Lot of bad movies out right now... (1 Viewer)

[Robert Crawford]

Ditto to what Michael said because I'm planning on seeing a bunch of films that haven't opened in my area, but are released elsewhere in the States. Since the winter weather has broken I'll be making some trips down to Detroit to catch films like "Bend It Like Beckham" which I saw yesterday and such films as the following:

• City of God
• Laurel Canyon
• He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not
• City of Ghosts
• The Quiet American
• Nowhere in Africa
• Irreversible

 

[Blu]

I think the movie I'm really looking forward to is called The Station Agent.

I have read quite a bit about this one and it sounds like a winner!

 

[Matthew Chmiel]

This happens every year. Studios will release total shit until April/May for the simple reason that not lot of people go to the movies in that time period. The kids are usually in school and there are few holidays in which people can go see a movie instead of dealing with work, friends, or family.

I also have to agree with what Michael said. There are a lot of good films being released to theaters, you just have to not limit yourself to mainstream films (then again, Vegas still hasn't gotten any of the films Michael has mentioned). Another film I'd like to add is Gus Van Sant's Gerry which was fantastic and I hate Gus Van Sant.

And Chris, have you seen all those films you have listed? Cause I don't see you having a 2003 film list.

 

[Chad R]

The problem is that most of us only have access to Hollywood Studio films right now. The only alternative I've seen recently was "Bend if Like Becham" (because it opened in several theaters here, which was cute but nothing groundbreaking. It actually ended a long slump of having seen nothing for two months. Before that it was just "Chicago" (cute, nothing great) and "Daredevil" (dull, dull, dull) for the year. So for those of us not in L.A. or new York we're consigned to the normal studio crap they love to dump on us this time of year.

 

[Bill J]

Well, we have 2 Matrix movies, Return of the King, X-Men 2, The Hulk, and a host of other big releases to tide us over throughout the year.

Actually, I'm not interested in seeing any of those.

It's going to be a long year. :frowning:

 

[Edwin-S]

Shrek, Treasure Planet......are kids movies.

I disagree totally with your assessment of these two movies as kids movies. These were family flicks....and SHREK was especially more orientated to adults than kids.

 

[Patrick McCart]

It's not too bad...

I just keep thinking... "Return of the King...Return of the King..."

 

[TheLongshot]

At most, it's bad for people whose movie-watching radar screens only pick up releases from major Hollywood studios.

I've been limited by those too. Just "Nicholas Nickelby" and "Russian Ark" so far. "Bend It Like Beckham" and "Nowhere In Africa" just opened last weekend in one theater. (Should be wider this week.) Things are looking up, tho, with the Cowboy Bebop movie coming out next weekend. (What can I say, I'm an anime slut. )

Jason

 

[David Lawson]

I'm not sure which is worse...Chris passing judgment on the films on that list, or all of you who think he needs to see the films on that list in order to pass judgment on them.

I mean, seriously...did you even read that list?

That said, I have been disappointed in everything I've seen, outside of the independent theaters. City Of God, Adaptation, and The Quiet American are particularly enjoyable.

 

[Dave Barth]

now the studios are catering to the people that didn't want to see Adaptation, About Schmidt, the Hours, Far From Heaven, or the Pianist.

You know, a regular Joe probably would think that there are a lot better films in theaters now then there were in December, January or February.

From Box Office Mojo:

Highest grossing movies, Dec 2002-Mar 2003:
Head of State
Bringing Down the House (x3)
Cradle 2 the Grave
Daredevil (x3)
How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
The Recruit
Darkness Falls
Kangaroo Jack (x2)
Just Married
Two Towers (x2)
Maid in Manhattan

It's hard for me to feel much sympathy for "regular Joe". If he's willing to go see so many poor movies, no wonder Hollywood continues to churn them out. Certainly it's not the film snobs who were going to see most of those...

