Summer movie box office sales down 20%

[Adrenaline]

I hate watching commercials while waiting for the trailers to start. For some reason, I find it extremely annoying that they play commercials. I don't mind trailers before a movie as I like to see what is coming soon.

Also, kids prices are outrageous and the food is insanely overpriced. I can wait four months to see it on PPV for less than $5 and eat cheaper food.

 

[squarecut1]

As crap as movies are, and I don't go to see them, whenever I pass by movie theaters, esp on the weekends, the parking lots are packed to the hilt

 

[BUTCH1]

Yeah! Let's compare movies that were literally the best of the best of our time and compare it to crap nobody is going to remember in 10 years. Let's not mention any of the movies that came out during the time of Lawrence of Arabia that was truly god awful and only the studio exec that okay'd it and his friends remembers, only so they can still mock him about it.

Same thing with music. Everyone praises the Beatles and says that generation of music was so much better than the Justin Beiber shit we get today, without any acknowledgement that there was truly awful pop music then as well. We just remember that which truly stands out as great.

Yea, there was some campy crap in the '60's as well, 1910 fruitgum Co, the Cowsills, ect. But you also had the best in their prime, Beatles, Stones, Dylan, the Who, The Beach Boys, The Doors, and that's just off the top of my head. Some of the movies were lame too, "Herbie the love bug", Help, but then again you had Stanley Kubrick's "Dr. Strangelove",(arguably one of the best films ever made), also films like "Midnight cowboy", "Phycho", "The Hustler", "The good, the bad, and the ugly", "Bullitt". Few films of today rise to those levels, sadly..

 

[zerocool84]

Anyone that says no good movies are made anymore is just retarded. There are many great and I mean great movies still being made. Sure many of my favorite movies are old but there are still greats being made.

 

[Ronstang]

I have a 65" 4K TV. Going to the movies costs me at least $40-50 and if dinner gets thrown in it easily hits or exceeds $100. For that price and I can buy a just released Bluray....but I wait for the sales ;...cook a really nice and healthy dinner and drink alcohol all evening without having to be around annoying rude people....and get naked at some point. Not much of a choice, is it?

 

[nageov3t]

I've enjoyed lots of movies this year.

Captain America: Winter Soldier, the LEGO Movie, and Edge of Tomorrow spring to mind.

that said, this summer in particular there hasn't been much drawing me to the theater. I've got no interest in movies like Transformers where it's basically just a plot as an excuse to stage a bunch of explosions and fancy CGI.

most of the 2015 Oscar bait movies haven't even been released yet (http://www.indiewire.com/article/2015-oscar-predictions-best-picture)

 

[Jeff7]

I hate watching commercials while waiting for the trailers to start. For some reason, I find it extremely annoying that they play commercials. I don't mind trailers before a movie as I like to see what is coming soon.

Also, kids prices are outrageous and the food is insanely overpriced. I can wait four months to see it on PPV for less than $5 and eat cheaper food.

And think of what they're paying the theaters for access to a captive audience.

 

[Sonikku]

I missed when that time went towards movie trivia.

 

[zinfamous]

Agreed. But where are the movies in the last few years, or even more than that, that come anywhere close to the great ones from the past

They are still being made. 2007 or whatever it was--which included TWBB and NCFOM among many others, as well as the following year with The Departed--were excellent years.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Let's look at some of the 2014 movies, shall we:
* Godzilla - horrible remake with hardly any monster battles
* Transcendence - Johnny Depp downloads his mind into a computer and comes back to life, typical Hollywood nonsense
* Edge of Tomorrow - basically Groundhog Day but in wartime.
* Sex Tape - Hollywood still doesn't understand how the internet works.
* Lucy - magical powers comes to people who use 100% of there brain.

I haven't seen any of those, but you have to admit, "Groundhog Day but in wartime" is an excellent premise for a movie. I like war movies. I like Groundhog Day. Sold.

 

[zinfamous]

Once upon a time you had people like David Lean making timeless classics like Lawrence of Arabia. Movies with layers and layers of meaning. Such craft and skills. That stunningly beautiful shot of the desert horizon and mirage, where Omar Sharif makes his first entry...ah....don't know how many times I have seen that scene.

Or Dustin Hoffman in that memorable role in Midnight Cowboy.

Now movies like King's Speech get Oscars. What a comedown it has been for Hollywood, perhaps reflecting the overall degradation of culture and arts.

David Lean made some great epics, but saying those had layers upon layers of meaning throughout is not accurate. They were beautifully shot, very well cast and written, and wonderfully acted. Most of those were epics based on real historical events, or set during historical periods (Either way, I believe all of his films were adapted on previous work). Anyway, most of these were straightforward plots with interesting, yet rather flat characters in the end.

Movies are still being made this way. If you aren't finding them, then you aren't trying very hard. That, or you recollection of depth in these films is overstated.

 

[zinfamous]

Gone with the wind was shit. Just saying.

No it isn't.

Shawshank Redemption does suck, though. Come at me, internet bros!

 

[nageov3t]

No it isn't.

Shawshank Redemption does suck, though. Come at me, internet bros!

Shawshank Redemption was a fine movie, but I don't think it deserves the amount of love and praise that it gets.

it's perfectly fine, but it doesn't really rise above any other generic feel-good movie imo

 

[zinfamous]

Except to the average movie goer, the actors and actresses are the film. Writer and director? Most people couldn't tell you who those were for most movies, but they could tell you the stars.

