The scene above in my local cinema last night just before movie time watching The Courier with Benedict Cumberbatch starring. There am I in the back row for the 7.50pm showing. No one there except me sitting with a black coffee which was so hot to drink I convinced myself it was readying to torture Benedict to tell the Ruskies what he was up to.
I began to wonder what was going on when suddenly an elderly couple appeared tutting and aarrghing because I didn’t jump up and let them into there K 8 & 9 seats in the back row. Little did they realise I was trying to hold the hot coffee and get out of my seat fast enough to their liking. It was a farce as the coffee fell to the floor as the couple squeezed by and into their seats. I pondered whether Covid 19 had impacted the couple in a world where people did everything they were told, sat where they were told , watched what they were told etc. Was this really The Courier or Orwell’s 1984 that we were about to watch.
Where were all the people, was the movie really that bad ? Surely not everyone was in Cornwall ? No, I was in Ghost Town. Netflix and Streaming movies on release is killing the industry. The Cinemas are getting smaller gone are the days when the ice cream lady comes in with a box hung around her neck. The ticket clippers have gone only the app scanner greets you. The Hammond player no longer rises from the orchestra pit and the velvet curtains have gone. The Dolby sound is good but there are fewer listening. Oscar Deutsche who entertained our nation ( ODEON ) would be turning in his grave having built 2500 person capacity cinemas in the 1930s across the nation.
Today most of the cinemas are relegated to basements where the space is cheaper but if what I saw last night goes on for much longer even these will disappear. I decided to move away from the couple two seats away, refreshed my coffee and sat elsewhere, I managed to drink the coffee around the time Benedict was thrown into the Gulag and as the film was based upon true events the coffee equally chilled.
If Ghost Town does continue like this our Arts and our Hearts and minds will be affected. We need community and we need shared experiences, we were not designed to be alone, popcorn is for sharing , drinks to share which is why straws were invented. The movies are well made , good quality , great actors and there’s still carpet in the aisles. Ghost Town needs Ghost appearances from Joe Public and quickly. The Courier was good though what he was carrying we had seen before and I doubt if will be remembered amongst Smiley and Ipcress. Benedict was good my dear Watson.
qbitblogger 