why are british films so rubbish?

[the truth]

sorry but the golden age of british cinema seems light years away to me
I know the meda tells us otherwise but I dont buy it

british output seems to have been limited and stale for decades, yes we produce some great actors, but overall our output is poor.

over the past 50 years theres been a few classics , such as the name of the father, dr strangelove, alfie, zulu, saturday night sunday morning, ladykillers, the hill, italion job, my left foot, remains of the day, loads of the bond movies , or quirky maverick movies like billy elliott, twin town or trainspotting etc

but in the past decade or more ? classics? ummmm............

There seems to be a dearth of scripts and commitment to story, maybe with the collapse of industry we have lost our characters, our stories and our mojo

Sorry but a few harry potters doesnt do it for me? I dont like daniel craig as bond either but Im in a minority there, so wheres the great british films?

meanhile the yanks churn out 100s of movies,yes turkeys too but they still produce a huge cross section of great movies....why?

[Munchkins]

Carry on Films>Life :love:

[GypsyGoth]

In the US there is a whole city dedicated to making movies, a lot of the best actors and script writers (including ones from britian) go there because it's where they can make a good living.

[the truth]

Carry on Films>Life :love:

yes the characters in those films were genuinely brilliant comic actors like kenneth williams, sid james, charles hawtrey, hattie jacques, joan sims, babs, jim dale, peter butterworth, bernard bresslaw, kenneth connor, jack douglas, terry scott, leslie phillips etc

when they tried to remake them decades later with julian clary is was a idsaster....somehow the beautiful zany innocence was lost and the new lot were more cynical and elf conscious, an example of the decay of british cinema imo...I just cant put my finger on where the greatness went?

[Kizzy]

Funding and the lack of independant film companies now I would say, channel 4 have funded some good british films.
Hollywoodshmollywood :(

[the truth]

Funding and the lack of independant film companies now I would say, channel 4 have funded some good british films.
Hollywoodshmollywood :(

i dont think we can improve british films by jeering hollywood....I think too there is still an elitist class structure in the UK which discourages story tellers and limits opportunities....I mean where are script writers meant to go in the UK? the map is way clearer in the US

[Kizzy]

yes the characters in those films were genuinely brilliant comic actors like kenneth williams, sid james, charles hawtrey, hattie jacques, joan sims, babs, jim dale, peter butterworth, bernard bresslaw, kenneth connor, jack douglas, terry scott, leslie phillips etc

when they tried to remake them decades later with julian clary is was a idsaster....somehow the beautiful zany innocence was lost and the new lot were more cynical and elf conscious, an example of the decay of british cinema imo...I just cant put my finger on where the greatness went?

The 'comic strip presents' comedians Ade Edmonson, Dawn French, Rik Mayall, Jennifer Saunders and others Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie and Rowan Atkinson were all great too, as was the writing of Ben Elton.
I totally agree that comedy took a nosedive when it went from cheeky to sleazy :nono:

[the truth]

The 'comic strip presents' comedians Ade Edmonson, Dawn French, Rik Mayall, Jennifer Saunders and others Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie and Rowan Atkinson were all great too, as was the writing of Ben Elton.
I totally agree that comedy took a nosedive when it went from cheeky to sleazy :nono:

AGREED also lots of brilliant comedy all over the place with morecombe and wise, porridge, steptoe and son, fawlty towers, blackadder, then partridge, day today, etc a lot of it is simply mean spirited now, I consider people jimmy carr vermin.

[Kizzy]

i dont think we can improve british films by jeering hollywood....I think too there is still an elitist class structure in the UK which discourages story tellers and limits opportunities....I mean where are script writers meant to go in the UK? the map is way clearer in the US

I didn't attempt to :conf:
The way is only clearer if you are writing the type of material they are willing to produce?...
It is all down to genres and what is in vogue at the time? otherwise it will struggle to even get read I would think.

[Kizzy]

AGREED. a lot of it is simply mean spirited now, I consider people jimmy carr vermin.

I really like jimmy haha, my pet hate is Mrs brown! hate that show with a passion :devil:

[Munchkins]

Oh well atleast if the british film industry, isn't as good anymore, we can still look bad at the golden days. I watch a carry on film most weeks haha

[the truth]

I didn't attempt to :conf:
The way is only clearer if you are writing the type of material they are willing to produce?...
It is all down to genres and what is in vogue at the time? otherwise it will struggle to even get read I would think.

i dont mean you jeering hollywood i meant british media and talk shows and bitter performers who didnt make it over there bitching to british audiences and playing to them on the anti hollywood schtick..its kind of pathetic imho to see our performers and interviewers slate them so much, when half of them just want to go stateside, especially movie makers......i dont think we back our writers fundamentally thats the problem. were very narrow minded it seems to original stories and writers. whenever i see a british movie bringing in the monarchy i want to cry, its so pathetic. the yanks seem to be able to make great movies out of anything, bee keeping, taxi drivers, muppets , even ants....ANTS for goodness sakes make $90 million.....I truly believe its about the fact they back creative people way way way way more than we do.

