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#MeToo has changed behaviour in Hollywood, says BBC movie reviewer

By Thomas Reyer

A BBC movie reviewer thinks the #MeToo campaign has had a big impact on the behaviour of figures within the movie industry.

Hollywood was rocked in 2017 when multiple sexual assault allegations were made against major film producer Harvey Weinstein, leading to the widespread adoption of the MeToo hashtag by survivors. Weinstein has denied the allegations.

Radio 2 film reviewer James King, who has been movie reviewing for most of his professional career, shared his thoughts on the positive impact it has had.

He said: “People are very much thinking twice now about what they say and do.

“Harvey Weinstein was the one of the moment and the one of our era, and the one who got caught.”

Speaking at Journalism and Media week, James talked about his career in film reviewing, wowing the audience with stories of some of the A-list talent that he has interviewed.

This has ranged from Harrison Ford to Helen Mirren and Quentin Tarantino to Will Smith. He also outlined how streaming sites like Netflix are becoming a huge aspect of the industry.

He spoke about what the future of cinema may look like, discussing Netflix and how the streaming powerhouse could be changing the face of cinema.

James said: “Streaming is affecting movie-making in a huge way and I have no problem with it at all, because at least these films are getting made.”

One example of this is Martin Scorsese’s latest gangster epic – The Irishman.

The Irishman was shunned by various movie studios due to its enormous budget – around $180 million – but Netflix agreed to pick it up and release it on their platform.

This decision reflects the way that the film industry is changing, with one of the most acclaimed directors of all time now creating content that becomes instantly accessible upon release from your settee.

Although very much behind Netflix, James still believes that films such as ‘The Irishman’ should receive wide releases in cinemas.

He added: “When you have something this big and this good, really celebrate it. I do think that the slightly underplaying its cinematic release is a little bit disappointing.

“It will get them in contention for the awards, it will tick that box, but I think that it should be absolutely celebrated that the new Scorsese film is in cinemas now.”

Movies must have a limited cinema run of a few weeks to be eligible for awards such as an Oscar or a Bafta, but James believes they should be in cinemas for a longer time.

What do you think?