Patty Jenkins Slams Streaming Movies: “They Look Like Fake Movies To Me”

[Immortal Weapon]

Neat idea, but wouldn't you have to terminate SSL at your router for it to be able to inspect the HTTPS packets? Or could it be done by blocking DNS hostnames?

It will block the host names. If I can find a list of common ad servers it should do the trick. I have to hope there isn't a cap on how many URLs can be blocked.

[skyvolt2000]

Then it's really weird to see Disney and Nickelodeon airing commercials for each other's shows.

What I suspect is for Disney-it's cheaper to buy ad time during Nickelodeon (and Cartoon Network) shows than with some other networks.

You are also reaching the same target audience.

Heck if you pick up some older (90s era) of Archie Comics-you will see ads for DC Comics.

I've seen print ads for some Netflix movies or series, but I don't feel like they buy a lot of tv ads. Does anyone feel like they see as many tv ads for Netflix movies as theatrical movies? I wonder if they save money by counting on after-release buzz to do the advertising for them? (especially since they can play the long game and not rely on a good opening weekend)

Honestly I have not see Netflix on tv but I have seen Amazon ads for movies and Hulu (just in general not promoting one thing) during Texas Rangers and Dallas Wings games on Bally Sports.

They will NOT stop promoting Jason Moama's show and Matt Damon movie. Before that it was Michael B Jordan's movie.

While youtube does Shudder and Amazon and sometimes IMBD.

Most streaming movies I don't hear about them, I don't read about them. I just happen to stumble on them and watch them if they're okay--if I get a bad feeling in the first ten minutes I click off. But this is what you'd expect, because most of these movies don't get the promotional money behind them to drive people to watch them.

A lot of times the rights to those movies get bought up by someone. I look at Tubi alot and have seen way too many films dated 2020-2021 that I have never heard of.

While others you have to wonder HOW they never got promoted when you see who is in the cast.


Now if Patty was talking about Asylum Films-she has a HUGE point. The thing is a lot of these films were made with hopes of theater runs but that is out of their hands.

I mean we have these film festivals for a reason to buy films.

I mean if you are tossing it on say Hulu or Tubi-WHY even bother doing ads for them? You already got an audience.

[Agent Z]

I'm sorry, to me it looks like Jenkins is stating the obvious and not in a high-handed way. One would have to actually hear her statement and what tone of voice she used, to tell if she was being overly disdainful.

It reads like something I would say.

Most streaming movies I don't hear about them, I don't read about them. I just happen to stumble on them and watch them if they're okay--if I get a bad feeling in the first ten minutes I click off. But this is what you'd expect, because most of these movies don't get the promotional money behind them to drive people to watch them. Theatrical movies have big campaigns and dedicate a large part of their budget to the advance game.

And even if these movies generate some buzz on social media, that quickly fades and it's like they never existed.

She didn't say this, but watching movies on the small screen, they don't look big--they look cheap. And for movies with any C.G.I., what kind of screen you see them on--and how the data is getting to your screen--changes everything. The effects are designed for optimum viewing--if you don't have that, it's going to look hinky.

Watching "The Battle of Winterfell" on my screen, it kept switching off because it wasn't reading any data--I had to keep clicking to get it to play again. In a movie theatre, it would have been much better, because that's the optimum display.

In the long run this all could change. If we get those FARENHEIT 451 parlor wall screens and everything in Bradburyvision, then watching movies at home could be the best way to see them. And then we would be socially driven to consume movies in that way and not go out of our homes.

For a substantial segment of the population, the drawbacks of seeing a movie in the theater outweighed the advantages, even pre-pandemic. There's travel, cost, obnoxious people in the audience who do things like talk loudly on their phones or yell during the entire movie. People who watch movies at home on TV or their laptops don't have to worry about that.

Originally, the primary reason for going to a theatre was that it was the only place you could see a movie. That isn't the case anymore and people have far less incentive to do that now due to current circumstances.

[Vakanai]

And?

