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Hollywood Enters Oscars Weekend in Existential Crisis

theculturenewspaper.com

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Re: Hollywood Enters Oscars Weekend in Existential Crisis

#271

Post by Apocryphon »

Every time there’s an article about the “good ol’ days of Hollywood” I like to trot out this comic strip- looks like last time I posted it was five years ago:

https://web.archive.org/web/20201112024059/https://www.gocom...

Hollywood has been a franchise and licensed IP sequel/remake/reboot farm since the ‘80s, since Star Wars and Jaws blockbusters killed off the experimental period of New Hollywood. And even before that it was Cecil B. DeMille bombastic productions and westerns and musicals everywhere. The movie industry has always been characterized by crowd pleasers.

Re: Hollywood Enters Oscars Weekend in Existential Crisis

#272

Post by freedomben »

tombert wrote: post #241
longislandguido wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most if not all the ticket price goes directly into the studio's pockets. So the theatres stay alive by selling concessions. I'd wager everyone here complaining about prices would also wax poetic about how theatres don't "pay a living wage" to the kids scooping popcorn and would immediately drive home in their $100k Rivians or Teslas so they can give a one star review on Yelp or complain on Reddit about the bathrooms…

The reasoning doesn't particularly matter to me, honestly. Whether or not it they need to charge a second mortgage to cover the cost of the theater isn't really my problem; these are for-profit companies, I don't need to do them any favor. Popcorn cost basically nothing to make at home, especially if you buy the raw kernels and pop them yourself, and I can rent a 4k version of a movie for like three dollars on Amazon…

I've had the same thoughts, also I sure don't miss the theater experience of having your shoes sticky with soda. God forbid you drop something on the floor like your phone, and have to feel around for it in the dark.

The last time I went to a theater, I went to the first showing of the movie for the day. We were the only people in the theater. 30 minutes into the movie, the projection suddenly shut off and all the lights turned on. After sitting there for about 10 minutes, we went out to talk to a staff member about it, and they told us that the computer said there was no one in the theater so they should shut it off. Long story short, they did not end up turning it back on, and referred us to the customer support hotline to try and get our money back. And this might be a little ageist, but there's something infuriating about a condescending teenager acting like this is somehow our fault. Yeah, no thank you.

Re: Hollywood Enters Oscars Weekend in Existential Crisis

#273

Post by tombert »

aaronbrethorst wrote: post #269
tombert wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When my wife and I first started dating, we went to one of those cheap second-run theaters. I liked that theater because it was super cheap (like seriously $1.50 for a ticket because it showed out of date movies). One time when she and I were watching The Purge, I hear this kind of squishy noise from right behind me. I turn around, and a guy is getting a handjob. I motion to my wife that we need to move a few seats o…

You don’t happen to live in exurban Denver do you?

Nope, this was in Dallas. Well, Garland actually.

I don't live there anymore and haven't for about eleven years.

Re: Hollywood Enters Oscars Weekend in Existential Crisis

#274

Post by fhdkweig »

WarmWash wrote: post #96

My fiance mentioned we haven't gone to see a movie in theaters in years and it would be fun to go. I checked what was playing and: 2 tickets, 2 sodas, 1 popcorn. $86 dollars. Don't know if I'll ever go to a conventional movie theater again.

I don't know where people get these crazy prices. Try to find a little hole-in-the-wall theater. I like the local Landmark Cinema. It is about $8 a ticket and I skip on the junk food.

There is another theater on the other side of town that does midnight showings of Rocky Horror Picture Show. Those kinds of places are also cheap.

Re: Hollywood Enters Oscars Weekend in Existential Crisis

#275

Post by telotortium »

pipes wrote: post #270
tombert wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The reasoning doesn't particularly matter to me, honestly. Whether or not it they need to charge a second mortgage to cover the cost of the theater isn't really my problem; these are for-profit companies, I don't need to do them any favor. Popcorn cost basically nothing to make at home, especially if you buy the raw kernels and pop them yourself, and I can rent a 4k version of a movie for like three dollars on Amazon…

Everyone I know with an Espresso machine still goes to coffee shops. Beer is cheaper from a super market but everyone I know prefers pubs. For some reason this does not hold with cinemas. I way prefer the escapism of the cinema to sitting in my house surrounded by my usual ambient domestic Todo list. Sure I have a very good oled, amazing surround sound, but I'd take the cinema every time. But I can't due to kids. How…

> Beer is cheaper from a super market but everyone I know prefers pubs.

