Francis Ford Coppola: Marvel movies are just one prototype being made over & over

In 2019, Martin Scorsese was promoting The Irishman, and he was asked several times about the state of cinema today. Marty lamented the dominance of Marvel movies and superhero movies in general, equating them to “theme parks” which “don’t have mystery or genuine emotional danger.” Chaos ensued. I was sort of shocked by how many younger industry people were seemingly incapable of shrugging off Scorsese’s criticisms or even acknowledging that he may have a point. Instead, people chose to disrespect their elders and yell at Scorsese about how he knows nothing of cinematic drama or the depth of human emotion within Marvel movies. At some point, Francis Ford Coppola stepped in and added his voice in defense of Scorsese. Coppola called Marvel movies “despicable” and he said studios don’t value art anymore. Well, Coppola has more to say:

Speaking to GQ magazine in a recent interview, Coppola again lamented over the state of Hollywood studio films and Marvel’s monotony.

“There used to be studio films,” Coppola said. “Now there are Marvel pictures. And what is a Marvel picture? A Marvel picture is one prototype movie that is made over and over and over and over and over again to look different.”

“The talented people — you could take ‘Dune,’ made by Denis Villeneuve, an extremely talented, gifted artist, and you could take ‘No Time to Die,’ directed by…Cary Fukunaga — extremely gifted, talented, beautiful artists, and you could take both those movies, and you and I could go and pull the same sequence out of both of them and put them together. The same sequence where the cars all crash into each other.” Coppola added. “They all have that stuff in it, and they almost have to have it, if they’re going to justify their budget. And that’s the good films, and the talented filmmakers.”

In his original comments from 2019, Coppola took aim at the “lack of risk” that exists in Hollywood film production these days. “Marty Scorsese says that the Marvel picture is not cinema, he’s right because we expect to learn something from cinema, we expect to gain some enlightenment, some knowledge, some inspiration,” the director said. “Arguably, I don’t know that anyone gets anything out of seeing the same movie over and over again, which is the Marvel movies. A thing that has no risk to it.”

[From Variety]

The day the original GQ article came out, people were once again disrespecting their elders. That’s the thing that bugs me about all of this. Scorsese and Coppola came up together and they have these incredible CVs full of classic, important films. Important to other filmmakers, important culturally, important for their impact on the history of cinema. They have both been filmmakers for over FIFTY years. Even if you disagree with what they’re saying, maybe just chill out and acknowledge their well-earned right to their opinions? Or perhaps even acknowledge that Marvel and Disney have fundamentally changed what “cinema” is at this point?

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

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68 Responses to “Francis Ford Coppola: Marvel movies are just one prototype being made over & over”

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  1. Emma says:

    This is a little funny because from my perspective Scorsese and Coppola just make angry white man films over and over and over. Not defending Marvel here but uhhhh.

    • SueM says:

      Yes, even though Scorsese and Coppola have made wonderful movies, there is this. You can disagree with them and it is not ‘’disrespecting your elders’’. Marvel has made 27 logically interconnected movies. The world building and story telling in these movies is staggering. I do not understand how Scorsese and Coppola cannot see this. There are really only two kinds of movies. Good movies and bad movies. Every genre has good and bad. On the whole, the marvel movies are very good. Not to everyones taste of course. Personally, me a 63 year old gal, I am a bigger Marvel stan than my 18-year old son.

    • AlpineWitch says:

      I don’t know if I’m disrespecting the elders here but I always found their movies are boring like hell, something that cannot be said of Marvel films at all.

      And how come nobody mentions their films are repetitive too? Do we need another movie about 1920s’ Italo-American mafia again? The irony of their statements beggars belief.

    • North of Boston says:

      “Good movies and bad movies. Every genre has good and bad.”

      It’s like the old Roger Ebert standard … how well does a movie do what it set out to do, given its genre, what kind of movie it is?