Agreed, there are a few, though, that people will see because of that:

Tarntino, obviously Spielburg, still.

PTA is not one of those for the general public, obviously, because most simply won't go out and see the type of movies he makes. Punch Drunk Love is probably the closest thing to mainstream that he has made (yes, because of Sandler), but I think plenty of people are aware of Boogie Nights.

 

[zinfamous]

Shawshank Redemption was a fine movie, but I don't think it deserves the amount of love and praise that it gets.

it's perfectly fine, but it doesn't really rise above any other generic feel-good movie imo

exactly!

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

Summer movies are what they've always been -- big budget, action schlock designed to get as many people into the theaters as possible. Big fucking deal, the numbers are down a bit this year. I don't see how people make the connection between summer blockbusters and Hollywood lacking creativity. There are great movies released every year.** Just look at last year's Oscars.


** I understand most great movies were based off books. But that has always been Hollywood's MO.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

No it isn't.

Shawshank Redemption does suck, though. Come at me, internet bros!

Shawshank doesn't suck, it's just overrated by the internet. It was the 5th best movie in one of the best years for movies we've ever had.

Pulp Fiction
Lion King
Leon: The Professional
Forrest Gump
Shawshank

Now that I've rated Forrest Gump above Shawshank, I will immediately be crucified by the internet hate machine.

 

[squarecut1]

David Lean made some great epics, but saying those had layers upon layers of meaning throughout is not accurate. They were beautifully shot, very well cast and written, and wonderfully acted. Most of those were epics based on real historical events, or set during historical periods (Either way, I believe all of his films were adapted on previous work). Anyway, most of these were straightforward plots with interesting, yet rather flat characters in the end.

Movies are still being made this way. If you aren't finding them, then you aren't trying very hard. That, or you recollection of depth in these films is overstated.

Yes, I agree that perhaps Lean isn't the greatest example of deep movies. I was making the point in general. Movies from that era are definitely deeper.

And yes, Shawshank is over rated One sign of a great film is that it ages well, and Shawshank does not. Repeated viewings of it leave you unimpressed and unable to find anything new or fresh in it - like you would with a truly great movie. It was, at best, a better example of the "overcoming the odds" Hollywood formula.

 

[smackababy]

Shawshank doesn't suck, it's just overrated by the internet. It was the 5th best movie in one of the best years for movies we've ever had.

Pulp Fiction
Lion King
Leon: The Professional
Forrest Gump
Shawshank

Now that I've rated Forrest Gump above Shawshank, I will immediately be crucified by the internet hate machine.

Shawshank gets a ton of praise because, while the story is pretty straight forward and feelgood, everything else was done far beyond 'very well'.

Leon: The Professional is sort of a cult classic that really escaped a lot of people's radar. Thankfully, I had it on VHS and it was phenomenal. It was a low budget, French film and was amazing. Luc Besson is hit and miss though. Sure, Leon and the 5th Element were great, but Transporter? Taken 2, and coincidentally, a movie discussed in this thread: Lucy.

Lion King is an animated movie so it gets a different type of judgement, even if it is still a great movie.

I just didn't find Forrest Gump as good as everyone else seems to think it was. Idk, maybe I just dislike films about mongoloids.

 

[squarecut1]

I just didn't find Forrest Gump as good as everyone else seems to think it was. .

Me neither. I thought Hanks was better in Philadelphia. But then he isn't much of an actor.

 

[squarecut1]

One truly great movie from recent times was There Will Be Blood. I have watched almost all of Daniel Day Lewis' movies multiple times (In the Name of the Father - at least five times). The best actor of this generation by some distance.

 

[K1052]

One truly great movie from recent times was There Will Be Blood. I have watched almost all of Daniel Day Lewis' movies multiple times (In the Name of the Father - at least five times). The best actor of this generation by some distance.

Off the top of my head 2007 also had No Country For Old Men and Gone Baby Gone, both of which were excellent IMO.

 

[smackababy]

One truly great movie from recent times was There Will Be Blood. I have watched almost all of Daniel Day Lewis' movies multiple times (In the Name of the Father - at least five times). The best actor of this generation by some distance.

Not even close to the only good movie of recent times. There is not a better acted movie than The Departed in a few generations. And Dallas Buyer's Club? Come on now...

 

[DAPUNISHER]

I have a 65" 4K TV. Going to the movies costs me at least $40-50 and if dinner gets thrown in it easily hits or exceeds $100. For that price and I can buy a just released Bluray....but I wait for the sales ;...cook a really nice and healthy dinner and drink alcohol all evening without having to be around annoying rude people....and get naked at some point. Not much of a choice, is it?

Right on the money. When this came up years back in the av&ht forum, that was pretty much the consensus. The numerous issues due to price and bad behavior by movie goers, makes waiting and watching at home much more attractive to most of us established adults.

 

[smackababy]

I have a 65" 4K TV. Going to the movies costs me at least $40-50 and if dinner gets thrown in it easily hits or exceeds $100. For that price and I can buy a just released Bluray....but I wait for the sales ;...cook a really nice and healthy dinner and drink alcohol all evening without having to be around annoying rude people....and get naked at some point. Not much of a choice, is it?

I don't understand this "get naked at some point" statement. If I am in my house, you can bet I won't be wearing pants. I would start the process naked!