Tinseltown Tizzy: Why Won't America Watch Our Awful Movies?

Newsmax ^ | 2/2/04 | Carl Limbacher

[truthandlife]

Hollywood is in a huff that Americans are staying away from the movies in droves. It just can't seem to make the connection between the horrible quality of its recent releases and the disastrous box-office figures.

Critics as well as Joe and Jane Sixpack have been holding their noses at such duds as "The Butterfly Effect," "Paycheck," "The Perfect Score," "Torque" and "Win a Date With Tad Hamilton."

"The year got off to a frigid start as the national box office in January registered an anemic $628.8 million - the lowest gross in the past four years. And worse yet, admissions for the month could only muster a bleak seventh-best showing," Hollywood Reporter fretted today. (Make that "muster only.")

"Estimated admissions for January were 103.5 million - a decrease of 3% from last year's 106.8 million and down nearly 10% from the 114.5 million tallied for the month in 2002. Essentially, it was the lowest attendance registered in the past seven years. And compared with the record for the month, total ticket units were down a grim 18% from the 126.1 million counted in 1998, when 'Titanic' was on its unprecedented maiden voyage through theaters."

January is a notorious time for Tinseltown to dump some of its worst fodder, but this year's lineup is stinky even by those low standards.

"Pure disaster," Robert Butler of the Kansas City Star said of "The Big Bounce," which rated a miserable 15 percent at rottentomatoes.com and made only $3.3 million to tank at 12th place in its debut.

The only bright news at the box office: the decent leftovers from last year's batch. Although released in December, "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" was January's most popular movie.

[kegler4]

Better be careful, though. I guarantee you Passion has some liberal actors in it.

[ampat]

True about commercials. I have some "Have Gun Will Travel" DVD's which are 25 minutes long (no commercials). Today you get about 17 minutes for a half hour show.

The James Bond movies reruns keep getting shorter and shorter because of cuts in the story in order to place more commercials.

Used to be, TV shows ran a long time (without reruns). I don't remember if they ran 52 or even 26 weeks a season. But I know they ran 13 weeks. Now, you see 3 episodes and the reruns start. That's what you get for 77 (or more) channels of programming.

And movie remakes are all over the place except they cost a lot more because of movie industry salaries. Therefore they aren't as good as the original. There definitely is a lack of creativity in hollywood. I just bought "Open Range". It may not get any award nominations but it was a lot more enjoyable than some of this year's award nominated trash.

[m1-lightning]

Saw the trailer for Time Changer. What happened... did the bad guys win?

Yeah, and they continue to win everyday.

[missyme]

They already have blaming Thailand.

[ItsOurTimeNow]

I heard they're blaming people getting on the Internet and telling everybody how bad the movies are.

Not surprising. It's everyone's fault but their own, dontchaknow?

"How DARE those internet hoodlums criticize 'Gigli'! That movie was a work of art, and would have drawn MILLIONS if the critics weren't around!" lol

[missyme]

Loved all the Dirty Harry Movies with Mr. Clint as well as the westerns of John Wayne and Robert Mitchum, even liked the Rocky flicks,Stallone said he was booted out of Hollywood for getting Old, we seem to only value people under 25

[Alberta's Child]

It's actually quite simple. Most movies these days are targeted at a 17 year-old kid with an IQ of 90. Not only does that affect the quality of the movies themselves, but the growth of multiplex theaters means that even if you're going to see a good movie you're going to end up [in the parking lot] / [on line] / [in the movie theater] with a bunch of 17 year-old kids with IQs of 90.

[Overtaxed]

Thailand?

[kegler4]

Thank goodness somebody seems to be sane here. When I go see a movie I'm generally completely unaware of the politics of the actors. I don't care what their politics are. I just saw Big Fish and not once did I think about abortion or illegal aliens or how the actors felt about either topic. And I enjoyed the movie immensely.

BTW, where do people pay $10 for a movie? I go to the matinee and pay $4.50.

[missyme]

It was mentioned on Fox News this morning...It's Killing Blockbuster

[TalBlack]

"If it was totally money-driven we'd see more family movies."

Exactly! An outfit called 'Angelic Filims' ("The Month of August) looked at the data and saw that the kinds of filims that SELL are NOT the sort of swill that Hollywood is constantly trying to pass off.

I had seen these figures somewhere before and I came to the same conclusion quoted above: There is something else at work here.

Disclosure: I have written a script that the industry couldn't care less about!

