Is Film Where It's At?

Are films dying?  Is the industry heading to the land of VHS, Atari, AOL?  It seems Netflix and cable tv have put the final nail into movies, but is this actually true?  Maybe movies have an area where they are supreme, for example 3-D and Imax screens where, at least for now, it would be hard to replicate at home.  This is the topic of the December 1, NYTimes Magazine article, "The Big Picture Strikes Back" (see below for the link).  In the article director Steven Soderbergh states, "there is less and less room in the business for artistic integrity and specificity of vision; in the age-old struggle between art and commerce, art is being routed".  The article points out that yes cable tv is supreme right now giving examples such as the finale of Breaking Bad had 10,300,000 viewers, and Netflix having 6 million new subscribers.  These are definitely true facts about the power and supremacy of cable and on-line media, but there are some great films that have come out this year, and the last several years that break the mold of commercial blockbusters. The films below need to be viewed on a big screen, not even a 60" screen will have the same effect.

Here are some of the films that I have seen and highly recommend:

12 Years a Slave:

Directed by Steven McQueen (not that one he's dead) and stars Chiwetel Ejiofor - you'll hear of him again when he's receiving an Oscar for Best Actor for his work in this film.  Brad Pitt has a minor role, but was one of the producers for this film, it also stars Michael Fassbender as a demonic slave owner.  This film grabs you instantly and doesn't let you go - it reminds me of the brutal scenes in  Amistad, but those lasted thirty minutes, not the entire film.  It depicts the institution of slavery as America's original sin and condemns those involved with it by its brutality and barbarity.  Viewing this on a big screen is the way to go for this film, when I left the theater I was stunned.

Gravity:

Directed by Alfonso Cuaron, this film actually gave me vertigo, but in a good way.  The cinematography and visual effects are second to none and should win Oscars for these categories.  The film is a gripping survival story and although the dialogue is tedious at times, this film is what a big screen needs - huge visuals of the Earth, the silence and blackness of space, the camera work that puts you right there, and more - best to see this in 3-D!  Sandra Bullock has more bad luck than I do driving on Halloween!

Nebraska:

If you liked The Descendants and Sideways, then you'll love this film.  As usual with an Alexander Payne film, this focuses on ordinary people - in this case Woody Grant (Bruce Dern) plays an almost invalid curmudgeon who thinks he won a million dollar lottery and needs to get to Lincoln, Nebraska - he lives in Billings, Montana.  His younger son decides to take a road trip with him, and they meet up with old neighbors, friends and nightmarish relatives along the way.  The visuals in this film (it's filmed in black and white) are grainy and like Woody emphasize the decay and dilapidated state of the Midwest.  This is another film that loses the visual 'punch' if seen on a small screen. June Squibb plays Woody's wife and steals the show with her one-liners!

Here's the trailer for Nebraska:

Here's the link for the NY Times article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/01/magazine/the-big-picture-strikes-back.html?ref=magazine&_r=0