The Return of Cinemas – What Needs to be Shown – Part 2
1917
Harry Penwell
And now for part two of The Return of Cinemas – What Needs to Be Shown. Here’s another four categories for cinemas to look at when deciding what films to use to herald the return of cinema.
A Second Chance:
This is for the films that started their run but didn’t complete it, leaving their box office lower than they should be and depriving many fans of the full experience. I think they should be given a second chance at glory. And apparently, many of them are (including Trolls: World Tour which is particularly interesting).
Onward
This Pixar film about the bond between two elven brothers in a D&D inspired world was absolutely fantastic. And while its release on Disney + in the US, and on disk everywhere else, would have helped more people see it, I think it deserves a second chance at being shown as it was intended. It’s also a Pixar film and, once again, is absolutely fantastic.
Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic wasn’t massively impacted by COVID-19 because it was released on Valentine’s weekend and so had almost finished its run by the time lockdowns came into force (except Japan, which has only just seen a delayed release on June 26). However, Sonic deserves a second chance because of the amount of extra work put into it. With a three-month delay to fix the uncanny-valley-causing Sonic design, the film’s release was delayed from November 2019 to February. And if Sonic hadn’t been redesigned (or, I guess, designed better to begin with), then the Blue Blur wouldn’t have come into contact with lockdown at all. And that’s why I think it deserves a second release.
Trolls: World Tour
Trolls: World Tour shook the world. And not by turning it into a sugar-sweet planet of colour and friendship. Nor by launching another Timberlake song to the heights of ‘Can’t Stop the Feeling’. No, Trolls: World Tour instead might be responsible, in part, with causing the collapse of the cinema industry, as I discussed in my previous article. But perhaps we should let bygones be bygones and rerelease Trolls: World Tour into cinemas. It’s almost poetic.
Cinematic Experiences:
Cinema has been facing debate as to whether it should continue to survive for years, especially since the rise of steaming, and even more so since this enforced break. Therefore, we need films that offer a vastly different experience on the big screen than on your TV or phone.
Gravity
You cannot watch this film on your phone. There, I said it. In fact, I wish I hadn’t only seen it on my TV, although it was still edge-of-your-seat, gorgeous space-filled action, it was just not as amazing as it could’ve been. That’s why I think it should be on the top of the list for bringing audiences back to the cinema – because it proves that the big screen, with surround sound, is still the best for huge cinematic experiences.
1917
One of the last films that I watched that made me think ‘woah, I’m glad I saw this at the cinema’ was 1917. Granted, it was one of the few films I’ve seen at the Showcase De Lux in Southampton, England, which has some of the best seats and screens I’ve ever encountered at a cinema. But it was also the grandeur of it all, and the surround-sound score and sound effects (the gunshots were particularly fear inducing) that made me certain I’d made the right choice to hand over my money for the experience. I just felt that I was there, in the action, and I think it’s that experience that cinemas should be capitalising on.
Christopher Nolan
Nolan’s new film, Tenet, is set to come out in August as one of the first blockbuster films to be released in cinemas once they reopen. He is also a staunch believer in cinema, and the cinematic experience, despite a foray into Fortnite, and, crucially, his films deserve to be shown on the big screen. Inception is being rereleased in July, to celebrate its tenth anniversary, which I think is a good start. And Dunkirk, with its amazing score by Hans Zimmer, as well as the ever-popular and always amazing Dark Knight trilogy, should also be added to the line-up.
Escapism:
After the chaos of the last few months, maybe all we need is some comfort watching and escapism. Whether you prefer to sing or watch some bad guys be defeated by the forces of good, these films don’t make you think too much but they’re fantastically enjoyable.
Musicals and Theatre
Sometimes you just need a feelgood movie musical, with all the escapism and fun that comes with it. And we have loads to choose from, such as the classics like Top Hat or The Wizard of Oz, to more modern films such as Mamma Mia or The Greatest Showman.
Or perhaps a marathon of Disney is in order? This might be a harder sell thanks to Disney + allowing easy access to the House of Mouse’s vault from home, but with the right pricing and other benefits, I think it would be great to see them back on the big screen.
Or maybe continue the work of The Shows Must Go On and National Theatre at Home or other theatre productions that have taken to the screen? While the theatres are still shut, this might be a way to remind everyone of their greatness in a way that’s as close as possible to a normal theatre production.
Oh, and we could have a good old-fashioned sing-along as well (although this might be affected by COVID guidelines, but evidence is conflicting).
Action Films
Feel free to replace this example with an action film of your choice, but I’ve picked Hobbs and Shaw because it was one of the first two hours without worry that I’d had since lockdown began. I think action films can do that, especially ones where the heroes not only win against the forces of evil, but also have a damn good time doing it.
Also, to be honest, I enjoyed watching the characters doing things I’ve missed, such as walking down the street with people living their lives around me. It reminded me, in a bittersweet way, that this will all end, and normality will return. But before I could go any further down that rabbit hole, The Rock had thrown another bad guy across the room and I escaped into the movie once more.
Cinemas are havens of escapism so I think an action film like Hobbs and Shaw would be greatly appreciated.
Overcoming Obstacles
Surviving and coming out of lockdown is an accomplishment. No matter what you did to help, even if it was just staying home, it was an accomplishment. And I think we’ll remember this as a time where humanity came together, though apart, and overcame everything to succeed. So why not mark the moment where normality starts to return with a film celebrating one of the inherent and beautiful aspects of the human spirit: our ability to get knocked down but get back up and keep fighting. Perhaps with something like Rocky or The Shawshank Redemption or Forrest Gump. We deserve it.
Broaden Your Horizons:
After this pause, now is the time to broaden your horizons with your cinema-outings and see something that reflects the complexity of our world and cultures.
The Oscars and the Critics
Perhaps start by watching some Oscar-acclaimed, foreign language films such as this year’s Best Picture Winner, the Korean speaking film Parasite, or 2018’s Spanish/Mixtec speaking film Roma. Or perhaps Best Picture winners 12 Years a Slave and Moonlight? Or Oscar-winning Get Out, BlacKkKlansmen and Call Me By Your Name? Or the critically acclaimed Love, Simon. Or check out Ken Jones’ article on this very website for some films that can help bridge racial divides.
Blockbusters
Or perhaps some blockbusters that take a different angle are in order? Something like Black Panther or Wonder Woman which both push the superhero genre in more representative directions. And it will lead onto the swathe of more representative films coming after lockdown, such as Mulan, Black Widow and The Eternals.
Inventive and Cinematic
I also think cinema should use this opportunity to promote films that are more inventive, more cinematic and more weird. Films such as the first-person Hardcore Henry or anything on this CineFix list.
Indie
Finally, I think that this gap in the normal blockbuster schedule could be used to showcase smaller indie films by new, or less established, writers. Make it a big deal to come out and support this fresh talent, make it about saving the cinema and advancing the medium, make it feel like a duty. Because it is.
Now, my lists are by no means exhaustive so please comment what films you’d like to see on the big screen when the cinemas open their doors again. But no matter what films you prefer, I hope that you’ll give cinema another chance after this is all over. So stay safe, and lose yourself in the silver screen for a few hours.
I’ll say it again.
We deserve it and we owe it to cinema.