We movie viewers have pre-maturely decided that our taste in movies leaves a lot to be desired. The commonly used phrases of “they don’t make them like they used to,” or “big budget has ruined movies,” is used by contemporary movie enthusiasts to explain our perceived poor taste in the world’s favorite pastime. But is there truth to the ideology that movie makers can shove anything down our throats or is the very premise simply a bunch of entertainment hokum?
In the recent article Movies, Comics and Oil, we discussed the comic book genre and its place amongst the highest grossing films of all time. Let’s take a look at the list of the highest grossing movies at the box office:
1. Titanic
3. Shrek 2
6. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
7. Spider-Man
9. The Lord Of The Rings: The Return of The King
10. Spider-Man 2
Even though taste opinions vary with the individual, any argument that one of the above mentioned movies isn’t of sound quality and high caliber would carry very little weight. In fact, a quick glance at the top 40 of the same category would reveal that the only possible blemishes could be Home Alone and Transformers; with the later grossing an exorbitant amount of revenue due largely to awesome marketing awareness.
At this point, our hypothesis that the entertainment consumer public actually possesses an informed and wise appreciation for movies of high standard seems to be correct. That’s not to assume that we do not watch and perhaps enjoy movies of lower standards, but we are prone to investing our time and money in film projects that carry potential merriment and appreciation. It would be prudent however, to perform the same study on DVD rentals as well. Yet DVD rentals would most assuredly provide conflicting results when compared to the above schematic. Movies in the Horror genre for example, would make an astounding leap to the top of the charts in many cases. A similar surge is seen in Comedies, Documentaries and Action films. Why is that you ask? My guess would be because we closely associate the connection between entertainment and money. We are generally unwilling to invest fiscally in movies that either appear to be unappealing to our personal tastes or those that we deem unworthy of being witnessed on such a grand stage known as the movie theater. Why is it, that in an era where the movie theater has lost much of its blister and glamor, we still place it on a pedestal? That question deserves an article of its own.
While delving into the human entertainment psyche will undoubtedly be an inaccurate and fruitless task, we have enough of a foundation of thought to believe that we movie fans still employ a sophisticated eye and a particular appetite when it comes to the movies we are willing to enjoy. So please pat yourselves on the back for a job well done, because it seems Hollywood hasn’t won yet.
Ozzy Neav
De Novo Magazine
**Read more articles by Ozzy Neav**
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