6/18/05 - A few thoughts on the many articles about the box office…..  So much is being said about the disappointing Box Office for Cinderella Man that I thought I’d do a little research.  Last Oscar season, the five movie nominations were Aviator, Million Dollar Baby, Ray, Sideways and Finding Neverland (all of which had post October release dates).  The average total domestic box office for these films was $80,312,146.  None of these films were in the top five for total box office.  Those movies were Shrek 2, Spider Man 2, The Passion of the Christ, Meet the Fockers, and The Incredibles with an average total domestic box office of $345,155,107.  Now, aside from The Passion of the Christ, none of those movies were Oscar worthy in my opinion, which to me is usually (not always) a good marker for a movie I am going to enjoy.  The fact is I don’t believe that the quality of a film can be measured by its box office results.

 
But, there in lies the problem, right?  Make no mistake.  Hollywood is in the business of making money, plain and simple.  So far this year, the top box office film is Revenge of the Sith; a movie that is not aimed at the 30 and above crowd nor the Oscars, necessarily.  Fortunately for us, there are artists within this Hollywood world who do what they do because they have a passion for it.  Actors like Russell Crowe who could easily make tons of films, but chooses to be, well, choosy about what he does.  He recently said in an interview (paraphrasing) that because he believes going to the movie theater to be a sort of communal experience, that he wants it to be worth it for the audience.  And there are many, many others who follow this as well.  Directors, actors, writers, and producers who feel that making a film is an important job and that the medium of film can be a powerful voice.  One project that comes to mind from last season would be Hotel Rwanda.  Its box office?  $23,530,892

The bottom line is that if we want more quality films produced, we have to start going to the movie theater more often.  It’s a simple matter of supply and demand, really. – Mary F

6/17/05 - I think this is a great article, (The Ann Thompson article on why people are not going to movies) - but there is one point which I think have been overlooked in it.  One of the main reasons for people being discouraged from going to the cinema is how expensive the whole business has become.

For instance, most cinemas are no longer local picturehouses but are located in huge business parks away from town/city centres.  Clearly there are exceptions to this, such as Leicester Square in London, but even then you have to get there; and you have to plan for getting home possibly quite late at night on public transport (unless you were lucky enough to find somewhere to park without paying a fortune for the privilege).  Then there is the price of the ticket, increasingly overcharged, plus the huge mark-up on sweets/popcorn/soft drinks.  This is no joke if you are an adult, and worse if you have children with you.

If you are going to your nearest out-of-town multi-screen complex; you have to find somewhere to park usually at a long distance from the actual cinema, albeit for free.  Then you have to find the screen which is showing your film, having paid the outrageous prices mentioned above, and sit through at least 30mins of advertising which could just as well have been shown on TV.  What ever became of the short film/cartoon before the main picture?

When the actors themselves do attend it is a charity premiere, which seems to be an excuse to charge such obscene prices for the tickets that the ordinary fans can't afford to go.  The NFT screening of M&C was such a bonus in comparison.

After all this, it is no wonder that more and more people are waiting for the DVDs, especially as wide-screen TVs are not an unreasonable price anymore and their sound quality is tremendous.

Russell is the only actor for whom I will still go to the cinema without question.

Best regards Amelie