One important point that you all seem to have missed is the fact that American Studios control their own cinema companies, thus if I want to go and see a movie here in Manchester I only really have the choice of one UCI multiplex from another. What I get to see is carefully controlled by the major studios as they only market their own productions through the cinemas which they own. In simple terms they own all the shops and they only sell their own products. There are of course one or two independent cinemas in Manchester such as the Cornerhouse which show a variety of foreign language and independently made films. The recent renaissance of British film making has proved irresistible to American Producers who are thus able to market the films through their own Multiplex, films such as Brassed Off and The Full Monty. The problem however with this is we are likely to get caught in the trap of only having money available for comedy films made in this style, just as in the fifties when we made 'kitchen sink' films which sold because of their sex content. ---- Online resources for film/TV studies may be found at ScreenSite http://www.tcf.ua.edu/screensite