This is topic We Need Better Movies! in forum Ground Level at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.
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Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 06-30-2000, 10:01 PM:
If you can't tell, the theater industry is still hurting. Why? Because the studios are pumping out nothing but crap (still). There are a few good movies that come out here and there, but most of it is crap crap crap!At my theater, I calculated that we show around 150 different movies per yer. Not prints, but titles. How many of them are any good? Usually around 10 to 15. That's pretty bad percentage, there. This is why people don't come to the movies as often. It is also why Titanic did so well. People were starved for a well made, quality motion picture!
Does Hollywood not feel the financial bite of the dwindling box office? Or are the studio execs just so moronic that they are blind to what is going on? I also think that home videos are released way too soon to their theatrical counterparts. This tends to make more people say "I'll just wait for the video and rent it."
Something needs to happen.
Posted by Dustin Mitchell (Member # 372) on 07-01-2000, 12:18 AM:
The only thing I can say is that I totaly agree with you.
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 07-01-2000, 05:26 AM:
See my review on "The Perfect Storm". Joe's hit the industry's REAL problem right on the head.
Posted by Tom Ferreira (Member # 70) on 07-01-2000, 06:30 AM:
I've been wondering for a while why studios seem to make these 'vanity projects' instead of films that people want to see. I had to laugh when I read about the making of Titan A.E. They were attempting to make an animated film that woud appeal to 12 and 13 year old boys. Yeah, right, like any self respecting 12 or 13 year old boy would want to see a cartoon. It was too dark for the little ones, also. I had that film pegged as a bomb long before it came out. I wouldn't have booked it. Same with I Dreamed Of Africa. Who could possibly have wanted to see this film?
Unfortunately in this day and age, the films that do business are not necessarily the quality films. I don't think The Patriot is going to do nowhere near as much money as The Perfect Storm, a far inferior film. I still maintain that most people aren't looking for a history lesson this time of year. If Paramount had held off MI2 until this weekend, it probably would have set records.
Part of the problem with the box office being down so much this year has to do with Disney. If they had held true to form, Dinosaur would be in it's second week right now playing to sold out crowds, instead of finishing up it's run. Luckily, Dreamworks filled the void with Chicken Run, but not to the extent that Tarzan did last year.
People want comedies, sci-fi event films, and family movies during the summer, which is why I think X-Men and Nutty Professor will pump up the lackluster box office.
Quality films? The term has for the most part become an oxymoron. So many studio heads are sadly out of touch with the pulse of the movie going public. As long as films like Road Trip continue to make money, I'm afraid the dumbing down will continue.
Posted by Lance C. McFetridge (Member # 95) on 07-01-2000, 05:02 PM:
I have to agree with most of your comments. Movie attendance may be off, but with ticket prices reaching upwards of $9.00 in some markets, and with 70% paid off the top to the film companies, how much are they losing? We in exhibition take it on the chin at the concession stand with reduced attendance. People wonder why the prices are so high, it is to make up for the poor attendance and the lack of income. Kind of ironic that we want to beat up the few that do attend with these higher prices. Man, don't get me started
lance
Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 07-01-2000, 09:02 PM:
Here's something really sad: tonight, in a 10-screen theatre, I had "Perfect Storm" showing on five of the screens for a period of time (two prints, both interlocked). It's possible that there's more interest in this movie here in New England than in other parts of the US, but I still think that it's pretty silly to be showing what looks like a pretty lackluster picture on half of the screens of a given theatre when a genuinely good film like "Patriot" is playing on one of the smaller screens.
Posted by Jason Burroughs (Member # 68) on 07-03-2000, 03:43 PM:
I can see Joe's point exactly, however the trend of purely crappy movies is, for the most part, the fault of the public. They reward the sudios for releasing pure crap, and they both the public and the studios turn their backs on well made, high quality, low budget or indie films. You often see complaints that theatres don't show enough of these pictues, but when they DO no one shows up. Instead the public would rather go see the latest adreneline pic Speed 3 ARGH! And of course the studios only go where the money is, and as for it hurting the theatres, when the boxoffice makes money, the studio makes money, they release crappy movies because the public wants it, not just to shoot themselves in the foot.
