It occurs to me that all negative feeling and opinions about Hollywood’s treatment of tragic real life events are likely to fade over time. Somewhere down the road, a long time from now, there will be a big budget “event” film that will tell the story of what happend in NYC on September 11, 2001, much in the spirit of JFK, TITANIC and PEARL HARBOR. It will means watching on screen, a recreation of the two planes that slammed into the towers and them watching them crumble to the ground.
I’m sure someone like Michael Bay is just licking his lips, waiting for his big chance to do it! The man does love to blow sh*t up!
Ed, I’m gonna go off the track a bit here (what else is new?), but I loved the original PLANET OF THE APES so much that I have never wanted to ruin it by seeing any of the four sequels that came afterward. I don’t ever want anything to contradict the memory of that classic chilling fade-out.
Manwithnoname, the Statue of Liberty scene from the original PLANET OF THE APES is perhaps the best and most haunting fade-out to a movie I’ve ever seen in my life! It still gives me chills when Charlton Heston finally realizes where he’s been the whole time.
Flashback: In 1979, there was a bad disaster movie called METEOR with Sean Connery and Natalie Wood. One of the newspaper ads depicted the meteor headed straight for the World Trade Center. Back when I was kid, I probably thought that image was cool. Today, I’m sure I’d look at that image with a little more poignancy.
Before 9-11, there were two movie scenes of downtown NY that really gave me the chills. The first was in DEEP IMPACT (1998) when the tidal waves hits the tip of the city and engulfs it in water. The second was in Spielberg’s A.I. (2001) during the “2000 years later” sequence when NYC has completely turned to ice and the tips of the Twin Towers are sticking out. That in particular, creeps me out a bit now, considering the towers came down only two months later.
Ed, I stopped watching television years ago because I got so tired of the crap! In fact, the last time I followed a television show so religiously, week after week, was TWIN PEAKS, sixteen years ago. However, I will admit that I am very impressed with LOST. My wife and I have been watching it through Netflix, so we’ve only seen the first two seasons so far. I refuse to sit through commercials, even if it’s something I like.
We definately have different tastes. But then again, that’s what makes all of the ongoing chit-chat so interesting. If we all had the same taste in movies, we all would probably think something like SPIDERMAN 3 was the best movie of the year.
The poster for I AM LEGEND definately hits me a little less because it’s of the Brooklyn Bridge. I realize, of course, that downtown NY is right behind it, but it doesn’t seem as blatantly “in-my-face” as the CLOVERFIELD poster.
As for the movie itself, I won’t say that I AM LEGEND doesn’t look intruiging. Will Smith has made some good sci-fi movies. Trouble is, I’m really trying my best to avoid wasting time and spending money seeing material that I’ve likely already seen on screen in one form or another. And while the concept of one man being the last man left on Earth (I recall Burgess Meredith in “Time Enough at Last” on The Twilight Zone – love that episode!) is thought-provoking and interesting, the other part of the story involving the infected “others” roaming the earth seems a lot like the concept of “Night of the Living Dead” or “28 Days Later”.
I’ll probably just wait for the movie to be released through Netflix.
Thanks for the links, Ed. With the exception of the AutoCad program I use for work (I’m an architect), I’m afraid I’m a bit of a computer idiot! Good thing I married a woman who isn’t!
Ed, you raise a good point, particularly in context with the original “Gojira” of 1954 and its context to Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And yes, maybe I do tend to get a little over sensitive and angry when it comes to the nature of Hollywood movies and those that run it. I still, feel though, that the design of the poster could have been better thought out. Perhaps a shot of a different part of NYC, say of the Empire State Building in smoldering ruins, might have hit me a little less below the belt and still made the same point about the movie. Downtown NY and Ground Zero have seemed like sacred ground over the last six years.
I did see the trailer you speak of. It did not impress me very much. To begin with, I think Godzilla rampaging through NYC in 1998 was enough for me. Second, I don’t like watching movies that are filmed in the style of the viewer’s P.O.V. (a'la Blair Witch Project). Would you believe that after I saw The Blair Witch Project, I actually felt dizzy and a little ill? Who needs that?
I think from a movie patron’s point of view, it all inevitably comes down to the experience you get when you go to the movies…
Yes, there may very well be valid reasons for high ticket & concession food prices and 30 minutes of commercials before the movie.
Yes, these inconsiderate idiots who seem more interested in their cell phone, or those who won’t stop talking, or those who choose to unwrap their candy during the movie and not before, may all think they have valid reasons for doing so.
Yes, the crap you’re watching on the screen has likely been done before and has now been recycled, re-imagined, re-invented, or whatever bullsh*t word the industry chooses to use these days.
