That, in my humble opinion, is a major reason why moviegoing is slumping. We want to be entertained, not lectured by something akin to what Marx, Lenin, Stalin or Mao once preached. 
Posted on 01/03/2006 6:52:33 AM PST by RayChuang88
LOS ANGELES -- Hollywood ticket sales took a little swan dive in 2005. Why? The consensus hypothesis appears to be that the movies were -- brace yourselves -- not good.
The industry and its observers are also variously blaming DVDs, video games, iPods, cellular phones, HBO, crying babies, $10 tickets, Chinese pirates, big screen plasma TVs, an aging demographic, liberal bias, video-on-demand, annoying pre-feature commercials and the Bush administration's energy policy.
The Great Box Office Slump has been covered by the entertainment press with a kind of giddy obsession ever since the summer proved blockbuster-deficient. Each week, the prognosticators sought deeper meaning in the weekend tallies for undercooked turkeys such as "Stealth" and "The Legend of Zorro." There was hope in the Hollywood press that "King Kong" might "save the day," but alas, the big ape has so far "disappointed," if it is possible for a $66 million opening five-day gross to disappoint (which it is, since Peter Jackson and Universal spent $220 million making the monkey movie).
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
The poor quality of the movies coupled with the high prices encourages me to wait until the movies hit the discounted theaters ($1/show), right before the DVD's are released.
High prices for concessions don't bother me too much. At least I know I'm going to enjoy the popcorn and soda.
Pass the popcorn!
That, in my humble opinion, is a major reason why moviegoing is slumping. We want to be entertained, not lectured by something akin to what Marx, Lenin, Stalin or Mao once preached.
I think he's really on to something with the $10 ticket thing. He also should mention the $5 small popcorn and $4 small soda - all that in addition to the fact that we're now subjected to 20 mins of commercials before the movie. Exactly how the frick does that work? Some publications are free because their advertisers pay all the bills. Yet we now have to deal with all this advertising and ticket prices never go down.
However, I'm not convinced it's political. I think it's the price and the experience (cell phones, talkers, etc) Most movie goers aren't as conscious as the Freepers. I wouldn't go see Monster-In-Law because it has that traitor Jane Fonda in it. But I don't think most people think like me.
If they lowered the prices, I guarantee people would start going back to the movies again. There's nothing like the moive experience. First, it's a chance to get out of the house. Second, it's the whole experience - screen size, audio, etc.
But I don't think it's as political as we think it is. Although I hope so... time will tell I guess.
But I like movies about adulterous, gay, lonely sheep cowboys, doesn't everyone?
Well let's see...
What movies do I want to see this year? Let's see what big ones are coming out.
1. Pirates of the Caribean 2...Nope. Johnny Depp is a flaming Lib, and it's just another sequel.
2. Mission Impossible....ehhh..Tom Cruise? Phzzzzzzzzt. Snicker. Another sequel.
3. Superman Returns... Not another Superman!! Jeez can't these Hollywood people come up with a new idea?
4. X-men 3.... The first X-men was great! Now were onto # 3. Let's beat that dead horse some more.
5. Da Vinci Code... Ah, yes! That's exactly what this country needs! We need a movie to show how sinister the Bible is. Maybe with this movie we can convince those Fundies how stupid their religion is.
6. Miami Vice...Let's see... I can't think of any more movies to make, so let's go through the archives and see if there are any more old TV shows we can make a movie from.
Don't ya just love it when the market works and people vote with their dollars?
Blame it on smart consumers who are unwilling to pay for Hollywood liberal crap.
Oh, so true! Having seen the new 1080-line progressive scan rear-projection TV's from Mitsubishi, Samsung and Sony, the picture quality of these sets literally knock your socks off at native resolution. Combine that with good home theater sound systems that are rapidly getting cheaper in price and the impending arrival of high-definition DVD's, the chances of people going out to the theater could really drop by 2010.
I don't know why these people can't just repeat their lines, rake in their pay and call it a day. They don't speak off screen for me or anyone I know.
Hmmm, let's see, two tickets at $8.00 a piece, $8.00 for a large popcorn and soda pop, $10.00 for the sitter. Or wait for it to come out on DVD, rent it for $4.00 and get a six pack of really good beer. It's not really a tough choice.
When the hollyweirdos keep their mouths shut perhaps people will be willing to see their movies again, imo, it's already too late, damage has been done, and secondly, the quality of movies has gone by the wayside, they have produced nothing worth buying on dvd for years.
Home entertainment-Plasma TVs being so cheap-Made in China-It's china's fault?
500 channel universe-More crap not enough time to see it all?< P> The internet?
Video games?
Really bad movies made by a Hollyweird elite that is so disconnected from their target audience that assumes that America is composed of LA & NY at the exclusion of all else?
Or maybe its George Bush's fault all along?
I stopped going to movies about 25 years ago (go only on rare occassions).. I grew tired of the slop these mindless idiots put out...I also don't didn't want to give my money to air-headed liberals pushing agendas
HOWEVER, I believe the biggest reason for the drop in attendance is DVD, DVD copies, large screen TV's, surround sound systems, etc.
I wish it were due primarily to disgust with left wing Hollywood, and some of it is, but I think it has more to do with convenience and cost.
I do go to Live Concerts....not like Bruce Springsteen, he's a lib, won't give him my money, but I do enjoy a live concert once in a while....
You got one right here. I refuse to see any movie that has any association with George CLooney, Ed Asner, Susan Sarandon, any of the Baldwins, Meathead, or any of the rest of the Bush bashers. I don't care how good the movie is supposed to be. I've had enough of the useful idiots in the Hollyweird crowd.
Oh I agree, we just got our first DVD and I love it, alot better than the old VCR thing....and some of it is the 'at home' entertainment, but alot of it still is people would rather spend the money on their own systems than put it in the pockets of the foul mouth lib idiots in Hollywood, I hope they starve....
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