Oops! All Sequels
Studio execs aren't the only ones being overly cautious.
As of November 27th, the top ten highest-grossing movies in the U.S. are all sequels. While franchises have slowly come to consume the viewing habits of moviegoers, usually an adaptation or reboot sneaks in there. For comparison, thirty years ago, the Top 10 at the box office had adaptations (Forrest Gump, The Flintstones, The Mask, Interview with the Vampire), originals (The Lion King, True Lies, The Santa Clause, Speed, Mrs. Doubtfire) and one sequel that was also an adaptation (Clear and Present Danger).
It would be easy (and fun!) to blame this transition on risk-averse studio executives who can no longer conceive of backing a movie unless it has franchise potential. They are partly responsible; after all, they’re the ones greenlighting projects and choosing where to allocate funds. They’re also trying to please shareholders looking for stability and higher returns in their portfolios, not interesting original stories. That’s not to put the studio executives of the 1990s on a pedestal, but there was more latitude and a greater necessity to offer a diverse slate of movies in theaters.
There’s no room for these originals anymore because of the dramatic increase in entertainment options. In 1994, if you wanted entertainment on a screen, your choices were mostly confined to network television, cable, video games, and movies. Today, viewers have far more entertainment options at their disposal and always on their person in the form of smartphones. Seeing a movie is not only more convenient but also cost-effective. Ticket prices continue to increase while the quality of the theatrical experience decreases. Why pay $15 to travel to a movie theater, sit through half an hour of trailers, and endure rude patrons to see a film that will be available on VOD in a month? Why pay $15 for one movie when $15 gets you a month of Netflix? Netflix may not have great options (try finding a movie made before 1980), but in terms of cost-per-use and ease-of-use, we shouldn’t be surprised that viewers are staying home unless the movie has the built-in appeal (knowing you like these characters and this world) that sequels offer.
Studios are being timid, but so are viewers. No one wants to pay money for a bad movie, and on some level, I understand that. Again, the cost of tickets and the unpleasantness of attending a movie means that if you end up paying money to see Borderlands, you may feel pretty salty about it afterward. Why bother with the headache? It’s not that Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is the most amazing film ever made, but you’ll get some spectacle, you know what you’re in for (big monsters punching), and you’ll likely leave satisfied. It’s not great, but it’s also good enough in terms of what audiences now expect from a theatrical release.
I don’t know if there’s any way to reverse this trend. It would be nice to boil this all down to individual actors (Studio executives should back original features! Audiences should go to the movies more often! People who run major theater chains should enforce etiquette!), but there are major economic and technological forces we can’t ignore. I can tell everyone they should go see Conclave or Challengers, but that doesn’t change the appeal of streaming or the price of a movie ticket. But I do feel like if audiences want to see anything other than franchise sequels, they’ll need to start showing up for films that aren’t franchise sequels. Maybe some of the movies will be bad, but there are worse things in the world than seeing a bad movie.
Recommendations
Speaking of lousy theatrical experiences, Corey Atad has a good piece from his newsletter about people not knowing how to attend a screening of Wicked without taking photos of the screen during the film. He ties this to the larger atomization of American life, where the highest priority is appeasing your desires rather than owing anything to anyone else, especially strangers. Again, there are larger forces at work here about why people aren’t going to the movies as much, but I wouldn’t discount that too many people make Max Cady look like Martin Scorsese.
There are a ton of Black Friday sales, and you know I’m a big believer in physical media. So, if you’re looking to pick up some 4K discs for cheap, here’s what I would recommend:
Phantom Thread ($10.99)
Dune Two-Film Collection ($29.99)
Back to the Future Trilogy ($29.99)
2001: A Space Odyssey ($12.99)
The Shawshank Redemption ($10.99)
Note: I receive a small percentage of sales made through my Amazon Associates links.
What I’m Watching
I’m making my way through potential 2024 award contenders as critics group voting is on the horizon. This means playing a bit of catchup in addition to seeing new releases. Thankfully, it also means seeing some pretty great films, and I’ll likely write more about them at length in December, but for the time being, here are three to put on your radar:
September 5
Tim Fehlbaum’s drama covers the events inside the ABC Sports control room at the 1972 Munich Olympics when terrorists took the Israeli team hostage. This is a top-notch journalism thriller that not only feels like an expert period piece (I could not get enough of all the analog work that went into covering the story live) but also a pointed media story about how the conflict between getting the story fast and getting the story right. There’s also the matter of the Israeli hostages and thinking about the 63 hostages from October 7, 2023, who have been in captivity for over a year. In 1972, the hostages’ safety was paramount; today, they seem to be an afterthought for Netanyahu and his government’s war-on-everyone strategy.
