This is a cool video that does a good job of explaining why Marvel movies look like ass, as well as why recent music videos look similar. It’s because they shoot in digital and don’t bother to do the proper color grading. This was really bothering me as I had a chance to see the Sam Raimi Spider-Man films again recently, and was taken aback by how vibrant and lively they looked compared to modern movies, not just superhero flicks. Despite having CGI that is fifteen years old now, the original 2002 movie looks a lot more exciting than the cookie cutter assembly line crap they’ve been shitting out as of late.
Movies and music videos used to have personality, now they look like they’re living in a world with only grey, or if they bother to color grade, they filter out any color that isn’t blue or black in an attempt to look edgy. Everything now seems to be grounded in a gritty type of depressing realism, and people keep cheering it on even though this highly repressive style is taking the personality out of videos. Everyone is wanting to be Christopher Nolan with the Dark Knight, only with all movies, not just Superhero films. All major blockbusters seem to be developed to make the viewer so miserable that they want to blow their heads off.
Throw on Tim Burton’s Batman and see how it stacks up against a blockbuster like Arrival from last year. Their seems to be a trend in leaving memorable music out of movies now for atmospheric scores that are forgotten after the film. You go see Arrival it looks like everything else coming out. Batman (1989) is clearly a Tim Burton movie, with tons of individuality and creativity, and the Elfman score is amazing and memorable. Batman Returns while being a bad movie, had such a naturally dark and Gothic tone that no director today could match if they tried with their bland pallets. Same rules apply to Spider-Man. Had its own thing going, clearly Sam Raimi, loads of creativity.
When are we gonna see another video as dazzling as Sledgehammer by Peter Gabriel, or as hilariously implausible as David Lee Roth’s remake of “California Girls”? Or as surreal as Don’t Come Around Here No More, or as movingly simplistic as Every Breath You Take? Hell, something as stupidly fun and cringy as I Want Action by Poison? Music videos seem to feature either dancing around a pool celebrating now, or an artist moping around their bed in a massive mansion, making it impossible to feel sorry or even relate to them. It seems to me that we are living in an era where unique art is being rejected for fear of change. We’re being nursed on the same old same old. What say you? I hope that you and artsy people avoid this like the plague. I know this is a generalization, and only a problem among the mainstream.