Listen
ou don't need me to tell you about the big summer movies...
... Hollywood's 24/7 PR marketing machine has made sure that you know War of the Worlds came out this week and Fantastic Four opens on Friday.
So ordinarily when I tell you about some terrific film I've seen, I tend to talk about smaller ones, the ones that play in just a few dozen theaters instead of a few thousand multiplex screens.
But not this time. Right now I think it's important to point out that one huge Hollywood movie is a very good movie.
"Batman Begins" is the prequel to the other 4 Batman movies of the last couple of decades. And it's simply great on its own, larger-than-life, comic-book terms. I think it's better than all of the other superhero movies in the last few years. It perfectly straddles fantasy and reality--the characters and story and physical details are just plausible enough for me to suspend disbelief. I totally bought the whole vision.
It heartened me to see a big popcorn movie like this that is so well-conceived and beautifully executed… And since "Batman Begins" is a huge box office smash, it heartens me also that quality is being rewarded in the marketplace. In fact, so far this summer, it's the only big new movie that's really drawing people into theaters. Aside from Star Wars, the only smash hit. And the only great film. Coincidence? I don't think so.
It looks like the mediocrity of most movies is actually keeping people away from theaters. There's a brand new Associated Press survey out. According to it, 73% of Americans, 3 out of 4 people, now say they prefer to see movies at home, alone, rather than in a real movie theater.
Now, the people in the survey weren't asked if they really prefer to stay at home and watch movies, or if they're just can't justify the schlep and the expense of going out to movies when most new movies aren't worth going out for.
I hope the explanation is the latter – I hope this huge anti-movie-theater majority is the result of one too many trips to the multiplex to spend $8 apiece on movies like Monster-in-Law and Miss Congeniality 2.
All I know is, if I'd only seen Batman Begins at home, on my little TV screen with its little TV speakers… I would have been under-whelmed. And I also would have missed the real delight of being among a satisfied sold-out audience of happy strangers applauding at the end of a really good movie.