It's a pretty frequent complaint that drinks at pubs, bars, and restaurants have become extortionately expensive, to the point that a lot of younger people are drinking less for that reason.

Re: Hollywood Enters Oscars Weekend in Existential Crisis

#276

Post by baxtr »

the__alchemist wrote: post #39

My 2c: They should stop concentrating on appealing to the broadest audience. Formulaic heros' journeys, franchises, predictable characters acted by the same narrow set of the the most-attractive people etc. Safety and mass-market appeal over creativity. For contrast: Books, non-AAA video games, and movies from smaller studios still produce high-quality, creative efforts I continue to be excited about. Big-budget movi…

I miss the inner journeys mostly. The heroic journey is boring if the hero doesn’t change.

Re: Hollywood Enters Oscars Weekend in Existential Crisis

#277

Post by cycomanic »

g947o wrote: post #114
WarmWash wrote: post #96

My fiance mentioned we haven't gone to see a movie in theaters in years and it would be fun to go. I checked what was playing and: 2 tickets, 2 sodas, 1 popcorn. $86 dollars. Don't know if I'll ever go to a conventional movie theater again.

Then I guess you aren't familiar with the 20 minutes of trailers, 1 minute of Cocacola ad and 2 minutes of other completely irrelevant content before the movie actually begins.

Well at least it's not Amazon prime where they now interrupt the movie for the same ad/trailer 3 for weeks unless you pay extra again.

Fwiw I always enjoyed the trailers at the movies, no the other ads I could very much do away with (and I used to purposefully come late to shows to miss the ads).

Re: Hollywood Enters Oscars Weekend in Existential Crisis

#278

Post by jrowen »

epolanski wrote: post #202
jrowen wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think people still want to watch 1+ hour fiction stories that are compelling. I mean, "want to" is one thing, but the numbers show what they end up doing. Instagram and TikTok, like video games as someone else mentioned, have taken a significant share of the "entertainment hours" budget. I feel like the impact of the low-to-no-budget content creator is undeniable (this traces back to ebaumsworld and early YouTube…

> Gen Z probably wholeheartedly prefers this type of content I think it's virtually all demographics below 70. My 60/70 years old family are all too distracted by the phones to watch a movie, and so are millenial friends.

True but I think a lot of them would be in the "I totally want to watch feature films" camp. By wholeheartedly I meant that the kids don't even have that pretense.

Re: Hollywood Enters Oscars Weekend in Existential Crisis

#279

Post by tombert »

pipes wrote: post #270
tombert wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The reasoning doesn't particularly matter to me, honestly. Whether or not it they need to charge a second mortgage to cover the cost of the theater isn't really my problem; these are for-profit companies, I don't need to do them any favor. Popcorn cost basically nothing to make at home, especially if you buy the raw kernels and pop them yourself, and I can rent a 4k version of a movie for like three dollars on Amazon…

Everyone I know with an Espresso machine still goes to coffee shops. Beer is cheaper from a super market but everyone I know prefers pubs. For some reason this does not hold with cinemas. I way prefer the escapism of the cinema to sitting in my house surrounded by my usual ambient domestic Todo list. Sure I have a very good oled, amazing surround sound, but I'd take the cinema every time. But I can't due to kids. How…

I don't drink alcohol or coffee, so I can't really relate to the others.

I will admit to having good experiences going to the theater with friends and/or family, but I don't really enjoy watching a movie with strangers. Nowadays if I want to watch a movie with friends, I will simply invite them over and we'll watch it together.

More power to you if you like going to a theater, I'm not trying to convince you to stop, just that I don't feel the value-add is worth it to me anymore. Decent TVs have gotten so cheap that I just prefer to watch movies at home.

Re: Hollywood Enters Oscars Weekend in Existential Crisis

#280

Post by righthand »

delecti wrote: post #180
johnnyApplePRNG wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So do you want to pay more, or less? I am confused.

I think it's more about being unwilling to pay so much when a free version is just a few months away. Streaming is too good and too cheap compared to the theatrical release.

“Free” but you pay a monthly subscription. No one seems to know what free means anymore.
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