Box office blues stem from blue-state bigotry (Newsmess)

[pstokely]

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-op-hollywood10jul10,0,5545656.story?coll=la-news-comment-opinions

Hollywood's box office has hit the skids, and the entertainment media are in overdrive trying to explain why. The most obvious explanation for box office malaise is consistently overlooked: Hollywood's ruling liberal elites keep going out of their way to offend half their audience.

Constant gibes about Republicans, Christians, conservatives and the military litter today's movies and award show presentations like so many pieces of trash on theater floors.

Did we really need to hear another anti-Bush diatribe from Chris Rock at the Oscars this year?

[democracyindanger]

1. BAHAHAHA!

I wonder what's more pathetic: Her politics or her career.

[mikeytherat]

11. Well, here's her "impressive" bio per IMDB

http://imdb.com/name/nm0615475/?fr=c2l0ZT1kZnxteD0yMHxsbT01MDB8dHQ9MXxmYj11fHBuPTB8cT1Hb3ZpbmRpbmkgTXVydHl8aHRtbD0xfG5tPTE_;fc=1;ft=1

One minor film role, one minor TV role -- wow, whatta resume!

mikey_the_rat

[girl gone mad]

15. Her bio says she went to Yale..

and wrote for the Yale paper.

I didn't go to a fancy ivy-league college, but I know bad writing when I see it, and this is bad writing:


Another writer/producer friend, a former president of a major industry association, said that immediately after Sept. 11 he wanted to do a pro-American project that denounced Islamic terrorism — but none of his colleagues would support it.

And my husband, Jason Apuzzo, and I wanted to make a film that depicted the realities of Islamo-fascism. Our script featured positive and negative Muslim characters (I was to play the lead positive Muslim character), and did the rounds of various independent production companies.

The script received great feedback but encountered a stumbling block when creative executives expressed concern that our Muslim terrorists "weren't sympathetic enough." They wanted us to "explain the terrorists' motivations more."

This may be acceptable at NewsMax, but it's well below the standards I've come to expect from the LA Times. Why doesn't she ever quote or name any of her producer or writer friends?

[peace frog]

2. WAH WAH WAH...

... it's all the fault of those big bad mean nasty liberals!!! Beat them up, make them go away, Daddy!!! WWWWAAAAAHHHH!!!

[OneBlueSky]

3. talk about grasping for straws . . . n/t

.

[GreenPartyVoter]

41. No kidding. Pathetic!

[cornermouse]

4. Not sure which side of this issue you're on?

but the author's description is revealing.

"By Govindini Murty, Govindini Murty is an actress, screenwriter and co-director of the Liberty Film Festival. She is also a film columnist for Newsmax.com and editor of Libertas, a leading blog for conservative discussio"

Mostly it sounds like more of the same old standard repubican tactics; accusing democrats of what you are doing. That way the public is so busy using the magnifying glass on democrats that they don't notice that you're busy taking everything that isn't nailed down.

[mhr]

5. News Max - Liberty Film Festival - 'nuff Said

eom

[Born Free]

6. Perhaps it's: "the movies suck"

Many people I know don't want to pay 30-100 bucks to take the family to a movie where the seats are uncomfortable, sound is bad and the movie sucks. One should look at the state of the economy as oppossed to the state of the politics involved, it isn't bad wasting money on a movie if the money is flowing freely, but if much of the money is needed for essentials, movies are neglected.

[Obamarama]

7. Oh good grief....the theaters are empty because the movies SUCK...

So now liberals are to blame for slow box office sales, too!? ROFLMAO.

This has to be one of the most ridiculously entertaining pieces I have read in a long time. Sad fact is, the stupid wench is dead serious in her sentiments.

The reason people are staying away from the box office is because the movies that Hollywood are churning out these days SUCK. Does this stupid bitch even realize that liberals are staying away from the box office as well?

