Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Comment
Rebecca Shaw

I have been forced to speak up. Society needs to act to rein in ridiculous movie runtimes

Woman using phone in a darkened movie theatre
‘I do not need to go and see a romantic comedy or a comedy comedy or a slasher or an action movie and be sitting there for two and half hours or more.’ Photograph: Edwin Tan/Getty Images

Unless you’ve been living under a rock (or perhaps even something heavier than a rock, like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson), you would know by now that the movie musical Wicked is in theatres. As someone who wastes a lot of useful time being useless on the internet, I have been absorbing the strange press tour and countless memes along with everyone else, and I’ve been on the fence about actually going.

I haven’t seen the stage version of Wicked but I know some references and enjoy musicals generally. I love some movie musicals (hello, Hairspray), but a lot of them are not great – and if they are bad, they are punishing. If I’m going to take out a second mortgage on my avocado toast to pay for a movie on the big screen, I need to be sure I’m making the right choice.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.