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Black and white movie can actually be awesome

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S

SquiddyCracker

Banned
I know most people think of the old-school B&W movies as boring nonsense with little to no action, too much dialogue, and just a bunch of boreity, but the other day I watched a black and white movie that thoroughly entertained me from start to finish:

Young Frankenstein
Written by Mel Brooks and staring Gene Wilder, Marty Feldman, Peter Boyle, Madeline Kahn, and Teri Garr.

220px-Young_Frankenstein_movie_poster.jpg


It. Is. Awesome.

Really visceral, but with humour that rivals and even surpasses golden-era Adam Sandler. Loved every minute of it, and am looking forward to discovering other black and white classics - haters be damned!
 
Sye d'Burns

Sye d'Burns

Member
SquiddyCracker said:
I know most people think of the old-school B&W movies as boring nonsense with little to no action, too much dialogue, and just a bunch of boreity, but the other day I watched a black and white movie that throughly entertained me from start to finish:

...

Loved every minute of it, and am looking forward to discovering other black and white classics - haters be damned!
Click to expand...

I used to hate, or at least disregard, B&W movies when I was younger. In the last couple of years I've really started to get into them.
 
Banjotanooki

Banjotanooki

Member
MV5BMjIxODY3MjEwNV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwOTMzNjc4Nw@@._V1_SX214_.jpg


Probably Tim Burton's best movie! It's pretty much a gigantic homage to the universal monsters and I was so glad they decided to use black and white for it.
 
H

Htown

STOP SHITTING ON MY MOTHER'S HEADSTONE
Someone's watching the wrong old movies.

The Maltese Falcon is pretty awesome.
 
K

Kurdel

Banned
You are aware that this movie came out in 1974, right?

I mean, the vast majority of black and white movies are horseshit, and this is just an artistic decision to recall the golden years of cinema.
 
Oppo

Oppo

Member
lol

not a lot of Citizen Kane fans here, I take it

also Young Frankenstein was a total oddity for coming out in B&W when it did. Mel Brooks had to fight like hell with the studio to get that.
 
Sye d'Burns

Sye d'Burns

Member
Kurdel said:
I mean, the vast majority of black and white movies are horseshit, and this is just an artistic decision to recall the golden years of cinema.
Click to expand...

The majority of all movies, color or not, fit that description. Still, plenty of good ones remain and to cut yourself off from decades of quality movies because you aren't a fan of the color palette is incredibly short-sighted.
 
L

LyleLanley

Banned
The vast majority of black and white movies are horse shit? Maybe that's true since I haven't seen the vast majority of black and white movies, but the classics are pretty good as far as I'm concerned.
 
W

Woorloog

Banned
I've never been fan of black and white movies, and even less fan of silent movies. EDIT i'm not fan of nearly any film, other than Star Wars and some others.
But Buster Keaton's The General? It is great.
 
T

ThatObviousUser

ὁ αἴσχιστος παῖς εἶ
I did enjoy Nosferatu but I haven't watched many others. I know I need to eventually though to finally complete my transformation into a mega-hipster.

Schindler's List was pretty amazing, of course.
 
Moff

Moff

Member
Kurdel said:
You are aware that this movie came out in 1974, right?

I mean, the vast majority of black and white movies are horseshit, and this is just an artistic decision to recall the golden years of cinema.
Click to expand...

lets agree that the vast majority of all movies are horsehit

but to celebrate your post, I'll add a pic of my favourite "really old" (ie pre 74) black and white movie
images_1351156345_L.jpg
 
K

Kurdel

Banned
Honestly, I don't get some people here.

We all agree people turning down a movie because it is B&W is immature and they are potentialy missing out on a great movie.

On the other hand, people need to get a grip and realize that the only reason they saw those B&W movies is because they rose to the top.

There are tens of thousands of extremely shitty and akward B&W movies that you will never se because they were made in the early years of cinema. The colour palette being a technical aspect that doesn't mean shit, and shouldn't be a point of misguided pride.

On the other hand, a movie that makes use of the BW in an intelligent way like Schindlers List, the Artist or Young Frankenstein should be applauded.
 
S

shadyspace

Banned
A good movie is a good movie. This is like saying "There's some standard def tv shows that are actually pretty good!" It's weird.
 
Sye d'Burns

Sye d'Burns

Member
Kurdel said:
Honestly, I don't get some people here.

We all agree people turning down a movie because it is B&W is immature and they are potentialy missing out on a great movie.

On the other hand, people need to get a grip and realize that the only reason they saw those B&W movies is because they rose to the top.

There are tens of thousands of extremely shitty and akward B&W movies that you will never see because they were made in the early years of cinema. The colour palette being a technical aspect that doesn't mean shit, and shouldn't be a point of misguided pride.
Click to expand...

Scratching out the B&W bit, you could say the same thing about the last twenty years.

"Misguided pride?" That must be some sort of projection issue you're working through.
 
C

Charles Foster Kane

Rosebud
Kurdel said:
Honestly, I don't get some people here.

We all agree people turning down a movie because it is B&W is immature and they are potentialy missing out on a great movie.

On the other hand, people need to get a grip and realize that the only reason they saw those B&W movies is because they rose to the top.

There are tens of thousands of extremely shitty and akward B&W movies that you will never se because they were made in the early years of cinema. The colour palette being a technical aspect that doesn't mean shit, and shouldn't be a point of misguided pride.

On the other hand, a movie that makes use of the BW in an intelligent way like Schindlers List, the Artist or Young Frankenstein should be applauded.
Click to expand...

You mean many old movies are praised because they're old and in B&W? Give me a break, a bad movie is a bad movie no matter when it came out. Those that are lauded and remembered actually earned their recognition.
 
F

Ferrio

Banned
Marx Brothers movies are some of my favorite.

Watch Animal Crackers.

Captain Spaulding (Groucho) "We took some pictures of the native girls, but they weren't developed. But we're going back again in a couple of weeks."
 
H

Htown

STOP SHITTING ON MY MOTHER'S HEADSTONE
Kurdel said:
Honestly, I don't get some people here.

We all agree people turning down a movie because it is B&W is immature and they are potentialy missing out on a great movie.

On the other hand, people need to get a grip and realize that the only reason they saw those B&W movies is because they rose to the top.

There are tens of thousands of extremely shitty and akward B&W movies that you will never se because they were made in the early years of cinema. The colour palette being a technical aspect that doesn't mean shit, and shouldn't be a point of misguided pride.

On the other hand, a movie that makes use of the BW in an intelligent way like Schindlers List, the Artist or Young Frankenstein should be applauded.
Click to expand...

The whole thread is about the fact that it's somehow supposed to be a surprise that there are good black and white movies out there.
 
F

Freezie KO

Banned
The idea that we should even list black and white movies is ridiculous. There are too many films, before the advent of color film, that range from "worth watching" to "masterpiece." It's an exercise in futility.

Of course there were bad black and white movies and there are bad color movies.
 
E

equippedwithtowel

Member
A black and white or grey-scale colour palate can do wonders for the look of a film. It's by no means inherently superior but the are defiantly cases where it adds to the end product.
 
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