Is it really that hard to connect the dots? The movie-going public has had it "UP TO HERE" with shelling out $9.00 per ticket only to be bombarded by commercials, then subjected to 2 hours of bad scripting and bad acting along with 250 other people, half of whom are loud, disruptive and whom forget to turn their damned cell phones off. It has nothing to do with Mel, Jesus, Bush, or any of the other paltry scapegoats this dopey broad waves about in this ridiculous column.

Hollywood producers and directors have seemingly all gone simultaneously brain dead and the movie-going public is tired of subsidizing them - plain and simple. So put that in your conservative pipe and smoke it, Govindini Murty.

[Tommymac]

8. Why pay $50 to go to a shabby theatre...

where you have to put up with rude talkitive people, cell phones going off, stale popcorn, and uncomfortable seats...

when you can watch a DVD in the comfort of your own home on a big screen hi-def wonder-tube?

It ain't the movies...it's the technology. VCR's started it, DVD's accelerated it, and Hi-Def is going to put the final nail in traditional movie houses.

Newsmax. Consider the source.

[BuelahWitch]

22. Not to mention the COMMERCIALS!!!

I do movie trailer checks for a marketing company. The audience has to sit through at least 4 or 5 minutes of commercials before they even see a trailer. Last March when I went to see Million Dollar Baby I counted about 10 commericals. I was ready to walk out of the theater.

[SammyWinstonJack]

25. Really!

That is so maddening! By the time you get through all of the commercials and the numerous trailers, you almost forget what movie you came to see. I'd rather wait for the DVD and watch it in the comfort of my own home.

[Blue Gardener]

9. Maybe some original ideas would help

Instead of re-making old movies and TV shows, maybe Hollywood could try to come up with some original ideas.
Plus quit charging so much for the crappy popcorn and sodas.

[girl gone mad]

10. This article is pure comedy gold.

One example she gives of an offensive liberal film? Revenge of the Sith.

Um. Hello, lady. Revenge of the Sith was a huge box office smash.

As if that wasn't enough, she also attacks War of the Worlds and Kingdom of Heaven, both of which have been successful at the box office.

Sure, Kingdom of Heaven made most of its money overseas, but that doesn't make it any less of a success to Hollywood. In fact, the studios increasingly rely on that overseas profit and are gearing more films towards international audiences as a result. Americans may be sick of rehashed plots, sequels and remakes (which I suspect has more to do with the box office slump than any liberal bias), but the rest of the world still eats it up.

Ms. Murty clearly hasn't thought things through, or she would realize that the incredible growth of DVD sales contradicts her belief that Americans are upset with liberal Hollywood. I hope she writes parodies, because she has a real knack for the absurd.

[mikeytherat]

12. To date "Sith" has grossed over $370,000,000...

and "War of the Worlds" has grossed over $150,000,000.

I wonder just what this twit considers a "successful" film?

mikey_the_rat

[NewJeffCT]

21. my local picked this up, too

The Hartford (CT) Courant...

The funny thing is, the movies she cites are all successful movies. The problem with Hollywood this year is that there have not been many good "date" movies and "chick flicks" and comparing the movies to last year is not good, as 2004 was unusually successful. There really hasn't been a big "surprise" hit of the summer yet, either, like Sixth Sense from a few years back.

[DireStrike]

43. She says war of the worlds has liberal bias?

Now that's almost sad.

[Liberal Veteran]

13. Next up: Liberals responsible for beach erosion and...

...the heartbreak of psoriasis.

:eyes:

[fujiyama]

14. That is likely

one of the dumbest rants I've read in a major newspaper op ed.

Why is the LATimes accepting crap from Newsmax?

[qanda]

16. Could it be that people don't have money

I can hardly afford to eat, let alone waste $50 to go see a movie with my whole family.

[mrfrapp]

17. Top 10 Conservative Idiot? n/t

[ikri]

18. Typical Corporate thinking.

Its not the fault of the record industry for releasing masses and masses of crap music that's slowing album sales, its file sharers.

