Very good post. Even when the truth is hiding in plain sight, it's easy to look at things from an old model.
Kirby On Dec 29, 2011, at 11:03 AM, Phillip W. Ayling wrote: > Bruce, > > The article is interesting and I agree with your comments as well. I also > want to offer some additional thoughts. "Hollywood" (whatever that is) once > focused only on domestic Box Office. In the early days of cinema - while > movies were made in many places - US cinema got a boost, not only because of > talent here (including many British Music Hall performers) but because there > was a worldwide fascination with what Hollywood and the US looked like. > > After the advent of talkies, you had the gritty speak of Humphrey Bogart and > Jimmy Cagney, Cowboy-talk of the Old West, and American and British "stage > speech" in films. Every mob in every town of every horror film, spoke mild > Cockney instead of some type of Transylvania middle European accent, save for > Maria Ouspenskaya. People with strong foreign accents were generally > relegated to character roles as Hollywood was most focused on U.S and perhaps > "English speaking" Box Office. Even though films were dubbed, that was > generally a very secondary consideration in the casting or the nature of the > film to be made. Arnold "Terminator" wasn't even allowed to speak English in > his first film. > > Movies done by US producers are now made, cast and greenlit with an eye to > International Box Office. Casts are often put together not just on their > ability to gel, but also on the basis of what worldwide markets that can > deliver. It is possible that this year's total worldwide revenue will once > again hit an all time high. While producers are concerned about the drop in > Domestic Box Office, they are not going to put that at risk while they have > found a formula that has driven International and total Box-Office growth for > the last 25 years. > > International press tours and local market TV appearances are important to > ticket sales in a way that they never were before. More and more films are > cast with an eye to the ability of some of the stars to dub their own voices > and to have built in "local recognition" in certain marketplaces. Can you say > "The Expendables"? > > Pirates of the Caribbean 4 (with more sequels to come) was originally built > around a ride at Disneyland. It earned 80% of its 1 billion dollars > overseas. Johnny Depp is an international star who speaks some French. > Penelope Cruz was added to the cast not just because she is a fine actress, > but also because she is an international star who speaks Spanish and Italian, > does her own dubbing and is a smashing asset on foreign press tours. Every > producer knows that Mila Kunis speaks Russian; a place where Hollywood is > trying to build audiences. Viggo Mortensen does dubbing and tours in a host > of languages. I could go on and on. > > Tintin probably won't do nearly as well in the US as it will do in Europe. > Steven Spielberg and New Zealander Peter Jackson (who is one of the > producers) could not have made that film as a Columbia -Paramount > co-production 25 years ago. It would have been made by a European producer, > probably in French, and been relegated to a small US release. Spielberg was > directing his first animated film and he wanted it to have world-wide appeal. > Though Frank Capra was born in Sicily, you would never know it from any film > he ever made. > > I'm not passing judgment and not trying to be xenophobic. The U.S. film > business has just changed.The French, Spanish, Italian and other film > businesses generally are making better films in my opinion because telling a > story is more important than how wide an International release they will be > able to get. > > Hollywood is trying to make films where every marketplace will see someone > that they can relate to onscreen and call their own. I'm not saying that > means that Hollywood has to make crappy films, but that seems to be a > by-product of making films as marketing deals rather than as story telling > vehicles. > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Bruce Hershenson > To: [email protected] > Sent: Thursday, December 29, 2011 6:31 AM > Subject: [MOPO] OT: Movie crowds dip to 16-year low as apathy lingers > > http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/money/53195051-79/billion-million-movie-2011.html.csp > > My thinking is that most current movies aren't very good, and that they are > too expensive, too much trouble to go to, and there are a million good > alternatives that are far cheaper and just as entertaining. Many current > releases look like they started with a cutesy title and built a completely > unnecessary movie around it ("Chipwrecked", etc). MAKE GOOD MOVIES AND THE > AUDIENCES WILL COME BACK! > -- > Bruce Hershenson and the other 24 members of the eMoviePoster.com team > P.O. Box 874 > West Plains, MO 65775 > Phone: 417-256-9616 (hours: Mon-Fri 9 to 5 except from 12 to 1 when we take > lunch) > our site > our auctions > > > Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com > ___________________________________________________________________ > How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List > Send a message addressed to: [email protected] > In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L > The author of this message is solely responsible for its content. > > Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com > ___________________________________________________________________ > How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List > Send a message addressed to: [email protected] > In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L > The author of this message is solely responsible for its content. > Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: [email protected] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
