alot (horqua@mastodon.social)'s status on Monday, 16-Mar-2026 05:14:18 JST Sir Farts Alot

     in reply to

     @Gargron and the level of gratuitous violence is over the top. I can see literal snuff becoming part of the movie industry because they can.

   • Embed this notice
     Todd Vaziri (tvaziri@mastodon.social)'s status on Monday, 16-Mar-2026 14:24:57 JST Todd Vaziri

     in reply to

     @Gargron I think you should stop watching movies

   • Embed this notice
     Eugen Rochko (gargron@mastodon.social)'s status on Monday, 16-Mar-2026 14:49:19 JST Eugen Rochko

     in reply to

     • かき@GNUsocialJP
     • Todd Vaziri

     @tvaziri Why?

   • Embed this notice
     Eugen Rochko (gargron@mastodon.social)'s status on Monday, 16-Mar-2026 15:01:27 JST Eugen Rochko

     in reply to

     • かき@GNUsocialJP
     • David B. :SetouchiExplorer:

     @David Hugo is from 2011 and despite being full of CGI it still looks vibrant and very different visually to let's say Wake Up Dead Man, which is one of the better looking modern examples, so the cut-off point is sometime after 2011.

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     David B. :SetouchiExplorer: (david@setouchi.social)'s status on Monday, 16-Mar-2026 15:01:39 JST David B. :SetouchiExplorer:

     in reply to

     @Gargron 2015? I'd say 2005. I can't think of many movies that marked the past 20 years and that will remain culturally relevant for decades to come.

   • Embed this notice
     Todd Vaziri (tvaziri@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 17-Mar-2026 00:31:10 JST Todd Vaziri

     in reply to

     @Gargron it just seems like you don't like movies

     I can give you twenty movies made in 2025 that challenge what you wrote in the above post and you'll scoff at every single one. It just seems like you don't like the medium (past a certain year).

   • Embed this notice
     Eugen Rochko (gargron@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 17-Mar-2026 00:45:16 JST Eugen Rochko

     in reply to

     • かき@GNUsocialJP
     • Todd Vaziri

     @tvaziri That's a ridiculous proposition.

   • Embed this notice
     Eugen Rochko (gargron@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 17-Mar-2026 00:52:28 JST Eugen Rochko

     in reply to

     • かき@GNUsocialJP
     • Todd Vaziri

     @tvaziri I love cinema. I want nothing to do with you.

   • Embed this notice
     Todd Vaziri (tvaziri@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 17-Mar-2026 00:52:29 JST Todd Vaziri

     in reply to

     @Gargron “I miss when movies were professionally lit, when actors were intentionally blocked, and when more than teal, orange and beige were allowed to be on the screen.”

     I mean, come on. Unless you typically speak in hyperbole, this is gibberish unless it's coming from someone who wants nothing to do with the art form.

   • Embed this notice
     Carolyn (cstamp@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 17-Mar-2026 01:27:22 JST Carolyn

     in reply to

     • Todd Vaziri

     @Gargron @tvaziri How a movie is lit and colour graded is an artistic choice. I do hate the modern grungy, depressing yellow colour grading indicating a warm climate, but if you think all movies look alike, you need to watch more movies. :)

   • Embed this notice
     Marc Robinson :mastodon: (marcintosh@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 17-Mar-2026 01:29:54 JST Marc Robinson :mastodon:

     in reply to

     • Todd Vaziri

     @Gargron @tvaziri “I know 100% that people will argue with me over this”

     Don’t complain when you get what you want.