      Princess Bride and Get Out and The Matrix and The Power of the Dog and The Grand Budapest Motel are all IMO very good, maybe great films. But they are all very different and are examples of very different types of story telling moving audiences in very different ways. And none of them are ‘less than’ simply because they don’t have as their core subject matter Italian or Irish or Mafia or up and coming down on their luck bro-teens/dudes struggling with the weight of their family traditions or own poor choices (yes, FFC’s got a more varied filmography) . They tell their stories just as well as MS or FFC’s projects.

      And as far as Marvel, while I get it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, there is, as you say, incredible world building plus various genres and styles woven throughout the MCU as a whole. Stories told with a lot of artistry and skill. Sure, there’s a focus on super-powered beings (and Hawkeye) but how are those characters’ journeys to understand their place in the world, come to terms with their own unique strengths, weaknesses, to struggle with their family’s legacy, the choices they made and continue to make, and find meaning in their lives (or not), the themes those films explore any less of a valid cinema experience then whatever those two are talking about? It may not be art house cinema, and avant guard in some cinema-haute couture way, but that doesn’t make it a not-valid cinema experience.

      [shrug] Maybe I’m just not understanding what their complaint is.

  2. Amy Bee says:

    And? When was the last time made a film?

  3. TIFFANY says:

    Says the man who put his name on The Godfather, part 3.

  4. Zadie says:

    I think a person can “respect the elders” of the film industry while also seeing the flaws in their logic. The old dudes hate Marvel movies but one of the positive things those movies have brought is diversity (although painstakingly slow) to their films.

  5. SarahLee says:

    I think he can lament the aversion to risk taking and how Hollywood has changed without resorting to calling films that others have made – and that millions have enjoyed – despicable and crap. So no, I don’t think you have to respect your elders when they show a great lack of respect to film audiences who actually do enjoy Marvel or Bond or whatever kinds of movies. I love Godfather, but let’s face it – aren’t mobster movies fairly formulaic? Godfather? Goodfellas? Whatever, Francis.

    • sunny says:

      It is fine to critique these films and I think there is an argument around the lack of smaller adult films getting made but not sure that can be attributed to Marvel films * shrug*.

      As to having one prototype or being formulaic, well, duh. There are only 7 major plots in all of literature. And most superhero movies are adhering or manipulating the most used plot in all of storytelling(the hero’s journey).

  6. Luna17 says:

    I think all the super hero movies are boring and can’t get into them but if people enjoy them then who cares? Let’s people enjoy what they like.

    • Zadie says:

      Exactly. They’re not my favorite thing ever but my kids enjoy them, as well as Star Wars. It’s nice to have some family entertainment.
      My son is obsessed with Rey. I love that he thinks a female character is awesome.

    • equality says:

      Yes. I don’t watch them (or many movies at all really) but they exist because people do get into the fantasy. I don’t really expect to learn something from a movie anyway. I rely on the written word or documentaries for that.

    • Dierski says:

      Agree – I find zero draw for myself to the Marvel movies & superhero themes in general, but it’s fine if others like it? It seems like a bland/repetitive movie-for-the-masses sort of thing, in my opinion, but isn’t really a problem either.

  7. minx says:

    I agree with him.

  8. Eliza- says:

    Want to make an arty movie, don’t expect a film company that’s about their bottom line will put out funding. And yes the death of the mid-budget film has effected multiple genres, but its not only art films affected, but also romcoms as well. Which i doubt he’d consider art either, and would be horrified to be grouped with.

    People are watching these films over heavy dramas – numbers reflect this. Kids are a huge part of this as a massive part of the market – rated R films are limiting there. But also people are dealing with so much, sometimes they want to escape into a minimal risk world where there is a mostly happy ending. Is it art? Mostly no. But since when has that stopped people going to the theater??

    • AlpineWitch says:

      But art is subjective, isn’t it? So why should I consider a film made by Scorsese ‘art’ and something directed by another director ‘crap’ only because its genre is sci-fi?

  9. Kristin says:

    He’s not wrong. I enjoy Marvel movies but let’s be clear here: there’s a big difference between The Godfather and Iron Man and more importantly, how those two movies withstand the test of time. 40 plus years later and The Godfather is still one of the greatest films I’ve ever experienced. I don’t imagine saying that about a Marvel film 40 years from now.

