TV/Movie General Discussion

[Animeniax]

No thanks, you`re right ironically.

Oh, i missed this lovely part.

I don`t know if they do but let me ask you this... Do you? Do you see Iron man an suddenly feel all patriotic and shit?

Not exactly but then I'm not the best American and I don't buy into most of our policies or pop culture. It's mostly an inherent pride instead of an overt one when I see how the US is faring in the world, and how our products/policies are received in the international sphere.

I imagine you watching one of our movies is like when I watch one of your country's movies: with a detached feeling of being an outsider looking in on a social science experiment. Considering how much Asian media we consume, I'm sure you know that looking glass feeling that I'm talking about. I think it'd be like the Japanese watching Ultraman compared to when I watch Ultraman. There's going to be a different feeling there.

As I stated earlier, there's a reason domestic totals match or exceed international box office numbers for most Hollywood movies. American movies are made for an American audience's American dollars.

Your comparison is not valid here Ani, because you're doubting the way his countrymen live their life - and he's one of their countrymen.

It could easily be argued he's not representative of his countrymen or that he does not have an understanding of social policies and realities in his own country. He's in medical school, which could mean he's privileged and not fully aware of the world outside his university campus.

Ani are you having an ego trip because you are American? Besides, I am not from a foreign market, I live here and you still don't make any sense to me. So is success a raw figure. Does every movie have to make 1.5 billion to be successful or is it a certain profit margin or percentage?

Social and economic problems, lazy. Wow

How is it an ego trip to state the obvious? American movies are made for American audiences. How much money a movie makes is the principle determination of whether it is a success or not. No there is no exact number, but it is a general rule. And just because you're American doesn't mean you know what's going on here. I'm finding more and more that people are politically and socially disengaged and just concerned about their own little problems in their own little world. Understanding Hollywood and entertainment media isn't that important, which makes it all the more frustrating having to explain to you how it works.

[darkshadow]

As I stated earlier, there's a reason domestic totals match or exceed international box office numbers for most Hollywood movies. American movies are made for an American audience's American dollars.

As with everything else in life, you are wrong once again; the only movies that do as good or better in the US market are the ones that get little, or much later, exposure internationally, for everything else the US market just gets destroyed by international grosses.
Or in other words they can only do as good or better when hollywood isn't bringing them overseas with the same level of attention.

[Animeniax]

As with everything else in life, you are wrong once again; the only movies that do as good or better in the US market are the ones that get little, or much later, exposure internationally, for everything else the US market just gets destroyed by international grosses.
Or in other words they can only do as good or better when hollywood isn't bringing them overseas with the same level of attention.

I think I preferred thinking you were ignoring my posts than having to address your fallacious points and catty demeanor.

There is a reason American movies don't get as much international exposure and hence don't make as much money... because they are American movies aimed at an American audience. It goes back to my point that Hollywood cares more about the domestic market than the international market. Of course 6.2 billion potential paying viewers can "destroy" the grosses compared to 300 million people.

If you look at it from a slightly different perspective, how likely would you be getting funding from the American studios and other US movie investors (whatever those might be) for a big-budget movie if everybody could see at a first glance it would most likely flop in the USA but might make profit in the rest of the world? And for the argument's sake, let's say your last name isn't Spielberg or anything like that.

I reckon this is also the difference between a normal movie and a sequel n#, which would have already proven financially viable.

Exactly. A movie that is guaranteed to flop in the US but could see big paydays internationally will not be made by a Hollywood studio. They won't take the risk.

[Ryllharu]

@Ani:

I think it is time you quit dodging the question. What makes you an expert?

Either explain to us exactly how you simply being American gives you the edge to understanding what is considered Hollywood Profitability, or just stop. The others seems to understand the business side of things quite a bit better than you, detailing the additional markets, marketing, and the vague figure where success is deemed achieved when the box office returns are a multiple of the budget.

You're not in "the industry." You can't give us a detailed breakdown of what mark decides whether or not an executive will greenlight a sequel, or even if they were contracted to make sequels from the start, or cancel that when the first one bombs. You don't seem to understand that the worldwide market frequently destroys the domestic market (no matter where the movie is from). You never touched on why Uwe Boll is still allowed to make movies.

I'm American, but I also understand enough about Hollywood to realize that I don't know what or who the fuck makes decisions there and especially why. As far as I can tell, they throw a peanut butter covered corn cob into a bin of squirrels with movie titles stenciled on to them and the next film greenlit is the one who hangs on to it for more than 5 minutes.

One of the bigger names in Hollywood is Jon Peters, who got his big break by being Barbra Streisand's hairdresser. He went on to produce An American Werewolf in London, Rain Man, the Keaton Batman movies (the better ones of the initial four that you believe are forgettable, and not the bland 3rd Nolan film), Superman Returns, and will be on the credits for Man of Steel. He's a weird dude.

And things get even weirder in post-production, where good movies become terrible ones, and decent movies become great. One example is test screenings. The whole process is really badly done because it is rarely (effectively never) the same group of people responding to the changes.

So, please tell us where your expertise comes from.

[Animeniax]

@Ani:I think it is time you quit dodging the question. What makes you an expert?

It's a ridiculous question not worth spending time on. I don't have to be "an expert" to know general trends and views in Hollywood that have pervaded our entire lives. Everything in America centers around our entertainment industry, but I need a degree in RTF to speak knowledgeably about it?