Month: November 2025

It Might be Good Enough

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I was watching a video on YouTube that discussed the cratering of movie attendance after 2020 and how even after COVID was no longer a thing, how movie attendance has never recovered to pre-2020 numbers.  But the truth is that even before COVID the movies were steadily losing ground since around the year 2000.  So really COVID just hastened a trend that was already under way.

Well, that clarifies things somewhat but I think there are things to consider about this whole trend.  It’s not just a situation where a change in technology is disrupting an old business model.  Without a doubt that is happening.  But there is another phenomenon at work simultaneously.  And that factor is ideology.  For at least the last ten years there has been a concerted effort on the part of the movie making industry to restrict films to what they consider “acceptable” themes and characters.

And I think the drop in ticket sales reflects this change.  A solid thirty five percent of the country consists of people who aren’t motivated to see these types of movies, at all.  And this accounts for the drop in attendance and box office.

I guess the question that must be answered is, can the industry survive without this segment of the population?  The jury is still out but I think the answer is no.  Theaters have already become a low margin industry and without the enthusiastic patronage of key demographics financial viability won’t exist for much longer.  Then, what are the possibilities going forward?

One possibility is for some newer players in the movie making industry to modernize their operations to lower costs to the point where profits can be made with niche projects that can depend on a reliable demographic to support them.  This could work for the superhero films if the movies cater to the expectations of boys and young men to be entertained with an adventure story that appeals to their instincts.  By the same token a film that caters to the expectations of an LGBTQ audience or a young female audience or a baby boomer audience could also make money if its budget doesn’t swamp out its box office.  And so that could be the future.

I guess it’s possible that Hollywood could become so frightened by what has happened to their profits that they decide to do an about face and start making the kind of movies they made twenty years ago; ones that appealed to the bulk of Americans without trying to divide them by race and sex.  But somehow, I seriously doubt they’d succeed.  I don’t think they still have the wherewithal to recognize what goes into a movie like that.  Even if they tried to recreate that kind of movie making their instincts would betray them and the same woke tropes and characters would appear.  So the first scenario with new players seems more likely.

But I do not think any of this will happen quickly.  The entertainment industry is currently in turmoil.  Video games are currently the most popular form of entertainment for the younger generation.  Super hero movies in the last two or three years have bombed at the box office pretty consistently.  It will be a little while before the new money from Silicon Valley has had a chance to completely usurp the crown from the old Hollywood studios.  It’s definitely already happening but it’s not there yet.  When it does, I think we will start to see some very interesting changes.  It will never look like what we had.  Because we are not what we used to be.  But if it provides products for all of the larger audience types it might be good enough for my movie viewing pleasure.

Thanksgiving 2025

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Tomorrow is Camera Girl’s D-Day.  The family comes over for a twenty-six-pound turkey and all the trimmings.  I counted up the individual food courses and it came close to thirty.  So, this is ridiculous and I asked her if she wants to start cutting back on all this preparation or get the daughters to help and she shook off the suggestion as heresy.  Apparently, she lives for this.  And I’m glad.  I think we all would miss something if she didn’t put this particular menu together in the traditional way that everyone in the family now looks at as the only way to have dinner on Thanksgiving.  The grandkids have never known a different menu at Thanksgiving and that’s going back over twenty years for some of them.  All in all, that’s an amazing track record.

Of course, one day things will change.  One day the grandkids will start families of their own.  And they won’t be able to come to our house every year.  Or maybe we’ll just get too old to run Thanksgiving.  But for now, we live in that golden era where all the grandkids think this regime is eternal.  And I’ll let that be the party line.

Tomorrow we’ll gather for the feast and sit down at 2pm.  I’ll have the honor (!?!) of carving the turkey and sitting at the head of the table as pater familias but all the power is vested in Camera Girl as boss of the kitchen.  She will be scurrying around making sure that the various dishes are available to people at all sections of the table (or tables, the crowd spills over onto a couple of smaller tables added onto the main table) and truth be told I don’t think she even eats a mouthful of food for the first forty minutes of the campaign.  But once the table is completely stocked and everyone has filled their plates for the first time she will settle into her seat and stay there until dessert is needed.  And this will be an assortment of home-made pies and other desserts.  The only thing I always insist on is the availability of several gallons of good quality vanilla ice cream.  Inevitably there will be several other flavors represented; chocolate chip, strawberry, even heretical flavors like cookies and cream.  But for me the gold standard is vanilla.  It is a pure element, possibly the quintessence of the Thanksgiving dessert.  And my grandchildren agree with me vehemently.  There was an open revolt one year when vanilla ice cream wasn’t clearly visible on the dessert table.  I joined in their cries of protest and Camera Girl was forced to head into the basement to the back of the freezer where the vanilla was hiding.  Since then, there’s been no more nonsense about it.

And after we’ve stuffed ourselves with turkey and fixings and dessert, the grandsons and I will head into the living room to watch our holiday movies.  Typically, we’ll bust out the Laurel and Hardy version of “March of the Wooden Soldiers.”  Afterwards I’ll try to put on one of the versions of “A Christmas Carol.”  I think they feel that the Alistair Sim version is definitive.  But we’ll see.

So, the site may be kind of quiet tomorrow but it’s for a good cause.  Happy Thanksgiving to all you folks out there.  Enjoy the day.

I Feel Therefore I’m Amused

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What makes a good story?  And by story I’m including books, movies, songs, even a story being told by word of mouth.  What makes it a good story.  Simply, it has to make the audience feel something; satisfaction, recognition, joy, sorrow, anger, fear, horror, amusement, surprise or maybe even wonder.  In the absence of emotion can a story be good?  I’d say no.

