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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.
Really. There's jibes all over in the press about it. Most of the films in the past year I spent my money on were at a place like this.
Why?
Because I've seen it all before, now they're re-doing it all and nothing surprises me. Then I go to the Del Mar or The Nick and see something
- See a story which is either deeply thoughtful or genuinely entertaining.
- I have no idea where the story is going.
- See really good acting.
- See a production done so well I forget for a moment I'm actually watching it on a screen.
- Suprising. Innocent Voices, that was an eye opener. Amelie, that was a charmer. Run Lola Run, that was just cool.
Steve Martin in the recent remake of The Pink Panther is a prime example. I already have some idea where jokes are going, long before the punch. The acting isn't anywhere near as good as the first (Sellers may have been an ass, but he could act comedy.) Honestly. Steve Martin (The Spanish Prisoner) and Kevin Kline (A Fish Called Wanda) are really capable of great acting, but this was pretty weak.I'm a real flim buff. You can tell. I take my own popcorn salt, rather than risk they'll have table salt shakers from SYSCO.
Hey, get that guys post! i want to create a movie based upon it! car chases! beautiful women! huge fireball explosions! sophomoric humor! It'll be great!
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
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.
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
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...
"It's been a while since a film warranted spending the money to watch it in a room full of strangers."
...
If dropping a ten-spot and spending 3hrs in a theater to see King Kong on the big screen doesn't appeal to you then you are beyond hope.
But I can understand your fear of seeing 'Brokeback Mountain' with others around. I mean with a name like CowboyKneel
In a movie theater, no matter where I sit, the loudest person in the theater always ends up sitting next to me. You'd think with my "I've killed already tonight, and you're next" countenance, people would stay away, but I seem to attract the crazies.
Prime examples:
In that crappy Sky Captain movie, when the flying ships dive straight into the water, this guy next to me starts shouting "THAT DEFIES THE LAWS OF PHYSICS!!"
In that crappy Manchurian Candidate remake, some dumb bitch sits down right next to me, babbling through the whole movie. When Meryl Streep goes into a long speech, this woman starts shouting "MERYL STREEP AT HER BEST!!"
During Batman Begins, some fat ass was munching down bag after bag of chips right next to me. He'd finish a bad, then extend his hand out and drop the bag on the floor, and go for another. Then he'd start belching, or fall asleep and snore really loud.
What the hell is it with these people?? Can't they see that I want to watch my crappy movies in peace??
Box Office sales dropped.
What happened to DVD sales?
[Fuck Beta]
o0t!
As Roger Ebert pointed out, the "Box Office Slump" is an myth. 2005 Box Office sales only appear down when compared to 2004, because 2004 saw the release of "The Passion of the Christ", which brought thousands of customers who otherwise do not visit the movie theaters.
The fact is, 2005 was the second or third best year for film revenue in history.
--
N
"Under 2 got in free."
If you took someone under the age of two to a feature length movie, then I hate you.
The Slashdot editors are nice enough to post a non-story about movie theaters/revenues/profits/etc. so that we can rant about prices of tickes/snacks/parking/etc. and brag about the components in our home theaters and you have to come along and screw it all up by presenting facts. Where to you get off buddy? Now what the hell am I gonna rant about? Did you see the front page? There aren't any articles about how Linux isn't ready for the desktop. There are any columns about Windows out performing Linux in a recent benchmark.
From now on just keep your facts to yourself.
BTW, mod parent up. Sounds like he hit the nail on the head
MG