Average weekend box office:
December: $112M
January: $98M
February: $110M
March: $89M

If I take as premises (1) "film snobs" attend movies in December-February but not March and (2) "regular Joe" goes to the movies no matter what is showing, "film snobs" only account for $15M (and ~15%) or so of the box office, by these figures...actually, I wonder how far off that is--though the empirical exercise is crude at best, it's around what would have blindly guessed...

 

[Matthew_Millheiser]

I was positively blown away when I saw Habla Con Ella (Talk To Her) on Saturday night. Yeah, it's technically a 2002 film and has been out for awhile, but it's well worth the price of admission. Heart-wrenchingly great material! Almodovar could be the best working director right now...

 

[Terry St]

Cinema Love
We have a over a century's time worth of film classics behind us and many here are lamenting the absence of anything good out in theatres right now. Therefore, you guys must really love going to the theatre! I have recently read a few threads on what is wrong with the cinema experience today. (gum on the seats, twits with cell phones, enraged-bull-moose-soccer-moms, etc.) I would therefore be greatly interested to hear your take on the subject. Why do you fellows love the theatres so?

The Theatre as a Social Outing
As for why some bad movies do so well in theatres... It seems to me that, for many people, (seemingly the vast majority) going to the cinema is a social event in which the movie itself is relatively unimportant. You call your friends up, meet at the theatre, go see whatever movie had the flashiest trailers/commercials, sit through it, and then discuss/lampoon it afterwards over a beer or brew. The quality of the film doesn't seem to add or detract a great deal from the experience. In fact, a bad movie can make for a very lively discussion! It's a social outing that is not dissimilar to going to a nightclub with blaring music where you'd have even less opportunity for discussion. This is why, as the stats Dave posted above suggest, cinema viewership is relatively constant regardless of the quality of films.

Anatomy of a Celluloid-Fiend
Personally, the above describes the majority of my trips to the theatre. Occasionally we make it to one of our city's few arthouse theatres, but they are remote enough for most that this is a rare event. If not for my irrational prejudice against going to the cinema alone I'd probably see a totally different set of films. Instead, I watch DVD's. My choice in DVD's is growing increasingly odd. I started with the usual films that everybody has seen, like Casablanca or Citizen Kane, and then developed a veritable Kurosawa/Mifune fetish, which is certainly understandable. Then suddenly it was 50's creature features, and then Ray Harryhausen flicks, and then film noir, and then westerns, etc. (To be honest, I typically have several fetishes running in parallel at any given moment) A copy of the recently restored Metropolis turned me onto Kino, who has been putting out some fantastic releases of older films. I picked up their 5 DVD compilation of early silent films, and oddly enough, found myself sitting in thrall to the earliest of films like Edison's serpentine dances, or films featuring such mundane events as loading a boiler onto a ship, a snowball fight in Moscow, or a train ride through turn of the century New York.

I keep a list of titles to watch out for on DVD, and contrary to what I origionally thought, it just keeps growing and growing. My increasingly odd taste and residence North of the border (no Netflix for me. :frowning have forced me to purchase most of my viewing material. Lately I've managed to cut back to an average of 5 titles a week. Still, I'm starting to feel a bit like some kind of celluloid-junkie or film-fiend. Will I eventually exhaust the material available? Is there an end in sight? I used to think so, but not anymore. I've been introduced at social gatherings only to hear "Oh, I've heard about you. You're the movie guy!" from total strangers. Family and friends have begun referring to my basement theatre as "The Pit" in reference to my apparant photophobia. I no longer worry about buying new bookcases to store my DVD's on, but am instead worrying about running out of wall for new bookcases. I am an addict. Is the cinema an addiction for some people, like DVD's are for me? Perhaps, but one thing is certain: For better or for worse, the DVD-addict has a lot more titles to choose from!

:Celluloid-Fiend exits, stage left, faintly muttering "Throne of Blood, ooo... Dreams... Ah... Pepe le Moko mmm... Them! Yes!... Buy three get Sunrise free? oooOOOooo..."