[Speed Gibson,
Sunday June 26, 2005 at 10:14pm]
Content, Content, Content
The movie industry is seemingly perplexed as to why business continues to fall this year. It hasn't been this slow since 1985 according to one account.
There are a number of reasons - DVD's, home theatre equipment, high ticket prices, overpriced concessions, commercials, cell phones, rude audiences, and others, but there seems to be some agreement that the quality of the movies themselves is problem #1.
To wit, I just saw "Bewitched" starring Nicole Kidman and Will Farrell. We knew going in the general plot, that it wasn't just a longer episode of the original. The truth was, it wasn't even really about Bewitched at all. It was the worst film I have seen in years. Absolutely awful, maybe 1/2 a banana peel on Chumley's scale, not even worth a DVD rental later on.
Nicole Kidman played her part well, but she was a prisoner of a script aimed at 12 year old girls, based entirely on the physical comedy of Will Farrell. Why she would accept such a terrible screenplay or play second fiddle to Will Farrell's incompetent romantic lead is beyond me. Michael Caine and Shirley McLaine sleepwalked through their parts. And the rest of the supporting cast - the program execs, agents, directors, etc, were all too young and all too dumb to be credible.
This is a great example of why the crowds are thinning.
There are a number of reasons - DVD's, home theatre equipment, high ticket prices, overpriced concessions, commercials, cell phones, rude audiences, and others, but there seems to be some agreement that the quality of the movies themselves is problem #1.
To wit, I just saw "Bewitched" starring Nicole Kidman and Will Farrell. We knew going in the general plot, that it wasn't just a longer episode of the original. The truth was, it wasn't even really about Bewitched at all. It was the worst film I have seen in years. Absolutely awful, maybe 1/2 a banana peel on Chumley's scale, not even worth a DVD rental later on.
Nicole Kidman played her part well, but she was a prisoner of a script aimed at 12 year old girls, based entirely on the physical comedy of Will Farrell. Why she would accept such a terrible screenplay or play second fiddle to Will Farrell's incompetent romantic lead is beyond me. Michael Caine and Shirley McLaine sleepwalked through their parts. And the rest of the supporting cast - the program execs, agents, directors, etc, were all too young and all too dumb to be credible.
This is a great example of why the crowds are thinning.