AUSTIN, TEXAS: Edward Norton shared some insightful thoughts with Joe Rogan on the declining quality of movies in Hollywood nowadays, on an episode of 'The Joe Rogan Experience.'
Norton and Rogan examined the lack of innovative and thought-provoking films in comparison to directors such as Steve McQueen's groundbreaking work. Rogan was taken aback by Norton's remarks, which inspired him to reflect about the present and future of the film business.
'Not everybody is Spike Lee'
The discussion began with Norton pondering the distinctions between vintage films such as McQueen's 'Le Mans' and newer cinema. He spoke about McQueen's emphasis on atmosphere and setting over conversation, pointing out the film's lack of the latter.
Given the current context of short attention spans and formulaic storytelling, Norton said that a movie like 'Le Mans' would easily sail through, before speaking about the golden age of cinema, when innovative and thought-provoking movies were more common.
Norton stated that making truly outstanding films was exceedingly difficult and that only the most gifted and imaginative artists and filmmakers could create films of this kind. The actor stressed that not everyone was as creative as Lee or Francis Coppola.
Norton said, “Well, on one level, yeah it’s easy to recognize when they’re great but it’s still not easy to make them great. We’re talking about people who are some of our greatest artists or directors you know. And I mean they and lots of people they try on some level but they just not everybody is Spike Lee, you know what I mean. Not everybody is Francis Coppola or you know I’d say it’s like people sometimes make and they actually are slow you know what I mean…”
The filmmaking pioneers of the late '90s
Norton compared the difference between brilliant and stupid to the problem of achieving the correct balance in filmmaking between artistic integrity and audience appeal. He also highlighted the importance of industry decision-makers on film quality and narrative direction.
Norton said that as people grew older, certain senior executives lost touch with the intesrests of the younger generations. These influential film industry professionals may struggle to forecast what will appeal to the next generation of moviegoers.
Norton highlighted the late '90s as a time when new ideas and techniques in filmmaking, with pioneers like Paul T Anderson, Wes Anderson and Spike Jonze, gained popularity.
