This piece in the NYT focuses on the question I pondered as I walked out of my local theater last night. I had seen Netflix’s fabulous film Roma, in one of the few Bay Area theaters where it is being shown. It also debuted this weekend streaming on Netflix (highly recommended).
I chose to see this in the theater because I had read good things and wanted the Big Screen experience, and also the community experience. This proved even richer than I anticipated, as several rows behind ne were full of migrant farm workers from Mexico, who had interesting and positive responses. I could tell they were particularly pleased to see a film in that theater full of small details that made sense to them, and not most others (I gathered certain songs and foods had a deep, nostalgic resonance). I like going to the movies - I see 1 to 3 films a month in the theater, even though I know I could see most at home in 3-4 months. But I see to go even more often; I found it economically advantageous many years ago to pay for premium cable and streaming services because it represented a savings over the cost of taking 5 people out to the movies (plus parking, gas, popcorn and often dinner, or babysitting fees). Now, with kids grown, I am cutting back on premium cable ( but keeping streaming, which my adult kids still piggyback on). Netflix releases 90 films a year (compared, the article says, to Universal, one of the more productive traditional studios, which releases 30). Most of the Netflix films will never be exhibited in a theater - and the highbrow offerings get only a limited, qualifying theatrical release in NY and CA. Some movie makers (and all exhibitors and traditional studios), think everything streamed should be classes as television. As I drove home last night I was wondering if Roma should be thought of as a new kind of “Made for TV” movie. After all, there were some fabulous examples of that in the past. But I don’t think so - Roma and Amazin’s Moonlight, and an increasing number of productions to come, are full fledged films and deserve to be regarded as such. I would like to see as many of these as possible have at least a few weeks in theatrical release - perhaps, as at Whole Food, people with streaming subscriptions could get some kind of discount. But the main thing is Netflix and other streamers have a lot of cash (for now) and an insatiable need for content, and are willing and able to greenlight a more diverse range of projects than the mainstream studios that seem focused only on sequels and common denominator blockbusters. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/16/business/media/netflix-movies-hollywood.html?smprod=nytcore-ipad&smid=nytcore-ipad-share -- Sent from Gmail Mobile -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
