Posted on 11/23/2004 11:24:10 PM PST by kattracks
Lights! Camera! Agita!Despite monster hits like "The Incredibles" and "Shark Tale," Hollywood is hurting this season, with overall box-office earnings down well below the take in the same period for the previous two years.
In the 10 weeks from Labor Day to just before Thanksgiving, the film industry grossed $1.39 billion, down 14 percent from last year's record of $1.63 billion and off 12 percent from $1.59 billion in 2002.
Fall ticket sales were a bust as well, dropping 18 percent from last year's figure, from 268.3 million ducats to 219.9 million. This year's sales also were below the 222.8 million reported in 1998.
Analysts lamented that the first part of the post-summer season was, to put it in movie terms, a colossal bomb.
[snip]
The Hollywood Reporter blames a shorter-than-usual season for some of the drop in income. This year's fall season was one of the more frequently occurring 10-week periods, while the previous two years were both 11-week seasons.
But the industry mag concluded the dramatic decline was caused by a combination of bad movies and bad buzz about them.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
I caught a blurb on the news a few days ago about how the MPAA had filed a bunch of lawsuits against people downloading movies off the internet. Taking a page from the RIAA playbook, it would appear.
Thanks!
Except for the Passion of the Christ I have not paid to go see a movie in a theatre in several years. For Christmas I will just watch my videos of It's Wonderful Life and A Muppet Christmas Carol.
That's it? That's the reason? It's just pathetic. And more than a little sad.
If it's going to have George Clooney and Julia Roberts reprising their Oceans 11 roles, it's already lost a large chunk of box office - lots of conservatives will not go see it.
The Incredibles was awesome. Very strong on family and personal dignity. I like that dad, hunkered in a cube at work when he wants to be saving the world .. reminds me of someone! (well, sans superpowers...)
I really like the one-shot scene with Arnold at the beginning. Arnold says "have fun" and the Rock looks at him with a is that who I think it is look. It seemed to me a passing of the torch - the old action hero passing it down to the new action hero.
Never mind that they are peddling drivel, garnished with anti-american attitude (in many cases).
Just where do you work?
Yes. If you want to see a review by a Christian reviewer, you can check this out:
http://www.decentfilms.com/reviews/polarexpress.html
LOL! Yes, I think they are! Only, quite a few of the LOTR cast have been loudmouths themselves...or at least squeamish about agreeing with basic conservative viewpoints. Sean Astin and Elijah went out of his way to dispel any ridiculous notion that people might get from LOTR that war is sometimes noble and necessary. OH NO! We don't want people to misinterpret what THEY KNOW about Tolkien's viewpoint {snark}.
Anyway, *I* highly recommend "Master and Commander" of last year.
The only way Hollywood is going to even get an inkling of a clue that they CAN be held accountable for their actions is if their targets (us) hit them where they live : their pocketbooks. I personally don't care if they straighten up or not. Their screeching arrogance has outlived my usefulness of them. With the internet and personal publishing, I can create my own art, as can a whole bunch of other people.
The internet vox populi has managed to rouste the MSM...Hollywood should be the next entity to feel the heat.
"Except for the Passion of the Christ I have not paid to go see a movie in a theatre in several years. For Christmas I will just watch my videos of It's Wonderful Life and A Muppet Christmas Carol."
My two very favorite Christmas movies of all time! With A Christmas Story running a close third behind! But while not an official Christmas movie, I also LOVE Meet John Doe with Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck, and try to watch it this time of year. I love Gary Cooper movies. And The Little Shop Around the Corner with Jimmy Stewart.
Simple rule.... Make and market a good product you will be successful... make crap, and all the marketing in the world won't save it.
A BIG problem is that Hollywood has tried to produce films for a WORLD market, deemphasizing story for simple, "universal" concepts that are intended to bring in crowds throughout the world. This has hurt them here in the states and increasingly in the rest of the world.
Well, golly, The Passion of the Christ did pretty well. I wonder why (sarcasm off).
Good taste in moviemakers, baseballfan. Have you seen THRONE OF BLOOD? Whew. DREAMS is a departure, painterly, brilliant, moving. He's a lot of top-flight filmmakers' director of choice.
Pixar has consistently made good movies, and as a result rewarded. Other than Toy Story 2, which I thought was their weakest and frankly should have gone direct to video instead of theaters.... and even it was a box office success, they haven't had a film yet that wasn't entertaining.
I'm not going to go some fluffed up, pcified remake of Alfie... I'm not going to go see you take a classic like the Manchurian candidate and turn it into an anti business PC crapfest. I even have less desire to see a remake of some 70s feminist made for TV release.... in fact I'm about as likely to see a remake of anything as I am of chopping off my own foot for fun.
Want to get me into the theater? Make good family movies... or make adult movies that don't center around violence, car chases, and/or gratuitous sex and nudity! Tackle hard issues if you want to make an adult targeted film... make one that makes people talk.. and not about the hooters on the lead or the explosions in the action.
There was a time hollywood could do that, not any more aparently.
That Oliver Stone can still get hundreds of millions from backers to produce his tripe tells you everything you need to know about Hollywood and movies. Rent the good old movies for a buck, and enjoy them in the comfort of your home. You don't have to support this junk.
I was thinking about going to see national Treasure on Friday. Better there than shopping.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.