    • Songs (Or It Didn't Happen) says:

      I think they have a different kind of staying power, they’re a different kind of film. You can sit back and watch The Godfather or Citizen Kane or Casablanca and be swept away by the perfection of details, the nuanced performances and the messages that still resonate so strongly decades and decades later. But you can also go back and watch, say, Batman Returns and remember how it felt to watch it the first time, appreciate all of the elements that have now become common place, know all the lines, etc. You can watch the first Spiderman or the first Superman and feel that spark of delight watching someone soar through the air. Maybe the notes superhero movies hit are more about rekindling the spirit of belief and hope and wonder that you felt when you were younger but I think it has some amount of staying power too.

    • Anne says:

      The few big budget superhero films I saw before my kids blissfully grew out of that phase seem to be so formulaic and almost boring. Smart aleck hero/heroine check, loud catchy contemporary or classic rock soundtrack check, chaotic conflict and violence that had a numbing sameness to every “battle” check and everything ending on a to be continued. I loved the first 3 Star War’s movie. At the time, they were incredibly original and combined with unique but relatable characters and maybe one big battle scene at the end? The good news is that I’ve heard small filmmakers say that with the advent of streaming, the ability to make quality small films and tv series has really opened up. Hollywood will not stop making superhero movies until they stop making money. That’s what the business of Hollywood is all about.

      • minx says:

        The superhero movies all have the same template, IMO. The details vary. If people want to watch them, of course that’s their choice.

    • Robert Phillips says:

      You want to know why the Godfather has been one of the biggest movies of the last 40 years. The people that make the lists of the best movies grew up with it. They thought it was great when they were young. And they still think it’s great. When that generation dies off it probably won’t be on any list anymore. The boomers are starting to finally die off in numbers that really make a difference. Politics, movies, TV, everything is slowly starting to go to the next generation. Scorcece and Coppola can’t stand that they are the old men now. Forty years from now a movie that people grew up with now will be the one on that list. Who knows it could be Iron Man. Or Avengers. Or something else. Movies are entertainment. Something that large groups use to feel a part of. “Did you grow up with Star Wars. Did you grow up with Jurrasic Park. Did you grow up with Spiderman.” Even if it was something you didn’t like. It was something that put you with that group.

  10. Snuffles says:

    I used to work in the independent film industry. Had dreams once of being a screenwriter. I think they are unfairly targeting Marvel movies as the reason why things have changed. They are just the most prominent EXAMPLE of how things changed.

    My experience from working in the industry is that these days almost nothing is made for artistic reasons. There is always a cost benefit analysis done. Even in independent movies. For independent movies to even raise money for their projects, they need to be able to “pre-sell” distribution rights to various territories. In order to be able to do that, it has to be a concept that is universally appealing or has an actor or director attached with a successful track record.

    EVERYONE is looking at the numbers, EVERYONE. Box office, streaming, TV ratings, DVD sales, online purchases, etc. Studios literally have people forecasting and crunching numbers for every property.

    Also, everyone is thinking how it will play internationally. Because at least half (often more) of profits come from overseas business. And what works best despite language barriers or cultural differences is action, suspense thrillers and horror. Marvel is excellent at all of the above.

    Comedy is a hard sell. Drama is a hard sell. So that wonderfully, deep, nuanced little drama someone is working on is not likely to drum up funding or get the international recognition they are looking for.

    Other options are movies based on best selling novels, because they have a built in audience. Same for movies based on video games, old TV shows, cartoons.

    The entertainment industry is fundamentally risk averse. It’s not a Marvel problem. But they are an easy target for these old school players to direct their ire towards.

    • Julia K says:

      @snuffles, well said and very appreciated.

    • Dutch says:

      100 percent this

    • Prairiegirl says:

      100% agree Snuffles. I appreciate Coppola’s and Scorsese’s contributions to the art form but they definitely don’t understand – or maybe refuse to acknowledge – the economics of the international entertainment marketplace. If it’s complicated, or talk-y, or requires the viewer to understand a specific local culture, that film won’t travel well, won’t make money, and no one will make any more of them.

