Why All Movies Are The Same 

Anybody have other fun examples of movies that are a metaphor for filmmaking?

"Movies are made by people who make movies" Tommy Wiseau would like to have a word...

The alien window barrier in Arrival also has a wide screen aspect ratio

You made some good points but I think your argument about "the characters directing things" is really farfetched. This would seem to apply to pretty much any character who controls the actions of any other character somehow being a metaphor for filmmaking, when in reality people telling each other what to do is just a really common part of life, and I don't think it reflects this bias.

Why all critiques of cinema are the same: They see things through what they know and can only explain by what they know.

The most intriguing observation of 2001: A Space Oddyssey is that the screen is black in the first few minutes, essentially creating a monolith from which the viewer "enters" the movie.

The man in the Goodfellas painting is real. His name is John Weaving, and the dogs are Brocky and Twiggy. The painting is based on a picture from a 1978 National Geographic feature on Ireland's longest river, the Shannon. This was researched by Alex Godfrey.

You're only saying this because you're most probably a member of cinema industry. Some of these films might easily be allegories for conducting an orchestra. Or for organizing a riot, or the kids of the neighborhood for a game of soccer. Also a game of soccer. You know what Daniel Plainview was acting like? A coach of a soccer team. He was sitting on the bench and commanding his men or players againts the fire... And Eli was like a rival coach too. He had his own local team. ... this could go on and on.

Meanwhile in a parallel universe, " All movies are different "

Here's a thought: I think you have also fallen into the bias interpreting everything in film as being an analogy to film. Only a film critic who spends most of his time analyzing movies will see it that way. You are seeing the metaverse of movies in every movie. Whereas other people will see it completely differently. They will see a film as an analogy to their life. Our perception is shaped by our existence. You see things through your lense, and I see things through my lense. But it is not just a physical process of light transmission into my eyes. My conscious and subconscious manipulate the objective reality into a subjective experience. 2 people seeing the same film, or the same thing in reality, can come out with fundamentally different perspectives of what happened.

This really boils down to: Humans require a hierarchy structure to accomplish larger projects, usually with a clear leader. Making a film is exactly that, so it drilling for oil, so is organizing a heist. The connection is teamwork with leadership, not necessarily films are made because of the way films are made.

This feels like a stretch lol. I agree with you on some parts but I don't think this "film within a film" concept is as ubiquitous as you're making it out to be. Your literal examples are good, but once you get to Parasite, TWBB, and 2001 I think it's stretched thin. Are all of these "in charge" characters really metaphors for directors? Or is it simply that directors are another example of "in charge" characters? If you switch "director" for "orchestra conductor" or "circus ring leader" your metaphor still makes sense, so I don't think these movies are strictly making metaphors for "a film within a film" (or at least not all of them). Or could it be that your observation here is clouded in your own bias for film? The same bias you're saying these directors may hold with their constant use of "film within a film" props? Because perhaps you too are more familiar with the concept of a "director" and naturally made that comparison before considering the aforementioned "conductor" or "circus ring leader". Not trying to spark a fight, just sharing my thoughts. Great video again as always man!

Starts talking about seinfeld's airplane food joke. Shows someone at the laugh factory stage. Veitnam flashbacks....

"HAL is the shape of a camera"... uhm that is literally HAL's camera that the computer uses to "watch" the ship

Ever wonder why every Stephen King protagonist in his first three decades of work is either a writer or teacher?

There are so many dull books about writers with writer's block, and I will never understand who it's written for.

they forgot the big one - Inception, a team of characters take a subject on a journey, an illusion to plant an idea in their head the same way a movie does, each team member is a role on a film set, Cobbs the director, Arthurs the producer, Eames is the actor, Ariadnes the production designer, Saitos the studiohead keeping an eye and Fischer is the audience member

If you steal from one author it's plagiarism; if you steal from many it's research.

