Entertainment blind spots

[Himu]

To not make the George Michael RIP thread more off topic. Are there things media or entertainment-wise that you're familiar with that have always been in your life that you never really questioned? If you asked me before yesterday what a George Michael song was I couldn't name one, but after listening to his top hits (both Wham and solo) it turns out I knew quite a lot of his hits. Anyone else have entertainment you've been like that with? Or maybe you just went your entire life without having watched Star Wars like Shaka recently had? What are some entertainment blind spots you've had that are interesting?

[Human Snorenado]

Modern network tv. I stopped watching or caring after about 2007-8. Like, you can say "bazinga" and I'll know it's from that awful Big Bang Theory show, but don't ask me to talk about episodes with you.

[Rahxephon91]

Rap and just in general modern music. I have no idea who most of the current music people are.

[Phoenix Dark]

Black people in general.

[etiolate]

No, I'm too nerdy for that. If I have something I like, I research it. I never buy a product blindly, I research it. If I eat a good meal, I figure out how it was made. Have an obsessive need to understand.

[ToxicAdam]

I'm kind of an entertainment and trivia junky, so I always find myself retaining this shit even if I don't consume it. I could tell you a lot about television shows in the past decade even though I haven't been addicted to a show since The Sopranos.

The Beatles would be my answer, I guess. I've never owned a song/album from them and only know what gets played on radio. I didn't even really appreciate them until I got stuck at a beer garden listening to a tribute band blaze through their back catalog. I finally 'got it', but not enough to really become a fan.

[Himu]

No, I'm too nerdy for that. If I have something I like, I research it. I never buy a product blindly, I research it. If I eat a good meal, I figure out how it was made. Have an obsessive need to understand.

So there's nothing in larger general culture you hav ignored and just don't know about that's really popular or influential?

[Human Snorenado]

No, I'm too nerdy for that. If I have something I like, I research it. I never buy a product blindly, I research it. If I eat a good meal, I figure out how it was made. Have an obsessive need to understand.

So there's nothing in larger general culture you hav ignored and just don't know about that's really popular or influential?

Feminism, obvs

[Ichirou]

Kanye West, the Kardashians (other than Kim's lousy sex tape), Adventure Time, that other show about the gay fat kid and the crystal gen ladies, Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Twilight, those Shailene Woodley sci-if movies that are like a Hunger Games rip-off...

[nudemacusers]

gotta give kim props tho, she turned a garbage, and i mean garbage, z-tier* celebrity sex tape into a media empire worth hundreds of millions.

*lol ray j

[VomKriege]

Guess it depends on what you define as entertainment but... pretty much everything ?
I mean really, I intake a miniscule number of movies relative to what is produced, my music comes exclusively from mixes podcast (house and techno mainly), I stopped tv shows for several years though with Netflix I can enjoy a handful of good ones. Videogames I barely play those days even if somewhat up to date thanks to forums and books take time -half of my backlog is not fiction anyway-.

[etiolate]

No, I'm too nerdy for that. If I have something I like, I research it. I never buy a product blindly, I research it. If I eat a good meal, I figure out how it was made. Have an obsessive need to understand.

So there's nothing in larger general culture you hav ignored and just don't know about that's really popular or influential?

Things I don't like, I don't spend time researching. There's also generational gaps that I have to fill in. When I started streaming games, I realized my eclectic music taste didn't fit in with viewer/gaming vibe. So I got into finding glitch-hop, more hip hop, some trap (eesh) and other streamer friendly music. Not all of it I like, so sometimes I look into things outside my interest. Mostly, if I don't like it then I don't spend time on it. I don't like politics, so I don't know cabinet members of each administration or items such as that.


Also, I am listening to a Camille Paglia video when I saw the feminism jab. Some of you fuckers are pure fail.

[Himu]

The feminism jab was pretty good though gotta admt

[etiolate]

The feminism jab was pretty good though gotta admt

Not really. It's butthurt ignorance.

[Human Snorenado]

The feminism jab was pretty good though gotta admt

Not really. It's butthurt ignorance.

You keep using those words.

