Big screen, short shrift
Other than Frances McDormand, no one at Oscars ’21 stood up for troubled cinemas.
As the cinematic experience mounts a tenuous recovery more than a year into the pandemic, one might think that Hollywood’s brightest stars, basking in Oscar glory, would have taken the opportunity to call audiences back to film’s natural home: the big screen.
Alas, amid the litany of “thank yous” issued to various agents, studio executives and family members from Union Station and satellite locations Sunday night, America’s beleaguered movie houses were conspicuously snubbed.
The notable exception, Frances McDormand, kicked off her speech celebrating “Nomadland’s” best picture win with an impassioned appeal for traditional moviegoing.
“Please watch our movie on the largest screen possible, and one day very, very soon, take everyone you know into a theater, shoulder to shoulder in that dark space, and watch every film that’s represented here tonight,” she said, before howling like a wolf in tribute to production sound mixer Michael Wolf Snyder, who recently died by suicide.
The broadcast, on Disney-owned ABC, did promote a few upcoming theatrical movies, including Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” (a Disney movie via the Fox acquisition) and Warner Bros.’ adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “In the Heights.”
While the telecast was intended as a love letter to film, it was basically agnostic on where people ought to see the art being honored. Which is kind of the way the industry is going more broadly. Incidentally, “In the Heights” will be released
simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max in June.
This from an industry where places like Hollywood’s Cinerama Dome, a temple to many filmmakers, have folded. ArcLight Cinemas and Pacific Theatres announced their permanent closure less than a month ago. A white knight has yet to emerge to save the treasured locations. And Alamo Drafthouse’s bankruptcy auction was canceled Monday due to a lack of bidders, leaving the Austin, Texas-based chain in the hands of private equity firms.
At the same time, the box office is finally starting to show some life, with a nailbiter race for first place over the weekend between Warner’s “Mortal Kombat” and the anime “Demon Slayer.”
Theaters did get a nod in the preshow festivities.
Amid the red-carpet interviews and original song performances, ABC aired a two-minute sizzle reel titled “The Big Screen Is Back,” introduced by Matthew McConaughey. From Austin, the actor paid tribute to the 150,000 U.S. theater workers who were employed by the industry pre-pandemic and suffered “basically the longest intermission they could’ve ever imagined.”
The video featured clips from such upcoming potential blockbusters as “Space Jam: A New Legacy,” “The Suicide Squad,” “Black Widow” and “F9,” interspersed with soundbites from theater workers, including a married couple who met in a movie house. “The movie theater is a treasure,” said one worker. “I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
The PSA, coordinated with the studios and theater companies by talent agency CAA, is part of a longer marketing campaign to bring moviegoers back after a lost year in which streaming dominated the entertainment industry conversation.
Theater companies, including big corporate players and smaller regional chains, have long said their survival depends on the support of studios. Studios’ parent companies — the biggest of which are trying to grow their streaming services — may have other ideas. ABC’s Oscar broadcast, no surprise, featured ads for Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+.
The lack of popular films and broader waning interest in awards shows dampened Oscar ratings, as The Times’ Stephen Battaglio reported.
Those who did watch saw historic achievements, including Chloé Zhao becoming the first woman of color to win for directing. There were moments of levity, including a priceless reaction shot of Daniel Kaluuya’s mom after he thanked his parents for having sex and a bizarrely funny bit with Glenn Close doing some retro dancing to classic go-go band E.U.
Theaters, though, don’t need “Da Butt.” They need the butts in seats.
This is taken from the April 27 edition of The Wide Shot, a weekly newsletter about everything happening in the business of entertainment. Sign up at latimes.com/ newsletters.