On Theaters, Mystery Spider-Man Villain
April 2005 Movie News
Just When You Thought It Was Safe.: It looks like the next M. Night Shyamalan story will focus on water. Dripping water, still water, bath water. the name of this tale is Lady in the Water, and takes place in a modern-day apartment complex. Apparently the super finds some type of "sea nymph" swimming around in various places. As with all his movies, expect the unexpected, a sense of moodiness or dread, and quiet, almost introspective heroes.
Spider-Man News: Tobey Maguire is, of course, returning for the lead, and Kirsten Dunst is also back as Mary Jane, but the new arch-villain is still a mystery. We do know that the role will be played by Thomas Haden Church. He was a co-star in the 1990s TV sitcom Wings, and recently earned a supporting-actor Academy Award nomination for his role in the road-trip tale Sideways. Filming begins early next year and will, hopefully, hit theaters in May of 2007.
Sexiest Woman In The World!: Well, according to FHM magazine. It happens to be none other than Angelina Jolie. It's her first time at the top of the annual readers' poll by the American edition of the men's magazine. Good choice, I would say.
News Of Another Beautiful Woman: Actress Sandra Bullock received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame recently, the same day her comedy Miss Congeniality 2 opened nationwide. Coincidence? Well, if you know anything about agents, PR, and Hollywood, the answer is an obvious No!. But she does deserve it.
Essay - The Future of Theaters: I thought I'd take this opportunity to sound off on a few ideas of mine about the movie theater in its current form. As any casual observer will notice, the smaller, individual theaters are disappearing rapidly. They simply can't hope to compete with the big chains and their dozens of screening rooms at one location. While this is inevitable, as it has happened in countless other businesses, we must also look at the outcome... also in other businesses. Slowly but surely, after consolidation, if no drastic changes are made those large companies also go under, although it takes a long time.
As a interested party, I'd like to offer a few recommendations for those "drastic changes" I alluded to. While having a dozen (or more) screens in one place is desirable, ultimately it may hurt. The more screens, the smaller the space, and while there are few actual complaints at the time, consumers grumble among themselves at the postcard-sized screens, even smaller chairs, and the idiotic placement of the front seats. Really, as a cost-cutting measure these evil abominations should be the first to go. There is no way a normal human can watch a movie from most of these front seats, and it's even painful. Thus, cut the number of theaters and increase the size of the screen.
Theaters also have to offer more services. The food courts as of now are a good start, but they must both increase the menus, allow more food inside the theaters, and offer tables or other furniture. In the future, I can see the screening rooms more lounges than anything else, with strategically placed tables and comfortable chairs arrayed so that all seats face the screen. I can even see the return of "Intermission", where the customers are waited upon and actual food is served and consumed. It should be more a social gathering place... much more like an actual home than anything else. It is no surprise that many people shun the movie theaters and watch movies at home.
There is so much more that can be done. I can see DVD kiosks inside theaters, able to download and burn onto DVDs the current crop of movies within the theaters for the interested to take home right away, rather than wait for it to appear in stores. Not only will these generate income for all concerned, with the licensing fees, equipment installation costs, and a ready-made audience, the DVD-purchasing machines may even generate more profit for the theaters than the actual movies themselves! It would be a delicious irony that the movie theaters rake in more money from people not watching than those that actually purchase tickets!
In any case, the time has come for such ideas. I don't want to see the movie theater to go the way of the drive-ins... and we all know what happened to them.
