Ian Swenson .com

I’ve long held a bias against movies filmed before 1990. Now that’s just a rough guideline. There were some films in the ’70s & ’80s that were ahead of their time and some in the ’90s past their time. Overall, the premise holds true.

When I watch a movie, I tend to get immersed in it, much as I read a novel. I tend to forget that I’m observing a artificial medium and I experience the story. That’s largely the reason I need characters I can connect with, otherwise my immersion isn’t enjoyable.

There are a few technical aspects that get in the way of this immersion. If the film is grainy or the lighting is too dark, I lose interest. If the sound is too poor to allow me to hear the dialogue clearly, I lose interest. It wasn’t until the mid-’80s that the technology finally approached realism. It was perfected in the early ’90s, allowing me to be engrossed by the movie.

I also get turned off by the hamminess present in many silver screen films. People spoke differently in movies; everything had a hyper-realistic quality I assume meant to counteract their technological deficiencies. If someone were to speak and behave as they did in classic films, they’d be laughed into depression. This too, is a barricade to me being able to forget that I am watching a movie.

Now, this normally isn’t an issue for me. I just avoid movies made before 1990. But then when someone asks if I’ve seen The Godfather or The Seven Samurai, I have to respond negatively and launch into my explanation. I also get perturbed with the infamous “Top 100 Movies to See Before You Die”-type lists (see AFI or Yahoo). They’re largely populated by movies released before my cutoff.

I’ve given them chances, I really have. It’s been a decade since I’ve seen some of these, but I’ll go through a few off of Yahoo’s list:

Apocalypse Now (1979) – Lighting too dark to make out, dialogue strange (purposefully), too mind-trippy for me to enjoy.

Blade Runner (1982) – Lighting and sound quality very poor, movie way too slow (and I love slowly developing movies), villains far too campy.

Casablanca (1942) – I personally don’t get the hoopla surrounding this movie. I’m not a fan in nearly any aspect.

Dr. Strangelove (1964) – I hate, hate, hate Kubrick, and this suffered from very dark lighting too.

It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) – I’m on the fence with this movie. Decent story and good acting, but still hyper-realistic and campy.

On the Waterfront (1954) – This movie nearly put me to sleep. Besides Brando, who really grounded his character, the acting was campy. The lighting made it near impossible to make anything out.

Psycho (1960) – Another classic movie I could not enjoy because of the technical deficiencies.

Rebel Without a Cause (1955) – It’s been fifteen years since I’ve seen this, but I remember disliking it due to camp.

You’ll notice there are several absolute “classics” on the list, if not all of them. I get reamed every time I mention that I dislike these movies. The technological drawbacks of earlier films coupled with general hammy acting has kept me from viewing classics like Citizen Kane, The Godfather, Raging Bull, and The Graduate. I’m afraid I’m going to hate them too. I’d much prefer thinking Kane and Godfather as absolute classics instead of knowing they are not.

Every time I’ve gone through this spiel with someone explaining why I haven’t seen their favorite movie yet, they tell me, “No, it’s different with this one!” I give it a shot and hate it. It sucks. I know these movies are supposed to be good, I just can’t enjoy them because of the way I watch movies. It doesn’t always work out the way — but it usually does.

As an added bonus, here are a few exceptions to my rule:

E.T. (1982) – Speilberg does a great job with lighting, acting, etc.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) – The humor outweighs the horrid lighting and sound quality.

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) – Speilberg again. He’s a technical wizard.

Rocky (1976) – This movie suffers from poor lighting and a sluggish middle, but it had a modern feel to it that let it work me over.

Star Wars (1977) – I absolutely love these movies. There’s little else to be said about them besides that besides the hair styles and the sets, this movie doesn’t look like it was made in the late ’70s.

This is Spinal Tap (1984) – I mention the famous mockumentary because it didn’t aim to be a film and therefore didn’t require my immersion.

Tootsie (1982) – Looks like it was filmed in the early ’90s, the story is great, and Dustin Hoffman amazing.

The Wizard of Oz (1939) – I watched this when I was so young it has the nostalgia factor going for it. Otherwise, I think it’d be nigh unwatchable.