Posted on 03/14/2006 12:37:04 PM PST by American Quilter
If Hollywood is so pitifully out of touch, how does the industry’s economic train keep chugging along? Why don’t market forces come crashing in on Hollywood executives, sort of like the way the Red Sea came crashing down on Pharaoh’s army in “The Ten Commandments”? The answer’s in the numbers.
Let’s take a sampling of 5 left-leaning, hot button’ films from last year, all of which were Oscar-nominated and four of which won Oscars: “Brokeback Mountain,” “Good Night, and Good Luck,” “Syriana,” “The Constant Gardener” and surprise Best Picture winner “Crash.” The average budget for these five films was about $20 million. Their average worldwide gross? Just over $80 million - and that doesn’t even include DVD revenues.
Perhaps you’re getting the picture: there’s decent money to be made being left-wing, so long as a film’s budget is low. Among left-leaning films that underperformed this year, the chief culprits were “Jarhead” and Steven Spielberg’s “Munich” - and really only because those films cost too much (both around $70 million).
So what’s going on here? Hollywood has recently perfected a formula whereby low-budget, indie-looking films generate good reviews, controversy, and oceans of free publicity (a lot of it coming from the conservative media) due to a film’s left-wing worldview. And all this free buzz gets translated into box office dollars.
(Excerpt) Read more at townhall.com ...
How was Crash left leaning?
Mel Gibson's "The Passion of Christ" cost $20M and grossed over $800,000,000 worldwide with dvd's. Brownbutt mountain grossed $70 million. Hmmmmmmmmmmm????
Cheap, simple photography and a cast of about 10. Most of the money probably went into hiring Robert Downey Jr..
Yuk...I hate to think George Clooney can make money this way.
I didn't feel that Crash was greatly left-leaning, but rahter terribly myopic. LA is not the hot-bed of racial tumult the film portrays. I personally didn't enjoy the film because of the lack of a compelling story, although I thought the acting, the music, style and photography were all quite good.
Forget Hollywood, they will, and have been getting what they deserve. Revenues are down, viewership is down. They are making a substantial percentage of profits from overseas, let them move overseas.
It was a nice throwback to 1950s chamber dramas like '12 Angry Men'.
I haven't seen it (or any of the other nominees), but I've read that it's based on the assumption that one's race is the primary determinant of how you respond to life's events.
Not enough guns.
Oh I had plenty of problems with it but any film that shows minorities capable of racism as well can not be described as 'left-leaning'.
And you've been right.
Just goes to show you justice sometimes prevails!
Have you lived in LA?
Oh there's no question its a rather cheap molodrama. Just didn't see it as explicitly left wing in the manner or a Syriana.
For the folks that think conservatives are not in the game. Ray and Narnia came fromt he same conservativee production house. Mel is not the only guy in town. Watch Gary Senesse and patricia heaton and some others over the next 10 years.
Wish I had the money to bankroll a conservative movie! What would you suggest for a storyline?
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