Reminds me of how La La Land and Freddy Got Fingered have the exact same plot, cast, and number of Oscars

Im glad a doodle of Trisha is considered "contemporary art"

The way you bring everything back to your beginning insight was amazing, bravo. I love that sentiment too; movies (and art in general) can be enjoyed all the way from the over analyzing cinephile to the "see a thing, like a thing" viewer. I suppose perhaps like good CG, good filmmaking is "unnoticable" and you can just enjoy the finished product without needing to get metatextual.

There are tons of abstract films that push the definition of film as an art form in similar ways to what we think of in modern art. No one ever watches them. Why? Because it is the job of a studio to sell art, and these films are not marketable beyond a small subset of movie watchers. Development in film is much more subtle, and linked to the cultural expectations of the time. In that way it is incredibly fascinating

The interpretation that in 2001: a space oddessy through visual language the villian is a camera and the hero/macguffin/resolution is a cinema screen is really fascinating to me. I feel like Kubrick might have done that on purpose, but might just as easily done so subconsciously.

Hopefully, the industry is changing, as filmmaking becomes more and more affordable and easy so it's not only rich people with millions of dollars who can make a film now.

I think that sometimes "controling people and organizing things and overdo your job" is way too broad to only mean cinema directors, I understand that directors can impose their way of organizing things into the character, but it is not always because they choose it

I think Murder Mysteries or detective movies are other genres where this analogy fits. In such movies, the detective is the writer/director who's trying to figure out a story and what role do the characters play in the story. How important are they? The detectives are also figuring out (writing) the scenario as the writer as they go along.

Very cool video!! I never thought about movies/art in general in that way, now this will always be in the back of my mind haha

"interpretative and high concept" I'll remember this one when in art class my teacher questions a banana peel as my next art piece.

I have that painting from the Goodfellas framed in my bedroom and it never fails to make my day better when I see it

This video kinda blew my mind a little... Kinda weird how sometimes all the pieces are there in your head and then someone articulates it and it all just suddenly makes sense! You're really living up to your channel's title with this one

Great video, been thinking about this for a while

You are right. Watch the movie "one cut of the dead", if you haven't.

That is utterly brillant, thank you so much for these analyses ! You can also add to these "movies in movies" one of the most preminent exemple Fitzcarraldo ! The fact that Herzog insisted that the real size boat be lifted up the mountain like in the diegesis, that the shoting was as hard on the crew as it is for Fizcarraldo's crew... Even the fact that Herzog was constantly fighting with a crazy Klaus Kinski, puts the movie on the brink between Fiction and Documentary. And the same can be said about Aguire, his previous film.

very interesting, it's something i never considered. great video

Always good content, but that was an especially slick segue on this one. Hat's off to you sir

Another movie to mention is Inception, which I think has the most intended movie in a movie feel. The characters each acts as a role in filmmaking, even Leonardo DiCaprio character has Christopher Nolan's looks.

This video is not just a breath of fresh air, it's air filled with vitamins and caffeine!! I'd been in a deep depression after watching the trailer for the new Netflix show: "Cooking With Paris", but this one "Now You See It" video has cheered me up! Please, please will all of the intelligent and creative people of the world speak up and share your thoughts and ideas so that we know you're out there!

One of the best channels on RU-vid. Keep it up!

True. I think something similar can be said of the type of personality the people who write our movies and television have. We watch so many stories that feel like they're written by artistic people and not regular people. It shows in the values the heroes and villains have and the lessons people learn.

Tldr: All movies are the same because they're moving pictures.

The prop for HAL 9000 in 2001 is indeed a wide angle Nikon fish eye lens.

