An Open Letter to Ron Howard

Dear Ron (Can I call you Ron?)

Earlier this month you released your latest picture Cinderella Man, and I’ve felt guilty ever since. You see, I didn’t go see it. I’ve heard nothing but good things about the film and you’ve proved yourself to be one of the most reliable filmmakers in recent years. In the past fifteen years you’ve given us Backdraft, Apollo 13, Ransom, and A Beautiful Mind. You’ve even served as a producer on two of my favorite television shows – 24 and Arrested Development. Most importantly to me, when I was eight you gave me Willow. Though I’m now aware of how derivative the film was, that doesn’t change the fact that I dressed up as Madmartigan for Halloween in third grade.

I point all this out for two reasons: I want you to have proper perspective on my intense guilt and I want to explain how my absence from the theater has nothing to do with you. It’s me. I just don’t have the drive to go to the theater anymore.

That doesn’t mean my romance with film has ended. Far from it. I love film as much today as I ever have, but I can’t help feeling that the days of the public consumption of cinema are on the decline. Since this week marked the culmination of the longest box office slump in the history of film, I’d say I’m not the only one who feels this way.

Just five years ago, calling any film a “rental” was a brutal jab, but now calling a film a “rental” has little to do with the quality of the film. “Rental” is now a reflection of the type of film; some films just don’t need to be seen in a theater to experience all they have to offer. Romantic comedies – all of them – are now “rentals.” Many, if not most, dramas (yes, including Cinderella Man) are now “rentals.” Regardless of how good or entertaining these films are, we don’t lose anything by waiting a few extra months to enjoy the movie in the comfort of our own homes isn’t asking much. The movies that are now must-see theatrical releases are action films and adventure films and sci-fi epics, only because they play best on the big screen with the expensive sound systems. Even those of us who take great pride in our home theater set-ups can’t match what the theaters offer.

Have you been to a theater recently? I don’t mean premieres or test screenings. I’m talking seven o’clock on a weekend at some 24-screen multiplex in a suburban mall. Ever taken in one of those shows? It can be a most unpleasant experience. Because of diminishing returns for the theaters, they’ve been forced to sell screen time to advertisers, giving patrons one more reason to turn to Blockbuster for their entertainment. Before the coming attractions roll we have to deal with ten to fifteen minutes worth of Coca-Cola and General Motors ads. When television first caught fire in America, the theaters did all they could to differentiate themselves from the boob tube. When did that stop? So, we contend with ad revenue even as admission prices get more and more outrageous. We’re definitely getting screwed from both ends there.

But now there’s competition. For the twenty dollars that it costs most of us to take in an evening show with popcorn and soda, I can pay for a month’s subscription to Netflix. Even with moderate diligence in watching DVD’s and returning them, we’re talking about 10-12 movies for the price of one. With my 4-at-a-time plan, it’s closer to 20-25. How can the theaters compete with that?

But it’s not just the theaters that are making things harder. The movie-going public must accept some blame as well. Let’s be honest. Many of us can be pretty brutish and unmannerly at the movies. Whether it’s the chatters, or the noisy eaters, or the wireless infants who can’t go two hours without sucking at the teat of their cell phones, the movie theater is no longer the most conducive place for the total immersion in fantasy that you filmmakers would like from us. Even with bombs and pyrotechnics blowing through thousand dollar sound systems, it just takes one R2-D2 version of In Da Club to throw us completely out of your film. For film snobs like me, it doesn’t even take that much.

Another equally important element to the dwindling theater attendance hits closer to your home. This really isn’t directed at you; as I mentioned before, your track record over the past ten or fifteen years has been pristine. Yet, many of your peers seem to be churning out bile by the bucketload and charging us ten bucks a piece to ingest it. I wish I could find the problem in one area so you and your pals could focus on fixing that, but the problems in the Hollywood production process seem designed for their movies to fail more often than they succeed. Most films are rushed to screens as if simply getting them into the theaters is the key to making money. The writing process lacks any sort of cohesive vision thanks to the hand-me-down nature of rewriting. The problem with too many cooks is not only the spoiling broth, but the inability to weed out those cooks who are weaker than the others. Hence you have directors who routinely punish the movie-going audience continuously returning to work. Paul W.S. Anderson who still-bore the Resident Evil franchise before killing two extra-terrestrial birds with one stone in Alien Versus Predator is working on sequels to both. That makes no fucking sense. This is the guy who has Soldier on his resume, too. Are you kidding me?

Sorry Ron. Just thinking about that guy gets my blood pressure up. I don’t mean to take it out on you. I know one man only has so much power in Hollywood, but even you must be able to see that things need to change. We’re losing confidence in the cinema. The odds of being satisfied by a given film have dropped so low that Vegas is raising its eyebrows, and many of us no longer want to assume the risk. Instead, we’ll sit at home with our Netflix DVDs (that we essentially pay a dollar or two for) and even if the movie sucks we won’t have as bitter a taste in our mouths when it’s done. Sure we may have lost 90 minutes of our lives that we’ll never get back, but we’ll have saved 8 bucks doing it.

I know that in the end this will have very little effect on you. You guys are still making a killing on DVD’s, but many of us, despite our displeasure, still want the option of spending an evening in the theater. Even the best home systems just can’t compete with the flicker of film and that special dark that you can only get in the cinema. We just want to stop feeling fleeced after the lights come up. And we all have a little responsibility in that. I’ll do my part. You continue to do yours.

As for my absence from Cinderella Man, don’t worry. I can’t wait for it to come out on video.

Sincerely,
Phil Rockwell