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Internet Life Interview Continued...
The Net also has added to the discussion about
movies. People have always talked about movies. But here's a place
made for it, and you're not limited to your friends and family. And
in an odd way, the Net brings the two worlds together a bit--the
people making movies and the ones talking about them. It's another
type of film criticism. Now the old saying is really true: Everybody
is a critic. Everybody online is a film critic. It's astounding that
those conversations can even become an actual force within the
industry--people talking before a movie's out can influence
decisions about editing or marketing. People who have seen
screenings or sneak previews before a movie is done powwow online.
It's not necessarily a bad thing.
The only place I draw the line is at anyone
who ruins the ending of movies. They should be shot. Those are
diabolical minds at work, trying to screw things up and ruin them
for other people. But I looked at the chats when The Truman Show
was in previews. The conversation was totally accurate and
interesting, and nobody blew it. No one gave away the ending. It was
a new forum for intelligent talk about the movies--the ones they
like and the ones they don't like. It's what Siskel and Ebert are
paid to do. Now everybody can do it.
The Net also provides a new place to converse
about the issues raised in movies. When a movie enters into national
consciousness--Saving Private Ryan, for instance--what's
better than a venue for a large and vigorous conversation about the
issues? World War II veterans are finding each other, reminiscing.
Same thing happened when the HBO series From the Earth to the
Moon aired. There was conversation all over the Net about it,
even among engineers who worked on the space program who were
picking us apart for what we got wrong and giving us credit for what
we got right. Very cool. Could that kind of dialogue have happened
before the Net? I don't think it could have.
Though it's exciting to get the "You've
got mail!" message when you log on, it ain't so great when you
have 50 messages waiting. You can't not answer them. It's
oppressive. Maybe that's why I'm reluctant to spend too much time
online. I don't have time to read a book, much less surf the Net.
And frankly, when there is time to surf, I'll really surf--get my
board, head to the beach.
CONTINUE
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