alt Hacker NewsWhat’s an equivalent movie in contemporary times? Not pretentious, sincere and relies on dialogue and story telling?
I kind of hated movies like Manchester By The Sea, American Sniper, Banshees of Insherin.
They all feel not so sincere to me. There’s something about them - a technique where audience exposition is deliberately toned down to such an extent that it’s just scene after scene with no soul.
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Watch japanese films. Or just generally don't watch american films
Kore-eda Hirokazu: Still Walking (2008), Monster (2023), Shoplifters (2018)
Hamaguchi Ryusuke: Drive My Car (2021), Evil Does Not Exist (2023)
A Story of Yonosuke (2013) from Okita Shuichi
Memories of Matsuko (2006) from Nakashima Tetsuya
Departures (2008) from Takita Yojiro
Perfect Days (2023) from Wim Wenders. Even though he is not japanese it's a very japanese film
but there are lot more
I rave about "The Secret Agent" (2025) to everyone. It's a slice of life movie about people living under a dictatorship. It's got a lot of heart.
A good, meditative film with a long arc of time and a bit of prison is Ash is the Purest White (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7298400/)
Parasite was excellent, and even has some of the same themes if you squint hard enough.
Banshees of Insherin is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. The understatedness is critical to the humor and story; it’s a juxtaposition of boring people in a boring town and the batshit plots that develop.
Other recent greats are maybe Poor Things, Challengers, and Conclave.
You wouldn’t mistake any for Shawshank, but that’s ok, it’s 30 years later. Shawshank is also qualitatively different from great movies in the mid 1960’s, like Dr. Strangelove or The Graduate.
Who is the new Stephen King? I suppose answering my question will automatically also give an answer to yours.
I wouldn’t exclude TV shows: Halt and Catch Fire, Dark Matter, Ted Lasso.
About Dry Grasses by Nuri Ceylan. Probably the best film I’ve seen in the past 10 years, which isn’t saying that much because the past 10 years have been among the worst in the history of film, but it’s still a very good movie.
“Sincere” and “authentic” are very much taste factors calibrated by whatever was the media environment when you were growing up.
Most people think the best year in pop music history was the one when they were 12. There’s a similar effect about the good old movies.