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Movies Losing Popularity at Box Office

andyring writes "Without the slightest mention of piracy, the MPAA said box-office revenues declined by 8 percent last year. About 40 percent of the decline came from the U.S. Now if only they'd realize that the decline is from movies sucking more than my shop vac." It's been a while since a film warranted spending the money to watch it in a room full of strangers.

6 of 795 comments (clear)

  1. What, they didn't blame piracy? by crimethinker · · Score: 5, Insightful
    I'm shocked that the MPAA spokesweasel didn't blame piracy. Shocked, I tell you.

    And yes, I'll agree with the submitter's remarks - most movies nowadays are pure shite, little more than CGI thrown everywhere to try to cover a pathetic script. Oh, and don't forget the half-hour of commercials before the movie, too. And they always seem to start the commercials at the published start time. So you arrive half an hour late, trying to skip the commercials, and *this* movie was the one with only 15 minutes of crap in front of it.

    I wait for the DVD nowadays. Cheaper, too.

    -paul

    --
    Pistol caliber is like religion: everyone has their favourite, and theirs is the only right choice.
  2. Home Theaters by expressovi · · Score: 5, Insightful

    With the sale of home theaters on the rise I think that can also attribute to some of the loss. Many people I know who buy a home theater say they now have no reason to go the theater. I just got mine and I always ask why go out?

    --
    i agree
  3. Correction... by Joe5678 · · Score: 5, Insightful
    About 40 percent of the decline came from the U.S.


    Come on, it's in the first sentence of the article. 40 percent of the 23 billion dollars in total sales was in the US, not 40 percent of the decline.

    A misleading summary, here on slashdot, I'm as shocked as the rest of you...
  4. Re:Why Movies Suck by rlauzon · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Because I've seen it all before, now they're re-doing it all and nothing surprises me.

    The reason for that is that they have choked off the supply of works going in to the public domain. Historically, Hollywood has dipped into the public domain for ideas. Nothing new into the public domain = nothing new in Hollywood.

    Little wonder that Anime and Manga are getting more popular.

  5. Re:Why Movies Suck by BewireNomali · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I work in film and the logic isn't flawed on paper. you take television from a previous generation and redo it with current generation talent.

    you get the original audience and fans of the current talent. two birds with one stone. by and large that formula isn't broken. it works to the point that people go and see them, and they do rather well.

    there is a dearth of original ideas. this is because more expensive films require compromise to mitigate risk. understand, most films, small or large, are financed by thrid parties. hollywood is notorious for not financing their own films. so these films are beholden to finance guys who want easily reducible commodities. remake plus star talent is a recognized formula.

    the real problem here is this. hollywood primarily relies on the first-timers to make some cash. first timer are the rising young adult - adult generation. this is the problem - the first timeers aren't going to the movies. they're like the second generation to grow up with cable - so technically - they aren't first timers. So when a 30 something guy reflects that films are recycling themselves... hollywood is in the problem place that 18 year olds are saying the same thing. they've seen it all before.

    this is why the movie paradigm is problematic. hollywood has always been cyclical before. They'd wade out the lull and wait for a rising generation and introduce them to old shit that's new to them. It's not new to them - they've probably seen the original on cable or online or via blockbuster. they have prior memory of originals and probably prefer them. so without the first timer cushion - hollywood is quite possibly rready for a paradigm shift.

    --
    un burrito me trampeó.
  6. Re:Why Movies Suck by ackthpt · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Not only is there a lot of legal, free video entertainment available on the Internet, there is also music, gaming, etc.

    One other thing on the internet is instantaneous Communication with large audiences. Go to imdb and see a few comments and the film already rated and you just may change your mind about seeing it. Before the internet bad reviews got around on two legs.

    --

    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar