The Kubrick one was actually one of the early ones from yesterday. But yeah, I consider all the subsequent posts from the last few hours from people jumping on the bandwagon and picking random directors to compare as spam.

So glad that crap is gone. Came here just to thank whoever deleted it.

There was a new site member, with a scant 43 posts to his credit so far, who articulated his thoughts on Coppola and Kubrick. He opened his remarks by saying he hoped no one would "take away [his] badge" for saying so, but that he was left cold by Kubrick's work. He articulated reasons why he enjoyed Coppola's, and even explored what he'd found in Kubrick's that didn't work for him. They were two brief paragraphs, but they were thoughtful paragraphs from someone who was genuinely interested not in saying "Coppola is amazing; Kubrick is over-rated," but rather discussed his own personal response to their works.

I wish I had that member's name so I could at least carry on a private discussion with him about Kubrick--so far as I know, this anti-discussion trend hasn't reached the point of asking for the removal of private messages--but, unfortunately, it never occurred to me to write down his name because the entire thread would be outright deleted.

And just who the hell are you to determine what is "spam" on this site? I don't see "Site Administrator" under your user name. I can't think of any other web forum I've ever visited where something as on-topic as these director matches in a goddamned movie forum would be dismissed as "spam." And I don't mind saying, it's pretty gutless that the rest of us have been punished to satisfy your whining.

There was a lot of good discussion going on in those threads. I also participated in the character tournament, so maybe I'm just a rogue!

However yes, at the end, there were too many of them at one time. Now it'll have to be done in some organized tournament fashion.

And despite the fact that they were all over page one, several non-director threads also had active discussions at the same time. It seemed like a little zeitgeist as opposed to a single member trying to dominate the forum.

Is there a way to resurrect the deleted threads and possibly merge them? Sure the end result wouldn't be pretty but at least the posts/discussions previously held would remain while still reducing the clutter from the movie forum?

Just trying to consider a peaceful resolution.

Nobody, I'm voicing my opinion just like you are. We are in the forum and feedback thread after all. And obviously i'm not alone in feeling that those threads were a major annoyance.

Chill out. No one is stopping you from opening up a new discussion on Kubrick if you're that interested.

Here's what I'm thinking:

Each week I will post a match-up of two directors with a poll. This will ensure there is no clutter on the first page of the forum. This will give members a chance to discuss the two directors in depth, and could even give people time to see some of the movies mentioned in the discussion if they feel motivated enough. This will allow for a more robust discussion in any given thread, instead of a glut of threads that are constantly jumping up and down the page.

At the end of the week, I will post the new match-up. I won't close the old one, but I imagine that after a week the old one will have naturally died down anyway. If, for some reason, there are three or more match-up threads on the first page at the start of the new week, I won't post a match-up until the other ones die down.

I will list these as ONE AND ONLY threads, and if someone else tries to start them, I will close them, because otherwise we may risk the threads being deleted again.

Since the existing threads were deleted, I will probably use directors that were already listed, although I may mix up the matches to foster new discussion (and since some of the match-ups were odd, like Lynch and Tarantino).

Since it is now Monday, I will post one now, and I will post a new one each Monday. Sound good?

You know damned well this isn't an "anti-discussion trend." It's about certain members trying to play childish posting games.

If anyone was really interested in starting substantive discussions they wouldn't bury it in that mess. That kind of volume, with new threads being started every few minutes, drives threads down and off the page before anything resembling substantive discussion can take place.

It's about quality, not quantity.

The first "One and Only" thread is up. Enjoy.

Exactly. The first few were fine and fun, but it was obvious that a few people afterwards were creating threads just for the sake of creating them and filling the page because they saw others doing it, not because they were genuinely interested in the discussion. Not to mention throwing out whatever random directors they could think of.

Not sure why folks are getting so uppity and taking offense.

Yep blame the people who took it too far and posted stuff like "Kevin Smith vs Jon Favreau" -- neither of whom I would put in the top 100 movie directors of all time no matter how much I've enjoyed a few of their movies.