[the truth]

I really like jimmy haha, my pet hate is Mrs brown! hate that show with a passion :devil:

each to their own, I think mean spirited comedy with no warmth isnt comedy at all....he simply memorizes mean jokes imho....the greats are all warm charismatic people from billy connolly to richard pryor to jackie gleason to bill hicks to joan rivers , now she ays outrageous things but she doesnt pick targets and she laughs at herself and in reality is a very warm person.

[the truth]

What about Run For Your Wife

a brit film so bad, it almost made sex lives of the potatoe men look like the Godfather:wavey:

[the truth]

Oh well atleast if the british film industry, isn't as good anymore, we can still look bad at the golden days. I watch a carry on film most weeks haha

fair enough, enjoy. whaTS YOUR FAVEs?

[Kizzy]

each to their own, I think mean spirited comedy with no warmth isnt comedy at all....he simply memorizes mean jokes imho....the greats are all warm charismatic people from billy connolly to richard pryor to jackie gleason to bill hicks to joan rivers , now she ays outrageous things but she doesnt pick targets and she laughs at herself and in reality is a very warm person.

Are you serious? she is 100 times worse than Jimmy, her humour is not funny it's vicious.

[the truth]

Are you serious? she is 100 times worse than Jimmy, her humour is not funny it's vicious.

im 100% serious I detest jimmy carrs material. I agree she can be sick, but she has redeeming qualities that carr doesnt possess. ok well lets just agree to disagree, we cant al like the same thing

[Petershaw1984]

You obviously haven't seen cockney versus zombies

[lostalex]

Because Brits have a funny habit of supporting failures (like people on the dole) and slagging off talented people(who do you think you are?).

It's a very weird culture in the UK.

Basically Brits went from being absolute assholes conquering the world with racism and genocide across the entire planet(aka colonialism), to then just hating themselves and relying on America to do all of their dirty work.

basically, you don't make great movies because you don't have a great history. If Brits really made great movies, they'd start making movies about all of the ******ED up things they did in colonialism.

But British people are not good at self-analysis.

[Kizzy]

Why is every film atm about vampires or zombies?..

[lostalex]

Why is every film atm about vampires or zombies?..

name 2 movies in your local theater that are about vampires or zombies. no movies out right now are about vampires or zombies, so wtf are you talking about?

[Kizzy]

name 2 movies in your local theater that are about vampires or zombies. no movies out right now are about vampires or zombies, so wtf are you talking about?

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/genres/chart/?id=vampire.htm

http://www.toptenbestfilms.com/2012/12/top-10-upcoming-mindless-zombie-movies.html

[Glenn.]

-reads lostalexs post-

-laughs-

-leaves thread-

[Kizzy]

Well there's a perfect example of Britishness for you alex, we don't take ourselves too seriously :joker:

[Suze]

.....

I don't know. Are they?

If so, at least we have the best theatre, shows, in the UK don't we? and the cream of Classical actors/actresses who I guess prefer working theatre than films maybe?

[smeagol]

the best gangster movies are british no one does those better. we make the american stuff look tame compared and of course period drama movies. though no doubt all made with american cash.

[the truth]

the best gangster movies are british no one does those better. we make the american stuff look tame compared and of course period drama movies. though no doubt all made with american cash.

youre having a laugh? :joker: british gangster films are nearly all abysmal, a total embarassment.....the only good ones were made in the 70s like get carter or one off like lock stock and two smoking barrells which was a good black comedy.....the yanks produced Godfather 1 and 2, scarface, gangs of new york, on the waterfront, mean streets, carlittos way, untouchables, white heat, angels with dirty faces, cape fear, king of new york, hoffa, once upon a time in america, road to perdition, goodfellas, pulp fiction, casino,etc all epic movies. same with sopranos, its epic and light years better than any british drama ever made.

our gangster movies are just like an extended episode of the abysmal eastenders, with idiots like grant mitchell hitting people with a crowbar, the trouble too is we dont seem to even understand the basic premise that to be a head mobster or head gangster you must possess a variety of qualities, you are feared and hated, but also loved, and respected, a godfather has to have phenomenal charisma as displayed by brando , pacino, day lewis, newman, deniro, hanks, james gandolfini, and many more....

[the truth]

.....

I don't know. Are they?

If so, at least we have the best theatre, shows, in the UK don't we? and the cream of Classical actors/actresses who I guess prefer working theatre than films maybe?

we produce great stage actors and many great actors....but we do not produce enough greta movies, nor do we seem to produce enough writers considering our culture and history. we invented the language and all the other ancient british languages too....we get the one off like JK Rowling, but she makes £600 million and 99% of the other writers make nothing at all?
wheres the balance and opportunity in this country? we seem to have a really stupid ill thought out system for aspiring writers


so we brits should surely offer more opportunities to british writers....the pathway to screenwriting, script writing, playwriting, novelists etc is a mess in the UK....if youre famous or tacky you have a chance....whereas in america a guy like stallone with no education and poor grammar walks into universal pictures with a rocky script and leaves with $1 million and a chance to play the role of a lifetime

not sure if america is always the land of opportunity, but the UK certainly is not.