I do not think they mean what you think they mean.

[PlayDat]

Nearly all forms of sports whether they be physical, electronic, chess, or whatever.  From the Superbowl to the Olympics I can't muster up much interest.  I do have a fondness for late '90s - early '00s extreme sports games (SSX, Blitz, Tony Hawk, NBA Street etc.).

I don't like most fantasy.  LotR, Elder Scrolls, Harry Potter, and Game of Thrones all bore me. 

Video games from 2012 - present.  I think I'll get back into them eventually though.  The games I like are too expensive and time consuming.  Free to play and mobile games rarely do anything for me.  Major franchises I haven't touched or played just one game from: Zelda, Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, MGS, Diablo, and probably some more I can't think of.

Never been much into film or anime.  I might change this soon.

Most music before 1990.  I've got a couple of really popular albums, but there's still a massive trove I've barely scratched the surface of.

Rap music one of only a few forms of media I feel comfortable saying I'm relatively knowledgeable about.  There're a still a bunch of niche subcategories in there that I've yet to explore, but I only know they exist because of how much time I've spent listening to and reading about the genre.  The other would probably be games.  Even though I admit to not playing much in recent years, I still follow the industry more closely than most people.

We're at a point where there's far too much readily available quality entertainment for anyone to truly be up on everything.  From now on I'm going to try to pick things that seem interesting and make the time and effort to engage with them rather than just let the backlog pile up.  It'll keep growing, but for a long time I was waiting for that perfect opportunity to indulge in my entertainment interests.  I realized that time isn't gonna come unless I create it.

[dkdk]

Movies and Books. Just never been that big of a fan of either.

[Tasty]

Almost all music, but particularly rap and hip-hop. My whitebread upbringing has hamstrung me a bit there. Like I can recognize the names Drake, Kanye, the guys in the Compton movie, but I have no clue about what they've done or where they've come from. Just beyond my purview (for now.)

Current YouTuber culture. I see the aftershocks of the "drama" and just go, "wat."

I haven't read many books, even classic ones, and I feel kinda bad about it. I started reading Hemingway earlier this year and haven't gotten through the book of short stories yet.

I watch a ton of movies but I stick mostly to American stuff and films made in the last 30 years. Need to branch out more.

[jakefromstatefarm]

I stopped watching TV years ago except for GoT and the eric andre show

[Himu]

Tasty:

My suggestion for early film is Metropolis and The Passion of Joan of Arc. When watching films for knowledge it's best to do it when watching specific eras, I feel. So watch the best of the silent era, watch the best of early Hollywood talky films. Watch specific movements in foreign film like French New Wave of Japanese film from mid last century. Watch the most coveted Korean films of 2000-2010's. Watch the best films of Hollywood golden age (60's to 90's).

Robert Ebert best films list, IMDb top 100, and AFI's top 100 films list. Watching these will cover lots of ground and put you as a pretty fair film buff.

One suggestion is to start with criterion. Most are on Hulu for free. Pick which era or movement interests you and I and others can probably give some suggestions.

[Himu]

See, what I say? Lol

If you want suggestions on Japansse film I am your lady.

[Tasty]

Tasty:

My suggestion for early film is Metropolis and The Passion of Joan of Arc. When watching films for knowledge it's best to do it when watching specific eras, I feel. So watch the best of the silent era, watch the best of early Hollywood talky films. Watch specific movements in foreign film like French New Wave of Japanese film from mid last century. Watch the most coveted Korean films of 2000-2010's. Watch the best films of Hollywood golden age (60's to 90's).

Robert Ebert best films list, IMDb top 100, and AFI's top 100 films list. Watching these will cover lots of ground and put you as a pretty fair film buff.

One suggestion is to start with criterion. Most are on Hulu for free. Pick which era or movement interests you and I and others can probably give some suggestions.

I can help you with that.

Yeah, been trying to follow Ebert's favorite movies since I have yet to find a review of his I disagree with.

I have a Hulu sub so I have access to a lot of Criterion's stuff, which I'm also going to work through soon. Will be marathoning Kurosawa shortly.

