Artistic? No.

While there are some people out there who share the same feelings about the choices we have when it comes to cinema, there are some who have tried to fix it themselves. Some so-called directors have tried to make “edgy” and “artistic” movies and most of the the time the general consensus is that they tried too hard. In Vincent Gallo's Brown Bunny, there is a explicit scene that demonstrates non simulated oral sex has been described as “not gratuitous” to an “odd and off-putting” film. And Roger Ebert is not the only one who feels this way, and sadly this was only one of the films similar to it. Countless movies have been made to break new ground in film but the movies that the general public hears about are the really terrible ones or the amazing ones, and the amazing movies usually end up becoming widely popular blockbusters.

When a director comes from left field with a film, it can either go one of two ways: atrocious or awe-inspiring. And then there are some directors who try and replicate a style of directing from some of the great directors. This can be done the right way. There is always influence in a film, whether the director realizes it or not. Christian filmmaker, Scott Derrickson, says that “prospective filmmakers have a responsibility to understand the history of cinema”. Because to understand where we are going, we must understand where we come from. When it comes to directors like Martin Scorsese and Paul Thomas Anderson there is evident influence of Sam Peckinpah, The Wild Bunch director, in Scorsese and Scorsese in Anderson, and half of the other directors out there. These are examples of using influence from a director and making it different and unique to you. And when a director tries to somewhat copy a director it is evident and just makes it painful to watch. It seems as though anyone can make a movie these days and call themselves a “director”.