My neighborhood dollar store sells dvds. For how much? $1. (That’s not a very interesting question, is it?)
What kind of dvds? (More interesting)
Old western movies and comedies. (Yet more interesting)
Not the classics we know and love, but the B material that we’ve somehow managed to miss in our regular retro fare. The 1950s equivalent of X-Men III. [It's surprisingly hard to think of a mediocre movie on the spot. I wonder why - Ed] Today’s scheduled viewing was “College” (Buster Keaton, 1927) and The Red Skelton Show (Red Skelton, 1951).
The dvds are triple-headers; at 33c/movie it’s hard to miss, and if you don’t like it, you don’t watch it. At 33c, the cost is of your time watching, and it’s worth it for the cultural education alone.
The cultural lesson is that things don’t change. 1950s dancing girls are better clothed than the modern ones, but their roles are the same. The ad spots are less polished and less annoying, but no less stupid. “Mazola corn oil reduces saturated fats, when compared with more saturated fats and oils.” Wow. You can’t make this up.
Sure, the hollywood plots of today are formulaic and hackneyed, but’s its eye-opening to realize that apparently they’ve been formulaic and hackneyed for the last 70 years.
It’s not bad entertainment and some of it is A- quality. The dialog and characterization is true; the jokes are witty and well placed. They’re the same old human stories, well told. Human stories don’t change; only the presentation is ever different. Old time presentation is great. The cliches are not annoying, but quaint.
For a fella who longs for something different from hollywood (not another superhero film, please) the old is the new new.