The baby-boom hero "Spiderman" has conquered a new generation of moviegoers.
"Spiderman: No Way Home” is a global box-office smash, drawing younger audiences to theaters in the midst of the never-ending Covid epidemic, which keeps coming back like the web boy's villains.
While "Spiderman's" Tom Holland and cast have rung up $1 billion in global box office receipts, "adult' films like "King Richard,” “Belfast" and Stephen Spielberg's remake of "West Side Story” have flopped, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis
While "Spiderman" is only available in theaters, the "adult" films can be streamed at home. Older fans - defined by the WSJ as older than 35!- opt to watch them in the coziness of their living rooms.
I've missed going to the movie theater, but no recent films have excited me enough to return.
A few years ago, Martin Scorsese raised a stir when he blasted superhero movies. Get off my cinematic lawn, Scorsese bellowed. Let "serious" film makers do their deep dives into the human condition, and the audiences will follow. That's before Scorsese started placing his work on Netflix.
Too bad that "serious" film-makers are falling below standards set by Scorsese and others in Hollywood's great days of yore.
Recent films like "Licorice Pizza," "King Richard," "Belfast" and others sound mediocre when compared with hallmarks like "The Graduate," "Taxi Driver," "The Godfather" and "Chinatown."
"Spiderman: No Way Home" appears more accomplished than the so-called adult films, all of which have flawed scripts and acting, if critics can be believed.
At least "Spiderman" tells a coherent story, and has a cast of familiar stars. The original "West Side Story" starred Natalie Wood. I couldn't tell you who stars in the new one. A superstar director and a script redone by Tony Kushner don't sell tickets.
Following "Spiderman," a new "Batman" movie will come out in March. Adult films released early in the new year will have already bombed in theaters and be streaming for us old folks at home, who might rather watch "Emily in Paris."
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