Hollywood and its movies

One of these days I've got to learn to stop talking to people on the Soapbox, somehow we went from a discussion of 'what are your favorite books' to 'Hollywood KNOWS what its public wants, people like the Wizard of Oz, nobody gives a damn about Jack Pumpkinhead of Oz or Queen Zixi of Ix.'

Okay, so by show of hands, who here thinks Hollywood DOES have any idea as to what kind of movies its public wants to see? Didn't think so. Getting into even trickier territory of movies that are not based on movies previously done a dozen times or based on current best seller books, how can they possibly know what the public WILL respond positively to?


Hollywood's never been about playing it safe, if they stuck with that attitude of 'nobody wants to see a movie about something they haven't seen before', we probably wouldn't even have talking pictures because people called that a fad and thought silent movies would always be made.

And in that attitude of crossing into uncharted territory and taking risks and making movies about things not everybody was familiar with, they made some of the greatest movies ever made. Not today though, ohhhhhhhhh nooooo! now we need another movie about the Wizard of Oz, instead of another story in the 15 book series, we need another Lone Ranger, another Logan's Run, another Soylent Green, another Highlander...why? Because apparently that's what the public wants. That's what they think anyway, but I don't want to see another one of any of these, and I don't know anybody who does.


Think about it, before Harry Potter WAS a success, who gave a damn about a story of an orphaned wizard? Before Star Wars, how could they have known that people would WANT to see it and it would be a hit? The predecessor to Airport was a story about the crew getting food poisoning, so how could it be KNOWN that a movie about a guy on a plane with a bomb would turn out to be THE movie of the year? What about ET? I don't remember a precursor to that movie, anything to compare it by, but it did well, didn't it?

So see here, they weren't playing it safe, they were taking big chances that the audience WOULD respond well to these movies, and for the most part they were right, but now....turn more fairy tales into movies, make more knockoffs of the same over the top action packed things we've been making for 10 years, everybody's too stupid to know or care. THAT is the impression I get by most of Hollywood's movies today, that we're too stupid to enjoy something new and different, that we don't deserve it even though they're making good livings off of OUR money.


But maybe I'm alone here, what's everyone else think?

I don't think the entertainment industry knows what the public wants overall and relies more on how well their marketing campaigns can con the more gullible segment of it into buying into what they're selling.

Jason B. wrote:I don't think the entertainment industry knows what the public wants overall and relies more on how well their marketing campaigns can con the more gullible segment of it into buying into what they're selling.

That's the way I see it.

Supernova wrote:

Jason B. wrote:I don't think the entertainment industry knows what the public wants overall and relies more on how well their marketing campaigns can con the more gullible segment of it into buying into what they're selling.

That's the way I see it.

What i hate tho is when the public proves them right & accepts the shit they pump out, like with all the stupid remakes. Wish movie goers would avoid them like the plague so they would get a clue that they aint needed.

If they knew what movies the public wanted to see we would not have to many bad movies out there.

Tony Marino wrote:If they knew what movies the public wanted to see we would not have to many bad movies out there.

Exactly, because what's currently coming to theaters? A remake of Arthur, an R rated adult 'humor' knights of the round table sort of thing, a movie about a 16 year old assassin that has everybody shaking their heads, and I don't know anybody who's looking forward to that damn Easter bunny movie.

Hollywood couldn't care less about what the public wants to see. What gets made is based largely on compensation negotiations with the attorneys of the screen playwright.

And it's like I've always said, if they offered refunds for the dissatisfied customers, the box office numbers wouldn't be ANYWHERE as big as they are. They don't go by what the public response is, they go by how much nonrefundable money they make to decide if something's a hit.

ITA that they rely more on marketing campaigns, which is why I have an IMAX pass and not a movie pass. The IMAX movies are more my kind of style. I've found more and more that when it comes to the Oscars, I haven't even seen most of the movies that are up for noms. Some look interesting, but most don't. There are a couple that I want to see from this year, but for the most part, I just don't have much interest in movies that are up, though I would like to see "The King's Speech". I rely more on what people say than the reviews or the marketing ploys.