A good question

[Rev. Powell]

And after you've seen b&w films every Saturday for MONTHS, you realizze that old films don't really have much of a plot.  Even by bad movie standards.

That's a strange thing to say.  Maybe you've just run into a bad string of old movies.  Or maybe what seemed a little fresher back then seems stale to you now, because by the time you saw the originals you'd already seen the plots imitated dozens of times by future moviemakers. 

I agree with Threnody's original comments.  Also, B&W seems more dreamlike to me.  Unless a modern film really uses color well, I actually prefer B&W.

[Patient7]

And after you've seen b&w films every Saturday for MONTHS, you realizze that old films don't really have much of a plot.  Even by bad movie standards.

That's a strange thing to say.  Maybe you've just run into a bad string of old movies.  Or maybe what seemed a little fresher back then seems stale to you now, because by the time you saw the originals you'd already seen the plots imitated dozens of times by future moviemakers. 

I agree with Threnody's original comments.  Also, B&W seems more dreamlike to me.  Unless a modern film really uses color well, I actually prefer B&W.

That could be it, because these were CLASSICS!!! Like The Creature From The Black Lagoon, The Mummy, those kinds of old films, which I'm sure I would love if it was a "once in a while" kind of thing but it's also the same ones without showing the REALLY REALLY classic ones like Dracula or Frankenstein.

[Rev. Powell]

Yeah, if you're seeing the same movies over and over, they can get old and lead you to over-generalize.  I like maximum variety: everything from silent movies to today's independent movies.  It helps you to realize that generally things aren't better or worse in any era, just different. 

[Patient7]

Yeah, if you're seeing the same movies over and over, they can get old and lead you to over-generalize.  I like maximum variety: everything from silent movies to today's independent movies.  It helps you to realize that generally things aren't better or worse in any era, just different. 

That's definitley the best way of thinking.

[BixDugan]

I grew up near Cleveland, and every Friday night, if I could keep awake until 11:30 I watched the Big Chuck and Hoolihan show. They usually would show old B&W stuff, and threw in the occasional sound bite during the movie (a la MST3K).
In high school I'd catch low budget stuff (in color) at the drive-in like Motel Hell and Pirhana.

It's not the medium, it's the message.

[zbranigan]

how can i judge whats good without seeing the bad

every film serves a purpose..............even if its as a bad example to others

[RCMerchant]

For me...it's more than just watching the movies...it's a way of life! I like to hunt down obscure stuff at flea markets and yard sales...I suppose it would be easier-(but more exspensive!) to buy them through amazon or such. But before I had a computer, or bought catalogs from SINISTER CINEMA and SOMETHING WEIRD, I hunted down tapes.

Even before that....I would stay up late and watch DOUBLE CREATURE FEATURE and SHOCK THEATER on uhf channels in the dead of night...catch double features at the Strand on Saterday afternoons,save my fruit-picking money for FAMOUS MONSTERS of FILMLAND and CASTLE of FRANKENSTEIN magazines, built Aurora monster model kits, order books from FM's like Denis Giffords HISTORY of the HORROR FILM and William K.Eversons CLASSICS of the HORROR FILM,

...I was what they call nowadays a 'Monster Kid'-someone who grew up in the early 60's to mid '70's obssesed with monster movies!

And my appretiation of even the worst of those old films led to my appretiation of other 'BAD' films...kung fu,expliotation,sexpliotation,spaghetti westerns,....all of 'em!