Good article.
Two of my beefs:
1. As far as cinemas go, one of the horrors of the multiplex invasion was also the assault on the senses. To get keep people going to the movies, theater owners apparently felt they had to make the theater itself a "destination" and hence you get concession areas and hallways as loud, bombastic and frantic with media, lights, music and movie trailers as humanly possible.
It used to be that you'd become absorbed into the world of a good movie. As you exited the theater it was quiet and you were still able to be feeling the residue of the experience, still be "in it somewhat" and contemplative of what you just experienced.
Wheres in the multiplex all such nuanced sensations are obliterated as you leave the movie into a massive dazzling party zone, numbing your senses and removing the movie experience you just had.
Fortunately for me I'm in a film-loving city (Toronto) and so there are some decent cinema options. Even some of the multiplexes have come to tone down the dazzle and offer some peacefulness to the exterior settings of the cinema rooms.
2. The cult of youth in movies.
Yes there have always been movies made for young people. But the problem is now the vast majority of films feel the necessity of skewing to a youthful audience, which affects all areas of the film making choices. Casting and writing especially.
If you look at older movies (e.g. up to and into the 70's) you actually see respect for maturity. Many of the leads are actually adults...with...gasp...some actual wrinkles and a sense of maturity. And especially when necessary, a maturity that helps with an actor having some authority. Whenever I put on an older classic movie, I'm struck by how much of the cast including the main actors actually look older than a teenager.
But now movies are made as if we are living in Logan's Run. Mature actors
are often invisible in terms of leads, and tend to be part of the periphery.
A good example is the current Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes.
Look at the lead actors in the original from the 60's. Chuck Heston was into his mid 40's and looked it, and you could believe in his sense of authority in the movie.
Look at how it has to be made now: with a guy like James Franco as the lead scientist, barely into is early 30's, but looking and acting even younger.
He just doesn't embody any of the maturity, wisdom or experience one might hope for in a role of a brilliant scientist. But...he's cast in the lead because youth sells and he'll bring in a youthful crowd.
This is probably the most bleak aspect of current movie making, in which the pickings for believable casting and truly adult, mature films gets ever thinner.
