I've decided to incorporate some minor changes to the look of my blog and I hope you like them--if you even notice them. For one thing, I want to make it easier for readers to link up to topics (and yes, occasionally even ads) that are related to the topics of my blog. It's my girlfriend's idea and frankly I think it's a good one, since if you like what you read here, then click on the Google link at the bottom to get more information about the topic, I'll get a very tiny amount of money per link. Don't worry--I haven't sold out. If I get enough people reading, I'll donate half the money to charity and keep the other half to buy something nice on eBay. And trust me, it would take a year's worth of pretty heavy blog traffic to even buy a DVD on eBay, so yours truly ain't gonna get rich. Also, hopefully the changes will make it easier to interact with readers on a regular basis. And best of all, I have more incentive to blog! Yep, it's a great day in America...
That Sucking Sound You Hear is the Future of the Movie Business
Out here in La La land a lot of highly paid people in the film business have been sharing their opinions about the current drastic drop in box office this year. Most of the explanations have run along the lines of "Well, last year was an unusually good year especially with Shrek 2, The Incredibles, Spider-Man 2 and Passion of the Christ. How can any year compare favorably to that?" to the "People just haven't been as energized by this year's titles" argument to the old chestnut, "Well, the summer's only half over and the year's only half over. We might be singing a different tune come Christmas." All of these arguments have some merit, but I'm here to break down the real truth for you, something you'll never hear from the bowels of Hollywood--
Movies are dead. Long live the movies.
Or to be precise, going to the movies has been dealt a fatal blow, but staying home (or watching on a downloadable gadget) has never been hotter. Just look at the shit you have to go through to watch a movie these days: there's the price, which is now nationwide generally north of $7 even for a matinee (up to as much as $14 in select New York and Los Angeles theaters); there's the ridiculous cavalcade of ads that you must now endure in most movie houses before the previews even start there's the generally boorish behavior of most people in the movie theaters these days; there's traffic; there's substandard and cheap projection equipment and overpriced snacks. And of course, 4 out of 5 movies just plain suck. But if you stay home and rent a movie from Netflix and it sucks that's no big deal. Go out to the theaters and you're going to leave royally pissed after an experience like that.
And it's only going to get more commonplace in this increasingly sedentary and homebound culture. Most people aren't cineasts who care about things like seeing a picture with a full score in Dolby surround sound on a very big screen. Unless its a truly groundbreaking spectacle picture that begs to be seen in a movie theater (or a film with a passionate and compelling subject like the last days of Jesus Christ), most people would rather watch it at home, or on their computer or in the future on their PSP or cell phone than have to deal with what is increasingly perceived as a hassle.
And you know what? There's nothing all those Harvard MBA's that now run most studios can do about it except fret about their portfolios. It won't affect the "below-the line" people too much, except that there may finally be fewer multi-hundredmillion dollar blockbusters every year and more movies that play well on the small screen, like raunchy comedies or plot-driven drama pieces. It remains to be seen if this will negatively affect employment opportunities or not.
So my advice to production executives at the major studios and theater chain managers is this: all those empty seats in the movie houses, you'd better get used to them. 2005 might be remembered as the year the movie box office began to crash and burn and the days of families trekking out to the multiplex every weekend began to become a thing of the past.
My Daily Notes
Food and drink consumed: 1 bowl of Rice Krispies with 1% milk, 1 small vanilla ice-blended coffee drink, two chicken enchiladas, 1 Coke, 1 combo chicken wrap with pasta salad, 1 root beer, several jellybeans.
Celebrities seen in person: none
Movies seen: none, but purchased discount DVD of one of my all-time favorites, The War of the Roses starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner.
Est'd. American deaths in Iraq/Afghanistan today: 1
Sites: www.imdb.com
Peace....
No comments:
Post a Comment