Posted on 12/24/2005 4:09:09 PM PST by Daralundy
The slump, now three years running, prompts the industry to ask: 'What's wrong with the movies?'
LOS ANGELES - Hollywood's year-ending good news is that moviegoers are opening hearts and pocketbooks for "King Kong" - more than $60 million on its debut weekend and counting.
The bad news is that audiences did not exactly go ape over the rest of 2005's cinema offerings, making this the third straight year of decline in Hollywood ticket sales - the first such stretch of bad news in 40 years. Because of the continued falloff - sales are down 12.6 percent from 2002 - a growing number of analysts wonder if America's movie habits are changing permanently.
"The industry has to consider whether or not American audiences are sending a message about the quality of the movies they are getting - or just the way and the place in which they get them," says Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations, a firm that analyzes box-office trends. "You can bet that producers, writers, directors, and studio heads are all huddling intensely to consider what this means and change their behavior to keep it from continuing."
It could just be a continued shift away from multiplexes toward Blockbuster, Netflix, and other home-viewing options, Mr. Dergarabedian and others say.
In this scenario, consumers are changing their movie-viewing habits because of multiple complaints related to theater-going: soaring ticket costs, high parking and candy-concession prices, and, perhaps, decreased enjoyment of the movie-house experience because of unruly audiences and growing numbers of on-screen ads.
(Excerpt) Read more at csmonitor.com ...
I wonder why?
He wasn't bad in Daredevil, but that part required a sneering Irishman, which is apparently the only part he plays well.
He was also good in the Minority Report as the nemesis of Tom Cruise.
I also liked him a lot in Gangs of NY.
Cleopatra with Elizabeth Taylor is out on DVD... give it a rental. Its incredibly good.
These fools don't realize they don't have nearly enough homosexual, lesbian, and pedophile priest, minister, and rabbi films. Make them and they will come. I hope they aren't listening in, because I don't really want them to know this secret to success.
Heh, heh.
We're telling them why by not going to the movies but they just don't get it...think more Bush Bashing will help...so far, I'd have to say that's not working...tee hee...Merry Christmas and God Bless America!
Could be. Too bad most of the money still comes out of wallets with testosterone. I think that the game is up for Gollywood for a lot of reasons. Will Smith thinks he's cool, but cool was way better with Bogart and Grant and the Duke. He can try, though.
*I like Will Smith (in the TV play *...Degrees...*) and think he is very talented compared to the Brad Pitts teen-types, pie-faced DeCapriosos, et al. These little guys are not men nor do they represent manliness, cannot even "act" manliness. The maturity of Bogart, Grant and Duke set their credibility. Who in the heck wants to watch little boys who haven't grown up to be men? It's all contrived crap on the casting couch. BORING! Doesn't relate to life.
Rather read a good book, or even a mediocre one.
Merry Christmas and have a joyous holiday.
Ha, reminds me. They have a Bareback Mountain commercial out that presents it as a "Great American Love Story". The commercial only shows the guys with their wives, but no showing at all of what the movie is really about. Schmucks.
*Cowardly and devious Schmucks!
Nope, typical suburban mall, upstate NY.
And send a copy of this critical thread to the phony film reviewers!
Yeah, a few of these Hollywood boys and athletes should enlist in the military, go get theirs a$$e$ shot at for a couple years and then come back and pick up their careers. That's what happened back in WWII. Even Elvis did it. Sort of. Then came Cassius Clay/ Mo Ali. The end of an era.
And then came Pat Tillman, RIP.
They know the kind of movies people want to see. That they don't produce them is beyond me.
The Treasure of Sierra Madre! CLASSIC!
Worth seeing the original a hundred times over.
I caught Alexander the Great, with Richard Burton the other night. It was made in 55 or 56, I can't remember which. Comparing it to say "Troy" all I can say is, "Thank God for computer generated effects." because it was pretty pitiful without them.
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