Posted on 12/22/2014 7:26:22 PM PST by Nachum
While the cancellation of 'The Interview' wiped billions off the US Box Office take in 2014 (), ticket sales in North America will total roughly $10.5 billion, according to The NY Times, the lowest since 2000 (after inflation). Regal Cinemas and AMX Theatres have seen profits collapse and Carmike Cinemas has plunged to a loss as major movie delays (from Pixar and Universal), "pirating" of several movies (The Expendables 3 and Annie) before their release, and studios suffering one dud after another (Warner Bros.) the 4% YoY decline - for what is ultimately an affordable luxury - suggests the gas-price-savings are going anywhere but discretionary spending (just as we noted previously).
Not a pretty picture of recovery...
(Excerpt) Read more at zerohedge.com ...
It was widely believed during and after the Great Depression that escapist fare, musicals and the like, led to the movie industry being one of the few industries to prosper in that era. Air conditioned theaters helped too, at a time when few had home air conditioning it was a fairly inexpensive way to beat the heat and get away from it all for at least a little while.
Wife and I thought we’d splurge and go see a 7:15 PM showing of The Hobbit: Battle of Five Armies in 3D last night:
$24 for two tickets.
$13 for a large popcorn and small diet Coke.
Eight theater multiplex almost empty, and our theater, surprisingly clean, with only about 20 seats filled.
ENDLESS and truly TASTELESS ads that we swore were designed to appeal to some obscure “civilization” of very strange beings from some other galaxy.
Then, another 20 minutes of tortuously bad previews, supposedly representing 6-8 different coming attractions that all, actually, seemed like they were from the same plotless film, sporting predictable special effects backed up by cliche’d acting and trite dialogue.
Reasonably polite fellow patrons, which is unusual in recent years.
Decent enough movie, unlike its two predecessors, but still a far cry from the LOTR.
To sum up: A nice theater, all but empty due to the economy, the dearth of good movies, the other entertainment options available, and the erosion of manners and civility in our current so-called culture.
The main feature, several "serials"... I had to ask what those were... and, of course, coming attractions.
Also, unless the theater was just jam packed, no one minded if you just stayed and watched everything again.
If she'd done all her chores, she was allotted an extra nickle (maybe a dime) to get a candy bar from concessions.
She confirmed what you've written; air conditioning was a huge draw.
“Theaters aren’t “grand” anymore. Sitting in a grubby little room, shoes sticking to the floor-——”
—
Good lord ! I go to the movies practically every week and the ones we go to are clean and comfortable.
I haven’t bought any food or beverage in a theater since I was a child so I can’t speak to that.
There are plenty of good films out there.
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Sounds like the ‘entertainment industry’ is suffering for their support of ZERO, who is adding nothing to their coffers since 2008.
The theater we go to has reserved, reclining seats. We only see one or two movies a year, but it is a nice experience.
Maybe things have gotten better. Or maybe I'm just an old crank.
What have you seen this year that you particularly enjoyed? It would give me some idea what to look for on Netflix.
Our family saw the Hobbit 3-D on Friday night. about 10 people in the theater, I think. We thought it was just because it was only the 6:00 showing, but there was no crowd when we left, either. Restaurant next door was packed, and plenty of people were still walking around the mall, but nobody was at the movies.
“I remember my mother talking about going to the movie as a child. It was nearly an all-day experience.
The main feature, several “serials”... I had to ask what those were... and, of course, coming attractions.”
—
In the 40s we had 2 movies every Saturday (An “A” movie and a “B” movie),the serial,the attractions,and Movietone News.
We were gone from about 12:00 to 6:00 PM,which included the long walk back and forth.
.
She described those for me.
I’m barely old enough to remember lengthy Saturday matinee shows with quite a few old cartoons and comedy shows played before the movie itself. That’s where I was introduced to the hilariously mean, early iterations of Woody Woodpecker and even Mickey Mouse was pretty bratty back then, lol. Laurel & Hardy, The Three Stooges, Ma & Pa Kettle, WC Fields, all manner of old B&W comedies. Likely never would have encountered them otherwise.
The real Hollywood moneymakers nowadays are 12-13 episode per season "event" TV series like what you see on cable channels, for example AMC's recently-concluded Breaking Bad or HBO's huge moneymaker, the Game of Thrones. Especially now with HDTV, you can enjoy these TV series on larger widescreen TV's.
I think that movie making is a lost art. Watch some of the old standards on TMC at night, and compare with today's typical picture. No acting, banal screenplay, derivative plot, no comparison. Today everything is based on special effects and/or violence. Hollywood doesn't even do sex well any more. And a funny thing--actors in the thirties/forties looked and acted like adults. Today they look and sound like adolescents in makeup.
When the only two movies I have seen so far this year that have even left a slight impression are "Guardians of the Galaxy" and "Captain America" it tells me how horrible movie making was this year.
When you turn Frankenstein into moody hero, killer of evil creatures and vamps, you make a "Groundhog Day" space alien movie with left over matrix creatures, then think stuffing a girl full of drugs she is forced to mule and break it open in her and turn her brain power up until she becomes god then turn her into a computer to pass on her new bible you have pretty much run out of ideas.
Then to set about destroying most remakes because of course little orphan Annie who was all about the carrot top curls and the white male guy in the Equalizer would be much better black in some bizarre PC Hollywood mind.
Not to mention this was also the year they put an end to or a long pause on franchises like Transformers and Expendables with horrible sequels. Hey, Hollywood did learn something this year...it is probably time to figure out that if you want to do an epic Bible movie you should probably actually stick to what the Bible says if you want the audience you are aiming for to go see the actual movie.
I love movies but this was the year I had a hard time sitting still, not walking out or being bored to tears. How do you make Godzilla boring???? They could not even make a Sleeping Beauty movie without PCing it to death.
“Hollywood does not want a sequel to 2014.”
Technically, that’s simple to fix: just make great movies that tell great stories that people want to pay money to watch instead of Hollywood propaganda garbage CGIed crap.
There’s literally thousands of incredibly great books that could made into great movies (if Hollywood actually wanted to.)
Winner Winner! Chicken Dinner!
That is why 100% of my movie watching is limited to free TV and Netflix.
Every good conservative needs to do their best to keep from subsidizing this garbage.
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