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Temple Film & TV Productions Ltd.
Disco Pigs
In Film.com's latest movie of the week, Disco Pigs, two Irish kids (Pig and Runt), inseparable since birth, find their close relationship challenged by growing pains.
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I used to be Mr. Green. Earth Day was a holy day. When it came to the environment, I was the kind of hippie that Cartman on South Park despises with buckets full of venom. I used to believe that we are responsible for speeding up the global warming process. The oil companies with their record yearly profits, while costing me four-dollars-a-gallon to put gasoline in my car, were Satan incarnate. I used to believe all these things. But no more, not after I read this. If you're like me and hate clicking on links to articles, here’s an excerpt that sums up my change of heart:
As a consequence of the booming demand for alternative fuels – with farmers replanting acres of popcorn with more profitable crops that can be converted into ethanol and other biofuels -- the sellers of everyone's favorite movie snack say the salty tub will soon take a bigger bite out of your wallet when you're at the multiplex … But the price that farmers, mostly in the American Midwest, are charging for raw popcorn has doubled in the last two years and the wholesale fees popcorn providers are charging theaters is starting to climb almost as fast. WHAT? Theater chains already rock us at the concession stands because snacks are their bread and butter. Distributors usually get 95% of the sales on first-run movies. After four weeks or so the theaters chains will still only pull in about 35% of the sales, so those popcorn sales are huge for the Regals and AMCs of the world. I already pay like half the price of a movie ticket for my popcorn. And I can’t not have popcorn. I never crave it when I buy my ticket. But once I hit that lobby, and the buttery aroma seduces the nostrils like one of Homer's sirens… it’s over. I’m weak-willed and I find my body suddenly walking to the concession stand. I’m unable to tell the teenager behind the counter, “No!" when she asks me with her Jedi mind tricks if I want to upgrade to a large bucket since it’s only 75 cents more. This isn’t the size you’re looking for… So what are we looking at in the future? Higher markups probably (and that includes my Orville Redenbacher microwavables that I ritually heat up for not only DVD rentals, but for episodes of Lost as well). Popcorn substitutes may see the light of day, perhaps. But I personally don’t think popcorn is going anywhere. We’ll either end up paying two dollars more for our salty goodness, which is insane (Seriously!), or theaters will keep the price the same and just start to reduce the sizes of small, medium, and large bags. They’ll spin it as the healthier alternative. We care about our theatergoers and that’s why we have taken the stance to reduce the amount of calories of each bag or bucket! The theater chains care about my pant size! Yay! Screw that noise. I want my 10-gallon bucket of heart-attack corn. I want to cringe forty times, every time I put a handful of way-too-salty popped kernels in my mouth. I want to be wasteful and leave my half-eaten bucket under my seat simply because I’ve grown accustomed to it. The heck with biofuels and ethanol and the like. I say bring on the geysers of oil and six-dollar-a-gallon gas. If anything, I’ll drive less and walk more. With all my acts of popcorn gluttony, I’ll need the exercise anyway. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Comments
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