…AND THE SELF MUTILATION OF THE MULTIPLEX
I just saw SUICIDE SQUAD in Imax 3D. It had no 3D effects other than the usual two efforts: an oncoming train and the end credits. If it were proved that organic food is actually the same as ordinary priced food, there would be a public outcry. Yet the audience can clearly see for themselves that they are paying more to wear light reducing glasses for a standard product. But there is no outcry because a big screen with comfortable seats is enough to fool anyone into thinking that they are getting premium value. For half the price you also get a comfortable seat and a big screen without the discomfort of cumbersome glasses. Because the Chinese market currently demands 3D and high technology products, the World audience has to endure these gimmicks or else be out of the conversation since the multiplex offers little choice. You can watch SUICIDE SQUAD in Imax 3D, standard 3D or plain 2D. That’s three screens showing the same film. But usually a film of this marketing magnitude will occupy several screens at one time in a multiplex, while the really interesting content is now available on Netflix, Sky Atlantic or HBO.
Exhibitors are so afraid of not getting the annual blockbusters that they contract themselves out of diversity programming with a handshake with the Hollywood cartel of distributors that produce and market such fodder. But Cineworld’s CEO Mooky Greidinger did make a stand against the Hollywood Goliath by refusing to agree to Quentin Tarantino’s film THE HATEFUL EIGHT having exclusivity in Odeon’s Leicester Square for West End shows . His mindset along the lines of:
“If you do not allow us to book the film in our West End venues of Cineworld and Picturehouse, then we won’t show it nationwide.”
Mooky may not have been able to make such a stand with STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS, but at least he said to ENTERTAINMENT (the UK distributing arm for the Hollywood film):
“Don’t treat me like your bitch!”
“Either put up or shove off?” Is Hollywood’s current stance and this filters down to the paying public:
“Either fork out, or fork off !”
I enjoyed the first half of SUICIDE SQUAD. It has a great selection of rock and roll tracks ( always a sign of a lazy film maker ) and the characters of the ‘squad’ are what make the film watchable. The plot, I did not understand other than to conclude that a US Government official wants to use the dregs of her jails to help combat potential terrorism. This is based from the characters of DC Comics, so the villains have super powers etc..etc…
Diablo was my favourite. If Cara Delevingne was a more experienced actress, she could have played Harley Quinn, and Margot Robbie would have been a more effective witch.
In the end, you either like this stuff or you don’t. I don’t, and many good actors are steering towards TV and plays because that is where the good material is. Everybody has a small screen on their phone, home entertainment may be surpassing the cinema going experience. Hence the investment in 4DX screens to con the public into paying sky rocket prices for a unique experience: the fairground experience.
