By George Robbins
Back in the 70’s and 80’s, Hollywood produced a large number of films that caught the attention of people the world-over. These movies are classics that we still hear about and see today and they mostly still hold up. The reason for why they all still hold up is because at that time there were no CGI effects going into movies, so everything was done with practical effects. These practical effects were a perfected art form at the time and they made every movie seem like it was actually taking place in real life. No matter the genre, practical effects dominated the industry and are still widely regarded today because of the real life aesthetic. These aesthetics are not noticeable the way CGI is, even today, and during the 70’s and 80’s horror films had the most effects.
Horror movies of the 70’s and 80’s were quite different from the horror movies that we see today and seemed more surreal in how real they looked. These movies still hold up today, despite what the footage looks like, because they were made in a way that made them last through the test of time. This lasting effect that is seen throughout the movies makes it possible for people to go back to those films and not feel out of place. Meaning that nothing on screen will feel like it is out of place like films with CGI would. Among those horror movies were legends in the industry that would stand the test of time and be considered some of the best films of their time. One of the films that is mentioned the most is ‘The Exorcist.’
‘The Exorcist’ is a film that was made in 1973 as a supernatural horror film which was based upon the novel of the same name. The movie was directed by William Friedkin who is well known for his work during the 70’s in the “New Hollywood” movement. His films all pushed the boundaries and he did his best to make his films masterpieces that would last through the years. ‘The Exorcist’ is most definitely one of those films and no matter when you watch it, the film will always hold up. The story of the movie follows two priests as they try to exorcise a demon from a young girl in order to save her life. The movie got Friedkin nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director, which was unprecedented for a horror movie. This just goes to show how well done the movie was and that it can still hold up today.
In the modern day, Hollywood is trying to do their best to bring back classic films of the past in a more modern way. This gives them an excuse to remake old films and then charge people to go and see the films. Those movies eventually turn out to just not be as good as the originals, even with updated technology added to them. Hollywood is nonetheless trying to do this yet again with a reboot for ‘The Exorcist.’ Their plans as of now for the project are to try and work on the film as soon as possible because they plan on releasing the film some time in 2021. This release date means we will see the movie sooner rather than later, so all we can do now is hope the film doesn’t end up as a disappointment because it is kind of hard to reboot a classic masterpiece.
By George Robbins
Now that theaters are beginning to reopen in at least some parts of the world, they are doing all they can to adjust to the new rules. Theaters have now been given specified guidelines that they must follow in order to even be allowed to open up individually again. However, this does not mean that every theater will actually be allowed to open even if they do meet the guideline standards. Many theaters are still trying to open, but local governments still believe them to be a huge health hazard since so many people will be sitting together in an enclosed space for hours at a time. Even if theaters end up being only half capacity, they are still enclosed spaces with a lot of people in them and half capacity is just the standard.
Depending on the number of screens and seats a theater has, the amount of people who will be allowed to enter may vary per movie theater. That aside, movie theater owners are still trying to figure out exactly what it is that they will be showing people when they open. The point of even going to a movie theater is just to see new films as they release, so of course this is their “product.” New content is kind of hard to come by these days, so many theaters have resorted to showing older films, or in some cases, movies that were in theaters when the pandemic began may make a comeback. However, there may just be a couple of movies that we will be seeing soon in theaters that could turn this whole situation around, at least that’s what theater owners are hoping for.
One of the biggest movies on people’s minds right now is the newest Christopher Nolan movie, ‘Tenet.’ The mystery surrounding the movie has catapulted the film onto just about every movie-goers must watch list. This movie has been marketed and hyped up ever since the pandemic just began and Nolan believes it may be the film that ends up saving theaters because it will create a huge drive for people to want to go to the movies. This is something that Warner Bros. has been attempting to do for a while now and within the next couple of weeks it will release domestically and internationally. Wherever theaters will be opened up, the movie will get a chance to be shown to the public. There is another even longer awaited film that should be releasing soon as well, ‘The New Mutants.’
‘The New Mutants‘ is a film that shows a group of young mutants trying to survive some kind of dangerous situation set in the universe of the X-Men. This is an exciting moment for a lot of people because the film has been in the works for a very long time and due to the acquisition of the film’s rights by Disney, it was delayed. When the pandemic first began, the movie was only a couple weeks away from a theatrical release. People want this film to be a success because it could possibly be seen as an entry point for the X-Men in the MCU. If the film doesn’t do well, then it will just be seen as a standalone film, but after all this time, some are hoping it works out. Advanced ticket purchases for the film actually became available today and we will see the film having its official theatrical release on August 28th.