    • Nuks says:

      Very much this. It’s not Marvel’s fault that Coppola’s audience in the last two decades could hardly be dynamited out their homes to go to a theater (as Ken Turan once put it so well). And their audiences have home theater environments that, combined with Covid, and the previous decline in the movie-going experience, have simply removed any willingness to go to a theater in droves. Young people haven’t necessarily connected with the old guard filmmakers’ content, and honestly, Coppola and Scorsese et.al. aren’t speaking to young audiences – they’re speaking their own generation. Which is fine. You’re inclined to make more thoughtful and backward-looking (and white-male-centric?) art as you get older and so seasoned. But the Marvel universe is freaking great and lavished with so much care and craft that these guys should lay off. Yelling at deserved success is not a good look. The studios aren’t going to make theatrical product for an audience that doesn’t show up. They don’t want to make eat-your-vegetables movies.

      • The Recluse says:

        I have really enjoyed the Marvel Film universe. Some of my most intense theater experiences in recent years has been watching what happens to various characters in them: Stark’s fate. And I am little tired of the insults that are being tossed at them. They are cinema, just like those old Saturday morning serials with Gene Autry and Roy Rogers are, or my favorites Richard Lester’s Three and Four Musketeers. Cinema is a diverse field with something for everyone.
        And as for everything being formulaic, I remember having a very thoughtful experience in the theater watching The Green Knight.

    • Mrs.Krabapple says:

      I 100% agree that nothing is made for artistic reasons. But I *somewhat* disagree that everything is based on making money, at least, not the way most of us picture what “making money” means. Because a film is more likely to be financially successful if the BEST people are hired for all its components. But Hollywood doesn’t hire “the best,” they hire “the most connected.” That means they WANT to “make money” — but only on the individual level, what do “I” get out of the movie. I know this as an actual fact because of friends who have won Emmys, yet cannot get a real job in movies. Not because they are not talented, but because they lose out to anyone with the correct connections. That’s not to say unconnected people cannot get hired, but the path to a real job usually means starting with unpaid internships or low-paid PA jobs, which means the only people who can make a living doing that are already independently wealthy. You can be a Pulitzer winning writer, but if you don’t have the right connections, your script will never be read, and the studio will go with the guy who got an agent even before writing a single thing, but he is the cousin of a producer. Nepotism is killing creativity and quality in Hollywood, as much as the problems Snuffles points out.

    • Anne says:

      I heard an interview with Charlie McDowell where he said that streaming has actually opened up possibilities for small filmmakers and huge profits don’t have to be made on a small project. I stopped going to the movie theatre a bit before Covid knowing that everything that looked interesting to me would be available to watch in the comfort of my house where I can pause and get some more wine/use the bathroom.

    • The Recluse says:

      You nailed it. The same thing has happened to the publishing industry with the added problem of who you know being more important than what you know.
      Money men control almost everything these days, but the internet can make a lot possible for all of us creatives out here.

    • FF says:

      Exactly this. The industry has been risk averse for decades which is why best-selling books, comics, tv shows, old films have been targeted for adaptation and reboots instead of just creating new works.

      But getting back to the point: this *is* a targeting of Marvel Studios specifically. Notice how all these prestige old farts (and funny how ALL of them are old white men) keep complaining – not about comic book movies specifically (remember over the last 20 years there have been output from Fox, Sony, Warner Brothers, as well as Marvel Studios, who are relative newcomers). Yet, it’s always Marvel this and Marvel that.

      What are Marvel doing? Marvel have been hiring directors, crew, composers who are women and/or POC. They’ve been creating opportunity, and they’ve been successful.

      It’s funny that he mentions Dune because, imo, it was really suspect how critics piled onto Marvel’s Eternals and elevated Dune given how close their release dates were. As if some people thought they were in and unspoken competition. And of course, the critical wash made viewers reluctant to watch it in cinemas and killed any awards consideration (technical) it could have had. I could have accepted that critics didn’t like it but the degree was not just overkill; every article about the film for the month afterwards had a negative slant. I had to read articles from either obscure outlets or from the other side of the world to hear anything positive.