Like I don't understand how that is supposed to be a shot against them. I don't have a lot of time in a given day between work, dogs, wife/kids, gym/ring training, writing/shooting/editing my own projects....so when I get online its on a certain specific site at a specific time and that's it. So there are tons and tons of streaming stuff that pops up that I have no idea what it is. Just because I don't does not mean it can't or won't be good. Just because there are a lot of them and yeah they come outta nowhere doesn't make them bad...or whatever Jenkins seems to be railing against here. As folks have said, her words reek of gatekeeping.

That's because it wasn't meant as a shot against them. I wasn't knocking them, I was merely stating how they seem kind of "fake" - not because they're bad, but because they're movies that sort of just "appear". Titles you've never heard of, never seen a trailer for, never heard anyone talk about, that's not on anyone's "top ten" list, it's almost like movies people just made up on the spot except they exist. Like I said, it's not an indictment on quality, nor is it gatekeeping. I think that might be what she meant, and maybe everyone's taken it like snubby gatekeeping when it wasn't intended as such? Of course that's just my guess, I can't speak for Patty Jenkins, I can only guess. But I know that for me, so used to decades of how films used to come out, this new trend of streaming movies where so many movies just appearing as if they slipped in from elsewhere in the multiverse is kind of new, and I can understand how they almost might not feel real.

[Vakanai]

For a substantial segment of the population, the drawbacks of seeing a movie in the theater outweighed the advantages, even pre-pandemic. There's travel, cost, obnoxious people in the audience who do things like talk loudly on their phones or yell during the entire movie. People who watch movies at home on TV or their laptops don't have to worry about that.

The primary reason for going to a theatre was that it was the only place you could see a movie. That isn't the case anymore and people have far less incentive to do that due to current circumstances.

I don't think those reasons are that big - travel depends on how near a theater is to you, but for most people it isn't more than a half hour's ride - people drive further for groceries, so not a big deal for most. Cost I think is also overblown - the tickets aren't that much, especially if you go to the matinee. So just plan your movie watching during matinee showings. No obnoxious people are a thing, but honestly I've only had that problem like two or three times tops. So unless your experience is wildly different than mine, most audiences seem alright.

My only reason for avoiding the theater is covid, not all these other complaints. And I imagine I'm not some niche case minority. Yes, there's a group of people not crazy about going to theaters and would love for a post-theater world to happen. But it's not an overwhelming majority of people, not by a long shot.

[Gitagon]

Some of these directors need to get with the game. No matter how much some segment of the population downplays Covid, a considerable number of people still take this illness seriously. I for one have lung issues plus I'm not putting my parents who are in the risk group in danger unless I cut my interactions with them. There is no way I'm going back to doing any of the stuff I was doing 2019 prior despite being fully vaccinated. I already had issues with shortness of breath beyond Covid so I can't even imagine what Covid would do to me. And despite the vaccine, new vaccine-resistant strains pop up daily.

And while most countries have opened back up, it's mostly for work. The entertainment industry is still hampered in most cases. Streaming really is a blessing in this case. Without streaming I wouldn't have seen all the movies that came out this year

[Hellion]

With all due respect to Patty Jenkins, and acknowledging that mileage will inevitably vary when it comes to personal tastes, I'd still invite her to watch The Irishman and The Two Popes.

Hell, The Irishman was deemed important enough to get a Criterion Collection DVD release.

[KabutoRyder]

I don't think those reasons are that big - travel depends on how near a theater is to you, but for most people it isn't more than a half hour's ride - people drive further for groceries, so not a big deal for most. Cost I think is also overblown - the tickets aren't that much, especially if you go to the matinee. So just plan your movie watching during matinee showings. No obnoxious people are a thing, but honestly I've only had that problem like two or three times tops. So unless your experience is wildly different than mine, most audiences seem alright.

My only reason for avoiding the theater is covid, not all these other complaints. And I imagine I'm not some niche case minority. Yes, there's a group of people not crazy about going to theaters and would love for a post-theater world to happen. But it's not an overwhelming majority of people, not by a long shot.

