AMC PART OF LIBERAL CONSPIRACY TO DESTROY AMERICA!!!!!!

[Chadzilla]

Don't believe me, then read this giggle inducing commentary by the...well...insert phrase here.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=29771

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Really, was this supposed to be a satire?  Doubt it.  Nonetheless, maybe he should raise a stink about the commercials AMC soaks their movies in...

[Vermin Boy]

What's this? Hollywood's making movies they want to make, rather than the movies that make money? The commie rats!

Oh, yeah, and his pre-1968 theory isn't entirely accurate. Try watching Dwain Esper's MANIAC with your kids. Or BIRTH OF A NATION. Or FREAKS. Or UN CHIEN ANDALOU. Or BLOOD FEAST. Or...

[Funk, E]

Face it, the author of that piece hasn't seen daylight since he first spied is anus in the mirror low those many years ago...

[Deena]

He raises an interesting point.  But I never saw John Wayne as all that wholesome.  I mean he does go around shooting a bunch of people.

Deena

[Brother Ragnarok]

Well, that was an interesting article.  But if AMC is trying to desensitize audiences to R rated movies ( at least that's what I got out of it, maybe it was so stupid the point just flew by me and I subconsciously created one that was cooler), more power to 'em.  Then we won't have to wait for director's cut special edition DVD's, we can just see all the wonderful icky NC-17ness in theaters.

Brother R

[Scottie]

That is teh awesome. I'm beginning to see why AMC is sucking more. Not too long ago, just a few months in fact, AMC was respectable. They showed movies in their full, and only broke them up with two commercial sets. They would show Abyss all the time late at night, and not edit a word. Stuff like "s**t, bulls**t" and other curses weren't given a second look. I LOVED IT. I thought TV was changing. Now that something has happened in their network studios, it's going downhill. I want the old AMC back!!

-Scottie*

[Greywizard, The Unknown Movies]

I read that article this morning, and immediately sent an e-mail to him. Though I was still sleepy and I missed mentioning a few points (like his wrongheaded statement that all movies made before 1968 are safe), I did attack his claims on the profitability of R movies vs. movies with movies that have lower ratings, sending him the following points:
---
(1) One reason why Hollywood makes a lot of "R" movies is that they can often be cheap to make. "Jackass" only cost $5 million to make. "American Pie" only cost $12 million to make. And although their grosses may not have matched "Harry Potter", you have to consider that "Harry Potter" - and for that matter, many other family movies - cost much more to make.
 
"Jackass" to date has grossed 12 times its cost. "American Pie" grossed over 8 times its cost. When you look at how much family movies like "Harry Potter" cost to make (and market) you'll find that they returned *less* per dollar than those (and other) "R" movies.
 
(2) Statistics that point out that "R" rated movies gross less than lower-rated movies neglect to point out that a great deal of these "R" movies *never get a theatrical release*. They are made for video and cable. If you go to your local video store, you'll see on the shelves far more made-for-video movies that are rated "R" than made-for-video family movies.
 
The "no gross" status of these "R" movies then lowers the annual box office gross of all "R" movies. But obviously, there is a big market for "R" rated movies if studios not only keep cranking them out, but that video stores (more profit-minded) keep stocking them.
 
(3) One reason "G" movies seem to have, on average, higher grosses than movies with higher ratings is that so few get made. The yearly average is usually made up of one Disney blockbuster and the rest being a few flops. Despite those other "G" movies being flops, the high gross of the Disney movie - and the limited number of other "G" movies - makes it appear that each "G" movie is a high grosser - when it is actually not.
 
(4) There is nothing stopping any company outside of Hollywood in making and releasing its own "audience friendly" movies. All the companies need to do is put in a minimum amount of work marketing the movies so the theaters will open up. The independent distributor behind "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" put in the work, and was rewarded so at the box office. So the question that has to come up is, "If family movies are so profitable, why are there not only so few independent investors willing to put up the money to make such movies out of Hollywood, but independent distributors willing to properly market and distribute them?"
---

I actually got a reply from him later that day:

"Thank you. Can I ask a small favor? If you are not already receiving free WorldNetDaily news alerts, would you mind signing up for them? It really helps us. If you are already subscribing, please ignore this request."

Recently, the WorldNetDaily site hinted that they were having financial problems, and were practicaly begging readers to sign up for e-mail news alerts, since they have advertising that helps pay for the site. Though I was annoyed by the guy not giving a proper response, at the same time I did find this reply somewhat amusing since I knew the shaky state of the site.

[Chadzilla]

Let me just say, for the record, Joseph Farah is either an idiot or a simpleton, can't figure out which.  How much you want to bet that the response was simply automated and he never even saw your e-mail?

Sadly, with the exception of Disney fueled box office, the family friendly movie seems to be a sickly beast.  The two saddest examples....

The Iron Giant - when this movie was released in 99 it was slaughtered by Star Wars.  Both critics and Warner Bros. worked overtime to hype one the year's best movies.  There was Oscar buzz and praise up the ying-yang, but the family audience stayed away in droves and the movie bombed.  Warner Bros has since retired its theatrical animation division.  As one critic said in a scathing ten best rant - and this is somewhat of a paraphrase - "All those family values whiners out there now have no reason to whine.  You had your chance with a completely wonderful movie and blew it, so sit down and shut up."

Titan A.E. - Good bad, or indifferent, the box office disaster of this animated family adventure killed the theatrical animation wing at Fox once and for all.

Several other movies have been released, but most do poorly.  For all the whining, no one puts the money where the mouth is and that is sad...

[Funk, E.]

Face it family entertainment is extreamly limited venue. After you meet all the constraints for marketability, MPAA G rating status, and apeal to the Christian right your options become stilted quickly.

[Chadzilla]

Funk, E. wrote:
>
> apeal to the Christian right your options
> become stilted quickly.

I honestly do not think that there is a way to appeal to that audience.  The critics are horrendously nitpicky.  Many would find The Iron Giant too violent, morally unacceptable (the beatnik guy, the anti-goverment stance and ESPECIALLY the mockery of Christ's sacrificial death and resurrection that the robot makes at the end - E.T. no doubt gets slammed for that as well).  I am certain that Titan A.E. (which I haven't seen) would get similar low marks for some reasons.  It isn't just Harry Potter that gets raked over the coals.  The squeaky clean (and pretty decent) The Rookie even got some low marks for the near idolatry of baseball.  Shrek?  Forget it, that is one 'children's movie' they would call nothing of the sort.

There is even a Left Behind backlash starting up, partly to do with some serious biblical flaws in the series (book) narrative (supposedly saved individuals continually lie - i.e. use false identities - work for the Anti-Christ and, in one of the books, a spy takes the mark of the beast, even though the Bible clearly states that that is an express ticket to hell) and partly (my theory) to rake in some of the trickle down cash that kicking up some dust about LB's false teachings will no doubt create.

I tell you, reading righteous critics and their scathing reviews of any and everything that doesn't glorify God can be more entertaining than the material they discuss.

[Creepozoid]

If this was supposd to be a suprise than never plan any suprise birthday parties.