Will cinema die in 50 years time?

Lately, I have noticed that film fans, or casual movie-goers don't seem to appreciate a good film, when they see one. Movies nowadays are fair less complex, and are more likely aimed at people who are fans of the comedy genre. This doesn't bother me, but what bothers me is that people don't go and watch movies with more of a cinematic edge to it, they prefer to laugh ironically at one actor portraying seven roles in one movie (not Eddie Murphy...).

Im not saying people should stop watching comedy movies, I love comedies, but only for entertainment purposes, I don't favour comedies over dramas, unless it's a black comedy. I actually would find it hard that someone would prefer to watch 'Dude Where's My Car' over something like 'American History X', which is an incredibly powerful film. Although, many people might find it hard to watch, due to all the graphic scenes. But, that's reality and that's what make a good movie, taking elements from real life and adapting it to the screen.

Edward Furlong in 'American History X'

Let's take a look at a well-known director : Martin Scorsese. Scorsese has been known to be one of the greatest filmmakers of the 20th century, if not the greatest. His films are widely known and most current film directors have been influenced by him. One day I was telling my friend about how that 'Taxi Driver' is one of the all-time greatest American movies and is such an influential picture and he had never watched it before. So I was determined to make him watch it, and I did. He was mainly interested in watching the film because he knew that the famous "You talkin' to me?" speech was in it. Well, after the film had finished, I looked over at my friend, and asked him what he thought of it. And I couldn't believe the words that came out of his mouth, he shrugged and said "It was a bit slow."   . "A bit slow???" I said, what did he expect John McClain to barge into Travis's apartment and tie him to a radiator??? and shout "Yipee-ki-aaa!". Although this was the opinion of someone who likes Michael Bay's Transformers...

Robert DeNiro in 'Taxi Driver'

So, this clearly a case of people not getting the structure of how a great film is made. You build up the tension and suspense, if they didn't do that in Taxi Driver, it wouldn't be such a classic film. 'There Will Be Blood' has a brilliant build up of tension, represented by Johnny Greenwood's brilliant  crescendo throughout the film, all towards the... actually better not spoil it for those who haven't seen it already. Anyway, I'm just trying to express that our generation are pretty lazy and fail to attempt to watch any film pre-1980's, except Star Wars, which is a classic!

Daniel Day-Lewis in 'There Will Be Blood'