      Given that this is the fifth or sixth old fart to complain about Marvel movies only (not comic book movies – it’s never a shot at Warner Brothers, I note; not other Marvel movies made by studios that aren’t Marvel Studios – looking at you Sony; but taking aim at specifically at Marvel Studios; I’m starting to seriously conclude that these men are feeling threatened by the high likelihood of their obsolescence AND the fact that women and PoC might start becoming the feted artists of tomorrow.

      Case in point, notice how the Marvel movies directed by women and PoC, and starring women and PoC as headliners always get the most blowback from these blowhards. Both of the films he mentioned star white men as headliners with little more than token diversity efforts – where PoC are redshirts, window dressing, or never-to-be-seen-agains.

      They aren’t advocating for art. It’s a white guy dog whistle that hides behind the priviledge of only white guys of a certain ilk getting and creating opportunities and I’m getting tired of people falling for it. You can critique comicbook movies without complaining about only one studio; and you can accept that talented people work on those films too; and people like and watch them.

      Case in point, why don’t they language their comments in the hopes that Marvel can mature artistically? No, it’s an instant fail by genre and studio, so they can never win. Because they don’t want that, they just want to stop other people having a chance to get on the pedestal they’ve enjoyed all their careers.

  11. Daisy says:

    As someone who likes a few super heroes movies and finds them entertaining, I agree. Honestly, I’m just tired at the lack of variety of movies at the theaters (at least where I live), the only things that stay for more than a week are DC, Marvel and those other blockbusters type of movies. Stuff like Belfast, Licorice Pizza and Nightmare Alley weren’t even released here, and I don’t even need to mention non-English speaking movies. They don’t even give us the opportunity to watch original stuff.

    • Nyro says:

      Anything that doesn’t appeal to the type of people who love comic book movies get very very limited release in the major theaters these days. Maybe you might catch it at an art house theater. But those are far and few between and if you don’t have one in your town, you’re out of luck. I would love to actually go to the movies again but there’s basically nothing that I want to see. And streaming at home just isn’t the same, imo.

  12. NCWoman says:

    I think his point is that superhero/action movies that follow a certain formula are basically the only movies that get big budgets now unless you’re Christopher Nolan. Those movies are fun and have their place in cinema, but they shouldn’t suck up all the oxygen the way they do because it is bad for the art of filmmaking.

    • Fortuona says:

      3 Marvel films a year (as most ) is not messing with anybody or the schedule

      And of course they follow a formula as they had been following a story for 10 years , They did not want anybody stepping out from that and thats the reason they wanted to hang on to to how the story was told

      And F9 was $250m and Disney gave Cameron $250 m for each of his Avatar follow ups.

    • FF says:

      But that’s because Nolan is consistent and has built a brand on his kind of intellectual concept films, yet still made them fun to watch. I’d also argue Nolan understands his audience (as do Marvel), and isn’t an industry/nepotism darling, which is probably why he always gets shafted during awards seasons.

      Half of these complainers refuse to engage with their audience just rest on their laurels and all they’re doing is alienating their potential viewers, and gate-keeping cinema.

      Which other genre, producers, or film-makers are they going to declare not-art-enough next?

      • Fortuona says:

        Cameron has balls . Disney gave him $1 billion to make his 4 Avatar sequels and then he went out and said they are not giving them money

  13. Dutch says:

    It’s a valid point argued inelegantly. Exactly how many capital-A Art movies got knocked off the Disney schedule when they acquired Marvel in 2009? My guess is next to none. Then that means the Marvel movies’ biggest sin is being successful enough that every other studio tried to grab a piece of that audience, a practice that has been going on in moviemaking for 100 years.
    FFC should more angry at studios for using analytics to change the art of filmed entertainment. In Francis’ prime the best stories became movies, full stop. Now studios see all content as the same and its their jobs to slot a project into a format that draws the most eyes. Stories for adult audiences that would have been movies even 10 or 15 years ago are still being made: “Queen’s Gambit,” “Mare of Easttown,” “Somebody Somewhere,” they’re just being made as series for streamers mainly because the target audience for them is more likely to engage on their TVs and devices on their own time than going to the expense and hassle of trying to get to a theater (and of course, COVID has magnified that).
    I appreciate FFC is trying to protect the legacy of an art form he loves, but pinning the blame on one genre of movies without diving into a larger change in the industry is reductive and a little “old man yelling at clouds-y”

    • Songs (Or It Didn't Happen) says:

      Dutch, that was wonderfully expressed. I wish this was Reddit so I could give you an award. Great post!