Its not crap films that stop people wanting to see them, its political bias.

Perhaps they need to examine films like Fantastic Four. Is it suffering at the box office because of political bias, or are people avoiding it having heard that it is a terrible waste of time and money?

You want me to go to the cinema? Go make films I actually want to see. Don't screw around with existing stories and release them as "adaptations" (i.e. Dune, a film that shares very little in common with the books and pisses off many many fans of the books). If a director is hired for his or her creative vision, don't edit the films down to remove the vision.

:rant:

[Occulus]

34. Now, now, be fair to Dune

The Sci-Fi Channel's version should have been in theaters, except that it was much too long to do so. Still, their version of Dune is to Herbert's book what Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings is for Tolkien's book.

Definitive.

I heard their version of "Children of Dune" was just as good. Perhaps Hollywood should take a page from television? I for one wouldn't mind seeing an actual Farscape film....

[ikri]

40. I'll agree to that

As long as we can both agree to find a different actor for the role of Gurney Halleck, since the actor who portrayed him in the mini-series was painful to watch.

Children of Dune is well worth watching.

[NJmaverick]

19. Home theater

That is what is killing the box office. Many people, like myself, have given up having to deal with the rude people in theaters.

[ohio_liberal]

30. Exactly

I went to the theater two nights ago and had to sit through ads before the movie started, and 25 MORE minutes of ads and trailers before the damn movie even started. I think most people will just wait until the movies come out on OnDemand or DVD.

[Darwins Finch]

20. Oh please...

I don't go to mainstream movies any more BECAUSE they are focus-grouped to death in an attempt to please EVERYONE. They end up so vapid, formulaic, and non-confrontational (not to mention commercial-packed) that there's no point in watching them.

If I recall, there was a guy who opened up a "family theatre", showing only those wholesome films that the cons love so much. It wasn't long before he went back to showing the same big name Hollywood flicks as every other theatre, because no one was coming to his "family" shows. :eyes:

[GCP]

23. Sour grapes - pure and simple

my husband, Jason Apuzzo, and I wanted to make a film that depicted the realities of Islamo-fascism. Our script featured positive and negative Muslim characters (I was to play the lead positive Muslim character), and did the rounds of various independent production companies.

They didn't want to fund her big chance - waa waa waa.

[Cocoa]

24. liberal elites are DEMANDING lame remakes

:eyes:

[Media_Lies_Daily]

26. The theaters are not doing well because of the NeoCon economy....

...people have less disposable income and their entertainmant dollars have to really be stretched. Gas prices are up, food costs are up, transportation costs are up, cost of utilities is up...and salaries/hourly wages are down.

Do the math...it's not rocket science.

And I personally disagree with the simplistic comment that the current crop of movies "suck". Even mediocre movies draw crowds when people have money to spend.

[pstokely]

31. repukes also run the big theater companies

and are based outside of Hollywood

[Walt Starr]

27. PREDICTION: In ten years, Box Office Sales will be useless as a measure

of a movie's success.

It's all about DVD rentals and sales, baby.

The movie theater is going to go the way of the Drive-in. A quaint experience, mostly for the teenage set, where "B" grade movies are the fare.

[ChiDem]

28. In my simple mind...

It's a no brainer as to why they are on hard times..

It is obvious they have run out of good ideas, just look at the movies we are getting...all remakes of previous stories..

War of the Worlds
Fantastic 4
King Kong
Cinderella man
Bad News Bears
Charlie and the Choclate factory
Dukes of Hazzard

Ect...

[theboss]

29. Stupid article

Anyway, box office is down for several reasons.

1. I'm just an average schmuck and I have a big screen tv, dvd player, and surround sound system in my home. Ten years ago, movie theaters didn't have the technology to show films that I do. Why would I want to go out to do see anything?

