I went to a lot films this year, but about 80% of them were at the local arthouse cinema where I can kick back on a comfy couch with a nice pint in a theater full of people who also really like film and want to enjoy the experience.

netweavr: I honestly cannot justify spending $30 to go see a movie that NetFlix will stream to my house if I can just wait 6 months.

Obviously the solution to that is to run Netflix out of business.

/this is what movie execs actually believe

The only movie I really loved this year was Drive. Saw it three times in theaters. The last movie I saw multiple times at a showing was No Country for Old Men.

/CSB

netweavr: I honestly cannot justify spending $30 to go see a movie that NetFlix will stream to my house if I can just wait 6 months.

No offense, dude, but unless you're paying for a couple other people, you're not spending your money wisely.

I was kind of encouraged when looking at all the year-end "2011's Biggest Flops" lists. A good number of them were re-treads (e.g., "Conan the Barbarian," "Arthur"), gimmicks in search of a movie ("Mars Needs Moms," "Cowboys and Aliens") and/or sequels/adaptations of existing material ("Happy Feet 2," "Green Lantern"). So I started to think that maybe moviegoers were starting to get the message, and voting down bad stuff with their wallets. I almost allowed myself to hope that maybe the studios would get the message.

Then I looked at the biggest money-MAKERS of the year, and got bummed out all over again.

For contrast, the top and bottom 10 of 2011, and what they made (rounded to the nearest million):

Top:

1) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 - $381M
2) Transformers: Dark of the Moon - $352M
3) The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 - $276M
4) The Hangover Part II - $255M
5) Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides - $241M
6) Fast Five - $210M
7) Cars 2 - $192M
8) Thor - $181M
9) Rise of the Planet of the Apes - $177M
10) Captain America: The First Avenger - $177M

Bottom:

1) Mars Needs Moms - $39M (Budget: $150M) +/-: -$111M
2) Sucker Punch - $90M (Budget: $82M) +/-: +$8M
3) Arthur - $46M (Budget: $40M) +/-: +$6M
4) Green Lantern - $220M (Budget: $200M) +/-: +$20M
5) Cowboys & Aliens - $179M (Budget: $163M) +/-: +$16M
6) Glee 3D - Gross: $19M (Budget: $9M) +/-: +$10M
7) Conan the Barbarian - $49M (Budget: $90M) +/-: -$41M
8) I Don't Know How She Does It - $31M (Budget: $24M) +/-: +$7M
9) The Thing - $27M (Budget: $38M) +/-: -$11M
10) The Big Year - $7M (Budget: $41M) +/-: -$34M

In other words, "flops" though they may have been...6 of the bottom 10 still made money. And of the four that didn't, three were original films. Only one money-loser ("Conan") was a remake. And that's not to say that the other three in-the-red movies were necessarily any good. I didn't see any of them, and apparently, neither did anyone else. But that's not really the point. The point is that there were still derivative movies that ostensibly "flopped," yet still turned a profit on paper.

And the top 10? Let's see...

1) Harry Potter: Sequel/novel adaptation
2) Transformers: Based on a toy line
3) Twilight: Sequel/novel adaptation
4) Hangover II: Sequel
5) Pirates: Sequel/Based on a theme park ride
6) Fast Five - Sequel
7) Cars 2 - Sequel
8) Thor - Based on a comic book
9) Planet of the Apes: Re-tread
10) Captain America: Based on a comic book

If we want to see better movies, we need to pay to SEE better movies. Period.

And my personal take on the top 10:

1) Harry Potter: pretty good
2) Transformers: sucked
3) Twilight: sucked
4) Hangover II: sucked
5) Pirates: sucked
6) Fast Five - sucked
7) Cars 2 - sucked
8) Thor - sucked
9) Planet of the Apes: sucked
10) Captain America: sucked

Guys, you DO realize that the only reason 95% of movies are made is to make money, right? and that MILLIONS of dollars would only be laid down if there was SOME sort of assurance that they would make money, yes?

