This movie lover gets rankled whenever blogger Chase Squires tells me television puts out a better product than movies. So I asked him to put his defense in writing. The following is Chase’s spirited salute to the boob tube, followed by my cinematic retort.
The case for small screen supremacy - by Chase Squires
There was a time when the entertainment world was ruled by titans. Hitchcock. Huston. Spielberg. They were masters, and they worked in a singular medium: film.
Consider them petroleum now. Their time has gone. Man moved from smoke signals to telegraph to radio to the promised land of 1080p high def, 42-inch cable-fed, plasma-powered, surround sound goodness. Television rules the entertainment landscape with vivid colors, a richness delivered only through limitless continuity of story and boundless variety.
Film lumbers into the tar pits of obsolescence, limited by two-hour time constraints, fouled by the odor of concession-stand cheese nachos and soiled by the limits of adolescent appeal and Wall Street’s box office demands.
To mock TV as the great wasteland even a decade ago would be fair. The networks offered a menu of lowest-common-denominator tapioca: bland storylines, unimaginative sitcoms, formula dramas, dull colors.
But with the emergence of upstart cable channels and new revenue streams through DVD sales, iTunes downloads, free Internet delivery and product placement, the medium has moved beyond.
Writers take chances, deliver variety, tell twisted, complex tales that weave in and out of Internet sites offering bonus content, hidden Easter eggs for those who seek immersion, and fan forums for discussion, feedback and an exchange of ideas.
While film recoils from the Internet, fearing piracy, television has embraced it through network-powered online libraries and sites such as Hulu.com that offer instant gratification.
Film has become a fleeting image, a flicker of light and sound, left too paralyzed in the quest to please all to please anyone or create anything memorable. Television rules with stories so complex they take years to unfold.
Shows such as “Lost” or “Nip/Tuck” carry storylines across seasons, dramas develop complex plots and characters with histories. Long-running comedies give actors the chance to create and evolve. Liked Steve Carell in “The 40-Year-Old Virgin?” Watch him craft a twisted, yet awkwardly likeable character week after week in “The Office.” Liked George Clooney in “Ocean’s 11?” You should have seen him develop the original Dr. Dreamy on “ER.”
In addition, TV is nimble. Shows adapt to changes in the world, instead of languishing in studios for years after a project gets the green light. Kiefer Sutherland delivers “24″ in taught, one-hour installments that play on our own very real fears of terrorism. Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin poke subtle fun at their own boss, GE, in “30 Rock” with timely barbs taken straight from the newspaper.
Oh, sure, TV creates plenty of crap. The difference is, I can just flick the channel, doesn’t cost me a thing. Have you tried getting your money back from a chain theater if you didn’t like the movie? No? I did halfway through that holiday stinker “Fred Claus.” Guess where it got me.
You’ll find me this season in front of the magic box, stretched out on my leather couch. The only thing missing will be the chatty old woman sitting behind me, the kid kicking my chair, the crying baby, the hacking cough to my right, spreading God knows what, and those awful, smelly nachos.
And if I need to get up, say to grab a beer from my own fridge, I’ll just hit pause.
Big screen, bigger advantages - by WWTW
Television has come a long way, baby - but it still can’t compete with motion pictures.
Let’s acknowledge a few facts. Television allows for continuing story lines in a way movies can’t match. Even the best sequels doesn’t come out for at least a year or two after the original. The lengthy film production process means movies can’t respond to breaking news like some television shows can. And the flood of pay cable and broadcast outlets means a greater number of new shows than ever before.
Yet the motion picture experience remains superior to watching even the glossiest flat-panel set.
Let’s start with the mystique.
Everyone can look back at how they felt watching a classic movie in the theater for the first time - the buzz of the crowd, the peals of communal laughter or the tears which met the film’s tragic ending. It’s all magnified in a theater where film lovers unite and, more often than not, bond in a way that can’t be replicated in your living room.
The sheer enormity of the silver screen is enough to forever keep movies on a higher plane. Now with 3-D technology finally ready for its close-up, and IMAX theaters evolving from niche venues to mainstream showcases for smashes like “The Dark Knight,” film’s edge is even larger.
But let’s not forget the meat of the matter. Films still deliver a higher quality product for a simple reason. The sharpest creative minds working today still believe film matters more than television.
Think Joel and Ethan Coen are dying to work on an ABC legal drama? How about Paul Thomas Anderson? Steven Spielberg? Mr. “Jaws” himself dabbles in TV now and then, typically on a production level. But when it’s time to crank out a new story, he returns to the movies to treat his vision with respect.
You’ll find some terrific actors bouncing back and forth from movies to television these days. The stigma preventing movie actors from taking small screen parts is all but gone. And good riddance. But the movie-only actors remain in a class unto themselves. Tom Hanks. Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Laura Linney. Anthony Hopkins. Denzel Washington.
The big budgets films require make them the ridicule of some critics. Why did it cost $60 million to create a stiff like “Righteous Kill?” Fair question.
But those budgets also allow for gorgeous set design, stunning special effects and other visual tricks that even the best television programs can’t match.
Today’s movies are often dumber than they should be, and the need to create new franchises and crank out sloppy sequels remains the industry’s biggest black eye. That, and the jerk who keeps checking his cell phone or feels the need to explain every joke to those seated around him.
There’s no defense I can muster for some tactless movie goers.
But every time I think Hollywood’s dream machine has hit a rough patch, along comes an “Iron Man” or “Superbad” to recharge my batteries — and make me want to rush out to the nearest cineplex.
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