Weak box office turn out this year.. ??

[h.p. Love]

I haven't been going to see movies lately but I liked Hitchhiker's Guide all right. Star Wars sucked less than the others but still sucked. It relied on yoda kicking ass and r2 whooping it up. Question: Why did that cattle prod thing crack the windshield of a seemingly sophisticated spaceship and yet the ongoing battle outside didn't do a thing to it?

I almost get the feeling that hollywood is trying to make their lost audience feel guilty. ("Pull your weight movie viewer! We have to actually pay all these pretty so-called stars to recite these crap scripts. You know you want to see anything with j low or brad pitt") House of Wax with a trust fund amateur porn floozy. Yeah, I've been waiting for that one for so long.

I have to laugh at their astronomical projections of the numbers they lose to pirating. Their arbitrary and bloated estimations of downloaded copies also assume that every single download represents 1-infinity of people who would have otherwise paid to see the crap they throw at us. I don't know any pirates and if I did they couldn't pay ME to take The Honeymooners, Longest Yard, or Monster-in-law.

Anyway, it's all forgettable movies made by nameless hacks. I think I'll write a personal thank-you to George Romero for having the ambition at his age to bring one of his visions to light. Zombies, Dennis Hopper, guns, and apocalyptic mayhem. That's art.

[BeyondTheGrave]

I think originality in Hollywood is dead and will stay dead for awhile. Just look at all the movies that are out or are coming soon. A good portion are either a remake or a comic movie. Batman Begins was great but not original idea.  Hollywood even remakes Japanese movies that are not even that old. As long as someone else did it Hollywood remakes it. Its just as lazy as useing CGI for every little effect.

_____________________________
"We Greeks created democracy! You also created homos!"-Ghost World

[The Burgomaster]

I have seen far fewer theatrical releases so far this year than I have in any year as far back as I can remember.  I think I may have seen only 1 movie in the theater since January 1.  There just aren't a lot of movies out there that interest me.  Although, SITH, BATMAN BEGINS, LAND OF THE DEAD, and FANTASTIC FOUR are on my "to see" list.

Amazingly, at the other end of the spectrum, I am on a personal record setting pace for DVD purchases this year.  Since January 1, I have already spent over $1,000 at Deep Discount DVD, and I'm not sure how much more I have spent at Circuit City and Best Buy . . . probably at least $150 - $200.  Am I becoming reclusive?

[odinn7]

On the other end of things, I have and will attend the movies more often this year than I have since 1990 and before.  There are quite a few movies that have been released so far and more to come this year that I "need" to see on a big screen. Ah, go figure.

[daveblackeye15]

(hanvn't read the other posts yet so I don't know if this has been asked.) When did the slump start anyway? Around what time and what movies?

[odinn7]

Dave, it was all because of you. You went and posted that question to us and we all had to sit here and wait for your updates...who was going to leave their computer and go to the movies when we had a story like that to hang on to? Now that it is over, the movie industry will be ok as we can all return to our normal existence.

Seriously, I hear about these slumps every year but this year looks to be a good one for movies as far as I'm concerned.
One of the big problems that I see is technology. When I was a kid, it seemed like some movies stayed in theaters for weeks on end and some even seemed to go for a few months. I started to think about this and it seems to me that since VCRs and all weren't available back then, people wanted to see the movies in the theater, some for numerous viewings. Now we have cable, dishes, VCRs, DVDs. These things are taking away from the movies because many people are willing to wait. Some that aren't willing to wait will go to the theater but then not go to see it a second time since it will be available in a few short months. This coupled with higher prices to see a movie is what's hurting the industry. I think someone touched on this earlier but this is where I see the problem and it most likely isn't going to get any better. So as far as when did it all start, it's basically been happening for years but it's getting more noticeable with each passing year.

[Fearless Freep]

Thing is...the only ones really impacted are the theater owners.  The movie producers and distributers still make the money from DVD rentals and sales and cable showings, etc...

[h.p. Love]

Fearless Freep wrote:

> Thing is...the only ones really impacted are the theater
> owners.  The movie producers and distributers still make the
> money from DVD rentals and sales and cable showings, etc...
>

I think that's true too. But also, I've been renting fewer and fewer new releases.

I went from living around 30 screen airplane hanger megaplexes to 5-1 screen theaters. I'm really picky when tickets hit 7.50+. But I'm picky at $1 theaters too. I don't care if chains have to close down. They have too many screens to fill and IMO that's led to all of these pointless wonders being made. I think producers know that even cheap crap will break even because they're guaranteed screen time which floods the market.

Independent theaters pick their movies carefully. I've got a theater nearby that has an actual guy there who calls out when the movies will be playing there during the trailers. This theater has a nifty website and newsletter. They recently ran classic horror films like Black Cat, Exorcist, and some others in  conjunction with a film course at a community college. Another theater  recently had Army of Darkness. They also help smaller films like Bubba Ho-Tep and others before they're noticed by chains affiliated with distribution companies that passed them up in the beginning. The atmosphere is better and usually reflects the town. The service is friendlier and knowledgable. Better snack bar prices and choices.

It's about time the bubble bursts. Maybe smaller theaters with low overhead will see more profits and others put out of business by multiplexes will be renovated.