Tim Robbins, the star of The Shawshank Redemption and Oscar winner, recently expressed his concern about the future of films in an interview with The Guardian. He highlighted that algorithms are now dictating what viewers watch, and in most cases, these algorithms lead people to similar content rather than offering something unique.
“You go on Netflix right now, you see what movies are coming out, and you tell me this is the future of cinema?” the actor said. “We have a big problem.”
Tim Robbins is worried that algorithms are destroying moviegoing: “You go on Netflix right now, you see what films are coming out and you tell me that that’s the future of cinema? We’re in big trouble.”https://t.co/aztGb4Gtje
— Variety (@Variety) November 26, 2024
Robbins currently stars in the sci-fi series Silo on Apple TV+, which is in its second season. He told The Guardian that The Shawshank Redemption is one of the reasons he still hopes the algorithm can be overcome, as most of the audience rejected the drama when it was first released in theaters in 1994.
“We’re 30 years after Shawshank Redemption,” he said. “When it came out, it got good reviews, was nominated for Oscars, but no one saw it. It was the VHS and [Ted] Turner airing it on his TV channel [‘Turner Classic Movies’] that changed that. It’s a beloved film. It still sits at the top of IMDb as the most beloved film of all time. So I know that a quality film, a quality TV show, will last. Whether it’s a success or not doesn’t matter in relation to what people will think about it in 10, 15, 20 years.”
Robbins hasn’t starred in a film since Dark Waters in 2019 and explained that he is now very selective when choosing roles because “I don’t want to waste my time on a set doing something frivolous. I don’t want to be there just for the sake of being there.”
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