But for the moviegoer, it all comes down to whether their experience at the movies is that of pleasure or irritation. If it is, in fact, irritation, then I’d be willing to bet the moviegoer is not going to care one bit about industry reasons and motives – they will simply choose to avoid the irritation of going to the movies and stay at home instead.
You couldn’t get me out of the Hamptons with a crowbar! Westhampton Beach has been my home every summer for the past 30 years. The Hampton Arts Theatre is perhaps the only intimate, enjoyable neighborhood movie theater I have left in my own world.
Besides, a movie with Redford, Streep and Cruise, directed by Redford can’t be all bad. I haven’t seen that much star power in one movie since, I don’t know, THE TOWERING INFERNO?
I’m going to see LIONS FOR LAMBS this weekend, regardless of box office performance. I don’t listen to critics or box office receipts. I go with my own instinct about a film.
I live on Middle Neck Road in Great Neck just a short walking distance from The Squire. I’m going there tomorrow night to see AMERICAN GANGSTER. I do my best to see the occasional movies I’m interested in on a weeknight so I have less people to deal with.
BLADE RUNNER has been held over during its limited theatrical run because it’s doing so well. In fact, I think it’s been out longer than some new releases.
Ed, I was off from work on October 5th, when BLADE RUNNER opened at the Ziegfeld. Becasue it’s one of my favorite sci-fi movies, I made a special trip on LIRR to go into the city and see the first show of the day. For that movie, all the aggrevation and the high ticket price was worth it. At least I knew ahead of time that I was going to love the movie, and I did.
Almost seems like EVERYBODY in the entertainment industry is on strike!
Well, all I can say is, thank goodness I got to see the VAN HALEN concert last week before Eddie and Dave potentially start fighting again. Now I can die a happy man!
Ceasar, is that because of the current writer’s strike or ongoing lack of attendance?
I, for one, have to say that the writer’s strike does not phase me one bit. The way I see it, if there’s no writing, then for the time being, there won’t be any new bad TV or movies.
I tell you, though, you add that strike on top of the Broadway stagehand’s strike in New York City, and entertainment has been virtually wiped out for now.
I decided to stop complaining some time ago and just stop going. That puts money in MY pocket and keeps it out of those who make insulting movies and those who help to create an unpleasant moviegoing experience.
I love movie theaters. I would be here if I didn’t, but I don’t believe today’s amusement-style, expensive-as-hell, multiplexes are anything like what movie theaters used to be. For me, all of the beauty and pleasure of going to the movies is OVER. They are now a thing of the past. That’s why I’m here. Like many of you, I enjoy discussing the pleasures of the past.
It’s very disappointing to think something like this, but has anyone else considered the possibility, that if the movies continue to deteriorate in quality the way they are – maybe, just maybe, today’s movie theaters (and I use the term very lightly) are NOT WORTH SAVING?
I’ve always felt that movie ticket prices should never have gone above $5.00! What theaters ought to do is charge based on the length of the movie. A lower price for a 90 minute or less movie, and a little higher for an epic. Makes sense to me.
The movie-at-your-local-multiplex-experience, in my opinion, seems very much like White Castle restaurants – people constantly complain and complain about how terrible it is, and yet the good business continues, year after year.
I predict that within 50 years or so, the movie theater will become completely extinct. Movies will likely be made for immediate DVD release or computer download (for a price).
You know, it’s also a wonder we even still have the Academy Awards anymore! With all the garbage on the screen this past decade, what exactly are we celebrating??? I suppose if we didn’t, someone like Joan Rivers would be out of a job.
Justin, do NOT get me started on this topic!
(too late!)
In New York City, ticket prices have gone as high as $12.00 at some theaters! Now let’s just take a long, close look at what you’re getting for your money these days:
Ten minutes of commercials you’d see on TV!
People who won’t stop talking!
People who think it’s acceptable to scroll their distracting, brightly-lit cell phone during the movie!
The very likelihood that the tallest person in the theater will end up sitting in front of you!
In all liklihood, a badly written, badly acted sequel or remake that seeks only to insult your intelligence and take your money!
And of course, there’s the price of concession stand food, which can often equel the cost of your next mortgage payment!
(Wow! I simply can’t handle that much fun!)
Seriously, though, I go to the movies now maybe once every two months, or so. When I do, I’m very picky about what I see. It’s very often an independent film because I have a better chance of walking out of the theater a lot more fullfilled. On the plus side, I live on Long Island, and ticket prices are a bit cheaper (but not by much).
This all certainly helps to justify my name, doesn’t it…LOVE MOVIES, HATE GOING!