By George Robbins
Movie theaters have been doing their best as of late to reopen their doors to the public and make some kind of revenue again. Their being closed has left many theater owners without any kind of income while still having to pay for the properties all on their own. Maintenance without new income is difficult, especially for those owners who were not prepared for such a scenario. This is going to result in the closure of many independent theaters and it will change how some places work moving forward. Although some companies are moving ahead with their openings, the pandemic itself is still a very real threat that could be even more problematic for theaters as time rolls on.
Theaters have started doing the best they could under the new guidelines in place that are there to prevent more people from getting sick. This will be important from this point on as more businesses open up, but there is still going to be a risk involved with the reopening of the movie theaters. Even with limited capacity, theaters are still an enclosed space where many people sit down for a couple of hours at a time. This makes the possibility of people getting sick much more plausible and it is a cause of concern for some. Even wide-open public places like parks and amusement parks have been complained about by the concerned public because of the risk that they pose to everyone. This is another reason why opening theaters isn’t exactly being seen as a great idea.
Big theater companies have been pushing off the reopening of their doors for awhile at this point so that they could try and reopen as many theaters as they can simultaneously. This has presented a big problem for these companies as of late because not every place is allowing them to open their doors back up to the public. They wanted to open up as many theaters as possible so that they would be able to show movies all over the place which gives them more opportunity to make revenue. By only opening a few theaters, they give themselves limited theatrical runs due to contracts with studios. The more theaters they show the movies in, the more money they will end up making as a result.
Now that theaters are opening, they are trying to pressure states into allowing the opening of theater doors so that they have more of a chance at bringing in revenue. One of the states that theater owners are trying to pressure is the State of New Jersey because they would not allow the reopening of theaters due to the potential health hazard. They tried doing this by putting up a lawsuit against the state for allowing other public venues to open, but not theaters. New Jersey isn’t the only state that isn’t allowing them to open as the State of New York is doing the exact same thing for the same health concerns. New Jersey has since ruled against theater owners who have claimed that shutting down theaters infringe on their right to free speech. It is easy to see that this is not a good reason to hold up in court and why they were denied the right to reopen just yet. There is no telling just when they will reopen in New Jersey, but for now we know it will be awhile.
By George Robbins
Movie theaters have unfortunately been shut down for the most part since the middle of March when the pandemic first began. Within the recent weeks, theaters have begun the process of truly reopening their doors to the public. However, things are not going to be the same as they were when theaters were opened before the pandemic began. Theaters now have a strict set of rules and regulations that they have to follow in order to even open up their doors again. This has resulted in rules like limited capacity coming into effect and it makes things difficult for theater companies from this point on.
Due to the continued threat of the virus that we have seen, theaters had to keep pushing back their opening dates. Now that there is at least a better handle on the virus, we are seeing more public businesses reopen. This has given movie theater companies like AMC a good window of opportunity to open their doors even if it isn’t everywhere like they originally wanted. That isn’t of course without its risks as we still have the aforementioned rules that still need to be followed in order to protect those that do want to get out of the house. Now that some places have theaters open, the movie industry is also going to be seeing a nice return as people want to see new content.
While theaters have been shut down, people have had no choice but to stay home and watch movies because they just couldn’t go anywhere else. This has given streaming services a chance to make a killing because people were stuck at home for so long with nothing to do. Streaming services have dominated the market within recent months and it has created a lot of buzz in the movie industry because of how they affect the market. Watching movies from home is a lot more comfortable for people and they are given more free-range mobility in their own homes. This has created a big opportunity window for consumer product companies as well because with people at home, they could spend their time and money on something else.
One of the biggest markets to gain a surge due to this streaming from home phenomenon is the food market. More specifically it is the part of the market that sells goods related to going to a movie theater. There is actually a reason why theaters sell food at theaters as people usually tend to eat while watching movies. Among the foods available is perhaps the most pervasive type of food, popcorn. Popcorn has been associated with movie theaters for a countless number of years and it is very much associated with watching movies as well. This is why microwave popcorn companies have been making a killing as of late because while people are watching films at home, they are binge eating popcorn, thus reportedly raising market sales for those companies.
