Briony Smith’s column Frail, frumpy and feeble, When will Hollywood stop failing women at the movies?, which appeared in the Toronto Star on May 10, 2025, had me jumping for joy. Finally, someone sees the movie business the way I do. Baby boomers, particularly women, are completely ignored as a viable, profitable movie-going audience demographic. The industry caters to teenagers and men. There’s an overabundance of sci-fi, superhero, action, shoot-em-up, and franchise flicks for boys of every age.

Boomers grew up going to Saturday matinées in the fifties. My 25-cent allowance would cover the 10-cent admission, five cents for popcorn, and the final 10 cents for an Archie and Veronica comic book at Gibson’s stationery store on the way home later in the afternoon. When we became teenagers in the sixties, we flooded our local theatres for our Friday and Saturday night dates, or if we were particularly sophisticated and socially precocious, the famous and now extinct Drive-In movie.

Movie theatres once ran Tuesday night specials. Admission was cheap and the turnout was always great. Boomers will remember the wonderful (late) Gary Lautens whose regular column in the Toronto Star was always something to look forward to and enjoy. Lautens and his resident love goddess/wife went to the movies at least once a week, frequently more often. That’s when there was lots to choose from and the movies had something to offer grown-ups.

The last good movie I saw at a theatre was “Lee” starring Kate Winslet, sometime last year. It was based on the true story of World War II photojournalist, apprentice and lover of Man Ray, and former Vogue model Lee Miller. Having read her life story (see links below) previously, I couldn’t wait to see the movie of her war years and it did not disappoint. My only disappointment was that Winslet was not nominated for an Oscar for her stunning portrayal of an amazing woman. Much as Demi Moore may have earned her perseverance Golden Globe for The Substance and nomination for Oscar for hanging in all those years, I thought Kate Winslet was more deserving of an Oscar than Mikey Madison.

Me and my boomer gal pals always turn out for the potentially watchable flicks like Book Club and 80 For Brady, but they always fall flat. Despite the big names starring in these movies, the plots are trite and predictable, the writing is cliché and the premise is based on boring, ageist stereotypes. If only the studios could come up with some genuine creative thinkers like Britain’s Sharon Horgan (Motherland, Bad Sisters, Catastrophe) or Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag), then we might be willing to shell out our precious pension dollars for the price of admission.

I miss movies like Funny Girl, or Stand By Me, and even rom-coms like There’s Something About Mary, Bridesmaids, or When Harry Met Sally (thank you Nora Ephron). Computer-generated superheroes, the Marvel machine, and violence just don’t cut it for me. I also miss the popcorn and fountain Diet Coke, followed by a debriefing with my girlfriends at a nearby coffee shop after the movie.

The Toronto Star’s Briony Smith hit the nail on the head. As if movies that boomers would enjoy aren’t already as scarce as my over-plucked eyebrows, the movie business further ruins the movie-going experience by insisting we select our seats on a computer screen, after we work our way to the front of the slow-moving line at the concession stand.

Hudson’s Bay Company ignored my advice and look what happened to them. I’m now warning the movie business to listen to what we have to say or your entire industry will sink like the Titanic. Frail, Frumpy and Feeble confirms we expect better than shows like Nonnas. Fix the ageism issue and hire some genuinely creative and imaginative people who look beyond rehashing old, boring, already overworked ideas. Where are the Nora Ephrons and Sharon Horgans when we really need them?

Lee Is A Must-See Movie

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