I like that directors will make fun of abstract art, but have the utmost respect for cartoonists. Many famous directors being failed or wanna be cartoonists. I’d love to see a video by you showing the effect comics of the time had on directors. (Like Akira and the Cohen brothers)

That Segway to the ad was very good

The airplane food bit is so funny because nowadays people use it to make fun of Jerry Seinfeld specifically as if he was saying it in a real standup and not making fun of someone else

Aah, this better explains ‘Blazing Saddles’, ‘Once Upon a Time In Hollywood’ & even ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ to a degree!

damn the way you circled parasite all the way back to the dog painting is actually insane

10:44 that part was super clever. hats off

I have nothing to add, I'm just commenting for the algorithm

barton fink is one of those movies that never gets mentioned in videos like this so i was pleasantly surprised

I was just waiting 'till he mentions Inside

This is a neat observation, but I don't know how to feel about it. It's gonna be stuck in my head for awhile tho so kudos haha

Now that's a smooth ad transition. This topic made me think of "Hail,Caesar!".

I think it's worth mentioning that there are films that are much closer to high brow abstract/conceptual/whatever art than to mainstream movies. Jodorowsky, von Trier, Tarr, Cosmatos, Lynch, etc.

this is one of your best

I studied physics in university and this phenomenon often appears to get in the way of great science based movies. The majority of people working on movies don't have any deep knowledge of the sciences so writing about them is very hard or requires consulting experts so very few great science movies are made. There is so much potential for science based movies in my eyes because science is just so cool, but even all movies that heavily involve science often only use science for their story rather than making science their story. Interstellar is a great example of what they could be though, while cooper and other character's motivations might be artistic based, the story is really about amazing cool science, and that is just so interesting to me

I think that's the best ad segue on RU-vid.

This made me think of M. Night Shamalan's Lady in the Water, in which the protagonist consults a film critic to determine how the story "should" end, which turns out to completely miss the mark. So while not strictly a film within a film, it is a commentary on the relationship between a director famous for twist endings and the critics who criticism him for being a one-trick pony.

Amazing video !

The opening shot of NOCTURNAL ANIMALS dares the viewer to react to a heavy dancing naked woman in slomo and it’s revealed to an „art installation“

I think it was Kyle Kalgren that made a really nice video about how Inception is basically symbolically about the filmmaking process and how films are dreams and visions made reality (literally the plot of Inception).

Definitely see it now that you mention it - another fantastic video ! P.s I love the call back...one family goes one way, the other family the other 😄👌

Def one of those videos that made me glad it went in a much more positive direction than the title made me think it might.

Wow that's such a cool and interesting interpretation of There will be blood. Seeing movie scenes as metaphors for filmmaking is mind blowing for me

I'm years after the battle, but I just wanted to point out that I'm French, and our stand up comedy is not as much plane centered as yours. Which completly help your case as it's both a way smaller country with a way more developped railway system. But! We have a lot of jokes on the train voice.

Actually the glaringly obvious thing is that a film production/film set, like many other professional working environment or just any general organisation of people doing something together, reflects sort of a miniature of society. With elements that you and I experience on a daily basis - eg. someone in charge/directing, people cooperating to work towards the same goal, people having to put on an appearance and act unlike their private selves, etc. It sounds quite obvious but most movies in its core depicts, with varying degrees of realism, the world / the society we live in. How else are they meant to be relatable to audiences? For example, I’m sure the “down on their luck artist trying to chase the dream they are destined to fulfil” hero trope might have been drawn from the experiences of many working in Hollywood, but in a way it is just as easy to argue that this is due to cultural influence (“the American dream” and so on) on a societal level, hence would be sort of a relatable fantasy to audiences. Not to mention how this reinforces itself over time in the public consciousness. Perhaps there are indeed filmmaking self-insert metaphors in films, and the style and subject of many popular films have definitely been influenced heavily by the culture of the industry; but films are also simply about human experiences in life, and the filmmaking industry is no exception to those common experiences.

felt like there was content happening maybe the whole way through nice work

this videos is meta in so many ways

I appreciate who you topped this video off with a pizaa

Aaaah. I see. This video's really about the common man in the Renaissance. BRILLIANT!