I mean, why do you think there are things called "surprise hits?"

A surprise hit is something that is generally considered an unknown or original property that hasn't been done to death or already made aware in the public eye in one medium or another that makes money anyway

Most of these crapfests based on toys and books and movies that didn't need sequels are because they are betting that the brand's establishedness in the public conscience will automagically mean it makes money regardless of film quality. And for the most part, IT WORKS.

If you really want to complain about the lack of original ideas being made, stop going to the assumed hit crapfests. Or maybe write and produce your own. DO something about it.

Even Front Row Joe is shocked at how expensive ticket
and concession prices are.

Wow, Nemechek has changed!

/NASCAR reference
//look it up

h2oincfs: Wayne 985: netweavr: I honestly cannot justify spending $30 to go see a movie that NetFlix will stream to my house if I can just wait 6 months.

No offense, dude, but unless you're paying for a couple other people, you're not spending your money wisely.

how so? i live in a fairly small city, and a ticket for an adult costs $7.00 here. i have heard of tickets in large cities costing $15.00 or more. add in the price of gas/bus/subway fare, a small popcorn and a small soda, and you're pushing $30 or more, easy, for just one person.

Well, you got me on that. I guess I don't really consider gas or train fair. Still, do people really need to eat or drink that much in a theater? Buy a small drink, if you have to, but if you're that hungry, either eat before or sneak in a bag of M&Ms or something. Buying overpriced food and drink there is crazy.

Heck, I'm fine with a free cup of water or a water bottle and eating before or after. It's not like I can't spend two hours without junk food.

poo flinging monkey: MaxxLarge:
Bottom:

1) Mars Needs Moms - $39M (Budget: $150M) +/-: -$111M
2) Sucker Punch - $90M (Budget: $82M) +/-: +$8M
3) Arthur - $46M (Budget: $40M) +/-: +$6M
4) Green Lantern - $220M (Budget: $200M) +/-: +$20M
5) Cowboys & Aliens - $179M (Budget: $163M) +/-: +$16M
6) Glee 3D - Gross: $19M (Budget: $9M) +/-: +$10M
7) Conan the Barbarian - $49M (Budget: $90M) +/-: -$41M
8) I Don't Know How She Does It - $31M (Budget: $24M) +/-: +$7M
9) The Thing - $27M (Budget: $38M) +/-: -$11M
10) The Big Year - $7M (Budget: $41M) +/-: -$34M

In other words, "flops" though they may have been...6 of the bottom 10 still made money. And of the four that didn't, three were original films. Only one money-loser ("Conan") was a remake. And that's not to say that the other three in-the-red movies were necessarily any good. I didn't see any of them, and apparently, neither did anyone else. But that's not really the po ...


I thought "The Thing" was a remake

So was Arthur.

tillerman35: 1) Make a good movie I'm willing to pay for. I can already see as much crap as I want on the Sci-Fi channel. "Slugmantis vs Dogplatypus 2 - Bark Until You Can't Taste the Slime" will probably be on by September.

2) Make the trailer have SOME relationship to the actual movie. Thousands of kids left "A Bridge To Terebithia" bawling because Disney marketed it as a feel-good CGI fantasy fun fest. Just this weekend, I took my kid to see Hugo because the trailers made it look like a fun kid adventure. Instead, I spent an hour and a half of crushing boredom watching the film industry fellate itself. Seriously. Pulling crap like this is basically saying "We know our movie sucks- we need some misleading advertising so at least a few people watch it."

Both those examples sound like the movie itself was actually intelligent, but was marketed as something mindless. The same thing happened with Drive. Very smart and artsy movie, but marketed as a Transporter rip-off because American audiences are largely demanding Ow! My Balls: The Motion Picture.

Wayne 985: h2oincfs: Wayne 985: netweavr: I honestly cannot justify spending $30 to go see a movie that NetFlix will stream to my house if I can just wait 6 months.

