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My stream is like a raging river.

I only have a few streaming services. I've been a Netflix subscriber since they only mailed out disks. I joined Amazon Prime to get free delivery of things I ordered from them. I dabbled in others. Hulu, HBO, and Showtime were on my list at one time or another. I think I subscribed to Showtime to get 'Ray Donovan". I read Game of Thrones, so I never got into that conversation. Recently I subscribed to Apple + to get access to "The Morning Show." I'm deliberately avoiding signing up for Acorn, MHz, Britbox, Showtime, or HBO. I'm doing that because I have about a year's worth of shows on my wish lists on the services I currently pay for.

I have already watched Aeronauts, The Irishmen, Marriage Story, and I'm following along with The Morning Show. Plus, I have a couple of guilty pleasures. Right now I've got two procedurals and two soap operas. The one soap that takes place in America is titled Virgin River. The others take place in Australia.

I will not share any data on the number of Rom Com's I've consumed. However, I have to admit if they were sugar, I'd be diabetic. I use the less than Shakespearean presentations to unwind from some of the offerings for whatever reason are going to make it hard for me to go to sleep. I don't want to mention any of the programs that were hard to watch. (Marriage Story) 

I remember when someone pointed out to me, my love for movies came from the quality difference between television drama and film. That made sense to me at the time. Initially, I allowed for the two other factors.

At that time, when you saw something like Star Wars, it was better in a large-screen theater. Then came the huge screen TV. If you look at a large screen TV in your home with surround sound. You are having the same experience as you would if you sat halfway back from the screen in a theater.

The thing that continues to set going to the theater to see a film apart from the at-home choice is the audience. You can cram as many people in your TV room at home, but it's not comparable to a dark auditorium with strangers.

At this year's Members Only showing during the Milwaukee Film Festival, we were treated to an early release of "The Two Popes." The film, starring Antony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce, was dramatically engaging, masterfully written, and directed. When the movie ended, the audience applauded. It was one of the three films I saw during the festival that the people in the theater reacted in that way. Obviously, the people that made the film didn't get satisfaction from the applause. No, I think it was the people in the theater applauding themselves. We were saying, "Aren't we all glad we came to see this magnificent production."

The audience aside, the other differences are gone. I'm afraid that the audience factor might be generational. Although I have to admit there are a lot of young people who go to the movies. It might be that film is such an ingrained part of dating rites that it is saving the venue.

While the industry settles into something that feels comfortable, we will continue to debate what qualifies as a film to be judged by the Academy, SAG, or Globes. We, consumers, find out, mostly by word of mouth, what we want to pay for. We have a lot of choices. Only recently, we've experienced the emergence of the 4-12 part product that enables directors to faithfully portray the long-form storytelling products like Game of Thrones or a three and a half hour movie, like The Irishman.

The controversy about whether a film is worthy of awards consideration because it opened in some small town single-screen movie house for a week before it was platformed on Netflix or Amazon will become a splattered mosquito on the windscreen of entertainment history.

How they release the product will depend on customer demand. Do we want the drip-drip, week by week release of twelve-parts of The Morning Show or Game Of Thrones, or the flood of links so we can binge all episodes of The Crown?

Comments

  1. Loved Marriage Story, horrifyingly realistic!
    How did you like The Irishman?
    What are the names of your Aussie series?

    ReplyDelete

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