By George Robbins
Now that studios are back in the development phase for their movie making processes’ they are going to be busy again. One of the biggest reasons why they will be so busy is because even though there are many ongoing projects, there are new projects in the works as well. Movie makers weren’t just sitting at home twiddling their thumbs while waiting for the lock-down to end. They were at home thinking about how they want to make movies moving forward and what they will be able to do moving forward with these movies. So now that productions have started again, new productions are beginning to take form as well.
Among the newer films that are starting to be worked on is the next film to enter the ‘Scream‘ franchise, ‘Scream 5.’ This franchise is one that began at the tail-end of 1996 and it has been pervasive ever since, moving along with society. Every movie in the franchise followed the story of Sydney Prescott, played by Neve Campbell, and her fight against a serial killer that never leaves her alone. This is a part of the meta-commentary that is seen through the film because it is supposed to be something of a parody on other horror films. Many tropes from other horror movies are often discussed at length in these films and they follow beats that are similar to other films.
All of the meta-commentary seen throughout the films was Wes Craven’s idea to try and poke fun at other horror movies. Not only to do this, but to also show the flaws that other movies possess as it will show people what they maybe wouldn’t notice on their own. This was meant to be a way to make the movie original in its own way and for the most part, it succeeded with only the third film not doing so well critically. The movies would even go on to spawn a television series that lasted for awhile. Now that talk of a fifth entry for the franchise has taken hold, there are a lot of people with renewed interest in the franchise. There was even more talk after it was confirmed that David Arquette and Courtney Cox would return as Dewey Riley and Gale Weathers, respectively, with Neve Campbell in talks to return.
Needless to say, Arquette has been excited recently knowing that he will be making a return and that he will get to be a part of the franchise again. Recently he has talked at length about wanting to return for multiple new installments as well as reasons for why the third entry didn’t do very well. Unfortunately, the man responsible for making the franchise, Wes Craven, passed away which means that this will be the first thing in the franchise that he hasn’t worked on. While the new directors have said that they will be doing their best to make the film the way Craven would have, everyone knows that it just won’t be the same. Arquette even acknowledged that filming the movie without Craven on set will be “bittersweet,” but it is an opportunity to feel like he is there with them again.
By George Robbins
Moving forward is a difficult thing for many studios to do nowadays, but they have managed to make do with what they’ve got. This is the reason why movies are being able to immediately get back to work even though the pandemic is still ongoing. Although the pandemic is still going strong, there have been new rules and regulations put in place to allow production crews to get back to the films they were making. This also allows many opportunities for the rest of the film industry as a whole as it eventually gives way for theaters to get some of their business back. Many movies that stopped part way through for their productions have been started back up again and this has given people a lot of work recently.
While the world was locked away behind closed doors at home, there were many people that continued to work as the rest of the world was shut down. Among those people were the writers who are responsible for the creation of entirely new ideas for movies and it gives studios something to do when they get the chance. Writers are not the only people that help a film get made as producers are also responsible for this and it is the reason why so many movies get made in the first place. So during the quarantine, it only makes sense that bored producers would look for something that they could make a movie out of. This is why we are now hearing about another film that is based upon a video game, ‘Firewatch.’
Video game movies are not often well-received by the public as they usually don’t do a great job at translating between the game and the big screen. There are, of course, some exceptions to the rule that people have been following over the years that all video game movies are bad. A vast majority of the ones that have already been made, however, have not been received well by the public and it has resulted in great failures for many movies. This comes from the disconnect that happens between the two mediums of a video game and a movie. Movies are something that people just watch to see a story while video games are interactive and let people play the story. This results in people just not really enjoying the film that much because they would rather play the game at home.
Things may actually end up working out for ‘Firewatch’ though because of the way that the story in that game is set up. While there are aspects of exploration found in the game, there are a lot of story elements that, if done correctly, could be well adapted to a movie format. For those who don’t know, in the game you play as a forest ranger in a lookout tower who is just trying to keep watch of the surrounding area to prevent hazards like a forest fire. Unfortunately, while much of the game is suspenseful and tense which draws in the player, the conclusion leaves much to be desired and it is critically regarded as the worst bit of the game. This is a topic up for debate though, since there was mixed criticism about the game’s ending. Let’s hope that whoever is working on the film can keep it in the same vein as the game and can give it a satisfying ending.
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