    • North of Boston says:

      Well said!

    • Fortuona says:

      Or companies who he was suing (Warner/Fox) were less likely to give him money as stopped making any movies that brought any money in

    • The Recluse says:

      The irony is that two of FFC’s colleagues are responsible for how cinema changed: George Lucas and Steven Spielberg – Star Wars and Jaws. Then they teamed up to bring us Indiana Jones, a straight up salute to Saturday morning serials.

  14. Lauren Too says:

    It’s easy to hate on Marvel for having an extremely successful and lucrative franchise, but the alternatives are a bunch of remakes of movies that lack diversity and the same white overpaid actors being cast in the same roles again and again. Honestly, I love watching Marvel movies just for entertainment’s sake. The older I get and the more I like uncomplicated movies/series. He is not wrong at all to say that Marvel films use only one prototype (some more successfully than others), but I’m just not into complicated storylines anymore.

    • Pilar says:

      It’s not really the only alternative. There’s a whole world of cinema and interesting movies being made outside marvel and Hollywood remakes. And you can also support black and brown film makers by going to the cinema and seeing movies that aren’t necessarily blockbusters. It’s not as if marvel are the only ones who has a diverse cast.

      • grabbyhands says:

        @Pilar

        That’s one of the things that grates me about the argument coming from guys like Scorsese and Coppola – they’re mad because they feel like not enough people like THEIR type of movies, but they don’t seem to care that whole groups of voices are being silenced from creating new stories due to the studio system that helps perpetuate the slog of remakes and blockbuster movies (and I say this as a Marvel fan). They’re going after the wrong targets, in my opinion.

        The audience is there for better movies – not enough of them get the chance to be made. It isn’t the 70’s anymore. The studios don’t leave room for anyone to be a renegade storyteller anymore, but he and Scorsese and others like them have the clout to help create and foster places that might challenge that, and that means championing all the voices typically left out of the conversation – women led films, POC led films, LGBTQ led films.

  15. HeatherC says:

    He’s not entirely wrong. Where he goes sideways is in agreeing with Scorsese that people who go to the cinema to be entertained are somehow the lesser audience. Every time I go to the movies, I don’t need to be taught something, or enlightened. Sometimes I don’t even want that. With the way the world is today, right now, I am planning on seeing Studio 666 on Sunday to escape. (and because in general anything Foo Fighters related can just come take my money). Mindless fun escape, I also go see every Marvel movie and Fast and Furious franchise.

    Honestly, for me, the movies that make you feel uncomfortable deliberately, or make you think or acknowledge a different perspective from your own, I like to watch at home. Where I can sit there and absorb, contemplate and learn. Not in a theater with strangers and limited time.

    • Pilar says:

      Agree on how people can enjoy both I certainly do. Have a complete opposite take on where I enjoy what though. Marvel don’t need my money so I usually stream those movies at home and support independent and art house by going to the cinema. I also enjoy watching cinematography and art direction in more experimental movies on a larger screen.

  16. grabbyhands says:

    Oh for f*cks sake.

    People understand that you’re allowed to like more than one thing at a time, right?

    I get that Marvel movies are formulaic, but (if you like that type of thing) they are fun and entertaining and have been an excellent distraction to the daily dumpster fire that is life these days. People need an escape and sometimes it comes in the form of a superhero movies.

    I have tremendous respect for Coppola and Scorsese, but this constant whining about how superhero movies are ruining the film industry is so tired and it makes them look like “old man shouts at cloud”.

    The film industry is different than it was when they came up – if they want the future of cinema to be better and stronger, they need to be more vocal about championing indie filmmakers, making sure there is a healthy environment for these folks to get their scripts seen and heard and have movies made so they aren’t being lost in the machine. Create studios so that everything isn’t decided on demographics or based on algorithms that some 20 year old came up with an office.

