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General Movie (Film for snobs) News Thread


CaptainCharisma

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It is noticeable that that mid-level film, the one between the effects-heavy blockbuster and the small-budget indie, has pretty much disappeared. Your thriller or crime drama with a big name or two in the cast, a decent amount of money behind it and a reasonable marketing push to get people in. Studios are after that billion dollar film now, and something with a $50 million budget that might make $200 million box office just isn’t on the radar anymore. Something like Bad Times At The El Royale would at one time not have appeared and gone like a flash from cinemas, something like Bird Box would have gone into cinemas and done well, etc. But these films either aren’t getting made or don’t get a chance. I don’t put that solely at Marvel’s feet - but the fact all their films do do so well means everyone else wants that too, and so we get the problem of nothing else getting much of a chance.

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The Weinsteisns were funded by Disney during the supposed 'glory years' of Miramax picking up the filmmaker driven films. Disney pretty much left them alone. No reason why they can't take something like Fox Searchlight with its success in recent years and make it that new type of studio within a studio producing similar films.

Edited by Factotum
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5 hours ago, HarmonicGenerator said:

It is noticeable that that mid-level film, the one between the effects-heavy blockbuster and the small-budget indie, has pretty much disappeared. Your thriller or crime drama with a big name or two in the cast, a decent amount of money behind it and a reasonable marketing push to get people in. Studios are after that billion dollar film now, and something with a $50 million budget that might make $200 million box office just isn’t on the radar anymore. Something like Bad Times At The El Royale would at one time not have appeared and gone like a flash from cinemas, something like Bird Box would have gone into cinemas and done well, etc. But these films either aren’t getting made or don’t get a chance. I don’t put that solely at Marvel’s feet - but the fact all their films do do so well means everyone else wants that too, and so we get the problem of nothing else getting much of a chance.

This. People keep thinking of this discussion as being art house vs. populist but it's the middle that's really being talked about. I've heard plenty people in film discuss how stuff like Terminator, Alien or even possibly The Godfather wouldn't get made today.

However it's not just because Marvel and Disney are blocking everything else's light. I've seen plenty argue it's partly because of how we consume cinema these days. Marvel films are event cinema, to use Scorsese's analogy - you can't download a roller coaster or stream it from home. Some films still gross loads but investors are more skittish these days about what will generate a return which is partly why we've seen such an emphasis on franchises and adaptations of existing properties. There's also a tendency towards ensuring your expensive film can be watched by as many people as possible, hence writing by committee and the a push towards all ages cinema (it's why Deadpool and Logan were seen to be potentially capable of helping other films to get made - they proved you can still make a decent amount of a 18+ film)

Not saying that's the real reason as much as suggesting other reasons than simply "Marvel dominate" towards why theres a bit of a creative hole in the film industry.

 

Going back to the original point, variety in cinema is great and yeah popcorn filcks have always been around. However a lot of people take the Marvel films a bit too seriously (it's this weird dichotomy of them ostensibly being "geek culture" whilst also being pretty middle of the road, McDonalds culture - a lot of geeky types seem to need their choices in entertainment seen as being smart/intellectual). I can't say I've hated a few directors pointing out there's more to life than the latest installment of the MCU. Sure, enjoy your Marvel films - i'll never begrudge people liking what they like - just let's keep some perspective when talking about cinema/film as a whole (and I could particularly do without all the whining when critics don't include Marvel films in their best of the year lists)

Edited by organizedkaos
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3 hours ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

Tell that to his victims

I was only joking like.

 

Jason Blum is doing a good job of trying to revive thay AA mid level market but he's clearly twigged that horror is a genre you can get away with doing that. Same with rom coms. 

Bird Box is an interesting example though, a film like that did do well and even has a sequel coming out but off the back of A Quiet Place it still ended up on Netflix. 

I think we just have to get used to Cinemas being theme parks for the forseeable future and support the stuff that does break through in the vain hope somebody notices. Even 'proper' actors are moving to telly to get their juicy roles.

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True, but that's not as much of a give-and-take relationship as that implies. When one company more or less has the monopoly on advertising and marketing their films, that means it's that one company dictating what people want to see.

Audiences can be awful for it - almost everyone I know who complains about "all Hollywood does is sequels and remakes these days" will still flock out for the next Marvel movie, or a Terminator sequel, or the new Star War - but it's hard for audiences to want to see anything else when there's nothing telling them what else is out there, and when Disney are releasing enough movies to fill every screen, and cover every advertising hoarding. 

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1 hour ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

I have been to evening screenings where a british film had 5 people in the screen, plus me. They have to cater to what people want to see and that shows no sign of changing.

Your example does not necessarily mean that people don't want to see that film. It means that people are probably not aware of that film.

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18 minutes ago, Merzbow said:

I've just found out non-students can watch films at Warwicks Student Cinema and they're showing Eighth Grade, it won't look weird if I just turn up on my own.. right?

I went to see it on my own but I acknowledge this doesn't answer your question one way or the other.

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19 minutes ago, Devon Malcolm said:

Your example does not necessarily mean that people don't want to see that film. It means that people are probably not aware of that film.

And you could well be right. I spend a lot of time reading news about films, watching trailers, looking at release dates, so I am more aware then some of what is out when.

At the same time, most cinema websites lists everything that is on and has a trailer you can watch for said film. If you look at whats on and think I don't want to watch a superhero film, but was else is on, you can see. So there is an argument that it is also individual ignorance.

As for my example it was Mindhorn, of which there were lots of adverts for on buses and bus stops and pretty much flopped at the box office (I quite enjoyed it). Similar story with Walk Like a Panther and Fighting with my Family. Both  wrestling films granted, but saw adverts for both everywhere.

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6 minutes ago, Devon Malcolm said:

I went to see it on my own but I acknowledge this doesn't answer your question one way or the other.

About 90% of the films I see are solo now. I even watched Angry Birds 2 on my own as the kids wanted to go and see Lion King and it was the only thing that was on at a similar time.I don't think anyone will care, unless you did a Pee Wee Herman (and Eight Grade is not one of those films).

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