I Didn't Watch The Oscars and I Don't Go to the Movies Much Anymore: Doesn't Sound Like Hollywood Notices

I like reading Nikki Finke's Deadline Hollywood - for one thing, she was a respected traditional journalist who started blogging when that was such a no-no.  I suppose it still is, but I don't think that Nikki Finke cares much (then or not).  Good for her.

Today, I was surfing through her commentary on the Oscars show last night (I didn't watch it) and noticed her reporting that Brian Glazer explained to her that the "theme" of the Academy Awards Presentation Extravaganza this year was to celebrate going to see movies in the theater because so many are opting for "video on demand."

I'll leave it to those who watched the show (Nikki, you) to decide whether or not last night's three hours of stuff achieved that goal.  (Nikki didn't think so.)

My point:  wake up.  It's not just the convenience of watching movies at home that is keeping people out of the theaters.  It's the junk that is being sold to us for very expensive tickets -- not to mention the cost of popcorn. 

You are not competing against the technology with which we watch this stuff so much as the entertainment alternatives we have.  And yes, Mr. Grazer, I mean television.

Some of it is crap, true.  Some of it is not.  One example that comes to mind immediately:  I'm rewatching the Tudors on BBC America, and while it's not exactly 100% accurate (Henry could only hope to look that good, particularly by the time he got to wive number six)  it's well done. 

Another example: The Closer.  It's good entertainment.  I'm sure we can all point to other television programming that we have found to be preferable to the stuff being sold to us at the movie theatres.

Look, I love to go to the movies.  Love it.  Love the experience.  I would like to do this every week.
But I refuse to fill my head with the junk that is being offered to me.  I will not pay for it. 

Looks like film revenues mean lots of other people may share my position on this.  Check out the reviews over at Rotten Tomatoes, Yahoo Movies, etc. and you'll see that there aren't that many five star, home run offerings out there right now either.

Not that every year needs to be 1939, but I mean really. 

Make better movies, and I'll go to the theatre again.  And, maybe, I'll start watching the Oscars, too.