Might post a thread about it but I'm not lacking for recommendations right now, haha. The issue, as always, is free time.

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

There are multiple cuts of Metropolis.  The most recent one has the most amount of footage as they recovered some of it.  There's an 80s version where Giorgio Moroder and his coke buddies created a colored remastered version with their own music.  A lot of people hated it but I didn't mind it.  Some of the other older movies are also available on Youtube like Battleship Potemkin:



As for entertainment blind spots, I actively avoid comic book bullshit now.

[Tasty]

I've seen more than a few from more than 30 years ago (hence "mostly,") and I have nothing against past eras of movies. It's just stuff from the 80's-on catches my attention or comes up in conversation more. Selection bias, maybe.

I have no patience for snobbery, haha.

Nosferatu is the earliest movie made that I've seen.

[Tasty]

By the by, you will find yourself disliking some classics and that's fine. It won't be because of the time it came out or anything, some things just won't work out for you and I'm actually interested in you articulating why you don't like a revered movie. As I always find that type of shit interesting.

Breh, it's not like I've never seen a movie in my life.

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

Looks like Sergei Eisenstein's films are all up on Youtube.  I highly recommend watching them.

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

I'm not much of one.  I just find certain eras interesting.

[Tasty]

Had no idea Criterion ditched Hulu. Fml.

[Valkyrie]

I've never watched Star Wars either, and I wouldn't know where to begin. Not sure why I haven't, since I really enjoy Sci-Fi. And I haven't seen Games of Thrones. After getting a new PC, I spend most of the time on it playing games, and I hardly feel like watching stuff anymore. But I've spent a lot of time previously watching movies at TV shows.

[TakingBackSunday]

Fugazi, jazz music, MMOs I guess

[thisismyusername]

I've seen more than a few from more than 30 years ago (hence "mostly,") and I have nothing against past eras of movies. It's just stuff from the 80's-on catches my attention or comes up in conversation more. Selection bias, maybe.

Eh, I can understand it. It's hard for me to go/care about things that happened in the 1950's (or ealier), 1960's is my limit (due to the Camelot years/JFK) for most things and even then I generally don't watch films that are in the 1960-1970's due to how they "aged"/hard to get into.

I think outside of the Bond Films of that era, and like Dr. Strangelove I haven't watched too many 1970's films.

[recursivelyenumerable]

I don't really try to maintain full spectrum dominance of the pop cultural battlefield so ... 99% of it probably? I'm sure there's tons of interesting stuff, probably including entire genres and mediums I have no idea exist.

[tiesto]

Oh man, where do I start? I feel like I can barely keep up with the things I like so I kinda live in a bubble when it comes to outside stuff.

-Country music in general. Apart from Ring Of Fire and a few Shania Twain songs from the 90s I could hear a country song and not even be able to tell you who composed it. I couldn't name a Garth Brooks or Carrie Underwood song for the life of me.
-I didn't know who "The Band" was until recently, either.
-NASCAR. "Liberal Coastal Elite" indeed.
-Anything Kardashian related. This is a purposeful blind spot.
-Following that up, most reality TV, I will occasionally watch some of the HGTV or Food Network shows, I've seen a few eps of the midget show too.
-Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones. I read The Hobbit when I was like 10 and saw one of the Harry Potter movies with an ex who was obsessed, but that's it.
-Pre-80's movies. This is something I want to get more into. The Godfather 1 and 2. Any of the Rocky movies.Taxi Driver. Kurosawa. Metropolis. Ben Hur. etc.
-I'll hear quite a bit of pop music but the first time I hear it is usually via their remix.
-Most sports talk. I know all the rules, I know most of the teams. Players, only a few big ones. But I couldn't tell you the day-to-day activities of any particular sports league, unless its a local team doing well. Basketball out of all the sports is what I'm blindest to. I remember saying, "wait, Oklahoma City has a team?" when someone was talking about them and they were like "yeah, they won the championship last year!".
-Apps and phone related tech. Don't have much interest, even though it's expected of me considering my field.