No offense, dude, but unless you're paying for a couple other people, you're not spending your money wisely.

how so? i live in a fairly small city, and a ticket for an adult costs $7.00 here. i have heard of tickets in large cities costing $15.00 or more. add in the price of gas/bus/subway fare, a small popcorn and a small soda, and you're pushing $30 or more, easy, for just one person.

Well, you got me on that. I guess I don't really consider gas or train fair. Still, do people really need to eat or drink that much in a theater? Buy a small drink, if you have to, but if you're that hungry, either eat before or sneak in a bag of M&Ms or something. Buying overpriced food and drink there is crazy.

Heck, I'm fine with a free cup of water or a water bottle and eating before or after. It's not like I can't spend two hours without junk food.

I consider it this way.

It is.. $12 for an adult ticket at most theaters around here. 9 for a child.

To take my wife and child to a movie (and I probably don't want to see this movie because it'll be some shiatshow the kid's been brainwashed into watching), I am already $33 in the hole. To sit in a theater with sticky floors and a hundred other stank ass people and their stupid children. Someone's going to want popcorn, and if you buy popcorn, someone's going to want a drink. and they WANT you to buy the smalls, because for $5 a small drink vs. 6.50 a bathtub-sized drink with unlimited refills, they make out like crazy on the small drinks. same with popcorn.

so another 10-15 for popcorn and a drink. say 15 at the ridiculous theater. $48 so far to watch a shiatty kids movie with a bunch of awful people in an unkempt room.

OR

for the price of one ticket, I can own the movie forever in a few months and buy a bag of microwave popcorn for a dollar and a drink for the same. Watch it as many times as I want in the privacy of my home, only with people I feel like having over, can pause it if the kid needs to piss, and he will need to. $15.

OR

For the price of a kid's ticket once a month, I can subscribe to Netflix and see as many movies as I can get in and out of the mail with all the same home benefits.

I mean, the theater experience is only worth so much.

Wayne 985: tillerman35: 1) Make a good movie I'm willing to pay for. I can already see as much crap as I want on the Sci-Fi channel. "Slugmantis vs Dogplatypus 2 - Bark Until You Can't Taste the Slime" will probably be on by September.

2) Make the trailer have SOME relationship to the actual movie. Thousands of kids left "A Bridge To Terebithia" bawling because Disney marketed it as a feel-good CGI fantasy fun fest. Just this weekend, I took my kid to see Hugo because the trailers made it look like a fun kid adventure. Instead, I spent an hour and a half of crushing boredom watching the film industry fellate itself. Seriously. Pulling crap like this is basically saying "We know our movie sucks- we need some misleading advertising so at least a few people watch it."

Both those examples sound like the movie itself was actually intelligent, but was marketed as something mindless. The same thing happened with Drive. Very smart and artsy movie, but marketed as a Transporter rip-off because American audiences are largely demanding Ow! My Balls: The Motion Picture.

I loved Drive, and the only reason I went to see it was because the reviews were saying it was unique and not some popcorn action flick.

Klippoklondike: I loved Drive, and the only reason I went to see it was because the reviews were saying it was unique and not some popcorn action flick.

Same. I was prepared to ignore it until I read Roger Ebert's review.

MaxxLarge: For contrast, the top and bottom 10 of 2011, and what they made (rounded to the nearest million):

Top:

1) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 - $381M
2) Transformers: Dark of the Moon - $352M
3) The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 - $276M
4) The Hangover Part II - $255M
5) Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides - $241M
6) Fast Five - $210M
7) Cars 2 - $192M
8) Thor - $181M
9) Rise of the Planet of the Apes - $177M
10) Captain America: The First Avenger - $177M



Those numbers are domestic only. the top 3 grossed over 1 Billion each, and Hangover 2 made over 500M

wow that article was a load of bullshiat.

the real reason that movies are dieing is because men have been migrating to games for decades. i spent 15$ to buy a game from steam with my friends, and that game was worth about 10 hours of fun. i bought a game for 10$ with my friends last year and have put 200 hours into it.

old media is a hilariously shiatty deal compared to that.