[Marsh.]

Because Brits have a funny habit of supporting failures (like people on the dole) and slagging off talented people(who do you think you are?).

It's a very weird culture in the UK.

Basically Brits went from being absolute assholes conquering the world with racism and genocide across the entire planet(aka colonialism), to then just hating themselves and relying on America to do all of their dirty work.

basically, you don't make great movies because you don't have a great history. If Brits really made great movies, they'd start making movies about all of the ******ED up things they did in colonialism.

But British people are not good at self-analysis.

Apart from the fact you obviously have anger issues, calm down with the xenophobia.

You talk about being unpopular on here, well it's not helping your cause by being so aggressive.

America is far from perfect and you can't judge a whole country off the attitude of some scumbags from the press.

Personally, I love to support talented and successful people. It's just with the upsurge in the "famous for being famous" rubbish there's a lot less of them to look out for.

I'll skip over your comment about our history considering the last time I had a debate with you about history and the Royal family, you knew very very little facts. You make bold statements about foreigners that hold very little substance. The way you think you know anything about the UK's culture is laughable.

[Marsh.]

we produce great stage actors and many great actors....but we do not produce enough greta movies, nor do we seem to produce enough writers considering our culture and history. we invented the language and all the other ancient british languages too....we get the one off like JK Rowling, but she makes £600 million and 99% of the other writers make nothing at all?
wheres the balance and opportunity in this country? we seem to have a really stupid ill thought out system for aspiring writers


so we brits should surely offer more opportunities to british writers....the pathway to screenwriting, script writing, playwriting, novelists etc is a mess in the UK....if youre famous or tacky you have a chance....whereas in america a guy like stallone with no education and poor grammar walks into universal pictures with a rocky script and leaves with $1 million and a chance to play the role of a lifetime

not sure if america is always the land of opportunity, but the UK certainly is not.

That's not really a good example though. Thousands upon thousands upon thousands of actors/writers/producers etc from all over the world flock to Hollywood to "make it" and only a very slim % do. It's far from "easy".

[Saph]

Because Brits have a funny habit of supporting failures (like people on the dole) and slagging off talented people(who do you think you are?).

It's a very weird culture in the UK.

Basically Brits went from being absolute assholes conquering the world with racism and genocide across the entire planet(aka colonialism), to then just hating themselves and relying on America to do all of their dirty work.

basically, you don't make great movies because you don't have a great history. If Brits really made great movies, they'd start making movies about all of the ******ED up things they did in colonialism.

But British people are not good at self-analysis.

http://24.media.tumblr.com/f8811b502546a5b2590f48f9f9615e85/tumblr_milr51UE1x1qjxowso1_500.png

[the truth]

the reason it really angers me is that we have such talent and such a heritage for literature and acting....yet we fail to invest in the poortunities for outr talented people. on top of that we then allow the americans to invest in our talent and they take the profits. This is not an anti american thread though I admire and applaud the fact they DO invest in talent, writers, producers, actors far far far far more than we do. I also blame this on the class structure too, the publishers in the UK are way too elitist. we need way more danny boyles, nick hornbys, irvine welshes, ian flemings, ken loaches, michael winners, we also need our own scorseses, but we need more opportunity for these people. lets be brave lets get more investment in british movies.

[james130]

I love British cinema :idc:
- Trainspotting
- Lock Stock
- Full Monty
- Snatch
- 28 Days
- This Is England

[Kizzy]

Who has the money to invest in the arts? The nation is on the skids...

[Marsh.]

the reason it really angers me is that we have such talent and such a heritage for literature and acting....yet we fail to invest in the poortunities for outr talented people. on top of that we then allow the americans to invest in our talent and they take the profits. This is not an anti american thread though I admire and applaud the fact they DO invest in talent, writers, producers, actors far far far far more than we do. I also blame this on the class structure too, the publishers in the UK are way too elitist. we need way more danny boyles, nick hornbys, irvine welshes, ian flemings, ken loaches, michael winners, we also need our own scorseses, but we need more opportunity for these people. lets be brave lets get more investment in british movies.

Where do you suppose they get the money from?

It's easy for you to say "Let's give more opportunities to people like they do in Hollywood" but it's not comparable.

[reece(:]

Because of the tiny budgets they get, mind that there's a few gems out there.

[the truth]

its not just money its the elitist attitude towards writers. its too hard and theres no pathway for aspiring writers to become play writes, its a question of values and opportunities and class war....look at the awesome billy wilder a penniless jewish immigrant who begged at passport control for a visa despite having any papers....they gave him a chance and he won at least 6 oscars for writing and directing umpteen masterpieces. one wonders if hed have had such oppoirtunities here? it seems the UK offers ALL its opportunities to a small select band of oxbridge graduates and the rest seem to have to crawl over broken glass to even get heard. its not just money its our class culture imho

[Alf]

basically, you don't make great movies because you don't have a great history.
Typical Yank, Ignorant as ******