Different people have different reasons and financial situations or heck time situations. You say 'just plan your movie watching during matinee showings' that may not work for however many people. Tickets aren't that much...tickets and concessions for one person may not or even two. When you have families, multiple kids etc that stuff adds up. Taking my wife and our daughters to the movies was def not cheap and not something we would look to do often due to cost.

As someone said earlier, theaters got big because it was the only way to see those things, now we have all different types of ways to consume media, TV, movies and such. We're are evolving and people just need to face facts that things are changing whether they like it or not.

[Mister Mets]

Wonder Woman Director Criticizes Streaming Services’ Fake-Looking Movies



Agree or disagree with her comments? Sound off below.

It seems that a lot of this has been taken out of context.

The general impression was that she was complaining about the quality, when it's more a complaint about the lack of attention and publicity.

[Zero Hunter]

What it all really comes down to is streaming movies are usually made cheaper so "big name" directors can't milk the studios for outrageous fat paychecks they have gotten used to with blockbusters. That is all it really is. Of coarse most big directors don't want streaming to become more the norm because it tales money out of their pockets. It has nothing to do with film quality. There have always been junk movies.

[Immortal Weapon]

It seems that a lot of this has been taken out of context.

The general impression was that she was complaining about the quality, when it's more a complaint about the lack of attention and publicity.

I don't think it has anything to do with quality. Streaming has tossed a wrench in how Hollywood system usually works. How movies get greenlit will be different, the metrics for success will be different, payouts will be different (probably biggest issue for a Patty Jenkins). Making this about quality is a smokescreen.

[bruceleegreyhulk]

Technically the picture quality of movies in theaters would be better than the picture quality of movies on streaming. 250Mbps bitrate vs. 40 Mb/s bitrate ( Apple TV+).

[WestPhillyPunisher]

To give my uninformed opinion: The traditional movie making/release model was already starting to shift from big screen to small screen BEFORE last year’s lockdown shuttered multiplexes. With scores of people unable or unwilling to return to theaters, especially with the delta variant of the virus currently running rampant, streaming has become their main option, if not their only option for watching movies. So, for Jenkins to diss the format sounds like elitism/sour grapes to me.

[Vakanai]

To give my uninformed opinion: The traditional movie making/release model was already starting to shift from big screen to small screen BEFORE last year’s lockdown shuttered multiplexes. With scores of people unable or unwilling to return to theaters, especially with the delta variant of the virus currently running rampant, streaming has become their main option, if not their only option for watching movies. So, for Jenkins to diss the format sounds like elitism/sour grapes to me.

But did she diss the format? She said that they seem like fake movies, but that feels less like a diss on the films' quality and more related to lack of marketing/advertising that makes it seem like they just come out of nowhere.

[Jim Kelly]

"Aren’t you seeing it? All of the films that streaming services are putting out, I’m sorry, they look like fake movies to me. I don’t hear about them, I don’t read about them. It’s not working as a model for establishing legendary greatness."

I've been watching classic PERRY MASON and there's an argument of "best evidence." We have a quote of a quote, excerpted from a much longer conversation. And we know that this was all recorded--so best evidence is to have the actual recording and look at that--not rely on partial evidence.

There's enough bits in there (like the ones I bolded) that soften the emphasis. Which to my Canadian ear is how we talk up here. We don't want to go too hard with what we're saying, so we add in these little bits to play it down. Which probably makes us sound wishy-washy to Americans. She isn't saying this is the fact and indisputable. It's speculation.

The question people raise about the pandemic is valid--but without more context we don't know if that came up. It seems like something a good interviewer would ask about.

I'm so tired of sites getting views by pulling out one quote from a longer conversation--with all the context shaved away. Everyone over-reacts to that one quote. Then it often turns out that's a misrepresentation of everything that was said. But by then the genie is out of the bottle--and the first rough draft of history is embedded in everyone's consciousness.

I'm willing to wait for best evidence and then judge from that.