Posted by Barron Dripp (Member # 483) on 07-04-2000, 08:10 AM:
As much as I agree with everyone that movies having been sucking (seriously) lately, there is a reason for dumb-a** movies like Road Trip: It is what the public wants to see. Why did AMerican Beauty win best picture? Because it was a well made quality film. Ah ha, but why did it not play in theatres for long? Because it was not a movie that people wanted to see. It to closely depicted real life and when an audience comes in, they want to see crap like Road Trip or Titan AE or MI:2. They are movies that take no brain power to comprhend and they have no after effect. I hardly doubt that ANYONE came out of Road Trip thinking about what an intellectually stimulating film it was. If people had been brought up living with good movies than movies such as the foremwntioned would bomb in about a day (or hopefully not get made) and not be in the top ten for 5 weeks at a time. It is rather dissapointing. 
Posted by Dwayne Caldwell (Member # 417) on 07-04-2000, 01:02 PM:
Sadly, I liked Titan A.E., Road Trip, and M.I.2 to the extent that there's nothing out there better to enjoy. Well, I take that back. There's Chicken Run. And I haven't seen the other Mel Gibson film yet, and now I'm beginning to think I should. It's amazing that this industry's so hard to brake into when you see the lack of imagination and creativity it manufactures. And what happens AFTER X-Men? I mean that's the closet action packed eye-candy adventure flick that even comes close to Cameron caliber. Isn't this the time of year when those type of blockbusters are supposed to come out? Isn't that what summer movies are all about? Mind numbing, ear assaulting enterainment? I guess those summers are dying out. Or maybe we're just getting to desensitized to visual effects to enjoy them anyone.
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The man with the magic hands.
Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 07-04-2000, 09:48 PM:
American Beauty played for too long at my theatre, and then it came back! Ugh. There was always people in it. Things like Road Trip don't sell tickets during the day, and Titan AE doesn't sell many tickets for any showtime.I don't get the Cameron comparison to X-Men. It looks like your typical "summer flick based on something else" to me. It'll do well for a while. Also, why must every mutant have a name that relates to its power? Like Magneto? He uses magnet powers. I think that "Bob" would sound just as exciting. Nutty 2 will kick its ass, though. Comedies are always good, as long as they are actually funny.
Posted by Tom Ferreira (Member # 70) on 07-04-2000, 09:50 PM:
Barron, I have to disagree with one of your comments-America Beauty did very well, grossing over $100 Million dollars-and very well deserved, I might add. I'm eagerly awaiting the DVD this fall.
Titan AE was a massive bomb. Some suit at Fox lost his job over it, and there is talk of eliminating the animation division there. Hopefully we've seen the last of Don Bluth.
I'm still thinking that Klumps could do big, big bucks.
Posted by Kenn Fong (Member # 118) on 07-05-2000, 12:14 AM:
The problem is there is too much product out there. Note I said "product" not movies. They call it "show business" not "show art" or "show edification."The studios pump out so many titles because it doesn't make sense for them to keep a few titles in circulation for long. I hesitate to correct an earlier post, but the studios take 90% of the first (or best) week's gross, with that cut declining by 10% a week until it stabilizes at an even split. (For more on this, read, "We don't make 'em, Lady, We only show 'em" on my website.)
That's why they carpet-bomb the countryside with prints. They take as much as they can the first two or three weeks and then throw up something new. They don't give a rat's ass about the exhibitors, and the exhibitors know it.
kenn
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Kenn Fong
qwertyuiop.net
The Screenwriters Home Page
Posted by Andrew D'Vrey (Member # 285) on 07-05-2000, 11:38 PM:
I agree with most said above. For years now I've thought the video industry is what's really hurting theaters. Primarily the fact that movies are coming to video earlier and earlier all the time.I remember one of my favorite movies, Spaceballs, when Mel Brooks was making fun of this very fact by haveing the Space Balls movie released before the movie was finished.
Unless it's something you want really really want to see, it's often worth waiting for it to come to video 2-6 months later. There are still tons of people who don't care about "The big screen digital experience." and just want to see the movie. For them, waiting is fine. That and video stores have a selection no movie theater can top. So there's plenty else to watch while you're waiting for it to be released.