[brawndolicious]

I don't follow sports at all despite everybody asking me if I play basketball, as they do with any tallish, lanky man. I was so happy when the Warriors lost and the Bay Area collectively ignored them for a few months.

My gf is into youtube vlog girls while I can't really follow what they're saying most of the time. Most youtube "personalities" are irrelevant to me unless they're teaching, reviewing, or making fun of something.

Rahx-style tangent: All that weird big tit/butt, multiple male, pissing, spitting, fake casting/hookers, and weirder styles of porno is just wtf to me.

[Tasty]

I still don't know the rules of (American) football and am completely lost when it's on the TV in social settings, other than "Pats have a higher score therefore good."

[tiesto]

Video games from 2012 - present.  I think I'll get back into them eventually though.  The games I like are too expensive and time consuming.  Free to play and mobile games rarely do anything for me.  Major franchises I haven't touched or played just one game from: Zelda, Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, MGS, Diablo, and probably some more I can't think of.

Hmm, seems you haven't touched games from some of my all time favorite series. I'd encourage you to give Dragon Quest 5 and 8 and Link to the Past tries one of these days!

[Himu]

Haha, the golden age of Hollywood is definitely seen as the 30's - 60's but it feels more of a silver age to me for American cinema. My personal opinion I guess. If I had a gun to my head I'd probably say 1945 - 1990 for Hollywood's real golden age in terms of quality and vision.

I didn't know that Criterion took their stuff off Hulu and made their own thing. TIL.

Anyways, this presents one of my blind spots. I can name most notable movies of the 20th century foreign and domestic. I'm pretty knowledgeable about the 2000's, but the 2010's? I don't know shit about today's film (I say film and not movies). It doesn't help that going to the theater is fucking expensive now. Christ. I, a film fanatic went to the theaters twice this year to see Star Wars and Moonlight. I want to see a few others like Fences but I'm pressed for time. But I still watched lots of (old) movies for their cinematography and lighting to learn from them.

I hope Andy has a great time going through film lists. I did it ten years ago with the aid of Netflix and AFI's list. It was neat in how watching old movies filled in blanks culturally. Like the Stelllllaaaaaa reference on Ssinfeld. Watching old films made me feel like I became a semblance of..."cultured" I guess.

[Himu]

I've seen more than a few from more than 30 years ago (hence "mostly,") and I have nothing against past eras of movies. It's just stuff from the 80's-on catches my attention or comes up in conversation more. Selection bias, maybe.

Eh, I can understand it. It's hard for me to go/care about things that happened in the 1950's (or ealier), 1960's is my limit (due to the Camelot years/JFK) for most things and even then I generally don't watch films that are in the 1960-1970's due to how they "aged"/hard to get into.

I think outside of the Bond Films of that era, and like Dr. Strangelove I haven't watched too many 1970's films.

This is why I suggest watching the latest cut of Metropolis. It truly shows the storytelling ability of a silent film. All one really needs is a nice introduction. Most of the lack of interest and familiarity with old films like that is that feel so foreign and overbearing. But watching something like Metropolis shows how truly similar they are to any great film and that films are films. It's understandable to not want to branch out but the more you do the more you get comfortable with it. Used to hate black and white but after watching Kurosawa and all that black and white 40's American film, I came to adore it. Giving it a chance usually does the trick.

[Himu]

Nosferatu is also on youtube, as a horror fan you're obligated to watch it and Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.

Nosferatu is still legit creepy in some ways. Crazy.

[Tasty]

If I had a gun to my head I'd probably say 1945 - 1990 for Hollywood's real golden age in terms of quality and vision.

That's uh, quite broad.

"Golden Age" doesn't really refer to the quality of stuff released, just the time period and studio structure. New Hollywood took over in the 60-80s as directors started asserting much more control (and ended when such control resulted in massive box office bombs.) I haven't watched many films from before this time but I am familiar with the history of Hollywood itself.

