Simon Dillon
2 min readDec 1, 2023

--

Firstly, streaming is not great, and here are a few reasons why I'm fiercely physical media only:

https://fanfare.pub/own-nothing-and-be-happy-no-thanks-d7298e51f594

Secondly, I am with you on the cinemagoing experience. Cinema is the best place to see a film, and that is a hill I will die on. I go at least two or three times a week, often more, to all kinds of films (not just mainstream Hollywood). I also went as much as I could whenever cinemas reopened during the pandemic, and whilst those were strange times seeing them so empty, I knew they'd bounce back (in the UK, independent cinemas in particular were given government help, and we have the BFI to fund rereleases and all sorts here in any case).

Streaming has certainly had an impact, but I believe people are starting to get tired of it. In the same way that cinema saw off competition from television, video, DVD, home cinema systems, and pandemics (it is recovering, certainly in the UK, where I live), eventually the novelty of streaming will wear off. It has always made more sense to see a film at the cinema first and foremost, then, if you like the film, buy a physical copy.

The other question is the subject of mainstream Hollywood: It has been in the most creatively tepid period of its history lately, lazily reliant on legacy sequels, superheroes, and tepid because-we-can remakes. This year has been a stern rebuke from cinemagoers in that respect. Things need to change. We need more modest budgets, more creativity, more originality, and more risks. I believe we will start to see more of that in the years ahead. Frankly, I'd like to see a moratorium on superheroes for at least ten years. I doubt that will happen, but I do think we may see less of them, and that's a good thing. It is worth noting that some films with modest budgets have done remarkably well in terms of return on investment, even if they don't appear to be huge hits. There needs to be a return to this kind of bread and butter filmmaking in Hollywood.

Of course, outside mainstream Hollywood, cinema remains as creative, vibrant, incisive, and challenging as ever. Think Japanese cinema, Korean cinema, Indian cinema, films from the Middle East, from Europe, from the UK, and also the US independent scene. There are plenty of good and successful films out there, if people broaden their horizons beyond Hollywood. :)

--

--

Simon Dillon
Simon Dillon

Written by Simon Dillon

Novelist and Short Story-ist. Film and Book Lover. If you cut me, I bleed celluloid and paper pulp. Blog: www.simondillonbooks.wordpress.com

Responses (1)