It occurs to me that all negative feeling and opinions about Hollywood’s treatment of tragic real life events are likely to fade over time. Somewhere down the road, a long time from now, there will be a big budget “event” film that will tell the story of what happend in NYC on September 11, 2001, much in the spirit of JFK, TITANIC and PEARL HARBOR. It will means watching on screen, a recreation of the two planes that slammed into the towers and them watching them crumble to the ground.
I’m sure someone like Michael Bay is just licking his lips, waiting for his big chance to do it! The man does love to blow sh*t up!
Ed, I’m gonna go off the track a bit here (what else is new?), but I loved the original PLANET OF THE APES so much that I have never wanted to ruin it by seeing any of the four sequels that came afterward. I don’t ever want anything to contradict the memory of that classic chilling fade-out.
Manwithnoname, the Statue of Liberty scene from the original PLANET OF THE APES is perhaps the best and most haunting fade-out to a movie I’ve ever seen in my life! It still gives me chills when Charlton Heston finally realizes where he’s been the whole time.
Flashback: In 1979, there was a bad disaster movie called METEOR with Sean Connery and Natalie Wood. One of the newspaper ads depicted the meteor headed straight for the World Trade Center. Back when I was kid, I probably thought that image was cool. Today, I’m sure I’d look at that image with a little more poignancy.
Before 9-11, there were two movie scenes of downtown NY that really gave me the chills. The first was in DEEP IMPACT (1998) when the tidal waves hits the tip of the city and engulfs it in water. The second was in Spielberg’s A.I. (2001) during the “2000 years later” sequence when NYC has completely turned to ice and the tips of the Twin Towers are sticking out. That in particular, creeps me out a bit now, considering the towers came down only two months later.
Kram, she actually did get a little trashing already, back in 1981 with the movie poster for ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK. Look it up.
Ed, I stopped watching television years ago because I got so tired of the crap! In fact, the last time I followed a television show so religiously, week after week, was TWIN PEAKS, sixteen years ago. However, I will admit that I am very impressed with LOST. My wife and I have been watching it through Netflix, so we’ve only seen the first two seasons so far. I refuse to sit through commercials, even if it’s something I like.
We definately have different tastes. But then again, that’s what makes all of the ongoing chit-chat so interesting. If we all had the same taste in movies, we all would probably think something like SPIDERMAN 3 was the best movie of the year.
NOT!!!
The poster for I AM LEGEND definately hits me a little less because it’s of the Brooklyn Bridge. I realize, of course, that downtown NY is right behind it, but it doesn’t seem as blatantly “in-my-face” as the CLOVERFIELD poster.
As for the movie itself, I won’t say that I AM LEGEND doesn’t look intruiging. Will Smith has made some good sci-fi movies. Trouble is, I’m really trying my best to avoid wasting time and spending money seeing material that I’ve likely already seen on screen in one form or another. And while the concept of one man being the last man left on Earth (I recall Burgess Meredith in “Time Enough at Last” on The Twilight Zone – love that episode!) is thought-provoking and interesting, the other part of the story involving the infected “others” roaming the earth seems a lot like the concept of “Night of the Living Dead” or “28 Days Later”.
I’ll probably just wait for the movie to be released through Netflix.
Thanks for the links, Ed. With the exception of the AutoCad program I use for work (I’m an architect), I’m afraid I’m a bit of a computer idiot! Good thing I married a woman who isn’t!
Ed, you raise a good point, particularly in context with the original “Gojira” of 1954 and its context to Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And yes, maybe I do tend to get a little over sensitive and angry when it comes to the nature of Hollywood movies and those that run it. I still, feel though, that the design of the poster could have been better thought out. Perhaps a shot of a different part of NYC, say of the Empire State Building in smoldering ruins, might have hit me a little less below the belt and still made the same point about the movie. Downtown NY and Ground Zero have seemed like sacred ground over the last six years.
I did see the trailer you speak of. It did not impress me very much. To begin with, I think Godzilla rampaging through NYC in 1998 was enough for me. Second, I don’t like watching movies that are filmed in the style of the viewer’s P.O.V. (a'la Blair Witch Project). Would you believe that after I saw The Blair Witch Project, I actually felt dizzy and a little ill? Who needs that?
I think from a movie patron’s point of view, it all inevitably comes down to the experience you get when you go to the movies…
Yes, there may very well be valid reasons for high ticket & concession food prices and 30 minutes of commercials before the movie.
Yes, these inconsiderate idiots who seem more interested in their cell phone, or those who won’t stop talking, or those who choose to unwrap their candy during the movie and not before, may all think they have valid reasons for doing so.
Yes, the crap you’re watching on the screen has likely been done before and has now been recycled, re-imagined, re-invented, or whatever bullsh*t word the industry chooses to use these days.
