Exactly. Bad commercial movies designed by a committee aren’t a new thing, I remember the likes of Independence Day and Speed from the 1990s. What is new is the rarefaction of the sort of movies you mention.

I recommend Bret Easton Ellis’ podcast. What he says is that it is the combination of two things.

First people don’t go to the theatre anymore, they stream, so the economics have become really hard for smaller independent movies.

He also argues that Marvel movies are so plain that they don’t really produce new movie stars with a strong personality, it’s all CGI, most of the audience probably doesn’t even know the names of the lead actors. And the model for smaller movies was for the a producer to secure a movie star (popularised by big blockbusters), then get the financing on the back of that star, then the movie could be made. And that model is now dead.

To me the elitist part is that he's taking his personal dislike of Marvel movies and drawing a box around the things he does like as 'true cinema/movies.' That's the part that reeks of elitism saying 'this isn't good enough because I personally don't like it and think cinema should mean something.'

It's very similar to the art/high art/not art conversation that happened in the wider art world starting in the mid-20th and continuing somewhat today. The decision there has been very expansive.

We already get them: Whiplash, Baby Driver, Inception, Arrival, The Martian... Those are just a few of my favourites from the last decade or so but the list goes on!

They all had an established director, producers, and/or actors. It’s a safe risk because studios (from this list fox (rip)) can either bank on the casting list/director history (baby driver, the Martian, arrival) or have it as their one “cinema” film for awards season. Theres a lot missing for 10 years of film that just didn’t take off.

I agree. Could we imagine Memento being made today?

Memento. That one hit me right in the gut on a first viewing. Why don't we have more movies like this today? It's sad.

Also Memento was a $9 million dollar movie, even in 2000 that wasn't a lot of money.

What we're missing these days are what myself and my buddy, who's a film buff and writer, are the 10-30 million dollar films. Well written, competent director and director of photography, a reasonable cast of most likely newbies but they can act, and a decent plot/story....Memento, Donnie Darko, The Hurt Locker. Jeez the Hurt Locker was just a 15 million dollar movie, but it's pretty decent (I've watched it five times).

I think that an elitist viewpoint is one that aligns with and supports curation. Marvel movies are the opposite of curated content. They're produced specifically to capitalize on the success of their predecessors by appealing to the widest audience possible.

I feel similarly about the explosion of computer animated kids movies as I do about Marvel. They're mostly "not bad", but I think that we can do better than premium mediocre by doing a little less.

https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2017/08/17/the-premium-mediocre-l...

I just rewatched the first Rambo movie a few weeks ago and it reminded how good it was. Too bad it got “overshadowed” by its sequels...