In one of the most famous scenes in the 1992 film, “The Last of the Mohicans”, Daniel Day Lewis’ character tells Madeleine Stowe, “You stay alive, no matter what occurs, I will find you.” That’s a rather apt analogy for…
There’s a favorite New England saying, “If you don’t like the weather wait 10 minutes and it will all change.” Welcome to 2020 in the movie business. Obviously this year has been unlike any other (I will make a concerted…
It’s been said before and will continue to be said, but these are unprecedented times in the cinema industry. Over 94% of the world’s commercial cinemas are presently closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Exhibitors of all sizes are having…
“Lose our jobs and starve, most likely.” The Vulture critic Bilge Ebiri’s response to the question, “What will film critics do if all cinemas close for several months” was pithy and to the point. In a profession that had already…
In his 1982 collection of speeches and essays about the struggle for justice taking place in South Africa, Bishop Desmond Tutu wrote: A time of crisis is not just a time of anxiety and worry. It gives a chance, an…
Unless you’ve been living in an igloo or are part of the Trump Administration you’ve probably heard that there’s this pesky coronavirus called COVID-19 going around the world. Thousands have been infected and entire territories have come to a virtual…
When James Bond moves, everyone pays attention. As arguably the best known film franchise of all time, with a combined unadjusted gross of nearly $7 billion, James Bond has set the pace for earnings, consistency and remaining an event that…
Much like a Beach Boys song from the 1960s, North American distribution has been focused far too long on the spoils of summer, jamming tentpole after tentpole into the four-month long summer season. I’m sure there’s a musical analogy for…
It’s feast or famine when prognosticators look at box office prospects. In 2019, everyone saw a calendar year bursting with sure-fire billion dollar grosses like “Avengers: EndGame,” “Frozen II,” “Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker” and “Toy Story 4.” They…
Hollywood today is mirroring Hollywood in the 1960s, so if you want to know how we will view Hollywood today just look at how we view Hollywood back then. By the 1960s, movie theater attendances had dropped super-low because people…