Please, please, do not override my mouse scroll wheel behavior!
Please, please, please let me scroll where I want, lord knows it would be the first time
Reel Inequality: Charting the Vanishing Middle Class of Movies
31–40 of 44 posts
Re: Reel Inequality: Charting the Vanishing Middle Class of Movies
#32Isn't this because the mid range is going straight into the streaming services, rather than through (an I assume expensive) distribution process into theaters? Theater going is expensive (I think it's expensive), the alternatives are "pretty good", so that impacts overall theater presence. Having a "block buster" that can justify the expense of marketing and distributing to the now weaker theater market seems like a…
Theater going is expensive relative to watching at home.
Examples;
Theater: $6 discount discount tickets, $12-$20 normal tickets, $20+ Imax (light) ticket; $10+ in refreshments per person.
At Home: $13/month streaming service, $20 purchase, $2.99->$5.99 rental for 2-6 people. Soft drink; $1, Popcorn $1
Then consider the comforts: No drive; no other patrons on cell phones or making noise, can pause a 2hr+ (more commonly 3) for bathroom and refreshment breaks.
Re: Reel Inequality: Charting the Vanishing Middle Class of Movies
#332023 had a lot of big-budget bombs. Ant-Man, Indiana Jones, Mission Impossible, Transformers, The Flash, Fast X, Blue Beetle, Elemental, Shazam!, and the Marvels all underperformed somewhere on the scale from "disappointment" to "disaster". On the other hand, aside from the massive big-budget hits of Barbie and Mario, there were also a number of mid-budget films that did very well: John Wick 4, Sound of Freedom, Five…
> 2023 had a lot of big-budget bombs. Ant-Man, Indiana Jones, Mission Impossible, Transformers, The Flash, Fast X, Blue Beetle, Elemental, Shazam!, and the Marvels all underperformed somewhere on the scale from "disappointment" to "disaster". And rightly so. The so-called special effects in those superhero movies are really getting exhausting. What's the point of having superpower yet battling like a peasant in medie…
[deleted]
Re: Reel Inequality: Charting the Vanishing Middle Class of Movies
#342023 had a lot of big-budget bombs. Ant-Man, Indiana Jones, Mission Impossible, Transformers, The Flash, Fast X, Blue Beetle, Elemental, Shazam!, and the Marvels all underperformed somewhere on the scale from "disappointment" to "disaster". On the other hand, aside from the massive big-budget hits of Barbie and Mario, there were also a number of mid-budget films that did very well: John Wick 4, Sound of Freedom, Five…
> 2023 had a lot of big-budget bombs. Ant-Man, Indiana Jones, Mission Impossible, Transformers, The Flash, Fast X, Blue Beetle, Elemental, Shazam!, and the Marvels all underperformed somewhere on the scale from "disappointment" to "disaster". And rightly so. The so-called special effects in those superhero movies are really getting exhausting. What's the point of having superpower yet battling like a peasant in medie…
What does “like a peasant” mean? Like uninspired punchy fights that don’t utilize powers creatively?
I feel like marvels been decent at that since Thor 3.
Re: Reel Inequality: Charting the Vanishing Middle Class of Movies
#352023 had a lot of big-budget bombs. Ant-Man, Indiana Jones, Mission Impossible, Transformers, The Flash, Fast X, Blue Beetle, Elemental, Shazam!, and the Marvels all underperformed somewhere on the scale from "disappointment" to "disaster". On the other hand, aside from the massive big-budget hits of Barbie and Mario, there were also a number of mid-budget films that did very well: John Wick 4, Sound of Freedom, Five…
You forgot "Napoleon", one of the worst movies of the year.
The view of the director or the screenwriter is very strange. There are so many things to film about, for loving or hating Napoleon, yet the film makers chose to show the well debunked hoaxes on Napoleon. Also, Napoleon shattered the world with his military might and his politics. So many people were inspired by him, followed him, fought for him, and died for him. We can hate him for his doings, but in the director's eyes, he was a f&@$ simp? All the historical moments were merely happenstances because Napoleon was stalking Josephine? And why did the movie list out the death tolls on Napoleon's side only? As if the Quadruple Alliance didn't launch wars and didn't kill people? What kind of twisted view was that? And what kind of leaders could possibly inspire his people with that bitter and hysterical face as depicted by
Joaquin?