It’s hyperbole to state all films are the same, especially when you throw in animated films, foreign films, independent films (which you mentioned) and using only a handful in your argument severely reduces its validity. I don’t entirely disagree with the premise though, the fact that films are predominantly made by “movie directors” creates stagnant/repetitive solutions to the obstacles visual mediums have…but the alternative of having someone/s direct a film with no prior knowledge of visual story telling has a wealth of it’s own issues.

in christopher nolan's films, the main characters even look like nolan himself, wearing suits, similar hair cut etc.

Awesome video.

That Parasite/Goodfellas connection was *awesome*

It's nice every once in a while I feel like to watch an indie or abstract movie where it's less budget but more bang 90% of the time in the character department or visuals. However, one usually has to invest themselves on behalf of the director and crew to really accept the movie and get all the intentions out of it or not in certain abstract film. Furthermore, I agree that in certain films, for example: Baby Driver, you can feel the directorial energy and it feels like you're with the character along for the ride. I think these cult classics like Donnie dark, the craft, baby driver, there's more, all encapsulate that intimate feeling with the character.

Can’t believe u didn’t talk about boogie nights !

Commenting for the algorithm. Great vid!

I think there needed to be a better or more interesting argument than that to justify such a bold title

I love this channel. So with love I say, this video seems to be reaching, a lot.

This video got me so hypnotized

another now you see it video another banger.

I would also say that many creative people who work in movies have a fine art background. So they have exposure and a point of view on art and the art world, like you said "stick to what you know". Just don't think what art and film are as antithetically different in their goals as you are saying here, but maybe i like film makers who blur that line more than others.

As a french, I'm sure Gad Elmaleh didn't ever made a joke about airplane food but he surely stole one.

Truly remarkable & insightful, I love your work but this is my favourite watch so far

That Goodfellas scene always cracks me up.

I love you man, you blew my mind

Your uploads are like a fastival.

Hey NYSI, any interest in making a video on Wes Anderson or Edgar Wright? Both of their films are coming soon-ish.

Who was talking about the Cinematic set pieces of there will be blood ?

"Every movie is the same, because -all of them portray a leading character as film-director- most human interactions require social hierarchy." Pretty bold statement, if you ask me.

This was definitely not the video I was expecting

Definitely think this was true of I'm Thinking of Ending Things. Although unlike your conclusion in this video, I think a lot of people struggled with that film because they didn't realise it was a film about composing a story. But of course Kaufman has been making films about making films his entire career so any knowledge of his previous output would probably be enough to understand this. I guess putting the film on Netflix brought it to an audience that wasn't "trained" to understand it.

You've got a book here, mate.

I feel like you had some really good ideas here and your overarching point about all stories on film being told through the lens of the type of people who make films is really interesting, but I think a lot of your supporting points kind of detracted from your argument. I think I would have preferred a discussion on movies about moviemaking/acting/etc

What beats do he use in the backgrounds?

Wow, this explains most movie main characters. They always are driven to do something beyond reasoning, sacrifice family/mental health, not driven solely by wealth and everyone else thinks they’re crazy to go for something which is so likely to fail. Which of course is what it takes to become a filmmaker. They’re making characters about themselves really. This video started confusing but now makes a lot of sense.

3:26 what movie is this? looks cool

One fun movie about filmmaking is Sion Sono's "Why Don't You Play in Hell." It's about a failed indie film crew making an action movie with actual violence, a war between two Yakuza gangs. The premise alone sells the movie. Spoiler: The film ends with a third wall break. The "director" character narrowly escapes with his life and runs down the street holding the film. Then someone yells "That's a wrap!" and the "director" stops running, and the real crew walks onto the set. I don't think the ending is deep at all, but it's a funny third wall break.

I will never be able to unsee this when I watch movies now lol

that's a quite interesting observation and assumption. how did you came to this idea?

Remember 'Adaptation'? That was fun.