Can multiplex cinemas spare just a screen or two for non-blockbuster fare in the summer high season?

The blockbuster season is upon us.

But what about the films that fall on the stranger side of life?

Where do they fit in, and how can they even get screen space?

Its a growing problem.

I both saw and loved it.

Surreal and razor-sharp, it was refreshing to watch something so, well, different.

It got me thinking about what is missing on our cinema screens.

To be clear: Im not suggesting that I havent enjoyed movies recently.

Ill watch anything and everything with an open mind.

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Like everything else, the popularity of film genres swings around in cycles.

Could these films survive in the climate of figure-chasing, risk-avoiding studios?

Weve been witness to the takeover of the PG-13 film.

Just include a pair of crocs and a couple of poorly treated unicorns and well overlook pretty much anything.

That isnt to say that such films are no longer on the radar.

One of the more memorable films Ive seen recently is Robert EggersThe Witch.

Although deemed a horror, it provided a sense of being so much more.

It was raw, unforgiving and powerful to watch.

Plus Ill never look at goats the same way again.

That said, the studios arent the only barrier.

Distributors play their part, and if they dont want it, we dont see it.

Like the studios, theyre predominant concern is their bank balance, and thats to be expected.

Cinemas are too accountable for what were able to watch.

Who wants to watch an original story when you could seeTransformers: Darkside Of Your Eyelidsin 23 screens?

They were worth the journey, but it would have been nice to have seen them closer to home.

Clearing just one screen and allowing something different to be seen.

There is very little build up now.

Films are no longer given the time to brew, to cajole the audience through the door.

It told its story gently, informative but not thrusting that information upon you.

Films have provided a platform for the weird and wonderful to evolve.

These were not films chasing down awards, or trying to apply themselves to the masses.

They were purely being themselves, and, luckily for us, they were allowed to be.

As a friend of mine described it, it can feel like sterilised art.

I can imagine modern day studio execs shivering in horror at the idea of producingHellraiserorBlue Velvet.

Wheres the Miramax equivalent now)?

Tim Burtons whimsically dark offerings berated into being normal?

It begs the question what are we missing out on?

I hope its not drastically the case, but you have to wonder.

Or should they be upping their game, competing to attract a more varied audience?

Personally, I hope they decide to fight fire with fire.