Anyways, this presents one of my blind spots. I can name most notable movies of the 20th century foreign and domestic. I'm pretty knowledgeable about the 2000's, but the 2010's? I don't know shit about today's film (I say film and not movies). It doesn't help that going to the theater is fucking expensive now. Christ. I, a film fanatic went to the theaters twice this year to see Star Wars and Moonlight. I want to see a few others like Fences but I'm pressed for time. But I still watched lots of (old) movies for their cinematography and lighting to learn from them.

Just read my reviews. 4/5 or 5/5 is must see.

I hope Andy has a great time going through film lists. I did it ten years ago with the aid of Netflix and AFI's list. It was neat in how watching old movies filled in blanks culturally. Like the Stelllllaaaaaa reference on Ssinfeld. Watching old films made me feel like I became a semblance of..."cultured" I guess.

Haha, I had the same reaction when I watched The Elephant Man. Had seen the Seinfeld episode "The Pick" and Jerry's "I am not an animal!" proclamation but had no clue what it was from.

[Himu]

If I had a gun to my head I'd probably say 1945 - 1990 for Hollywood's real golden age in terms of quality and vision.

That's uh, quite broad.

"Golden Age" doesn't really refer to the quality of stuff released, just the time period and studio structure. New Hollywood took over in the 60-80s as directors started asserting much more control (and ended when such control resulted in massive box office bombs.) I haven't watched many films from before this time but I am familiar with the history of Hollywood itself.

It's definitely broad, I'm highly biased I guess. I can't not consider The Godfather II a part of America's cinematic golden age. I forgot Casablanca was 1943 and Citizen Kane was 41. The 40's were the real decade when things started taking off. The 30's, ehhhh, I'm kind of iffy on it but it has some great stuff in it.

Please feel free to watch Charlie Chaplin movies. The man was amazing at what he did and it's easy to discount him because of the comedy shtick he's known for now, but a lot of his movies like The Kid and the The Great Dictator.

You can see some of them here. Again, found on youtube.

Haha, I had the same reaction when I watched The Elephant Man. Had seen the Seinfeld episode "The Pick" and Jerry's "I am not an animal!" proclamation but had no clue what it was from.

:stare

Andrex watching David Lynch?!

Have you seen our lord and savior Mulholland Drive?!

Seriously though, yes. It fills in cultural gaps and shows just how impactful film was in the 20th century.

[Himu]

By the by, you will find yourself disliking some classics and that's fine. It won't be because of the time it came out or anything, some things just won't work out for you and I'm actually interested in you articulating why you don't like a revered movie. As I always find that type of shit interesting.

Breh, it's not like I've never seen a movie in my life.

He's got a point though. You need to consider it and how it may impact how you enjoy a film. Let's take Star Wars and fucking Hidden Fortress. All these years I heard about Hidden Fortress being "ripped off" by Star Wars and George Lucas so when I was on my film learning escapades I decided to watch it. I mean, it's largely considered a classic by a lot and because of the Star Wars bump, it had a lot of film hipsters fellating it because they knew the "real" source of inspriration for Star Wars. So I watch the film, already a Kurosawa fan and...I think it's his worst fucking movie and I'm getting flashbacks laughing at the awful acting of Misa Uehara staring at the screen with a constipated face.



Holy God, I hate that movie. George Lucas turned shit into gold.

It's just something to keep in mind that you WILL have preconceptions going in.

Personally, as much as I like Kurosawa, my favorite Japanese director is Ozu. Tokyo Story is my favorite Japanese film.

[etiolate]

I'm not that high on Hidden Fortress either. Not sure what it was, but it didn't really do much for me.

tiesto: I liked country when I was a kid, went away from it for a long time and rediscovered it recently. I've actually been on a Dwight Yoakam kick and watched a doc on the Bakersfield Sound. When my Uncle passed, I adopted some of his old record collection, picking out the Merle Haggard, Waylon and Bob Willis records.

Carrie Underwood won't help you appreciate country music.

[Coax]

Anyone who claims SW ripped off Hidden Fortress sounds a bit pretentious. The most I've seen it attributed to was the inspiration for the droids narrative. Can't even remember what I thought of the film, which I suppose makes it the least memorable of the ten or so Kurosawa films I've seen. High and Low, Ikiru and The Lower Depths are my personal favs. The latter for the issues and questions it raises moreso than the filmmaking itself.

