By Dave Montalbano
http://cinemadave.livejournal.com
When Craig Ferguson wrapped up The Late Late Show last month, he and Jay Leno discussed their feelings about ending their own talk shows in 2014. Leno admitted that it was cool to talk to a supermodel when he was 40; but, at age 65, he did not want to look like a creepy old man. Both admitted that the world of entertainment has changed so much in the past decade; both men were wondering why they were interviewing people like “reality stars.” Having served as The Observer’s film columnist for 15 years, I have been wondering the same thing about the current entertainment culture.
In my previous 14 Films in Review columns, I have written about how much fun this column has been to write. As I reviewed falling box office figures and the lowest attendance records, I realized that the movie-going experience has not been as much fun in 2014. Therefore, I feel justified in limiting my “Top Ten” list by 30 percent this year (Presented in reverse alphabetical order):
Cinema Dave’s Top films:
Wild
Jersey Boys
How to Train Your Dragon 2
Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me
Heaven is for Real
Dolphin Tale 2
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Honorable mentions:
Rudderless
Maleficent
Hercules
Guardians of the Galaxy
Godzilla
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Boyhood
It is my hope that the motion picture industry was taking a deep breath before releasing a series of blockbusters. By owning the Marvel Comics, Star Wars and Pixar properties, expect Disney to dominate the Box Office in 2015 with such titles as Avengers: Age of Ultron, Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens and Inside/Out.
Master Marketeer that Mr. Mouse is expect many live action theme parks to coincide with box office successes. We’ve already seen rides like The Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean become movies. Johnny Depp is currently in production with the 5th Pirate movie, Dead Men Tell No Tales. Tomorrowland opens this summer and features George Clooney as a scientist who controls time, space and dimension. Disney’s Animal Kingdom and 20th Century Fox are creating an Avatar land to coincide with the release of director James Cameron’s 2016 sequel.
Not to be outdone, Universal Studios, which already partners with Warner Brothers for the Harry Potter parks, is working with Legendary Pictures to resurrect classic monsters like Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster and the Wolf Man, along with the return to Skull Island, King Kong’s home.
I was optimistic about the film business in our neighborhood; we had a strong revenue stream of work from major studios with projects like Iron Man 3, In Her Shoes and television shows like Magic City, Burn Notice and The Glades. Yet, Atlanta has absorbed business that South Florida lost [due to lack of incentives and] due to our lack of professionalism in the industry. Florida Film professionals need to become more results-orientated, with less emphasis of fame seeking and celebrity stalking.
2015 will be a pivotal year for our neighborhood festivals. Palm Beach International Film Festival and the Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival will celebrate important anniversaries (20th and 30th, respectively). It is my hope, in 2014, that I will walk away from a movie feeling good about the industry again.
