Films may not be as fun and engaging as they were in the 1960s and ’70s
Were movies better in the past? It’s hard not to feel that way. The big screen at the local theatre with its subliminal link among audience members – often gasping or laughing in unison – used to make movie-going unbeatable as a night out.
Today, there are so many ways to view films: streaming services, cable movie channels and, easier still, YouTube. Maybe movie theatres don’t matter any more.
There was also the “golden age of television”, the long HBO and other pay-TV series with huge audiences – The Wire, The Sopranos, Sex in the City – that segued into Netflix (think Breaking Bad), and kept people entertained at home on their TV screens. I watched all 62 episodes of Breaking Bad; some friends watched that whole series twice.
This raised the question after our protracted Covid lockdowns: were film consumers ready to give cinema-going another chance?
Pop-culture staples
Summer films now focus largely on Hollywood versions of legendary comic-book or pop-culture staples, such as Captain America and Hulk, Spiderman and Batman, Misson: Impossible sequels or car races with Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise or an equivalent star at the wheel.
Cruise in Top Gun: Maverick accounted for 20 per cent of U.S. box office in summer 2022, with ticket sales over $700 million. Steven Spielberg credited Cruise at the Oscars with “saving the theatrical industry”.
In summer 2023, still recovering from lockdowns, more varied themes might have been expected. But Hollywood played it safe, and that summer was headlined by yet-another pop-culture icon: Barbie.
The pink bombshell was somehow coupled with the more cerebral Oppenheimer. My type of film perhaps, but at almost three hours long and full of Cold War intrigue and politics, it wasn’t really for casual viewers.
As one reviewer commented on the Rotten Tomatoes site: “If you are a history nerd, you will love this movie. Otherwise, you might be somewhat confused and at times bored. The film does have great acting performances and production design. However, not the easiest film to follow.”
Looking ahead to summer 2025 movies from Hollywood, there is no Oppenheimer but again lots of comic-book remakes, sequels to previous hits and long-running franchises.
Brad Pitt racing to a monster box-office finish, hopes his studio.
The Maison du Cinéma in downtown Sherbrooke is a reliable barometer of recent film products. In July, it is screening big-budget U.S. sequels Mission: Impossible starringTom Cruiseand FI with Brad Pitt, as well as the latest from the dinosaur era since this 1994 franchise began — Jurassic World.
Disney’s heavily advertised Lilo and Stitch andits animated Elio will unfailingly draw the kids vacation crowd. The IMAX film How to Train Your Dragon (Fr.: Dragons) may appeal to teens but gets a G rating as not recommended for small children.
At the other end of the film spectrum, art-house impresario Wes Anderson delivers the thoroughly offbeat, even kooky, but star-packed Phoenician Scheme.
American films are generally shown in English with French subtitles, or in dubbed French versions; check the cinema schedule.
Quebec and French films get some space with a reprise of the ‘70s erotic hit Deux femmes en or, and the drama Manicouagan, set in northern Quebec.
(As for English Canadian film productions, I have not seen one in a packed theatre since the comedy Bon Cop, Bad Cop back in the summer of 2006.)
The suburban Galaxy cineplex repeats much of the downtown Maison’s schedule. After July 11 it shows another comics-derived blockbuster, Superman, a film franchise that began in the late 1970s.
The smaller, four-salle Cinéma Magog screens several of the blockbusters above, along with the quirky-sounding Quebec comedy Menteuse about an eager-to-please but pathologically lying woman. T
Finally, drive-ins in Quebec used to be a big thing. They offered a truly different big-screen experience. Today there are just 4-5 left, spread across the province.
Ciné-Parc Orford’s programme in July 2025 started with top releases Jurassic World, FI and Dragons, all in English. As well, one shocking thriller – always good for snuggling on dates – La Trollée (French version of Drop Game) screens later in summer.
On the home front
But then, snuggling or not, most of us will still watch films at home.
There are certainly more streaming outlets for movies these days. We subscribe to Netflix, Crave and Amazon Prime. But we have limited the various Apple, Paramount, Disney and other streaming options to save money. Something has to give. So the Covid-era hit Ted Lasso came late to our household, given it was first on Apple+. Once it was more freely available, yes, it was fun, although fairly limited as entertainment.
YouTube also screens entire versions of some films, and in recent years I have watched everything there from the quirkily comic Townships film Hatley High (thumbs-up) to the grimly realistic Soviet chronicle One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. The Criterion site hosts many classic, European and hard-to-find films on a subscription model; I recently watched Truffaut’s superb 400 Blows there.
Finally, on regular TV we often watch TCM (Turner Classic Movies), part of our Bell cable package. It offers a stunning variety of black-and-white and contemporary (1960s and later) classics. Plus, screwball comedies and novelty pics of all sorts.
What strikes me about TCM is the number of great movies from the late 1960s and early 1970s, my teen years and young adulthood, that we have been seeing recently. Hit movies that I really enjoyed were undoubtedly more frequent in those years: Bonnie and Clyde, The French Connection, The Graduate, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?, The Great Escape. These all seemed to have strong stories, with vivid characters who prompted clear audience reactions.
One reader agreed with my take and posted this astute comment: “You’re certainly on to something David. I recently saw Jean-Pierre Melville’s 1969 classic, Army of Shadows at TIFF lightbox. There was a discussion before the film with cinematographers, Roger and James Deakins, frequent collaborators on Coen Brothers’ films. Roger went on a passionate jag about all the other stellar films made in ‘69, which include Z, Women in Love, The Graduate, The Wild Bunch, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Butch Cassidy, Easy Rider, Midnight Cowboy and many more! The current choices are embarrassing in contrast.”
Where are the dramatic equivalents today? I would love to be surprised, but I just don’t see those films in the summer calendar for 2025.
Repeat: I would love to be surprised. –You listening, Hollywood?
Originally appeared in Townships Weekend supplement of Sherbrooke Record, July 2025
