How “Breaking Bad” and “House of Cards” killed the Oscars…

I guess I wasn’t the only person not all that interested/invested in this year’s Oscars.  This article by Anne Thompson for Salon.com offers great insight into what may well be ailing the theatrical movie industry and why:

http://www.salon.com/2014/03/01/how-breaking-bad-and-house-of-cards-killed-the-oscars/

I agree with much of what Ms. Thompson’s analysis.  We’re entering a new age in so many ways thanks to the digital/computer revolution.  As I’ve mentioned many times before, stores we used to frequent, such as music and book sellers, are fading away when we can simply, easily, and conveniently download said material from the internet…hopefully doing this legally.

The theatrical movie industry is starting to feel the pinch as well.  Yesterday I noted (you can read it here) how few of the films nominated for the Oscars I had actually seen.  In going over that blog post, I didn’t make it as clear as I should how little I cared to see these other films.

These were the nominees for best movie of the year:

12 Years a Slave (the winner), American HustleCaptain PhillipsDallas Buyers ClubGravityHerNebraskaPhilomena, and The Wolf of Wall Street.

As I stated before, I’ve only seen Gravity.  Of the rest, the only one I’m somewhat interested in seeing is American Hustle.  But I’m hardly “dying” to see it.  It looks like it could be good, but then again so did Argo (last year’s big Oscar winner) and I found that film to be a pleasant enough diversion but, frankly, nothing exceptional.

A weak batch?  For me certainly, though I stress this is just my opinion alone.  For whatever reason, my personal movie interests didn’t coincide all that strongly with what was considered some of the best movies released this past year.

Yet there is another element to this picture, and that is what Ms. Thompson points out in her article.  The fact is that there are some really terrific TV series out there that draw my attention far more than many theatrically released movies.  Why?  Because these TV shows feature some of the best talent in Hollywood today, both in front of and behind the camera.  And instead of a story that is told in an hour and a half to two hours, TV shows have the ability to present viewers a longer, more involved, and deeper story than a single feature film can at times provide.

Sure, I can envision a Justified motion picture, but seeing the adventures of Raylon Givens and the motley crew of lowlifes around him play out is something that works extremely well in an hourly episodic fashion.  I suspect that’s what has drawn so many to Breaking Bad and House of Cards as well.  Again, a movie version could be made of each, but what thrills you is seeing the story play out in a longer format.  These multiple episode features, of course, are perfect for streaming services who have enriched themselves providing these services and therefore have deep enough pockets to pay for top talent in their features.

And this brings us to another element to the equation.  If the money is moving away from the theatrical releases and to the TV series, where do you think the talent will go?

As with many things, this may be a temporary change.  Perhaps in another year or two audiences will bore of long TV series and the theatrical movie making companies will get their mojo back.  It only takes a couple of big successes (witness Jaws and Star Wars) to revitalize and refocus an industry.