[Xenalyte]

Why do they make these movies? They never ever ever make money. There was no way that movie could be a hit.

I'll let Ben and Matt explain it, a la Jay and Silent Bob Fight Back.

Matt Damon: Just take it from "It's a good course."

Ben Affleck: What, you're the director now?

Matt: Hey, shove it, Bounce-boy. Let's remember who talked who into doing this stuff in the first place. I mean, talking me into Dogma was one thing--

Ben: Look, I'm sorry I dragged you away from whatever gay-serial-killers-who-ride-horses-and-like-to-play-golf-touchy-feely picture you were going to do this week.

Matt: I take it you haven't seen Forces of Nature?

Ben: You're like a child--what do I keep telling you? You gotta do the safe picture, then you do the art picture. Then sometimes you gotta do the payback picture 'cause your friend says you owe him. Then sometimes you gotta go back to the well.

Matt: And then sometimes you do Reindeer Games.

Ben: See, that's just mean.

[Puppage]

blame the boomers

The boomers aren't the ones paying to see this crap. Perhaps, they're the ones MAKING them, but if no one went to see 'em, they wouldn't make 'em.

Simple economics.

[Overtaxed]

Oh...I thought I missed something! :)

[Eala]

Ah. Yes, I saw the LOTR series, but the movie I had in mind was some other.

[my_pointy_head_is_sharp]

I do not give money to countries we are going to war with.

[slightly off track] I used to like Middle Eastern music (along with all the other divergent types of music I listen to - jazz, classical, alternative rock, swing, ragtime, etc - I'm nothing if not eclectic) - however, I can't listen to Middle Eastern music anymore - it makes me unhappy - I feel like I'm listening to the music of my enemy - it's a shame that I've had to drop so many old favorites - but I can't seem to get enjoyment out of them anymore.

[olivia3boys]

It's easier to get a babysitter at night, when one has to pay $10 for a move, then for the afternoon w/ matinee prices, because it's harder to find people willing to watch three AWAKE little boys than it is to get a babysitter for three sleeping little boys.

Before I had children I went to matinee movies weekly. Now I go to a night, expensive movie 1-2 times a year (The Passion will be one of them this year.)

[CyberCowboy777]

I saw a preview of Troy and The Alamo during the SB....

Anyone heard anything on these two flicks?

Troy has Brad Pitt (who is pretty darn good), Orlando Bloom, Peter O'Tool and Sean Bean and The Alamo I think had Billy Bob and Dennis Quaid.

The Alamo

Troy

[GOPJ]

I'm sick of cops always being bad, sleazy hookers nice, and women portrays as hardened sluts.

The closest picture of a nurturing woman was in the Birdcage - and played as a gay man. What was he mimicking? Certainly not any woman seen in a modern movie. The stereotype of woman as caring can only be seen in gay men on TV. Queer Eye has feminine sensibilities. But gentle sensitivity is never shown on a woman -- nope, Hollywood only lets men act like women.

I'm sick of politicians being portrayed as "liberal and godlike" or "conservative and stupid". I'm sick of seeing drug pushers as exciting and authority figures as boring. I'm sick to death of brilliant criminals. Criminals are impulsive losers - why not show them in the "Key Largo" way? Show them as those who prey on the helpless. Not brilliant, but unable to delay gratification. Selfish and narcissistic. Or would that hit home for too many of the movie people? Maybe that's the real problem. The folks who make movies make them for themselves. Not for us the viewers, but for themselves and the 14 year old boys who haven't grown past their idiocy.

Maybe if you're a sleazy lounge lizard, or street hooker type like Janet, or child molester type like some singers, it's the way you think the world is. Hollywood needs to get some writers who have hung out someplace other than a bar, and have gotten love from someone other a street hooker. We're tired of hate is love, war is peace, night is day hollywood crap.

Unintelligible stories paired with meaningless special effects and deafening noise are a formula for failure.

[CMAC51]

I want GOOD movies, like law and order films, pro-military and patriotic movies, etc.

Hollywood doesn't know how to make a good movie anymore. I remember being eager to see "Windtalkers" because the subject offered such promise. The movie was a shizoprenic waste. Tell the Nicholas Cage character story well, or tell the story of the 'windtalkers'. Instead they used the 'windtalkers' as and excuse to tell the story of the Nicholas Cage character and nothing got done well.

A typical Hollywood waste of a good premise.