947 shitty superhero movies and 473 star wars'es en route, but people don't have time to see an actual good movie that is smart & doesn't treat its audience like morons.
Sad state of affairs.
“947 shitty” superhero movies and “473 star wars’es”...
... in reality, the only superhero movie that’s playing in theaters right now - and is making a cultural and cinematic impact - is the ONLY superhero movie that has been released this year so far, Besson. There’s only a single Star Wars movie coming out this year, by the way.
But ah yes, to consider fans of these more popular (yet critically acclaimed) movies to be inferior minds, and then to blame the box office underperformance of a film like Annihilation on these movies people like the OP regard themselves too smart for, is pretentious film snobbery at its finest. I can feel the frustration and know you need to find a scapegoat. But I also feel the smugness in the air. You believe you’re superior to these apparent philistines who like to watch movies only for entertainment and escapism, and the truth is... you’re not.
And Annihilation, which features several actors that have actually been in the superhero and Star War movies you detest so much, is good. Sad it failed but not for the reasons you stated. Oh, and it’s worth noting it didn’t get to open in many markets.
Thanks for clearing up the numbers, I really thought it was 947 & 473.
shareAnd yeah, I guess to some degree, I do look down on people who watch & enjoy the majority - not all, but the vast majority - of these awful superhero movies, the same way I would look down on someone with money in their wallet who walks by a restaurant, & decides to keep eating out of the trash. Now, am I a better human being than someone who eats out of a dumpster? Well that's more of a philosophical question, I don't know. I suppose if pressed for a guess, the answer is probably no. Am I a better film fan than someone who watches most of this utter crap? Fuck yes. At least for those 2 hours.
share------ in reality, the only superhero movie that’s playing in theaters right now - and is making a cultural and cinematic impact - is the ONLY superhero movie that has been released this year so far, Besson. There’s only a single Star Wars movie coming out this year, by the way. ---
I don't think it's about the amount of movies but about the amount of marketing. Last years, the 5 highest budget movies were either Star Wars or Superhero. That means that most of the marketing in the movie industry is gonna be aimed to Star Wars/Superhero franchises.
------ But ah yes, to consider fans of these more popular (yet critically acclaimed) movies to be inferior minds ---
Right now, high budget Hollywood movies are really bad. This is last year 10 most expensive movies:
http://www.worldstopmost.com/2017-2018-2019-2020/entertainment/most-expensive-movies-2016-hollywood-bollywood-top-10-list/
There's a good movie, Jungle Book, two OK movies, Finding Dory and Civil War, and that's all. Now go back to the 60s-70s-80s. Which were the movies that stept up as the most expensive movie to date?
Ben-Hur in 1959
Mutinty on the Bounty in 1962
Cleopatra in 1963
Superman in 1978
Rambo III in 1988
Back to the Future II and III in 1989
Terminator 2 in 1991
True Lies in 1994
Waterworld in 1995
Titanic in 1997
The Lord of the Rings in 2003
Even though not all of them are great movies (cough, Rambo III, cough), most of them are AMAZING pop-corn movies. Ben-Hur or Superman or Terminator 2 or Titanic or Lord of the Rings are not exactly Cahiers du Cinema movies or Cinema du Auteur.
Before 2005, high budget movies used to be (not all, but many of them) amazing pop-corn movies. Then, it went down. I don't know whether Superhero genre is to blame. I don't know whether Hollywood becoming a political preacher is to blame. I don't know whether the whole US decline is to blame. Who knows the cause? But yes, it's happening.
Have you seen some of the sideshow characters that go to movies these days? Not only do they look hideous; they are loud, obnoxious and crass. Yes, I am better than that. Enough said.
shareThere is plenty of time to see this movie, it just didn't capture the attention of the general audience and apparently the film didn't have much faith behind it since outside the US it is hitting Netflix so soon. There is no big draw for the film. Portman has never really been a big box office draw on her own, and she is the lead actress here. I didn't even know this was an adaptation of a novel till seeing posts about it and I don't think that series has the mega popularity of even something like the Divergent novels, hell the name Southern Reach trilogy isn't really mentioned anywhere in most of the promotions i have seen for the film. The previews are ok, but nothing that would draw me to pay the extra expense to see it in theater. At the time this was released there was probably 4-5 films I would probably pick to see before this one. And since I go to the theater rarely that guarantees blu ray rental for me through Netflix (or probably streaming)
It just didn't click with audiences enough, it happens. A film can be successful regardless of the presence of Star Wars or Superhero films. Jumanji has had the kind of success that is well beyond what should have been expected even with the ever popular Rock in the cast and that was against TLJ which while not as successful as it could have been, is still massive competition.