First movie blog. First moan. I’ve upset Peter Adams from Shrewsbury with my comments about too many sequels, prequels and super hero blockbusters flooding into our cinemas. “As an established film critic I’d have expected you to be well aware that it’s about making movies which put bums on seats and generate dosh for the studios,” he scolds in an abrupt but impassioned email.
Fair comment. But to my knowledge, it’s a view I’ve never disagreed with, either publicly or privately. I simply argue that with 10 screens in Telford and eight in Shrewsbury, and typically only two or three mainstream big-budget releases each week, there’s a big pond out there for all manner of smaller, less hyped movies to swim in too.
I don’t know Peter’s vital statistics, but I’d hazard a fairly optimistic guess that he’s under 30. The more “mature” viewers across Shropshire will doubtless be less impressed at our multiplex fare, remembering the bygone era when plot came first, and gimmicky effects second.
Perhaps this is why the arthouse cinemas like Shrewsbury’s Old Market Hall, The Edge at Much Wenlock and the Flicks in the Sticks village hall programme are all thriving is something of a backlash.
And what of this week’s releases? The big shock news is that Kevin Costner has finally managed to make a half decent movie without dragging the running time over three hours!
He’s been in the relative wilderness since the heights of JFK and Dances With Wolves, but The Guardian is entertaining stuff. He plays a coast guard rescue swimmer who accepts a teaching post where he meets his match in cocky recruit Jake Fischer played by Ashton Kutcher.
Well the Peters of this world will be delighted to hear that we’re being punished with The Grudge 2 (yes, another sequel), following up the hit-and-miss Sarah Michelle Gellar affair which remade a Japanese horror classic about a haunted house with a young kid in a closet.
The Buffy star makes a fleeting cameo in this one, which is more of the same drivel about lots of pale-faced ghouls seeking to make their point to increasingly timid, terrified victims.
Oh, and there’s more animation in the shape of Barnyard, which is about a cow who must find the courage to become a leader. Cartoon plus social message, packaged into family-friendly wrapper. Last week’s rant is surely vindicated!
- Carl Jones is the Shropshire Star’s film critic. You can catch his views and the latest local film information every Friday in the newspaper.
- Send your comments on Carl’s blog here
- Our growing Blogs section now features our News Blog, Shrewsbury Town Blog, Teen Blog and Movie Blog
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