Making Movies that Sell

Many people that know me know that I love movies. I enjoy good ones and bad ones and I love the whole process as well. From the time I was a kid I used to enjoy seeing documentaries on how films were made in addition to seeing the movies themselves. Perhaps it was an outgrowth of my parents having been involved in theatre so much so that from the time I was a kid to the present, I was always fascinated by the process of putting together a production. Now lest you believe that my interests lie solely with the kind of films that require little brain power and a slight case of attention deficit disorder, I'd like you to know that I enjoy movies that require a little bit of thought as well. That being said, I was saddened to read an article this past weekend in the paper that talked about how it's becoming harder for Hollywood to justify making some of these films as cerebral films often require cost more than they earn at the movie theatre.

Now an accusation I've often leveled against the Indian film industry is that the films that are so stupid that they make "Harold and Kumar" films look like Shakespeare are the ones that do well at the box office vice the ones that actually have a good storyline and plot which ulimtately bomb outside of the metropolitan areas of India. What the article I read indicates is that this trend is also starting to show its head here in the States as well. Take for example a lot of the films that were nominated for Best Picture Oscars from earlier this year; none could be considered a 'box office smash' in that they didn't earn the hundreds of millinos that films like "The Dark Knight" did. That fact raised a question earlier in the year as to whether there should be more nominees for Best Picture and such for next year's Oscars.

You may wonder why the Academy wants to consider adding more nominees and the reason is that while the movies usually nominated are the critical hits, the box office smashes are the ones that draw in the most audience. I remember the year that "Titanic" won the Oscars it was probably the one telecast that saw the most viewers (way back in 1998) but in the years since, very few people have actually seen the films nominated for Best Picture. Even now, of the five films nominated for Best Picture last year, I have only seen three of them. I will probably eventually see all five but therein lies the problem. Studios want to make movies that make money. That's the point of any business isn't it? But if no one is going to see these films then why spend the money to make them?

I will admit that it's difficult to see some of these in the theatre or that you really need to be in the mood to see that type of movie in order to be motivated to go to the theatre now and spend upwards of $15 to see a film. I mean these days the movies come out on DVD almost as soon as they are out in theatres so rather than spending $15 to see something dramatic in the movie theatre you can wait a little longer and see it as many times as you want in the comfort of your own home. Sure a lot of us want to enjoy the experience of seeing a movie in the theatre but with the way the economics of the time are, it's no wonder that DVD sales continue to hold steady while box office receipts tends to fluctuate.

Now this past weekend, the top movie of the week was again Quentin Tarantino's "Inglorious Basterds" which tells the tale of an alternate version of World War II. It's supposed to be a homage to some of the World War II movies of the past but from all accounts, it's more typical of Tarantino's usual film escapades than anything else. That could be both good or bad depending on your viewpoint but the bottom line is that a movie that is meant to be enjoyed rather than thought about is what is doing well at the box office and movies with a little more drama (like "The Hurt Locker" or "District 9") are being shown with little fanfare other than word of mouth. It's unfortunate but just the way things are in the world of the movie going audience. I hope studio heads dont' come to the ultimately stupid conclusion that perhaps it would be better to stop making such movies altogether because such movies deserve to be made but perhaps it's just a sign of the changing face of movie audiences today.