Movie Zone
Here I will post movie reviews and recommendations, opinions and updates on the world of film, lists/rankings, and the occasional film essay/analysis if I am feeling brave enough
From Fargo to Bates Motel, turning popular films into ongoing TV series is a trend in entertainment that has been around for a while and has managed to remain in stark popularity. It is safe to say, especially after the film-centered examinations of my previous two articles in this series, that television continues to surpass film in popularity, content diversity, and oftentimes, quality. But why is this? How did this switch happen? And how has it remained so prevalent? In the third chapter of this series taking a look at the current state of film, we will dive into the TV series obsession and how the small screen has come to dominate entertainment, leading to one of the driest and most desperate stages in film history. The 2020 declineAmong the many businesses and markets that suffered during the pandemic, television was not one of them. Though the outlet had indeed been seeing a new golden age in the recent years past with shows such as Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones receiving endless accolades, COVID forced us all to remain locked indoors with little options for entertainment and escapism apart from the screens in our homes. If a majority was not already turning towards the structure of television, this essentially sealed the deal for everyone else. With platforms such as TikTok and Instagram reels exploding with popularity, it is clear that attention spans have been plateauing, to the point where settling into a two-hour film sounds tedious as opposed to consuming “bite-sized” stories in the episodic style, where you can get a full satisfying story in half-hour increments. It is convenient to stay at home and pop on your favorite channel or streaming site to watch all your favorite content that has been around for a long enough period to feel a strong connection to, rather than going out to the movies for a two-hour film you know little about and are not sure if you’re going to enjoy or not. Beyond that, many feel it is easier to get invested in stories that have massive room for character development, universe expansion, and deep explorations of a story that could not be fully done in a single movie. People return to Stranger Things and Bridgerton because they love the characters and the world that has been created that they feel is a regular part of their life. And after lockdown, that pretty much became a reality. Out of (creative) controlA common route that happens with filmmakers is that they leave the movie world to work in TV, particularly writers. The reason for that is the lack of creative control in film, and the comparative free reign in television. Films are very much controlled by the director and/or big studios, while TV is more dictated by the writer and producers. This is proven easily just by looking at the films being given the highest budgets and studio backing today, compared with the most successful television series’. While the big screen is busy shoving reboots and superheroes down our throats, we have seen a vastly more diverse selection of content when it comes to the small screen. Budgets will typically be much lower for TV than big Hollywood films, so risk can be a lot lower. There is also a much wider market for television, with thousands of channels dedicated to specific audiences, so there is pretty much a place for any kind of show to be made. And now, with multiple streaming platforms (a number that seems to grow every day) on top of the number of cable channels, television has been seeing an even more massive growth in varied content that films haven’t been able to keep up with. All of these components together have easily continued to carry television along in its glory years. But do films even have a chance at making a comeback? And why have they seemed to only double down on the same formulas that audiences are repeatedly ridiculing and turning away from? TV vs Film - when movies triumphedThere was a time before when television was gaining traction over the big screen — back when television was first popularized. Beginning in the late 40s, entertainment was being brought into people’s living rooms for the first time, and shows like The Twilight Zone, The Dick Van Dyke Show, and I Love Lucy were overshadowing the big Hollywood releases everyone used to flock to the theater to see. Why go out and spend money for a movie every weekend when you could get quality entertainment right there within the comfort of your home? In response, Hollywood had to entice audiences to get back out to the theater, with tactics such as the 3D boom of the 50s, that offered an immersive experience you could only get in the theater. Funny enough, or perhaps just because it’s the genre I’m the most knowledgeable in, horror played a big part in this, partly with the 3D craze, and also with things like William Castle films which always promised to have a fun gimmick to go along with every theatrically released movie. Think the shockers in the seats for The Tingler or the skeleton flying across the theater for House On Haunted Hill. Even the classic Alfred Hitchcock-intrigue marketing buzz created around the release of Psycho was a carefully crafted tactic to bring audiences out to see the film. While horror movies weren’t single handedly responsible for getting audiences back on the movies’ side again, these are just some examples of what films and theaters did to try and draw excitement back to the movies. The real turning point was more in the 70s and 80s, when creativity in the movies was probably at its greatest. Dispensing with the gimmicks, it was time to get back to good old classic storytelling. And so we saw the very beginning of the age of the blockbuster. As well as the age of some of the greatest films of all time that cemented audiences’ favor with the movies once more, and for decades to come. Jaws, Star Wars, Halloween, E.T., Batman, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Rocky, Back to the Future, and the list goes on and on. People were reminded not only of the magic of the movies, but of the joy and adrenaline of seeing them in a theater. Even the 80s slasher boom brought a resurgence of the drive-in movie theater. The circumstances of the time forced this resurrection period of film that is probably the most beloved in all of movie history. However, what is vital to remember here, and what the film industry must take from this today, is that this stage in filmmaking took off because of the wide range of creative and original ideas given attention and space to shine. Battle tactics of today — not so hotIn today’s Hollywood sphere, we’re seeing the same desperate call to get eyes turned back towards the movies… only with exceedingly low achievement. One odd turn that has been rampant is the fact that movies nowadays