    • kirk says:

      grabbyhands – agreed on all points. The other competitive pressure unacknowledged in these gripes is serialized stories on streaming platforms. After watching Five Came Back on Netflix based on a book, I watched some fabulous WWII films from those directors, some of them quite touching. Currently trying to get through critical Marvel episodes on Netflix before their rights revert to Disney 3/1/22. I think what’s missing from the critiques on any side is that stories matter, whether you’re actually reading it, listening to it (audiobook or podcast) or watching film(s). Since stories do matter, imho Scorsese’s making of The Irishman was a huge mistake – the superb acting could not overcome the 3 1/2 hr slog through the questionable claims presented in underlying book, I Heard You Paint Houses.

    • The Recluse says:

      Yep, and this is precisely what Robert Redford started championing YEARS AGO with Sundance. They seem to have forgotten that. Then there’s the Tribeca and Toronto Film Festival. There are places to kick doors open with your films.

  17. Nyro says:

    I know it’s the “boomer” thing to say but I’m over Marvel movies. Even prior to covid, I can’t remember the last ti!e I saw a “grown up” movie in theaters. It’s like, if a movie doesn’t cater to white males between the ages of 14 and 37 and their “cool girl” girlfriends, the industry just ignores it.

    • g says:

      So, according to you, because I enjoy Marvel movies, I’m a “cool girl”? Way to reduce and dismiss other human beings for liking something you don’t. But I’m the “cool girl” ok.

    • Dutch says:

      They aren’t really being ignored they just aren’t being made into movies, because “adults” often have circumstances that make it extremely difficult or cost prohibitive to go to a cinema but they have no problem spending $15 a month for an HBO MAX subscription and carving an hour or two during the week to watch what they like.

  18. Grant says:

    I’m really tired of straight white men telling me what I’m supposed to like and what I’m not supposed to like. Art is SUBJECTIVE and I’d rather watch a superhero movie than another rehashed, formulaic, by-the-books mobster movie. I said what I said.

  19. JC says:

    Definitely not a marvel fan at all but if you like it whatever that’s fine! I love both Coppola and Scorsese films. Taxi Driver is one of my faves. I rather watch those over Marvel but that’s me!

  20. jferber says:

    Grant, you certainly did. And I agree with you.

  21. Louise says:

    There are a lot of people here who are drinking the Marvel kool-aid.

  22. sherry says:

    I lost all respect for him and his movies when I found out the ox that dies in Apocalypse Now was actually killed on camera, and the horse’s head in The Godfather was real. What an a-hole.

  23. Bibi says:

    Disagreeing with these old white farts is not disrespecting your elders (who daphuck died and made them my elders anyway?)

    Their argument is illogical. They’d rather another Woody Allen film or mafia themed or Bruce Willis die hard genre (movies that center old white men) than a Black Panther or Avengers that’s more inclusive.

    The diversity is the problem.

  24. Kris says:

    I have this disagreement quite a bit with certain family members that like red hats (ugh). Disagreeing with someone older doesn’t equate to disrespecting your elders.

    I’ll admit, I’m a Marvel fan girl and The Godfather bored me to tears. However, I have friends that love their movies, and that’s perfectly fine. We all like different things. What bothers me is that the two directors will rail on a Marvel movie, but these movies draw people in for a multitude of reasons. For myself, as a black woman, seeing Black Panther was a highlight. I see myself represented, I see people of various backgrounds represented. I don’t get that in a Coppola movie and when it is brought it to these directors attention they’re seemingly insulted one has inquired why their movies lack diversity.

    TL;DR like what you like and never feel compelled to agree with someone just because they’re older than you.

  25. A.Key says:

    I agree with him, but you could say the same about any Hollywood movie made these days, not just Marvel. They’re all super boring, predictable and completely uncreative. 20 years ago I would go to the cinema once a month, now I barely go once a year, if that. I think it’s been well established that quality cinema has died out and it’s all about TV shows now.