Monday, August 2, 2010

My Log No 205: CBC definitely the worst place on TV to watch a movie: take my word for it

I watch a lot of movies on TV and I can say with absolute conviction that the worst place to watch movies on all of TV is the CBC.

In total violation of its mandate, our publicly-owned broadcasting network uses the occasion of screening a movie to please, first of all, their advertisers, and only secondarily (if at all) their movie-loving public.

I seldom try to watch a movie on CBC, but last night I tried to sit through Brokeback Mountain again, because I was anxious to see what I had missed the first time around that caused it to be hailed as such a great movie.

I have to report that the experience was infuriating, to such an extent that I doubt if I will ever watch another movie on CBC.

At least every ten minutes they stopped the movie for advertisements, showing the same ads countless times until personally I became convinced I will never look at any of the advertised products again in my lifetime.
In addition, it had, of course, the effect of breaking into the rhythm of the move, and for a third thing, this method made it seem like the movie would never end, as if its producers had not been able to decide how to end it (which was not necessarily an effect of the movie itself so much as a result of the CBC’s method of screening it. Totally unacceptable.

This morning I happened on a thriller, Second Chance, on the movie network, about a young professor of journalism being pursued by a vengeful relation of someone she could have prevented from being murdered. The movie was quite gripping: and we were able to watch it through, beginning to end, and get a flavour of what was happening, and how its creators intended it to be seen. If a commercial U.S. network can do it, why can’t the CBC?

Honk your horn if you agree with me!

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