But for the moviegoer, it all comes down to whether their experience at the movies is that of pleasure or irritation. If it is, in fact, irritation, then I’d be willing to bet the moviegoer is not going to care one bit about industry reasons and motives – they will simply choose to avoid the irritation of going to the movies and stay at home instead.
You couldn’t get me out of the Hamptons with a crowbar! Westhampton Beach has been my home every summer for the past 30 years. The Hampton Arts Theatre is perhaps the only intimate, enjoyable neighborhood movie theater I have left in my own world.
So don’t be dissin' it!
Besides, a movie with Redford, Streep and Cruise, directed by Redford can’t be all bad. I haven’t seen that much star power in one movie since, I don’t know, THE TOWERING INFERNO?
I’m going to see LIONS FOR LAMBS this weekend, regardless of box office performance. I don’t listen to critics or box office receipts. I go with my own instinct about a film.
I live on Middle Neck Road in Great Neck just a short walking distance from The Squire. I’m going there tomorrow night to see AMERICAN GANGSTER. I do my best to see the occasional movies I’m interested in on a weeknight so I have less people to deal with.
BLADE RUNNER has been held over during its limited theatrical run because it’s doing so well. In fact, I think it’s been out longer than some new releases.
Ed, I was just looking at your nightime picture of the Squire Theater in Great Neck, Long Island. Do you live in Great Neck?
Ed, I was off from work on October 5th, when BLADE RUNNER opened at the Ziegfeld. Becasue it’s one of my favorite sci-fi movies, I made a special trip on LIRR to go into the city and see the first show of the day. For that movie, all the aggrevation and the high ticket price was worth it. At least I knew ahead of time that I was going to love the movie, and I did.
My wife is a Broadway and showtune guru. She loves it all! I generally dislike musicals. Talk about opposites attracting!
Hey, at least we can all still go see XANADU on Broadway!!!
(Uuuuggghhh!!!)
Almost seems like EVERYBODY in the entertainment industry is on strike!
Well, all I can say is, thank goodness I got to see the VAN HALEN concert last week before Eddie and Dave potentially start fighting again. Now I can die a happy man!
a_projectionist, you spoke my sentiments (or lack thereof) almost to the letter! Cheers!
Ceasar, is that because of the current writer’s strike or ongoing lack of attendance?
I, for one, have to say that the writer’s strike does not phase me one bit. The way I see it, if there’s no writing, then for the time being, there won’t be any new bad TV or movies.
I tell you, though, you add that strike on top of the Broadway stagehand’s strike in New York City, and entertainment has been virtually wiped out for now.
Wow!
I decided to stop complaining some time ago and just stop going. That puts money in MY pocket and keeps it out of those who make insulting movies and those who help to create an unpleasant moviegoing experience.
I love movie theaters. I would be here if I didn’t, but I don’t believe today’s amusement-style, expensive-as-hell, multiplexes are anything like what movie theaters used to be. For me, all of the beauty and pleasure of going to the movies is OVER. They are now a thing of the past. That’s why I’m here. Like many of you, I enjoy discussing the pleasures of the past.
It’s very disappointing to think something like this, but has anyone else considered the possibility, that if the movies continue to deteriorate in quality the way they are – maybe, just maybe, today’s movie theaters (and I use the term very lightly) are NOT WORTH SAVING?
I’ve always felt that movie ticket prices should never have gone above $5.00! What theaters ought to do is charge based on the length of the movie. A lower price for a 90 minute or less movie, and a little higher for an epic. Makes sense to me.
The movie-at-your-local-multiplex-experience, in my opinion, seems very much like White Castle restaurants – people constantly complain and complain about how terrible it is, and yet the good business continues, year after year.
I predict that within 50 years or so, the movie theater will become completely extinct. Movies will likely be made for immediate DVD release or computer download (for a price).
You know, it’s also a wonder we even still have the Academy Awards anymore! With all the garbage on the screen this past decade, what exactly are we celebrating??? I suppose if we didn’t, someone like Joan Rivers would be out of a job.
Justin, do NOT get me started on this topic!
(too late!)
In New York City, ticket prices have gone as high as $12.00 at some theaters! Now let’s just take a long, close look at what you’re getting for your money these days:
(Wow! I simply can’t handle that much fun!)
Seriously, though, I go to the movies now maybe once every two months, or so. When I do, I’m very picky about what I see. It’s very often an independent film because I have a better chance of walking out of the theater a lot more fullfilled. On the plus side, I live on Long Island, and ticket prices are a bit cheaper (but not by much).
This all certainly helps to justify my name, doesn’t it…LOVE MOVIES, HATE GOING!
I watched 3 DAYS OF THE CONDOR last night. There is a scene where Robert Redford runs past the entrance of the theater, circa 1975.