By Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis” hits cinemas this weekend following wildly divisive reviews from all corners.
Myself, I saw it as bold, ambitious, self-indulgent, relentlessly auteur-driven, a bit messy, both high-minded and low-brow, surprisingly earnest and wonderfully camp, and doesn’t conform to your expectations – it is the most expensive experimental arthouse film ever made.
Going by its box-office estimates, it will be doing arthouse-level numbers that aren’t good for a picture this costly. Despite the film being tailor-made for IMAX screens, it’s likely many will wait for streaming before checking it out.
That would be a shame according to Coppola, who isn’t a big fan of streaming and explains why to Discussing Film:
“Well, streaming is a dumb phrase because all it is, what it really is, we’ve always had – it was called home video. I know a lot about streaming and streaming moves in the direction of a business model where they’re trying to get subscriptions.
To me it’s anti-art. Better that people go to a big theatre, not a multiplex, but a real theatre and see a movie with 300 people.
Sure, you can review it again at home, by streaming or DVD, however how it’s delivered is not the important thing. It’s the same to see a movie either totally alone or with two or three people.
I still remember going to see “The Bridge on River Kwai or “Lawrence of Arabia” I’ll never forget and you can’t have that experience just in your living room. Know who invented streaming? Major League Baseball”
“Megalopolis” took nearly 40 years and $120 million to make, with the film tracking for a domestic debut this weekend of just $5-7 million – continuing a string of poor debuts for distributor Lionsgate. Reviews are squarely down the middle at 51% (4.9/10) on Rotten Tomatoes.
This weekend’s other new release, the animated “The Wild Robot,” is headed for a $24-30 million start and sits at a stunning 98% (8.6/10) score.
The post Coppola On Streaming & Why It’s ‘Anti-Art’ appeared first on Dark Horizons.