Now added to that group are the audio/video enthusiasts who play DVD movies at home in better quality than quite a few theaters I'm aware of. Plus, as one of my a/v enthusiast friends said to me recently about my theater's offerings: "you don't get the cool DVD extras at the theater." In which I responded: "Uh...well, we have uh...big standees with Squirrels and stuff on them." He promptly pointed to his Darth Vader cardboard cutout.
It used to be you went to a theater to get something you couldn't get at home. Now home viewers seem to get more than the theaters do.
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"And the monkey flips the switch."
- Major Don West, "Lost In Space"
Andrew D'Vrey
IATSE Local 219
Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 07-08-2000, 04:49 PM:
There is one thing we offer at the theatres that NOBODY CAN EVER HAVE at home:It is: The "bigness" of it all. Big picture...big sound...big crowd.
A moviegoer once told me: "The thing I like about going to the movies is, 'the size of the sound.'" I like that.
Posted by Dave Williams (Member # 299) on 07-09-2000, 06:06 AM:
Forget better movies, they will never get better. We need better trailers! Remember the trailers for Alien, Independance Day, Terminator 1 and 2? They showed you just enough to make you drool. That made the movie fun because you really didn't know what to expect.The trailers now are 2 and a half minutes long and give you the plot, characters, story outline, all the best lines and action, and sometimes even the ending. You see the movie before you see the movie. Then it isnt even fun! Trailers like MI2, Gone in 60 nanoseconds (like my attention span), star trek 217 (the search for anyone who gives a damn anymore).
Dave
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"If it's not worth doing, I have allready been there and done it"
Posted by Zach Zagar (Member # 379) on 07-10-2000, 11:20 PM:
Every movie this summer, that has been slightly intriguing via trailer, has completley not lived to expectation.MI:2 YAWN!
Gone in 60? I wish it was gone that quick
No blockbusters... then outta nowhere... SCARY MOVIE? I do think the spoof was needed for the horror movies.
I wonder what would happen if every chain boycotted? That'd be interesting. Hopefully it won't come to that, and some filmaker out there just starts raising the standards.
Posted by Carl King (Member # 398) on 07-11-2000, 09:16 PM:
The studios wouldn't continue to pump out crap if the public wouldn't continue watching crap
Posted by Bruce McGee (Member # 131) on 07-12-2000, 02:50 PM:
I have not seen Gone in 60 Seconds, but I did see the trailer at a friends screening room recently. It gave me an intense headache that stayed with me all night. I HATE trailers that are an editors nightmare with zillions of cuts and flashes. We are not all MTV generation folks. I like trailers that only give snippets of story and leave me wanting more.
Posted by Dave Williams (Member # 299) on 07-12-2000, 09:21 PM:
Speaking from a filmmakers point of view, I actualy visualize how the trailer will look as I write the film. NO trailer should ever be longer than 30 seconds... NO LINES AT ALL... just show enough to make you drool like the dogs you all are... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA... I look forward to XMEN... brian singer is quite an accomplished director, and is treating this film very seriously, promising it will not be comicy...
dave
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"If it's not worth doing, I have allready been there and done it"
Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 07-22-2000, 03:17 AM:
XMen really is a classy piece of work. I don't think Bryan Singer had too much to do with the trailer though...it too is a bit MTV-ish.The trailers are made for the market they are trying to woo the dollars out of which is the 16 to 25 year olds...slap bang in MTV land's demographics.
Posted by Charles Everett (Member # 889) on 08-28-2002, 05:21 PM:
Where I live the local stadium theater had My Big Fat Greek Wedding for 2 weeks in April -- on the break! -- and it didn't do anything. That same theater gets MBFGW back last weekend and sells out a Saturday night show.Actually, one good thing about Labor Day weekend is that arthouse/upmarket titles go back into the public eye. This weekend 2 of these movies go semi-wide (thanks Gwyneth and Jennifer); 2 more get their national arthouse break (think food or photo); a fifth gets shuffled around into megaplexes (mother and stepson). As if that's not enough a sixth arthouse title gets re-released (Rupert, Reese, Judi).
Sometimes there's even a little serendipity involved: I saw Apocalypse Now Redux at the Princeton Garden Theatre on a Sunday matinee 9/9/2001.