Oscar Omits (Fly)Overs:
According to the New York Times, many of the movies contending for Oscar’s this year simply aren’t at “a theatre near you” unless you live in a major city. Which has the TV people worried because who the hell is going to tune in to an award show full of movies no one has seen? The reason though is another kind of economic worry-warting: Why spend a truckload on advertising for a movie that you think will get Oscar nominations when the nominations can bring in the hype for free? And why open the movie across the land if it doesn’t get nominated, isn’t of interest to (subtext: those bozos in Middle America) everyone? Now you’ve just wasted money.
That’s the argument anyway. I think it’s unfair that smart people living halfway between nowhere and never-heard-of-it get lousy films at their local theater. But that might also be one of the trade-offs of choosing that corner of the world.
Bonus: Article includes photos of the greatest movie theatre in the whole wide world, The Michigan Theatre in Ann Arbor, Michigan.