Too Many Movies

There's too many damn movies this year! Every year the studios save their best and brightest films, meaning those that might earn Oscar nominations, for the holiday season in the hopes that these films will stay in Academy members' minds come ballot time.

Two more factors are affecting the glut of Oscar hopefuls in theaters now. First, the Oscars ceremony is being moved up a month earlier next year, which means there is less time for voters to see the films; and secondly (perhaps more significantly), the MPAA has announced that studios will not distribute screener copies of films to critics and award ceremony groups (outside of the Academy) because of piracy concerns.

This deeply affects smaller films that depend greatly on screeners to get their films seen. Some studios have re-released their trophy films into theaters and set up special screenings for award voters who would typically watch the movie in the comfort of their own homes.

I can only hope this means we have an overabundance of good movies out there because there are dozens of "important" films showing right now, and several of the big Christmas releases haven't even opened yet. What's impressive is the wide variety of films in each genre and budget class. There are major studio blockbusters alongside family comedies, human dramas, independent features, documentaries, foreign films, and so on.

I must say this year has been great for little films. Adult audiences seem to have grown weary of the teenage boy shoot-'em-ups that have dominated the multiplexes the past few years. We still have the Matrixes and the Lords of the Rings, but those films seem to have lost a little of their luster in the mass market. The biz seems to be moving toward niche marketing, an attempt to reach every demographic group concurrently.

It's great for people like me who love movies but get sick of all the Spiderman knock-offs. Personally, I found the first Lord of the Rings film to be painfully boring and tedious. How many creepy crawly ghouls can one person handle in a single sitting?! No thanks. I skipped LOTR 2 and have no plans to see the third installment. Same with The Matrix. I LOVED the first one for its unique action and deeply philosophical storyline. It was a great mind-body combination. However, the creators apparently believed their own hype and the series has turned into every CGI soap opera out there since Star Wars Episode I. The second Matrix was passable but uninspiring; the third one looks so disappointing that I haven't bothered.

That's not to say I'm against epic blockbusters, not at all. But nowadays I'm more interested in human stories, not cartoons, and if a human story can be told on a grand scale, a la Master and Commander or The Last Samurai (two movies on my list that I haven't seen), then I'm all for it.

The question now is one of time. What working adult could possibly spare the time, not to mention the expense, to see all or even some of the films out right now, especially during the mad Christmas shopping season? It's infuriating!

Note to Hollywood: There's too many damn movies!!