‘Shawshank’ Star Tim Robbins: ‘Go on Netflix’ and ‘See What Films Are Coming Out. That’s the Future of Cinema? We’re in Big Trouble’

variety.com:

Zack Sharf Digital News Director “The Shawshank Redemption” star and “Mystic River” Oscar winner Tim Robbins recently told The Guardian that he’s worried about the future of movies given how much algorithms now dictate what viewers watch.

And in most cases, the algorithm is leading people to more of the same and not anything unique. “You go on Netflix right now, you see what films are coming out and you tell me that that’s the future of cinema?” Robbins said. “We’re in big trouble.” Robbins currently stars on the Apple TV+ science-fiction series “Silo,” which is now in its second season.

He told The Guardian that “Shawshank” is one of the reasons he’s holding on to hope that the algorithm can somewhat be defeated given than most audiences rejected the prison drama when it opened in theaters in 1994. “We’re at 30 years now [on from] Shawshank Redemption,” he said. “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.