Re: Reel Inequality: Charting the Vanishing Middle Class of Movies
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
> 2023 had a lot of big-budget bombs. Ant-Man, Indiana Jones, Mission Impossible, Transformers, The Flash, Fast X, Blue Beetle, Elemental, Shazam!, and the Marvels all underperformed somewhere on the scale from "disappointment" to "disaster". And rightly so. The so-called special effects in those superhero movies are really getting exhausting. What's the point of having superpower yet battling like a peasant in medie…
For me it's not the bad plot decisions, it's the tone. Every movie has the same "feel" to it. It's a milder version of the "algorithm optimized" tone of eighty percent of YouTube videos. Almost like every movie is being made by the same person. I think the reason I loved Dune is that it didn't feel fucking identical to everything else I watched in the last ten years.
I don’t feel like you can look at the top ten movies of the year and tell me they had the same tone
I haven’t seen the marvel films but even those I think are pretty darn different
Re: Reel Inequality: Charting the Vanishing Middle Class of Movies
#37I miss “smart” mid-budget movies of the kind Miramax used to put out in the 90s. With a few exceptions they don’t seem to be as prevalent. The market has changed.
I miss the cheesy but wholesome comedies and parodies of the 1990s and 2000s: Anger Management, Rush Hour, The Cable Guy, American Pie, Scary Movie, Bruce Almighty, Eurotrip, Tropic Thunder, Hot Shots, Borat, Idiocracy, How High, White Chicks, etc. We can't have any like those in this age because someone on Twitter will claim to be offended. Good thing to back-up those old gems as well before they get cancelled/edite…
It's the economics.
John Wick is a really good example. Without the DVD aftersales, John Wick would never have gotten a second movie. Without DVD aftersales, movies in the $10-$25 million range simply can't exist.
Matt Damon talks a lot about this.
Re: Reel Inequality: Charting the Vanishing Middle Class of Movies
#38Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you haven't already read Mother of Learning you really should, you would absolutely adore it.
Some people call this genre rational fiction. Personally I really liked Harry Potter: Methods of Rationality. The MC was super narcissistic and nitpicky, a true engineer. For example he was often looking for ways to create perpetual motion machines / infinite energy with magic.
I love rational fiction. Yes to Methods of Rationality, Mother of Learning, and also Paranoid Mage and a few others, including Majority by Abby Goldsmith.
Re: Reel Inequality: Charting the Vanishing Middle Class of Movies
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
I miss the cheesy but wholesome comedies and parodies of the 1990s and 2000s: Anger Management, Rush Hour, The Cable Guy, American Pie, Scary Movie, Bruce Almighty, Eurotrip, Tropic Thunder, Hot Shots, Borat, Idiocracy, How High, White Chicks, etc. We can't have any like those in this age because someone on Twitter will claim to be offended. Good thing to back-up those old gems as well before they get cancelled/edite…
It's the economics. John Wick is a really good example. Without the DVD aftersales, John Wick would never have gotten a second movie. Without DVD aftersales, movies in the $10-$25 million range simply can't exist. Matt Damon talks a lot about this.
Can't we replace DVD sales withs streaming revenue?
Re: Reel Inequality: Charting the Vanishing Middle Class of Movies
#402023 had a lot of big-budget bombs. Ant-Man, Indiana Jones, Mission Impossible, Transformers, The Flash, Fast X, Blue Beetle, Elemental, Shazam!, and the Marvels all underperformed somewhere on the scale from "disappointment" to "disaster". On the other hand, aside from the massive big-budget hits of Barbie and Mario, there were also a number of mid-budget films that did very well: John Wick 4, Sound of Freedom, Five…
Perhaps it’s the death of variety (in general, yes there are some individually excellent films every year or two).
Have a look at your 2023 disaster list.. superheroes and remakes.
I’m bored with the same old movies, characters, plots… have been for at least a decade.