Slashdot Mirror
2017: The Year That Horror Saved Hollywood (qz.com)
A reader shares a report: If there's a silver lining in any of that for America's film industry, it's that the horror genre is still plugging merrily along, seemingly immune to the financial troubles that have befallen most studios. As the rest of Hollywood flounders in 2017, horror is in the midst of its highest-grossing year ever. On the backs of huge hits like It and Get Out, the horror genre has combined for a record $733.5 million in the US this year, according to box office data compiled by the New York Times (paywall). The year has proven that horror films are more than just cheaply made movies for niche audiences and can still cross into the mainstream to become bona fide successes. Ticket sales during the 2017 summer movie season, billed by Variety as "The Summer of Hell," were down nearly 11% from last year due to a series of epic flops, namely King Arthur: Legend of the Sword and The Dark Tower. Arguably the only saving grace was It, the adaptation of the novel of the same name by Stephen King that became the highest-grossing horror film of all time in September (not adjusted for inflation). Today, it has made a very fitting $666.6 million (seriously) worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo. Following a solid first half of 2017 with Dunkirk and Wonder Woman, It helped Warner Bros. rebound from the disastrous King Arthur and the disappointing Blade Runner 2049 -- to say nothing of this month's box office catastrophe, Geostorm.
for America's film industry, it's that the horror genre is still plugging merrily along, seemingly immune to the financial troubles that have befallen most studios
The horror genre is not immune to the studios' problems, there just happen to be some very good horror genre movies this year. The studios should be ignoring any trends like these and simply make good movies. Entertaining movies nearly always do well at the box office. If Get Out or It were bad movies, they would have done bad at the box office regardless of being horror movies.
-- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
I mean yes obviously, those reduced millions are still coming in from somewhere.
But I haven't heard anyone I know - in years - saying they were going to go to a theater and watch a movie. I think the last thing I personally saw in a theater was the first half of Kill Bill. None of my friends have said anything about going to a movie since I can't remember when.
I've considered that maybe I'm just getting old and I don't go out as much, and that's skewing my perception of things. But I have nephews and other family that are younger. And babysitters and neighborhood kids that come over to hang out with my kids.
Nobody seems to talk about going to the movies anymore.
Do people actually go to the movies these days? I can't think of anyone that does. Whatever it is that you want to see - it'll be on blu-ray in a month and you can watch it at home, without the sticky floors and ten dollar popcorn. A gigantic LED tv doesn't cost all that much, and you have one for your XBox already anyways.
Who the hell goes to the movies these days?
Weaselmancer
rediculous.
Its opening weekend was only $31M but that was still something like 2x the number two spot that weekend. I absolutely loved it (and saw it four times thus far), but it's a tough movie for many: thinking person's sci-fi running close to 2 3/4 hours. If there's any justice, Roger Deakins will get his Oscar.
Ask the producers of Amityville the awakening
Nullius in verba
All of this has happened before, and it will all happen again.
That is Harvey?
Lots of Hollywood horror stories about sex predators masking as producer and directors.
I was considering going to Blade Runner with my wife. However it had been so long since I had last seen the first one I thought it would be nice to see it again before seeing the new one. So I checked the usual retailers - in my case Best Buy, Target, WalMart - and couldn't get it there as it was not available. I can't stream it on NetFlix either. I checked Barnes and Noble as well, no dice. I checked Amazon; they couldn't guarantee it either (only available through third parties).
Disney did the same thing with Tron when they released the new one a few years ago. If you shut out the fans who want to see it, you'll end up getting less money for the new product. In my case I just simply gave up and figured it's not that important. I can go spend my money on something else.
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
Are we going to talk about the abomination called Mother! ? Is that horror too?
Modern movies all fit a very tight formula, which is admittedly very powerful and compelling, but it prevents certain types of creativity from shining. Atop that, movie studios refuse to take risks on new material, instead making adaptations, reboots, remakes, and encores. This further limits what a movie can do.
This is an arena that televisions series have stolen from movies; most episodes are designed to fit that tight formula while advancing a larger arc (better yet, multiple larger arcs!) while a few can break the mold with minimal risk to audience retention (for example, instead of the plot twist being half to three-quarters through, it can be elsewhere, or even a build-up for a larger surprise in the next episode).
Horror movies are rarely heavy in sophistication. They just go in for emotional investment so they can lead you to a series of surprises, some of which will startle you and others that might haunt you. This adapts to that oversimplified formula very very well. Additionally, horror has its own tight formulae, so audiences get what they expect and are only disappointed when there wasn't the anticipated level of startles, eeriness, or innuendo. There's no risk to the hook being problematic since it's pretty much always shown in full force in the movie's trailer.
(Also note that It is a remake (and an adaptation), though Get Out is not.)
Use my userscript to add story images to Slashdot. There's no going back.
How does a movie like geostorm even get made? Who looks at that script/plot and thinks "this is a winner - let's spend 120 mil on this pronto!"
