Greetings, fellow space cadets. First of all, I want to apologize for being absent for the past couple of weeks. It’s been pretty rough around the world with the current situation with the covid-19 virus causing all sorts of havoc. So, for everybody that is reading this right now, I hope you are staying home and staying safe. I hope you’re doing everything you can to help slow the spread of this thing. If you can work from home, do so. If you can’t, make sure you are practicing social distancing and taking all necessary precautions while you’re out there. As Harvey Dent said in The Dark Knight, “The night is darkest before the dawn, but the dawn is coming.” The days ahead are going to be dark and they are going to be tough. They will test your faith, your humanity, and your ability to do what’s right. I bring that up so I can talk about what’s happening in the film industry right now. It’s at a stand-still. Every movie that was scheduled to be released to be released in the next few months have been pushed back until further notice or until this situation is under control. Some movies that were supposed to be released this year, like Fast and Furious 9, have been pushed back an entire year. Movie theaters around the world have closed their doors. The damage that this pandemic is going to cause the film industry is astronomical. I couldn’t put a number to it, even if I wanted to.
While my first paragraph sounds like it has a lot of doom and gloom about it, we will get past this. We always have. Humanity, as a species, has a knack of surviving some of the worst catastrophes in the world. Whether it’s the Black Death or a World War, we always have a way of bouncing back stronger than ever. Sometimes, though, in order to do that, we have to find ways of distracting ourselves to remain in control. Books, music, art, video games, or movies, these are things that we can use to help cope with stressful and dark situations. As a movie buff, I love movies because they can offer an escape from the real world. For about two or three hours we can allow ourselves to be transported to another world in another galaxy, or to the distant past with swords and sorcery. Allowing ourselves to take a few hours to sit back and watch something on our TV screens can have a very positive impact on how we deal with this crisis. Movies are important not just because of how they help the economy, but also how they can give us a moment’s peace.
A movie’s purpose isn’t always just to entertain, but also to inform and educate as well. There are hundreds of documentaries out there that talk about specific people and different places around the world. At other times, movies offer a glimpse into a different time period, acting as a window of sorts. Movies like Tombstone or Pirates of the Caribbean offer us a look into a world that no longer exists. There is something truly special about a film that can take us from our mundane existence to an exciting new place, one that we may not have seen before. To me, that is what is most exciting about film. Beyond that, movies are a wonderful way to tell a story. I don’t know about you, but I love being told a good story. Whether it’s about man wearing a cape that’s flying through the sky or a knight in shining armor battling a fire-breathing dragon, a good story will always speak to that part of us that hasn’t quite grown up yet. While many people would argue that books are better at stirring the imagination than films, the truth is that many of us don’t really have that great of an attention span. Books can take days or weeks to finish, whereas a movie is over in just a couple of hours. You can pack a lot of story into a 2-hour film if done correctly and it can be one of the greatest things ever.
While it is true that we can’t go out to the movie theaters right now, that doesn’t mean that we don’t have access to movies. Some studios have begun to put some of their less-performing films on digital streaming right now like Bloodshot and other films like The Invisible Man that have been successful. Make no mistake, upcoming movies like Wonder Woman ’84 will not be going straight to video, it would be financial suicide. But there are a lot of movies that are available on YouTube, Amazon, Hulu, Disney Plus, and Netflix. Access to movies is easier than ever, although I will admit that there are too many streaming services out there right now. It can get pricey, but the amount of material on these services is extraordinary. For those of us who really like physical media like DVD and Blu-Ray, that’s also an option. I literally can just reach out and grab a movie from one of my shelves(yes, shelves) and I’ll be good for a couple of hours.
Movies have this really wonderful way of bringing people together, especially in hard times. Sometimes, we could use a good laugh, a good cry, or a good scream. But the most important thing is how movies can inspire us to be better and to remind us of what’s important. Although, right now might not be the best time for us to be together. At least, not literally. 6 feet is the recommended distance. So, one person can sit on a chair, one on the couch and another on a bean-bag or banana-chair. Each person would have to get their own bowl or bag of pop-corn and a drink. Safety first, people. Safety first. In all seriousness, though, it is important to be distracted from time to time. If we’re constantly worrying about what’s happening in the world, we’re going to end up a pretty depressed people. I don’t know about you, but depression sucks. Like Mega Maid. So, to all my readers and everyone else around the world: Stay safe by staying smart. This is Major Tom, signing off………for now.