Screaming Penguin - Source Does Matter

It you haven't heard, last weekend was one of the biggest sales weekends for movies of the year.

And by the way Serenity and Mirrormask both totally rule. Go see them. Right now.

Really.

You can come back and read this later.

Anway, in a rare moment of sanity, it looks like the Hollywood types have realized that they have just been pumping shit all year to this point:

One of Hollywood's basic tenets is that when things go wrong it's somebody else's fault.

Which is why it's so startling, suddenly, to hear studio executives and producers taking responsibility for the rows of empty seats in movie theaters this year.

"It's really easy for all of us to blame the condition of the theaters, gas prices, alternative media, the population changes and everything else I've heard myself say [fucking piracy you toady? --ed]," said Sony Pictures Vice Chairman Amy Pascal, whose summer releases "Bewitched" and "Stealth" flopped. "I think it has to do with the movies themselves."

After months of hand-wringing and doomsday forecasts about the permanent erosion of moviegoing, the lunchtime chatter at Mr. Chow in Beverly Hills and other industry haunts has turned decidedly inward. Now, four straight weekends of crowded theaters have forced moguls and creative executives to admit in public what they have spent months avoiding: They were clueless about what audiences wanted.

"There's always a year when the pundits say the movie business is over," said producer Brian Grazer, whose May release "Cinderella Man" was a disappointment despite strong reviews. "If there's a movie people want to see, they go see it. I just think we all have to do our best to make better movies."

They were clueless about what audiences wanted? How about Something That's Not Shit™? I mean, you have seen Mirrormask by now if you have read this far, and you know that movie cost nothing (in Hollywood terms to make). Lisa Henson just handed Neil Gaiman $4m and said "go make something cool." And he did. Universal gave Whedon $35m to make the Firefly movie he wanted to make. And he did. Maybe the studios should just try butting the hell out and give a few really talented a little bit of money then leave them the hell alone.

The recent improvement in attendance is not being driven entirely by mainstream hits such as "The 40 Year-Old Virgin," which debuted in August and has grossed nearly $100 million domestically to date. Some smaller movies are also generating steady business, among them the highbrow thriller "The Constant Gardener." [Which also is really good. --ed]

James Schamus, whose Focus Features released that film, said he thought it might have benefited from being an antidote to months of mediocrity.

"We thought audiences would be so starved for something that wouldn't be a two-hour assault on your intelligence," he said.

Bennett Miller, the director of the critically lauded "Capote," which opened Friday, suggested that Hollywood's habit of playing it safe makes more-daring films look particularly good by comparison.

"The market creates conventionality and conformity, but that's not really what people want to see," he said.

LA Times

And, for the record, I think the Doom movie looks good too.