Hollywood should accept the fact that many people don't go to film theatres anymore. I'm one of them. Reasons are multiple: theatres are too noisy, too cold, with too many annoying patrons crunching popcorn and texting. Blade Runner 2049 is a sequel that I've been waiting for 35 years and I'm not going to compromise that pleasure by watching the film in a Cineplex. Instead, I'll wait for the digital release and I'll purchase it on iTunes; and then in BluRay, to make sure that I can watch it again, anytime and anywhere I want, without downloading the 30+GB again. Savvy?
... like every year.
Flops don't kill Hollywood. It's not hooked up that way.
Honestly, until Hollywood stops trying to shove their alt left agenda down our throat, they will continue to do poorly. The fact about the left is that their ideology is just theoretical, and when they try to apply it in the real world, it is jarring, as in ruin the entire movie jarring (the hero, after killing mountains of henchmen, spares the evil mastermind because he is "better than that" even though the dude murdered the hero's children and made his wife a zombie plaything. Everyone knows that in reality that the villain would be red paste on the wall, or at the very least, beaten within an inch of his life. (This is why The Walking Dead did so well and Fear the Walking Dead spin-off is total garbage, one is a realistic drama about how normal people would act, the other is a liberal jerk off session about how they think they would act in the same situation). That is why the superhero movies did so well, at least at first. They were based on what is by today's standards, a conservative narrative, with a struggle between good and evil. But now even those stories are being polluted by the liberal agenda (Iron Man sequels anyone?) instead of staying true to the original material.
We need to get back to the classical theorem for our action/epic movies, where there are good guys (albeit still flawed humans) and some evil to overcome (not corporate suits, not CEOs, or other stupid Hollywood retardedness) who do evil things because evil is in their hearts and they want more power to spread their evil. Pick a genre (fantasy, scifi, horror, post apocalypse, apocalyptic, etc.) and away you go.
I predict that Hollywood knows this, and they will make a few "pandering" movies next year to refill the coffers, then go back to putting out their dog shit laced libtard brownies...
If you disagree, please post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like
I talked to a number of cinephile friends who, along with myself, saw Get Out as genuinely abysmal. It pandered, it was predictable, and most importantly it merely kept up stereotypes and fears that are genuinely abhorrent and useless in this day and age.
It was poorly-directed, but did have a good lead. Everyone else was wooden, beige, and the even the humor wasn't really any good. The only reason it got eyeballs was because it was a social justice issue; what it tried to do has been done elsewhere and better.
I was embarrassed at the theater, with people yelling and screaming that, "Whitey should DIE! Yeah fuck whitey!" It was a racist, violent movie that has no business in a theater.
Nice enough sets, though.
BR2049? Another overpumped piece of junk, it's what a teenager would create if they made bladerunner: It beats the viewer over the head to feel something; it makes the most amateur mistakes in cinema: It narrates instead of illustrating.
Blech. Those two movies, along with the wooden, strangely emotionless "Lucky" last weekend have now completely put me off modern movies.
I promised a friend I'd see "Mother" but I've not much hope there, either.
-
Yesterday they told you you would not go far, that night you open and there you are
Next day on your dressing room they've hung a star, let's go on with the show!!
You might have to suck a dick or two. That's show business! Woka Woka!
Seemed more like a black comedy to me (no pun intended)
I've been hearing this complaint from the right for a long time. The right has very good access to deep pockets such that they can form their own studios and make their own damned movies. You are not held hostage.
So you define progressive values as "evil"? I don't know what your New Testament says, but mine talks far far more about not being a greedy selfish prick than it does about gays or "evil" unions.
Sorry, but I see power-grabbing selfish plutocrats and big co's who (now legally) bribe politicians as the biggest current evil. You may personally like plutocrats & monopolies running YOUR ass, but I do not. They are even damaging the planet by trashing climate change science. If that's not evil, then I guess I have no clue what "evil" is.
And don't even get me started about the Nazi-esque Orange Joker in the Whitehouse.
Table-ized A.I.
Pedophilia at the highest levels has been running rampant all across hollywood for decades.... that is the real horror
Modern movies all fit a very tight formula, which is admittedly very powerful and compelling, but it prevents certain types of creativity from shining. Atop that, movie studios refuse to take risks on new material,
Have you seen Victoria and Abdul?
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
The movie with jackie chan and pierce brosnan was pretty good: it is based on a book so story is pretty good.
Honestly, who wants to see a movie with the prefix 'Geo'?
Have you seen Victoria and Abdul?
No, and I therefore cannot comment on how soundly it may or may not break "the formula" but there are exceptions to every rule. This does not appear to be one, however, since it is not a Hollywood film (sorry, I failed to quantify my remark by that characteristic). It's also an adaptation.
Use my userscript to add story images to Slashdot. There's no going back.
I'm not a fan of horror but anything to end the superhero glut: no stakes. anyone who dies eventually comes back to life even if they're mortal. friends become enemies who become friends again. Boooooring.
At this point I'd prefer to watch colonoscopies.
