Continue to expect dumb movies at the box office

General Commentary by Mr. Blunderson.

There is a reason you should expect to see dumb movies at your local movie house.

So far, this summer has seen three huge releases that each broke records in their own right. All three were critically panned as being the weakest link in their respective franchises yet still managed to make barrels and barrels of cash.

Red flags that might have been raised about plot, character development, or cohesion in general are being replaced by gargantuan monetary revenues. Who in the industry will argue against the mighty dollar? They are the money making business after all, and as long as they are raking in the cash the Hollywood machine will keep cranking out the movies that "look good" but are otherwise dumb and unsatisfying. If any of these (Pirates 3, Shrek 3, Spiderman 3) films had been turned in as an assignment in a freshman creative writing class they would have been returned with a massive red F and an overwhelming stench of urine. It would have been the example of what not to do in story telling. Instead, it's movie audiences who will be the ones getting pissed on time and time again.

The audience is as much to blame as anyone. I hear people complaining about ticket prices but continue to visit theaters. Complaints like that are not going to heard by anyone. You want to send a message Hollywood will hear? Stay home. You want more for you entertainment buck? Walk out of the movie and demand your money back. Don't buy the movie on DVD either.

I hear people talking about how much they need escapism in "times like these." Perhaps we're all doing way too much escaping when we should be doing something that might matter.

But I digress...

Expect movies to get bigger and more expensive. Expect effects to get better and player salaries more bloated. Expect to be forced to check not only your brain at the door but all sense of rhyme and reason as well. But DO NOT hold your breath for anything new and original since the three big movies of the summer that have made piles and piles of money were also each the THIRD installment of a franchise.

As for me, I'm getting really tired of the same old crap.