Lambcast #618 2021 Blues

At the end of 2020, everyone was ready for things to get better, especially in the movie world. Pound for Pound maybe there was a slight improvement, but 2021 was a far cry from the bounceback we were all hoping for. This week, the Lambcast reviews some of the 2021 events/trends/disappointments that make us worry about the film industry and the movies that it produces.

The plethora (do you even know what that is?) of streaming services come in for some criticism for the way they work, the dangers they present and the impact they are having on the theatrical business. Have you counted up the number of services you subscribe to? Do you still find that the only way to see some movies is to sign up for yet another service? Does your app even work all the time? We have thoughts.

Having thoughts turns out to be a problem if your opinion seemed to endorse something that other object to. Did your innocuous Facebook post about a movie you enjoyed result in a flame war over a film makers opinions, behavior or other crimes? We talk a little bit about cancel culture from the perspective of social media commentators like the Lambs.

At times the show sounds like a three headed version of the Muppets Statler and Waldorf, you know three old white guys heckling the culture, but there is always some truth, even from that perspective. We in fact recognize that we may be losing touch with the culture of the movie business. When even Howard has lost interest in some of the most acclaimed films of the year, you got to ask yourself, is this really an outlier? Ridley Scott and Martin Scorsese get their own criticism for being a little out of touch so self reflection seems appropriate.

We skip the Rants/Rave/and Reviews this week because let’s face it, the whole show is a series of Rants about what is going on in the film world in 2021.

We finish our discussion, worrying about the state of worldwide film making, especially when the biggest market for films in the world is being used for political purposes and all film makers may be forced to adjust their storytelling to make their movies palatable to a regime not known to be particularly open. 

Streaming Service Blues   2:45

Is Streaming Killing Theatrical?   18:40

Business Models   30:20

Cancel Culture or Just Trolls?   42:45

Directors with Big Mouths   1:10:45

China   1:21:00

The Vern   Cinema Recall

Howard   Pop Art   

Richard   Things I Miss at the Movie Theater   

The show can be found, of course, via iTunes – just do a search for “LAMBcast.” Also, I always post a link to the show on the LAMBcast’s Facebook page, and there’s a player there if you’d like to listen online. Find the show here:

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/lambcast/episodes/2022-01-11T09_41_20-08_00

If you’d ever like to catch up on back episodes, go there. If you’re interested, you too can be a LAMBcaster – we love new blood! For more information on the LAMBcast, check out the topic at the LAMB Forums. Music provided royalty-free by Kevin MacLeod’s Incompetech website. Big thanks to Kevin for providing this service. Closing song by Cake. The LAMBcast loves feedback, too – if you’d like yours read on a future show, leave it in the comments section at the LAMB. Please visit and like our Facebook page, and finally, we’re on iTunes, and would still love a review, even if it’s a bad one. Thanks for listening!