I went to see a film in a cinema (theatre) for only the third time in five or six weeks.
And I spent five days writing about Psycho (1960).
Go figure…
One was Hotel Transylvania 3; another was Ant-man and the Wasp and the third was Mission: Impossible – Fallout.
They’re all comic book films from (fundamentally) comic book origins. That’s how they position themselves for audiences to have enough energy to still leave home, then navigate (human or vehicular) traffic, and arrive at a cinema, pay a lot of money, and watch a film. Forty years ago they were worried about how they could keep selling enough tickets to make making-movies worthwhile. Sixty years ago they were even more worried.
These days it is still all about money, with a few exceptions. It’s about getting people to part with the money in their bank account or available on the credit card. The latest attraction is the energy that visual effects can give any story in any film.
The moviegoers who want to be shocked or steamrollered can still, even today, be attracted to eating out rather than eating in. People are so bored with their lives that not spending the evening or the day at home is attractive. That’s why people go to the park or the beach or ride bicycles or attend concerts and sporting events and take holidays.
They’re all good to varying degrees. So is, watching a film somewhere other than your house, even if you have your own big-screen or home-cinema, being amongst the first people to see it. The value of seeing something been anyone else is the commodity of power and ego.
All three films are good. All three well-done.