have grown amazingly longer in average length. It’s rare to catch a film in the theater nowadays that won’t take up two hours, at the very minimum, of your time. This, I’m sure, is meant to keep up with the fact that TV shows are so revered for their time spent on character and story development. So that three-hour stretch you have to sit through at the movies now is an attempt to recreate that, with varying success depending on the film. (Curse you, Dune: Part 2 for testing not only my mind but my physical capacity to sit still for that long!) The biggest sin we can most likely all agree on however, is the type of films Hollywood picks and chooses to be given a chance in the spotlight. As we’ve discussed in articles past, superheroes and reboots/legacy sequels have gotten the biggest studio backing when it comes to film releases, including budget, marketing, width of theatrical release, etc. Indie films hardly even get a glance from studio execs, and original story ideas, unless they are intentional Oscar-bait, are released with hardly a word, in a handful of lucky theaters, obscured by Marvel or Disney mania (The Marsh King’s Daughter, anyone?) Even movies that are prime Oscar nominees and/or winners are showered in praise for a few months before being completely forgotten by both mainstream audiences and Hollywood as they move on their reboot slate for the next year. (Anyone remember that really cool movie Parasite? Ex Machina?) With the complete downfall of physical media, the most amount of money movies can make now is in a theater. Therefore, they just go with what worked before. Star Wars and Rocky and Halloween saved cinema once before, right? Why not again? And again… and again… Shows such as Succession and The Bear would never see the success that they have if they were movies. At best, they’d get that brief Oscar nod, but likely, they’d get a low effort release and no spotlight or care from studios until they faded into obscurity. As shows, they are able to be repeatedly in our face and have been able to find audiences looking for something original and different, as well as something with more depth than a movie-length story can offer. It’s just now that Hollywood is finally figuring out their beloved superhero subgenre is not bringing in the financial security it once did, and with the recent theatrical phenomenon of Barbie, Oppenheimer, and Poor Things, it is hopeful that we will see a steady decline of reboots next. Because as stated, it was not rejuvenating old properties that led film into its heyday of the 70s and 80s. It was original and creative ideas getting the time, budget, and attention from studios to introduce to the world with a bang. War of the streamingHow does TV fight back? With growing budgets of their own.
We’re seeing episode lengths stretch out to feature film lengths as of late. And we are talking today’s average feature film lengths (ahem, Stranger Things). There are mixed thoughts on this as of now, and I would be surprised if they get a little too ambitious and begin to lead to TV’s downward slope. No one’s tuning into a TV episode to settle in for a two and a half hour commitment. This combined with the ever growing budget that make certain TV episodes feel no different than a theatrical film are what TV has seemed to be using to combat the superhero and reboot extravaganza of theaters, as well as to compete amongst themselves. Also, the mass production of television series based on films. Cobra Kai, From Dusk Till Dawn, Training Day, and so on, are all attempts at utilizing recognizable properties for the TV platform before a blockbuster reboot can steal the spotlight. This is especially prevalent with the rise of streaming services. Streaming used to be a place to watch all your favorite TV shows whenever you wanted, before becoming an alternative to purchasing physical media, and then being a place where original content was created exclusively for that streaming service. But now with a new platform seemingly being created every week, streaming services have to compete with each other to be one of perhaps three to five platforms that a customer will pay monthly to access. Competition is high, and with movies now being released as streaming platform originals, it has created a new place for film to grow outside of theaters. Now we have theaters competing with streaming, and streaming services and their content competing with each other. Marvel has dipped its toe into this phenomenon by turning properties like Moon Knight, Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Loki, that were definitely meant to be movies, into these overly long, stretched out stories that have interesting enough concepts, but are ultimately shot in the foot by the episodic style. A case where elongated story and character exploration is not necessarily so successful. Though these shows have pretty ok audience success, so what do I know? It’s hard to say whether all of this manic streaming will eventually cave in on itself, but there are only so many more (Insert Channel Name)+ accounts we can all sign up for. As a dedicated movie fan, my preference is always going to be with the movies (much as I do love me some Mandalorian and Stranger Things). As good as expanding story and character arcs can be, there are far too many times where I end up bored by the slow-burn nature of a series. I am far more willing and less intimidated by a two-hour film than a collection of twenty-two-hour episodes. But that doesn’t mean I can’t see why people are turning more towards TV as of late. I'm the first to roll my eyes at endless Marvel drivel, and rebooting the last piece of media you think anyone would even think to redo. It is clear that Hollywood needs to wise-up, and I’m glad the success of TV is hopefully forcing them to think of more original and creative tactics. We are seeing a bit of fatigue with the TV series-ification of every piece of media being released, which is hopeful as well. As with any trend, everything needs to jump on the bandwagon, and having to spend six or ten plus hours on one story is getting a little silly. Lastly, we are seeing movie theaters create some fun gimmicks as they did way back in the day to get people excited about theaters, though this time doing it with social media trends. Think of the Megan TikTok dance, the hype around the absurdity of Cocaine Bear, the made-for-theaters-only experience of Top Gun: Maverick, and of course, the record breaking Barbenheimer phenomenon that will go down in film history. It’s been slow, but gradually catching on and softening people’s feelings towards theaters. And as always, all we can do is speak with our time and money to show what we want to see be made and released.
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AuthorCertified non-professional who just enjoys giving her random thoughts on movies and books. Archives
June 2024
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