Hello dear readers and welcome to another exciting entry into the wonderful world that had become the mind of The Mad Movie Man. Today my thoughts are turning towards something I'm actually quite happy about surprising enough, yes there are good things we can talk about when it comes to the world of film. Following last weeks box-office results (August 19 - 21) in which The Help beat out the four new releases that were opening and won with an impressive twenty million dollars, it has gotten me thinking; are audiences starting to actually spend there money on good films in the cinema?
Ok I know that statement is rather cynical of me but what I mean by that is simple. Since Jaws, which is considered to be the film that started the now common blockbuster, studios have pumped out blockbuster after blockbuster films in an attempt to win audiences over with their special effects and impressive visuals (hense why Transformers 2 was one of the highest-grossing films of 2009). I know I'm not really breaking any new ground by saying this but what is interesting is that before Jaws, the highest grossing film of all time was actually a drama film called The Godfather and before that was Gone With The Wind. Yes, for many years dramas were the films that won the box-office and captured everyones heart and now I'm beginning the think that maybe this momentium is coming back with The Help winning the box-office this weekend.
Before you say anything like it's only been a week or anything I know and I'm not judging this based solely on The Help. No I've had this thought for awhile and it started earlier this year when I learnt what the thirteenth highest-grossing film of 2010 was...The King's Speech. That's right, a drama that cost shit all to make ended up grossing over four-hundred million dollars. Of course the questions that follows that statement is why and the answer is simple; story. The King's Speech had an absolutely amazing story behind it and the film was simply a good time which made people want to go see it. Another piece of evidence which shows you that people may be starting to accept drama and go see them in the threatres is the film that ended up seventeenth last year; Black Swan.
Most movie fans would know of the troubled shoot this film had because of how low the bugject was, Natalie Portman reportedly had no trailer for most of the shooting because the cost of it was used to hire a first aid officer. Yet the film ended up grossing over three-hundred and twenty million dollars. Yet films like Green Lantern or Conan the Barbarian are given a ridiculous amount of money and they have been both claimed and the greatest bombs of 2011, these and Cowboys and Aliens.
I don't mean to sound like I'm beating a dead horse but this comes back to the old cliche of "good story, good film" and I think people are starting to accept that most Hollywood blockbuster's that come out recently have been quite awful and therefore are more willing to see these independent and cultural films because they aren't satisfied with the stuff they are getting. Granted everything I've been saying can be undone by easily mentioning that The Smurfs has been in the top five every week since the day it opened but hey, every film deserves a chance.
So am I jumping the gun and looking to much into it or do you believe that audiences have begun to accept that a good story usually means good film? Comment below let me know. As always, I'm the Mad Movie Man and I'll see you and the cinema
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