I thought they called it Pedowood now.
We'll start with you. I trust you're not going to object.
Have you seen game of thrones? They took risks and broke out of the simplified formulas
The writing on blockbuster movies for the past 3 years has been the worst writing I've ever seen.
In movies like Independence Day 2, Tarzan, and Ghostbusters, normal people don't behave like normal people. Conversations don't make any sense.
The same problem is/was going on at Netflix, with the writing for the Marvel series, like Iron Fist. That guys dialogue is so inane, if you actually pay attention to it, you'll just turn the show off.
Not to mention the fact that some random person accuses him of being a drug dealer in a newspaper article, which immediately resutls in the SWAT team breaking in through his roof and windows in full assault gear with loaded weapons.
Or when, in Tarzan, they burn down the village and the africans just sit there like holy victims.
Or in Independence Day 2, when a construction worker steals a military aircraft and suddenly becomes the commander of the US air force.
That's not how the world works.
That's how an SJW thinks that the world works.
It's amazing to me that they let these SJWs continue to write. And that they pay them.
It's not even about accurately representing reality.
It's about giving a plausible representation of reality, where the viewer doesn't have to suspend his faculties at every god damn turn.
And then there's the god damn moralizing.
When Netflix released Narcos season 3, what do you imagine was one of the most used search terms related to the series? It was "Was Pacho really gay?", because people need to check now, whether it was actually so, or if we're being force fed some horseshit again. Because that's a reasonable thing to assume; that you're being fed horseshit.
horror movies are trash, for people with fucked up minds.
Have you seen game of thrones? They took risks and broke out of the simplified formulas
Game of Thrones is not a Hollywood movie either. See my second paragraph. The "multiple larger arcs" was written with GoT chief in mind.
Use my userscript to add story images to Slashdot. There's no going back.
Headline!
Bad movies do poorly at the theater... ORLY? Shocking I tell you, shocking.
Anyone who's seen the trailer for King Arthur or Geostorm could have told you that they were going to be terrible. I mean really. While I had high hopes for the Dark Tower, the bottom line is they are fitting like 5000 pages of book in one movie, yeah a little might get lost in translation. As for Blade Runner, who knows, I know I wanted to go see it, but just didn't get a chance.
As for IT, well it did very well because by all accounts it is a very well done movie, same goes for Dunkirk, and Wonder Woman (who also tick off a lot of demos going for it).
Anyway the whole bad movies doesn't do very well while good movies do isn't exactly all that shocking really. What might be more shocking is that while most horror movies are horrible, every now and again one comes along that is very well done like IT, which is a bit newsie I guess. Descent is another one that comes to mind (however that was like a decade ago). It is pretty rare a horror movie gets an +80% rating.
Horror flicks generally don't have fakey car chases with impossible automotive gymnastics done on streets that are always, always, always wet, including inside parking garages, no matter what the weather was 30 seconds before the cut to the car chase. They also usually don't feel the need to introduce seriously fakey CGI that doesn't work, isn't believable, and just destroys my ability to get "into" the movie.
For me, movies have to make sense. Dark Tower made little sense to me, King Athur made absolutely no sense. Then there's things that happen just because "its in the script", and so those things can't even be attributed to the characters' brainy endeavors. There's lots of idiot stuff such as Clooney dangling from a rope / wire in that space movie "Gravity" and about to "fall." WTF, you can't "fall" in orbit, there's no gravity. All she'd have to have done was give the rope a slight tug and he'd have floated right to her. And then there's King Kong where they somehow get an engine-powered raft from a 1940's fighter plane to go upstream (or something like that) when 1) all the fuel was burned completely when the fighter plane crashed and 2) it was decades ago, and you're telling me if there was some fuel saved from such a crash, it wouldn't have been used for something else in the interim?
Movies have to make sense to be enjoyable, but, well, horror movies not quite so much since the monsters mostly don't exist and the methods in use don't exist (Jumangi simply requires magic / enchantments - we don't question those...) so,
Damnit, tell me a good story, don't make things happen just because "its in the script", have stuff make sense, and maybe you'll come up with something plausible and entertaining like Jaw or Jurassic Park. Even a little suspension of scientific disbelief can be tolerated to follow along with Star Wars and Star Trek and so forth. Transformers? Naw, there's too much mass resultant from too small a volume when transforming a car into a 30 ft high robot. But, c'mon, get real... at least mostly.
Oh, yeah, then there's the upcoming Pacific Rim sequel. Good grief, what a way to attack the problem. You got monsters coming out of the sea? I'm the only one that has ever seen "The Guns of Navarrone?" Shore batteries, lots of them. Any critter that can be defeated by hand to hand combat with a giant robot can have his shit blown to smithereens by an appropriately sized artillery round. Again... get real...
"Geostorm" and "Ghost in the Shell" were awesome. Blade runner 2049 was also awesome.
It's those who pirate Hollywood movies that hurt Hollywood.
The horror movie, "It Comes out at Night" was awesome, but the ending sucked