Tim Robbins Says ‘We’re in Big Trouble’ if Online Streamers Are ‘the Future of Cinema’

If the future of movies is in the hands of online streamers such as Netflix, “We’re in big trouble,” Tim Robbins told The Guardian in an interview published Saturday. The actor cited fixations on algorithms that “prioritize more of the same” over more creative work.

That’s part of the reason he hasn’t acted in a film since 2019’s “Dark Waters.” He explained, “We’re at 30 years now [on from] Shawshank Redemption. When it came out, it got good reviews, it got nominated for Academy awards, but nobody saw it. It was VHS and [Ted] Turner playing it on his television channel [Turner Classic Movies] that changed that. That is a beloved movie. It remains on top of IMDb as the most favored movie of all-time.”

“So I know that a quality movie, a quality television show, will last. Whether it’s a hit or not is irrelevant compared to what people are going to think about it in 10, 15, 20 years.”

Robbins can be seen on the small screen in the Apple TV+ series “Silo.” Set in a dystopian future some 10,000 years from our present, the show is about a group of people who live in an underground silo because of an apparent environmental or political (or perhaps a combination of the two) event.

Despite the dark topic and visuals, Robbins said the show’s cast and crew is having a good time. “We’re having a great time [on set], but you would never know it from the tone of the show,” he explained. He’s also enjoyed diving into the psyche of his character, Bernard Holland.

“I‘ve always wondered about what goes on inside of someone who has the responsibility of leadership,” he explained. “How they rationalise actions seemingly antithetical to their mission or belief system because of the larger picture; the big lie for the greater good. We’ve gone into wars on this philosophy for years. So I’ve always been fascinated by what it does to a person’s soul.”

Robbins also said receiving the script for “Silo” during the COVID-19 pandemic was “like a gift, a blessing, as an artist, as someone who wants to do something that reflects the anxieties and fears of our own society.”

“It seems very close to what we were dealing with on a daily basis at that time – the lack of transparency of information, the people being told by the government to limit their freedom for the good of all,” he added.

You can read the interview with Tim Robbins at The Guardian.

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