Barry Norman may have left the BBC's Film show 15 years ago, but he's still an influential voice of cinema opinion, as his waspish comments at the Henley literary festival proved over the weekend.

According to the Mail Online, Norman told his audience "Too many films are made for a generation with the attention span of fruit flies ... I heard a depressing fact that films today are made for the 15 year-old to 18 year-old audience, who are there for the quick thrill and the fast effects."

Norman, 80, went on to complain that cinema failed to serve his generation. "You can't make a film on an idea you need a great story but sadly a lot of films today are made on special effects and the 'crash, bang, wallop' effect. We are at an age where people go to the cinema and they want dialogue and that is a shame. Often with these blockbuster films there is lots of shooting, lots of effects, lots of car chases and explosions and not very much substance."

A former Guardian columnist, Norman has recently published See You in the Morning, a memoir of his late wife, novelist Diana Narracott.

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