Not a great summer for movies!

[Chris D]

Every summer has its goods and bads for movie releases. Is it just me, though, or does this year seem to be worse than others, both in the box office and on DVD?

Maybe my experience is just tainted because I never go to the theater anymore, but I went to go see "The Break Up" which really wasn't very good, and just watched "Ultraviolet" tonight from Netflix, which was even worse. Looking on the Rotten Tomatoes website at stuff currently in the box office, there's a LOT of stinkers out there, getting 20-30% ratings. The Garfield movie is down at 10%, and even the Da Vinci Code is getting a pathetic 24%.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/movies/box_office.php

Strangely enough, 3 of the strongest movies out right now are pseduo-documentaries of sorts, "An Inconvenient Truth", "Road to Guantanamo", and "Who Killed the Electric Car"? There's a few others doing okay too.

Hollywood, please do better!

[Chris D]

Oh yes, and lest I forget, in the previews before "The Breakup", they showed a trailer for a movie called "Snakes on a Plane", which was just what it sounded like.

http://www.snakesonaplane.com/

:wtf:

Are you kidding me? Come on, Hollywood, the future ain't looking too bright, either.

[aud19]

The continuing downfall of Hollywood......

[Chris D]

Well, to be fair, this was on the "Drudge Report" website today:

H'WOOD IS BACK: BOXOFFICE UP 5% OVER LAST YEAR
Sun Jul 02 2006 15:22:21 ET

American moviegoers are returning to the multiplex, steadily if slowly, Sharon Waxman reports in Monday's NY TIMES.

Through the first 25 weeks of the year, domestic box-office revenue -- helped by a boost in ticket prices -- was up nearly 5 percent, to $4.6 billion, though it still trailed 2004.

Movie attendance was up about 1.65 percent to 699 million for the first 25 weeks, after a sharp decline the year before. The totals grew last weekend as Warner Brothers' "Superman Returns" took in $84 million over a six-day period.

[Kent Turb0]

Deleted

[George Bellefontaine]

Well with all the crap and corruption being released, there's bound to be a pearl somewhere amongst the bunch. I'll wait and watch and save my money for dvd rentals.

[Race Car Driver]

Oh yes, and lest I forget, in the previews before "The Breakup", they showed a trailer for a movie called "Snakes on a Plane", which was just what it sounded like.

http://www.snakesonaplane.com/

:wtf:

Are you kidding me? Come on, Hollywood, the future ain't looking too bright, either.

SOAP started as an internet joke and got so big they decided to make a movie out of it. Should be...... interesting to say the least.

[Chris D]

Yeah, there's a pearl here and there. "Cars" was good. But last night, even Superman got a marginal thumbs up from Roeper and a thumbs down from Ebert.

[DelRay]

I haven't been to a Cinema all year. I'd rather rent. But, I might go and watch the new Pirates of the Caribbean.

[David Meek]

This begs the question: Is Hollywood a victim of its own mega-successes like the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, Saving Private Ryan, The Incredibles, Spiderman, etc? I wonder sometimes whether the bar has been raised so high by a few films that "catch lightning in a bottle" that the rest seem to pale to the point of unacceptability.

[Briz vegas]

Like many of you I have not been finding my way to the cinema as much these days. Our Blockbusters video shelves look virtually identical to yours in the US. Hollywood is fine but I like variety.

For those with an eye for something different watch out for a little Australian film called Ten Canoes. Its a breath of fresh air if you have overdosed on blockbusters. Check it out if it turns up in your area.

http://www.tencanoes.com.au/tencanoes/

[Burke Strickland]

This begs the question: Is Hollywood a victim of its own mega-successes like the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, Saving Private Ryan, The Incredibles, Spiderman, etc? I wonder sometimes whether the bar has been raised so high by a few films that "catch lightning in a bottle" that the rest seem to pale to the point of unacceptability.

As much as I like all those mega-successes, I also liked a lot of last year's smaller scale films that raised the bar rather high (as demonstrated by their reviews and awards), including "The Constant Gardner", "Crash", "Hustle & Flow", "Brokeback Mountain", "Good Night and Good Luck", "Walk The Line", "Capote", "A History Of Violence" and "Pride and Prejudice".

OK, I also like "War of the Worlds" and at least parts of "King Kong"-- those two were not exactly "mega-successes" even if they were budgeted that way but they did have a lot to offer, especially on second and third viewing (I use the FF button a lot when rewatching King Kong). :>)

All of those I named are available on DVD, by the way, in case you really can't find anything you want to go to a commerical theater to see this summer.

So if this year really does prove to be a dud, it follows a year that gave us a lot to enjoy more than once, and not all in the "mega-success" category. Where are the indies when we need them?

Burke

[Chris D]

Where are the indies when we need them?

Coming soon, my friend. Coming soon.

[George Bellefontaine]

I'm like Burke. I tend to be more attracted to the offbeat smaller films than the so-called blockbusters, including some of the titles he mentioned.

[Chris D]

"Deep Throat" 3-d?

[George Bellefontaine]

"Deep Throat" 3-d?

Hmmm.... 8)

[David Meek]

"You'll put your eye out with that thing!" :rofl:

[Alloroc]

"deep throat" 3-d?

....gulp!..... :e :d

[KeithM]

I will never forgive myself for watching fast and the furious: tokyo drift, even though the tickets were free.

[Chris D]

Ah, sorry to hear that, Keith. I was hoping to see the Fast and Furious series become a good series.