2. There's been, like, three interesting movies made in the last 12 months. I'm not even talking about good movies, just ones I would be curious to see. I'm still not sure if Sin City was any good or not. But it got me out of the house. I ain't leaving the house for "Bewitched" or "The Honeymooners."

[AlCzervik]

32. she writes a column for Newsmax so i think we know what her agenda is

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

33. Sure that's it.

It's not because the keep pumping out moronic remakes, one after the other.

Good thing we're the ones politizicing everything. What a clown

[Zorra]

35. It's the economy. McBurger's does not pay enough to allow it's

employees the luxury of paying for a ticket to a movie theater or the price of gas to get there, and of course, the ever growing number of homeless families certainly cannot afford exorbitant luxuries such as as a hitchhike to the movies.

It's either go to the movies, or no beans and rice for the kids next Sunday.

Meanwhile, sales of widescreen plasma TV's specifically designed for swimming pools in limousines are going through the roof.

[second edition]

36. You've got to give them credit, they can spin anything into the ridiculous

[ComerPerro]

37. Yeah, because watching a man get brutally beaten for five minutes

is a "family value"

[rumpel]

38. Box Office slump is corporate profit speculation, based on overcalculated

risk averse formula, at the expense of artistic and creative innovation.

[Javaman]

39. Actually box office receipts have show this to be the 3rd best year ever..

This is all bullshit, the down turn in movie sales. The movie industry (studios) are basing their ticket sales down turn on last years take. Last year was the best year the movie industry has ever had.

So cry me a fucking river you movie studio assholes. People are still going in droves to your crappy written, crappy produced, crappy promoted movies. Oh and one more thing, shut the fuck up you poorly staffed, nepotism influenced, bottom line, no talent if your life depended on it, jerk off producers. Oh and tell Steven Spielberg to stop with the happy, sugar coated endings, ever since Jaws and Close encounters, all his movies are good until the last few minutes then they plunge down the toilet in a sea of him trying to get over his parents divorce when he was a kid.

Can you tell I have worked in the film industry? LOL

Whew! that felt good. :)

[distantearlywarning]

42. That's amusing

considering that the reason that I personally have curtailed my own movie-going in recent months is because of the plethoral of idiotic fare designed to pacify the bleating masses (read: "Bush voters"). If Hollywood is really making an attempt to play to liberals, they are certainly going about it the wrong way. Case in point: Dukes of Hazzard starring the Face of Moronic Millions, Jessica Simpson.

[DireStrike]

44. I love how she thinks that conservatives have new ideas.

Yep, Passion of the Christ was new and creative. :eyes: Although technically I'm not sure Mel Gibson counts as a conservative.

Conservatives don't do creative.

[Bridget Burke]

45. Mel Gibson is out there but not exactly "Conservative"

Besides, the story was NOT original.

[DireStrike]

46. edited to show intent

[JHB]

47. There is NO slump! This is the 4th highest grossing year ever

All this talk of a slump is a load of dingo's kidneys. From the numbers at http://www.boxofficemojo.com, this is the 4th highest-grossing year (to date), just after (in order) 2004, 2002, and 2003.

It's only a slump stacked up against last year, when there were blockbusters all through the year (Return of the King holding over from 2003, Sherck 2, Spiderman 2, The Passion of the Christ, Meet the Fockers, The Incredibles, Harry Potter/Azkaban, etc. etc. etc.).

The "slump" is just so much breathless yapping.

[Rich Hunt]

48. oh, come on

I haven't seen anything "offensive" in a lonnng time. In fact, it seems that the industry is going out of its way to be as insipid as possible, what with all of these re-makes.

I guess the public can only take so much recycling and hype. But of course, it is blamed on those horrible blue-state "snobs", whom I thought didn't go to mainstream movies anyway. Anything to avoid having to concede that Hollywood has underestimated the intelligence of the public in general.

[Taxloss]

49. So make your own films.

Let's see how well they do.

Idiots.