We don’t go to many movies, Nancy and I, but we recently shelled out twenty bucks for a Sunday matinee to see Hot Pursuit, with Reese Witherspoon and Sophia Vergara. It was quite an experience. We arrived in time, but the previews these days last as long as the feature film. I suppose it gives you more time to eat $15 worth of popcorn. If you order a large drink, it comes in a container about the size of my Uncle Roy’s old cow milking pails.
But the movies? Really?
From what I can determine, movies now come in three categories: inane chick flicks, body part explosion films and computer-generated, animated children’s movies.
The chick flicks are near carbon copies and each one is perfectly predictable. For shock effect, the scripts are laced with profanity, sexual innuendo and vain attempts at slapstick. Hot Pursuit was such a film, but Sophia Vergara’s amazing physique made it almost worthwhile. Reese Witherspoon made a valiant effort at humor, and occasionally generated a chuckle or two from the audience. But Hot Pursuit is a film soon to be forgotten.
The children’s movies are also weird. To me, an ideal child’s cartoon movie was Pinocchio, with strong characters and a moral, such as “Don’t tell lies or your nose will grow.” As best I can tell, the children’s films today simply rely on a bunch of goofy characters voiced by actual movie stars. Cinderella didn’t need a movie star behind the microphone, nor did Lady in Lady and the Tramp. Their characters spoke for themselves and they were just good movies.
The remainder of the flicks – the action movies – involve constant explosions, blood, guts and gore. It makes a Boomer think back to the really great movies of the past. To Kill a Mockingbird comes to Mind.
What a flick, and in black and white! If To Kill a Mockingbird came on every night on the Movie Channel, I would watch it every night. Gregory Peck was the epitome of a great actor. He nailed the part of Atticus Finch, a single father, raising two children in a southern town while practicing law in a racist society in the 1930’s. But Peck never once swore, and even when Boo Radley was dispatching the sinister Mr. Cunningham, there was no blood, no pictured violence. You just knew that Boo was getting the job done.
To Kill a Mockingbird was a splendidly simple movie with a poignant message. The children, Mary Badham and Phillip Alford as Scout and Jem, were outstanding, and Robert Duvall’s career would blossom after his portrayal of the disturbed and reclusive Boo Radley.
Maybe today’s generation lacks the patience to watch an actual plot unfold. Perhaps great acting is no longer necessary to make a film, while special effects are relied upon to bring in audiences. Maybe that’s why Boomers aren’t too keen on going to the movies.