Keaton's The General (1926) is possibly the earliest film I've seen. Still holds up.

[Himu]

Anyone who claims SW ripped off Hidden Fortress sounds a bit pretentious.

Eh. Inspired, "was a huge influence" are usually how it's framed.

Ex:

http://www.avclub.com/review/influence-star-wars-hidden-fortress-kurosawas-most-202332

also lol at that avclub link. Kurosawa's funnest film. Fucking give me a break.

[VomKriege]

There's no ripping off, just enlightenement at borrowing from Joseph Campbell's primordial soup

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[close]

[bork]

-Quite a lot of TV shows.  Sitcoms and stuff like 24, Game Of Thrones, and Breaking Bad.  Never seen those.  I stopped watching a lot of TV in 2005 when I moved to Japan and lost track of stuff.  Even after moving back to the States seven years ago, I still haven't gotten back into a lot of TV shows.  It's just been a handful of stuff on USA (which have all ended apart from Suits) and then a few shows that pop up on Hulu, and the CW "Arrowverse" stuff.  I still need to watch all of the Netflix Marvel shows.

-Pop music.  Not really a surprise since by pop music standards I'm an old fart at 35.  But I also don't like most of what I hear anyway.  A lot of rap also just sounds like total shit, with awful lyrics and half-baked beats.  The latter has really gone downhill

-Young Adult 'fantasy' movies.  Stuff like Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, or any of that other shit. 

-Sports.  Never cared and have always found them boring to watch.

-Reality TV. 

[thisismyusername]

Breaking Bad.  Never seen.

Fix this, immediately.

It's just been a handful of stuff on USA (which have all ended apart from Suits)

Mr. Robot, thank me later.

-Young Adult 'fantasy' movies.  Stuff like Harry Potter, The Hunger Games

The books are better (but I haven't really read the Hunger Games and haven't finished Harry Potter. Need to.)

[CatsCatsCats]

Mr Robot sux

[thisismyusername]

Friendship... deleted.

[Tasty]

By the by, you will find yourself disliking some classics and that's fine. It won't be because of the time it came out or anything, some things just won't work out for you and I'm actually interested in you articulating why you don't like a revered movie. As I always find that type of shit interesting.

Breh, it's not like I've never seen a movie in my life.

He's got a point though. You need to consider it and how it may impact how you enjoy a film. Let's take Star Wars and fucking Hidden Fortress. All these years I heard about Hidden Fortress being "ripped off" by Star Wars and George Lucas so when I was on my film learning escapades I decided to watch it. I mean, it's largely considered a classic by a lot and because of the Star Wars bump, it had a lot of film hipsters fellating it because they knew the "real" source of inspriration for Star Wars. So I watch the film, already a Kurosawa fan and...I think it's his worst fucking movie and I'm getting flashbacks laughing at the awful acting of Misa Uehara staring at the screen with a constipated face.

(Image removed from quote.)

Holy God, I hate that movie. George Lucas turned shit into gold.

It's just something to keep in mind that you WILL have preconceptions going in.

Personally, as much as I like Kurosawa, my favorite Japanese director is Ozu. Tokyo Story is my favorite Japanese film.

This is what I mean: of course I've watched venerated movies before and disagreed with the zeitgeist. This isn't new info for anyone who's watched movies before.

[PlayDat]

Video games from 2012 - present.  I think I'll get back into them eventually though.  The games I like are too expensive and time consuming.  Free to play and mobile games rarely do anything for me.  Major franchises I haven't touched or played just one game from: Zelda, Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, MGS, Diablo, and probably some more I can't think of.

Hmm, seems you haven't touched games from some of my all time favorite series. I'd encourage you to give Dragon Quest 5 and 8 and Link to the Past tries one of these days!

Once I have a more stable living arrangement I'm going to get my PS2 back from my mother's place and play through a bunch of old games I could never afford when I was younger.  I'm thinking of picking up a GameCube off Ebay as it was the only console from that generation my house didn't have.