So, when writing a story how do you ensure that the story checks some of those boxes?  Well, plot is one of the tools you can use to activate the reader’s emotions but more importantly, you have to build the characters so that they’re human.  Certainly, any generic female character being thrown into a scene where she is being stalked by a psychopath will elicit at least some emotion from the audience but if she is first made into a real woman with the requisite and recognizable emotions then the scene becomes harrowing.  Think of Agent Starling trapped in Buffalo Bill’s lightless room while he toyed with her in preparation for ending her life.  She is a trained law enforcement agent but she’s also a terrified young woman trapped by a predator.  The audience is on the edge of their seats.  Her fear is the fuel to make the scene real for the viewers.  It’s gripping.

And this is just as important for any emotion in any situation.  To be considered a success the reader has to feel something strong enough to make the story in some way real.  Let’s test my thesis.  Is the movie, “2001: A Space Odyssey,” a good story?  Does it make us feel anything?  Yes, there are scenes in the movie where we feel a sense of wonder at some of the things happening.  And there is a feeling of worry for Dave Bowman as he faces off against HAL9000.  I guess there is sadness over the death of Frank Poole.  But are any of these emotions particularly strong.  I guess on reflection the sense of wonder at the technological wonders we are shown in the flight to the Moon and aboard the Discovery One spacecraft are pretty interesting.  But none of the characters (except perhaps HAL) really activate our emotions.  In some ways Dave and Frank appear more robotic than HAL.  So, on the whole I wouldn’t call “2001” a successful story.  It’s almost like a travelogue to inform the audience about some interesting things that will be seen during a vacation trip.

Now compare this to the earlier science fiction movie, “Destination Moon.”  Technically, there’s no comparison.  “2001” is astonishingly beautiful and seems like a documentary shot in space.  “Destination Moon” appears woefully primitive in its special effects and graphics.  But the story has engaging characters and a plot that creates emotional interest.  The characters are placed in danger and the audience wants to see how the characters respond to this crisis.  Now surely, this isn’t some great work of art.  It’s melodrama and adventure.  But it works.  There’s enough there to make the characters real enough for us to care if they live or die.  Compare this to Dave Bowman at the end of “2001” travelling to the end of the universe through some kind of acid dream followed by him getting very old and then becoming some kind of “space embryo.”  To me all of that was meaningless from an emotional point of view.  It was boring.

So, the lesson is humans like stories that make them feel human.  Because it makes them feel.

26NOV2025 – Quote of the Day

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Readers, friends, if you turn these pages

Put your prejudice aside,

For, really, there’s nothing here that’s outrageous,

Nothing sick, or bad — or contagious.

Not that I sit here glowing with pride

For my book: all you’ll find is laughter:

That’s all the glory my heart is after,

Seeing how sorrow eats you, defeats you.

I’d rather write about laughing than crying,

For laughter makes men human, and courageous.

BE HAPPY!

François Rabelais

Every One

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This is a great time of the year.  I allow myself to watch the various holiday movies whenever the mood strikes me.  I’ve already watched four versions of, “A Christmas Carol” this week and I’m bound to add materially to that number very soon.

Now, in my opinion, the top three versions are the 1938 MGM version with Reginald Owen as Scrooge; the 1951 English production with Alastair Sim as the miser and finally the 1984 version starring George C. Scott as the awful old man.  Each one has its strengths and weaknesses.  But each one manages to provide the catharsis that is the reason for the story.  We get to see Scrooge start out as the victim of a father who blames his son for his wife’s death in childbirth and then the son becomes this misanthrope who punishes everyone around him for revenge.

And along the way we get to see the beauty and joy that Scrooge’s friends and relatives create during their Christmas celebrations; Bob Cratchit and his poor family gather around the tiny Christmas dinner that Scrooge’s pathetic wages afford and rejoice at their day of celebration and family warmth.  Scrooge’s nephew; Fred entertains his friends and even manages to toast Scrooge’s health despite his knowledge that the old man despises him for his generosity and kindness.

As ever I find the 1984 version has the best Jacob Marley scenes.  The 1951 film does the best job chronicling Scrooge’s career with Fezziwig and his subsequent turn toward miserly misanthropy.  And in this presentation, it strays into territory not covered in Dickens’ story.  A subplot emerges where Scrooge’s beloved sister Fan dies after giving birth to her son Fred.  This is given as the origin of Scrooge’s hatred for Fred.  But in the film the Ghost of Christmas Past allows Scrooge to hear his sister’s dying words.  She begs Scrooge to take care of her boy (Fred).  Hearing these words that he’d missed in real-life, Scrooge is wracked with guilt and remorse.

The 1938 version, I believe, has the best portrayal of the Cratchit family.  And in point of fact the actor who plays Bob Cratchit, Gene Lockhart has his real-life wife playing Mrs. Cratchit and his real-life daughter; June Lockhart as one of the younger Cratchit children.  Now, when I say best portrayal, I’m not implying that the acting is better than in the other two versions.  In fact, I think the other two versions have fine actors and stay much closer to Dickens’ text.  But the longer screen time given to the Cratchit family in this version provides a warmer feeling and gladdens the heart of the viewer to watch it.

So then, who is the best Scrooge?  Well, I can’t answer that.  The best I can do is to bring it down to a choice between Alistair Sim and George C. Scott.  And choosing between them is only a matter of what mood I find myself in that day.  I will add that of late I think the George C. Scott mood finds me more often but I have to say at this time of the rolling year I want to have all three DVDs available for whatever mood I find myself in.

And as Tiny Tim observed, “God bless us, everyone.”