‘Nightmare Alley’ Now on HBO Max!
Can this movie have a life on streaming?
I went to go see a screening of Nightmare Alley back when it was first released. The Guillermo Del Toro remake of the 1947 noir classic is a visual spectacle that tackles the tragic downfall of Stanton Carlisle, a man masked with family disgrace and searching for perfection. It is an amazing endeavor, some would say ambitious, an entails Oscar worthy performances that are not getting its deserved praise.
It was a weekend full of new releases that included “The Tender Bar”, “The Lost Daughter”, and the acclaimed Marvel release of the year, “Spiderman: No Way Home”, two of which were streaming releases. This slate of movies unfortunately gave Nightmare Alley an unfair shot of producing good box office numbers and a diminished amount of intrigue from movie goers.
While the film does not have the same guaranteed thrills and fun that a Marvel movie automatically have, viewers enjoyed Guillermo Del Toro film and I was surprised to see so many theaters take it off their board. I can remember a time very recently when a new movie starring Bradley Cooper and Cate Blanchett(only to name a few of the star-studded cast) would entice people, especially considering the impact Bradley Cooper’s film “A Star Is Born” had on the movie culture zeitgeist.
I know things are changing, and streaming is now considered a more accessible option for producers and studios to get eyes and ears on their movies, but are we now entering an era of cinema where theater released movies will now have to rely on streaming services alone to gain some entrance into conversations?
Before streaming, the most viable option for movies that didn’t get enough attention at the box office was through cable. Channels like AMC, TNT, HBO, and Showtime were and still run movies that are not only re-watchable for viewers, but are now more convenient for the average cable watcher to discover. Now with streaming, under-performed films like Nightmare Alley can have a home that offers fair competition against a catalog of different movies and tv shows.
How should we feel about this? I think it is good that streaming services provide a place where films from the past can be seen no matter how perceivably good or bad they are. And as long as they can profit from these streaming services, then it is all peachy.
I encourage you to check out Nightmare Alley. It is an incredible recreation of the remake, and the story is vibrant with plot twists and fascinating character arcs that will make any movie-watcher satisfied.
Nightmare Alley is available now on HBO Max.
