“Television won’t be able to hold on to any market it captures after the first six months. People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night.”
—Darryl F. Zanuck, American director, born September 5, 1902
Have an A-1 Day
“Breaking Bad” is so good right now that I can hardly stand it. The writing, the acting, the direction are all superb. It occurs to me that television has grown up in the shadow of the cinema just as mammals did in the shadow of the dinosaurs. American cinema is over-specialized, and would not be able to survive rapid change in the ecosystem it dominates.
Here’s an interesting take on why we (baby boomers) got to see so many good movies on TV in the olden days (1950s and 60s) and why younger people have so little experience of cinema from before their own time. If you’ve ever experienced the I-don’t-watch-black-and-white look of horror and aversion, you know what I’m talking about. Old Movies and New TV
We had a very spirited discussion at Tuesday’s Northampton DELA (it didn’t quite come to blows) about work-life balance, the alienation of “consumers” from the essential human virtues of work, and what’s wrong with these kids today. You should have been there.