September 5 opens in theaters on December 13th
Nickel Boys
I wish this film were getting more attention. An adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, the story follows two young Black men, Elwood (Ethan Herisse) and Turner (Brandon Wilson), who are confined to an abusive reform school in Jim Crow-era Florida. The genius of the film comes from director RaMell Ross (who previously directed the excellent documentary Hale County This Morning, This Evening), who chooses to direct the entire movie from the first-person perspective of Elwood and Turner. Some may find this alienating, but for me, it not only helped further bring me into the world and psychology of these characters but felt like a work of deep empathy that tied in with the film’s larger themes.
Nickel Boys opens in limited release on December 13th
The Fire Inside
In 2018, Rachel Morrison became the first woman even nominated for the Oscar for Best Cinematography (she was nominated for Mudbound but lost to Roger Deakins, who finally scored his first win for Blade Runner 2049 after losing thirteen times previously, so it’s hard to get too mad about that). Morrison was also the cinematographer on Ryan Coogler’s Creed, and while there have been two Creed sequels, The Fire Inside feels like the true follow-up to that movie, with Morrison making her directorial debut. The film is based on the true story of Claressa "T-Rex" Shields (Ryan Destiny), the first American boxer to win consecutive gold medals. What makes the film so sharp is how it highlights not only the terrific relationship between Shields and her coach, Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry), but the economic pressures facing both of them as their success in the ring never seems to translate to financial rewards in their home of Flint, Michigan.
The Fire Inside opens on December 25th
What I’m Reading
Here are a few articles that caught my interest.
The Crypto Plot Against America’s Gold Reserves by Ryan Cooper [The American Prospect] - The main thing you always need to remember about crypto is that it’s a Ponzi scheme built for speculators. If you somehow had a Bitcoin and tried to spend it or even convert it into real cash, you would have a hell of a time doing it. Cooper details how the crypto lobby is trying to cash out at the expense of America’s financial security, and while I don’t know if they’ll be successful, I will stress that no matter how much you hear about crypto, especially Bitcoin (a former of cryptocurrency, but there’s also a billion other nonsense coins that anyone can mint because, again, it’s not based on or backed by anything), do not buy in. Do not tie your finances to this scheme. My brother-in-law is a financial planner, and he says that if you’re planning to invest in crypto, you may as well just go to a casino.
The Verge Editor-In-Chief Nilay Patel breathes fire on Elon Musk and Donald Trump's Big Tech enablers by Oliver Darcy [Status] - I’m not always on board with TheVerge’s coverage (I think they’ve been far too credulous on the benefits of A.I. against its costs), but Patel is a sharp guy and a good journalist. I appreciated his insights here about the awkward marriage between Silicon Valley’s libertarian brunchlords and the second Trump Administration and how the fallout could affect all of us.
The Resistance Is Dead. Long Live the Resistance? by Rebecca Traister [New York Magazine] - I was my worst self the week-and-a-half following the election. I was despondent, short-tempered, and nihilistic. If you had the misfortune of encountering me, I sincerely apologize. I should have been like the women mentioned in Traister’s story who felt horrible for 24 hours, dusted themselves off, and got back to work. As this piece points out, Resistance to Trump will look different than it did during his first term, but that’s probably a good thing. A lot of what matters in any field isn’t what’s flashy but the hard, unglamorous work, and that’s where organizers are right now. It’s still an uphill battle, but it will be a battle whether we want it or not.
What I’m Playing
I’ve reached the point in Horizon: Zero Dawn, where I’ve done so many of the side-quests that I’m ridiculously overpowered when it comes to the main story. That’s okay! Some people like it when the game’s difficulty levels up with your character, but I want to feel like I’m making progress and getting stronger.
It’s also caught me in its loop where I think I’m going to do just one more mission, and then I’m like, “Oooh, there’s a collectible not too far away. Well, maybe I’ll just get that and then sign off for the night…” An hour later, I’m still playing.