What's so childish about asking movie fans which director's work he or she prefers? "This or That" questions have been the basis of discourse since before Abraham paused to wonder which son he'd kill to please God. There was no game here; there was no prize to be awarded, and the possibility of an organized tournament didn't come around until enough genuine interest was expressed in support of one.

Who are you to say that every one of those threads lacked quality, or even what constitutes "quality?" I found at least three of the threads lively, fun and thoughtful--more than I can say for most of the other threads that have now been promoted back to Page 1. But at least I'm not arrogant enough to say those threads lack "quality."

Substantive discussion can take place anywhere. There's no reason that any given thread can't give rise to rewarding discussion. Just because a thread title or original post start one way is no reason to assume that everything that follows adheres to the original question or declaration--nor should it. Conversation evolves organically. At least, it does until people who aren't participating in the conversation complain and have the conversation silenced. And if that's not the very definition of "anti-discussion," I don't know what is.

I can't speak for the members who started the various threads, but I can say that who started them--or why--was irrelevant. Whether they invited and promoted on-topic discourse is all that should ever matter in the appraisal of a thread's validity, and I saw no evidence that any of these threads failed to meet that standard.

What none of you are willing to admit, it seems, is that there is no problem with the nature of these threads. Contrasting Coppola and Kubrick is not, in fact, "spam." Your problem is one of quantity, not quality. Shame on you.

Darn. Is it too late to post my Orson Welles vs. Ed Wood poll?

Yup, that's pretty much it. You've got us. We're sober enough to realize the fact that 20 Random vs Random threads taking up the entire first page of the movie forum is pure ridiculousness. Funny that.

Mods how about a sub-forum in Movie Talk forum for such topics?

I enjoyed the topics of 'Martin Scorcese or Steven Spielberg' and 'Ridley Scott or James Cameron'. It was a good read because those topics had some insight and valid opinions.

Perhaps a sub-forum with those poll topics would be beneficial? I would like to make some topics like 'Vin Diesel or The Rock' etc

1. I see no evidence of an anti-discussion trend, per se, but YMMV.
2. The Movie Talk moderators did not actually delete the threads but temporarily removed them from view, en masse, to make time/space to resolve the perceived problem. I fully appreciate that their disappearance may have looked like a deletion.
3. Taking on board your comments, showing neither fear nor favour we have now placed all such discussions containing ten or more posts in the archive forum. This will allow anyone wishing to revisit their own or another member's words to go ahead and do so.

Clearly, it will prove impossible to please everyone but I do hope that this assists in demonstrating our genuine aim of resolving the matter with the least harm done.

NB) I have no comment on the request for a challenge/poll subforum except to note that this is more the province of the moderators of Movie Talk, albeit after discussion with other mods in case there are implications for the forums as a group.

this. chill the fuck OUT people.

Please feel free to raise problems and comment constructively on them here in the Feedback Forum. However, before posting, please also consider whether your contribution has taken into account what has been said before or whether it has more the character of venting.

Sometimes these kind of threads have to be closed prematurely because the balance of posts has tipped too far in favour of the unduly shrill, repetitive or downright ill-tempered.

Thanks to all in advance for their understanding and cooperation.

Thanks for the response benedict!

Your commemorative DVDTalk Junior Woodchuck Mod Badge should be arriving any day now in the mail.

I think people are perfectly willing to admit that. You can't have a conversation in real life when 8 people are talking all at once, even if all 8 people are saying interesting and valid things, and the clutter of new threads was the forum equivalent of that.

There's a reason why there are separate forums on the site, and a reason why sub-forums get created when there is enough interest in a certain topic. It's to keep the volume of new posts at a reasonable level and allow people to find the type of discussions they're interested in. The flood of one particular type of message (particularly when many of them are started just to get in on a posting game bandwagon), runs counter to that goal.

This is the feedback forum, and you're calling someone out for providing feedback here? Only "Site Administrators" are allowed to provide feedback?

I knew it was bad when I got hits on my Penis or Vagina poll. I guess ppl though it was a serious poll. That was the first and last poll I ever make.

It better damn well!