How Covid killed grown-up movies at the theater

Spectator World ^ | 31 Dec 2021 | Alexander Larman

[livius]

This West Side Story is NOT “woke,” and in fact is much more respectful of the white ethnics who, along with the Puerto RIcans, were being driven out of their neighborhood by Robert Moses’ grand building project: Lincoln Center.

The first film version was saccharine and the singing was dubbed. The original cast stage version was wonderful (I was lucky enough to see the final performance of that run) on every score.

The Spielberg version is truly excellent - but different. They captured 1950s NYC perfectly - even the sky is the right color, much smoggier in those days. I grew up there, not too far from the setting. The story comes forward in this version but the singing is not as operatic as the stage play, nor do you really get the great Verdi-style quartets that Bernstein wrote. So there’s pluses and minuses.

But it’s definitely worth seeing, and if people would stop cowering behind their useless masks and checking to see if they’re “positive” and just get back to living, it would or at least should have a good audience.

[AlaskaErik]

Woke culture is ruining the arts.

The arts were ruined long before wokism.

[ctdonath2]

(component: decent price, bottom price)
4K TV: $500 (65”), $250 (43”)
Streaming video box: $150, $0 (included in TV)
Streaming service: $15/mo, $0 (ad supported)

Now, ‘splain to me why I want to watch movies at a cinema, at $15/person per viewing. Nice home system paid for within 40 movies.

[Some Fat Guy in L.A.]

Wife and I had a long tradition of going to the movie theater on New Years Eve. Haven’t had anything worth watching in years now, so the tradition died.

[cymbeline]

“think Hollywood’s ‘grown up’ movie potential was exhausted long before the emergence of Covid, frankly.”

Watched 42nd Street tonight on PBS. Definitely not woke. Amazing talent in all parts of the production. Beautifully recorded.

[hercuroc]

Is the Spanish dialogue really not sub titled?

[Mears]

I saw it in NYC. with Carol Lawrence in the lead…..wonderful.

.

[Retrofitted]

Both "Westside Story" and "Nightmare Alley" are remakes. Nothing new there and both available on streaming services if ya wanna watch them at all. That's Hollywood's biggest problem: new ideas are replaced by the equation "woke = new".

I gave up on Hollywood a long time ago. I stick with indies or foreign films for new ideas. Shoot, give me Russian sci-fi or Japanese horror or Swedish thrillers anytime over the regurgitations that comes out of American studios!

[dfwgator]

Watching the Korean series “The Silent Sea” now.

[alexander_busek]

I read not too long ago thst comic book franchised movies are ruining the artform.

And I read not too long ago that water is wet.

Welcome to the party, pal!

Regards,

[moviefan8]

Sony owns the Spiderman film rights.

[Clutch Martin]

I’m not a movie goer. The last movie I saw at a theater was Master and Commander. At home it’s hit miss, nothing new, I like older movies. The CGI in newer movies looks fake to me. On HD screens movies look weirdly like tape instead of film.

TBH I’d rather watch DIY stuff on YouTube. However PBR takes precedence... and Sumo.

[discostu]

Yeah I hate how these people use the same yardstick for everything. Nightmare Alley was originally released to art house theaters, it was half a “normal” release. And really less than that because art house theaters have fewer screens and therefore fewer screenings, and therefore fewer showing. a $3 million opening in that environment is pretty good. West Side was a remake that really only Spielberg wanted to see. Belfast was a black and white bio-pic that I think also went art house. Not every movie is really trying to make a pile of money. Some movies are just trying to put something into the world.

[logi_cal869]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvel_Studios

[minnesota_bound]

#19 & 20 This article is from 2010 so the annoyance has been on going for way too long.

5 Annoying Trends That Make Every Movie Look the Same
https://www.cracked.com/article_18664_5-annoying-trends-that-make-every-movie-look-same.html

[Gaffer]

Interesting read.

[Drew68]

We watched Don’t Look Up on Netfix. Watched and watched thinking it would get better and it didn’t. What I tell people is it’s an elitists movie about gwobal warming hidden behind a meteor crashing. It’s so elitists can slap each other on the back on how enlightened they are and no one else. Two hours of my life I’ll never get back.

I thoroughly enjoyed "Don't Look Up." Watched it twice, even.

But to me, it's just a movie about a comet with some social satire mixed in for laughs.

They want me to think it's about global warming, but it's not. No climate scientist anywhere predicts an immediate, catastrophic end to all life on earth associated with man-made climate change.

[antceecee]

Yes…it is

[PhineasSpear]

Political Correctness / wokeness, and similar leftist mindsets, killed Grown Up films, long before 2020.

[Mean Daddy]

Interesting. Three of us watched it (my wife, 26 year old son and myself). None of liked it. I didn’t take it that they were saying gwobal warming would kill us in six months, rather that just like the evidence of a comet headed directly at us, gwobal warming evidence is as irrefutable evidence as the comet in the movie.

The best part was when Meryl Streep was killed at the end by the dinosaur.

Different tastes for different people.