Thursday, January 19, 2006

Torturing Metrosexual Cinemas For The Ladies

I've just been reading over at BoingBoing, how some large cinema chains in the States are refusing to show Steven Soderbergh's new movie Bubbles because he's doing a simultaneous DVD and Cable TV release. John Fithian, president of the National Association of Theater Owners, argues that 'if a high-profile Hollywood name like Soderbergh, director of Sex, Lies and Videotape, Erin Brockovich and Traffic, is trying simultaneous release, there is too great a danger of the strategy becoming acceptable to the mainstream'. Which might be true except for the fact that I can already watch almost any movie whilst it's in cinemas in the states and a long time before it ever reaches one here. Which is why the entertainment industry has been telling us for years that piracy and file-sharing is their biggest threat. Which, in turn, is why their experimenting with these 'day and date' release strategies.

In years to come people will be mourning the loss of cinema and wondering where it all went wrong. Well here it is. Cinemas should start adjusting to the new climate now and not when they've no other choice. They still have a whole social aspect that is still very much ignored. Cinemas will have to focus on the cinema going experience more than just the draw of the movie. So what? Get on with it and stop moaning about how other businesses aren't doing enough to artifically prop up yours.

Single panel cartoons for the ladies.

Apparently there were 'metrosexuals' around in Iron Age Ireland...but we tortured and murdered them. In some parts of the country, I believe we still do.