4, 8 and 9 for me. I had to think real hard before I recalled the last time I went to the cinema - it was eleven years ago, and it was even a documentary (THE FILTH AND THE FURY). I do not share their admiration for Spielberg, however (except THE DUEL, and JAWS before the last part on the boat).
- Sequels are in proliferation and there are too many. (Stories or characters apparently have to have Marquee value).
- Gimmicks, quick cuts, and shaky/stuttery camera work. It is distracting and seems to prove the point that some audience attendees have very, very short attention span.
- Stories from books, classic novels, and series are mined with sometimes excellent and often muddled results. Some stories even have the title only but the movie has little else to do with the book claimed to be it's basis.
"cinema is playing to audiences unwilling to dig too deep for interesting fare to watch" - this is probably very true. Whatever is going to make money or if people are going to pay and pay for the same fare, then it may dictate the films that are going to be produced and sold in the near future.
The big problem with the multiplex is that it has largely meant the end of the full-time professional projectionist. These days the manager or even the kid selling popcorn will start a movie off in one theater then either goes off and starts the next one or goes back to selling popcorn. They aren't trained much beyond, "this is how you turn it on, and this is how you turn it off." Net result is out of focus screenings, dark screenings (because they left the 3D lens on for a 2D film or because the manager thinks that you can extend the life of projector bulbs if you reduce the power going to them; you can't) and even the sound going out.
I remember seeing Star Trek: Genesis (the second "Next Generation" movie) at a multiplex in a strip mall. The sound suddenly went out and it literally took five minutes for anyone at the theater to take notice of the problem and actually fix it. No offer of a refund of course.
5 comments:
Amen! Particularly 1, 2, 9 & 10 keep me away.
4, 8 and 9 for me. I had to think real hard before I recalled the last time I went to the cinema - it was eleven years ago, and it was even a documentary (THE FILTH AND THE FURY). I do not share their admiration for Spielberg, however (except THE DUEL, and JAWS before the last part on the boat).
I've been complaining about most of these for ages, and they're why I rarely go to the movies.
- I have read this, and I add thoughts that:
- Sequels are in proliferation and there are too many. (Stories or characters apparently have to have Marquee value).
- Gimmicks, quick cuts, and shaky/stuttery camera work. It is distracting and seems to prove the point that some audience attendees have very, very short attention span.
- Stories from books, classic novels, and series are mined with sometimes excellent and often muddled results. Some stories even have the title only but the movie has little else to do with the book claimed to be it's basis.
"cinema is playing to audiences unwilling to dig too deep for interesting fare to watch" - this is probably very true. Whatever is going to make money or if people are going to pay and pay for the same fare, then it may dictate the films that are going to be produced and sold in the near future.
SB
The big problem with the multiplex is that it has largely meant the end of the full-time professional projectionist. These days the manager or even the kid selling popcorn will start a movie off in one theater then either goes off and starts the next one or goes back to selling popcorn. They aren't trained much beyond, "this is how you turn it on, and this is how you turn it off." Net result is out of focus screenings, dark screenings (because they left the 3D lens on for a 2D film or because the manager thinks that you can extend the life of projector bulbs if you reduce the power going to them; you can't) and even the sound going out.
I remember seeing Star Trek: Genesis (the second "Next Generation" movie) at a multiplex in a strip mall. The sound suddenly went out and it literally took five minutes for anyone at the theater to take notice of the problem and actually fix it. No offer of a refund of course.
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