This may not be terribly relevant anymore, in an age in which American movies are seen mostly abroad and Americans see most of their movies at home. Hollywood is ecstatic that the Chinese and Russians are developing an American-style addiction to opening weekends at the multiplex. That’s why so many blockbusters these days awkwardly wedge in a scene shot for no particular reason in China, along with surprisingly non-derogatory verbal references to Russia. (It has become standard in space alien or zombie movies to please the growing Russian audience by mentioning briefly the Muscovite state’s stalwart role in fighting the super-villains.)
Still, we’re coming up on the 100th anniversary of the first American blockbuster, D.W. Griffith’s 1915 release of Birth of a Nation. All in all, it’s been a pretty good century of going to the show. Gore Vidal once remarked, “As I looked back over my life, I realized that I enjoyed nothing—not art, not sex—more than going to the movies. ”
I’d like to see the outdated technology of the movie theaters survive for two reasons…
