I have a radical theory as to why the box office is down.

THE MOVIES SUCK, YOU STUPID MORONS!!!!!!!!!

Well, no, it's because there's hardly any middle class left. See, the middle class are morons (being in the "middle" means you're "average" instead of "special, unique, a flower of individuality, here's your Democrat party card"), and morons need to go to the movies every week or their heads collapse for lack of air. But if they have no money, then they can't go. And then their tiny heads collapse. So no more middle class. Just unique, special, flower children of the universe!

See, there actually is an upside.

I take that back. I saw "March of the Penguins" a few weekends ago. Great movie.

Kind of sad that a movie about flightless waterfowl was more interesting than most of the others I saw this summer.

Opus would be proud.

The Borg were supposed to be America. Everyone must assimilate into the bland Borg/American culture. The Federation was the heroic-enlightened UN

Maybe it's all the stupid leftist propaganda.

I have a radical theory as to why the box office is down.

And they're too expensive.

The Hollywierd pinheads need to learn how to make movies that are cheap to produce. i.e. toss the expensive moonbats overboard and use cheaper talent.

Clerks cost about $200,000 start to finish and it was funny as hell.

March of the penguins was great and Red Eye was terrific. The heroine has a ine of dialog that sharply divides movie dialog into pre- and post 9/11 attitudes. You will know it when you hear it.

And the non-Hollywood explanation ==> theater-goers have forgotten how to behave in public.

I just finished watching Shaun of the Dead. The movie cost only $4 million to make and I thought it was hilarious.

I just finished watching Shaun of the Dead.

That's on my Netflix list - which is yet another reason theater attendance is down.

Nonono -- it's that we're terrified we might hafta sit next to one of those spay-shul children of the Universe who will then "engage" us in a "meaningful and sincere dialogue" about our "horrifying and disgusting beliefs and bumperstickers."

That, and the movies suck.

No, no. I'm assured by my social betters that its because I don't exist anymore.

off topic (aren't we all?)

I just crawled into bed and surfed cable and fell on "the situation" with tucker carlson (the bow tie guy).

he had a guest who was spokesperson for the moveon.org protest at the whitehouse.

I just had to share what I heard.

The protest had been organized for days - people encouraged to bring signs painted with things like "bush is a disaster" and "shame on bush".

I don't remember her name, but she seemed like a very nice young woman. Carlson asked her what the purpose of her protest was.

unsolicited, she said that people are in need, and now is not the time to point fingers and lay blame.

i'll let that set in for a second.

Carlson asked if this were true, why they were spending their time in Washingington pointing fingers and laying blame.

I didn't here her response because I was laughing too hard.

That's on my Netflix list - which is yet another reason theater attendance is down.

Netflix rules. My wife and I just watched Ray. Outstanding movie, even though I'm not a big Ray Charles fan.

Movies at home. No screaming kids. No stupid chatty teenagers. No sticky floors.

Just peace, quiet and the ability to enjoy a beer or glass of wine with a movie.

That's civilization right there.

Actually, Slashdot posts involving Microsoft or Bill Gates are accompanied by a picture of Bill Gates as a Borg.

Netflix and Tivo will kill the movie industry.

It's a really bad sign when a lifelong movie nut (me) only went to see four of those top ten flicks.

"Netflix and Tivo will kill the movie industry."

Your mouth to God's ear.

Here's another one from today. The "writer" simply goes all over the place in his pathetic attempt to further push these silly paranoid conspiracy theories on racism in the wake of Katrina.

If the rescue effort had not been so mishandled, and if those who suffered so needlessly had not been so black and so poor, perhaps Hurricane Katrina would have been just another destructive storm, alongside the likes of Charley and Andrew and Hugo. (There is no Keisha or Kwame.)

WTF????????

Now that the devilish white President is once again concentrating all of his evil racism on blacks...Muslims can for the moment, breathe a sigh of relief.

Sorry to derail everyone's rant, but if you read the whole thing rather than just the first paragraph, you find that the writer is using "middle class" to describe mid-range-earning movies - grossing between $100 and $150 million. The point being that there have been no movies in that bracket this year, just blockbusters (over $150 million) and flops (less than $100 million).

Nothing to do with leftism, classism, racism, stupidism, or anything-else-ism. Just box-office receipts.

As for most movies sucking, well, yes, but in the next month I'm planning to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the new Wallace and Gromit film, Howl's Moving Castle, Serenity, and Corpse Bride. It is kind of unusual for that many films I actually want to see to be showing all at once.

Why find a sitter for $30 and tromp out to the movie theatre to pay $20 bucks when I can play any episode of Deadwood anytime I want for free (well, the episode is free, the digital cable box is not), and movies anytime for $4?.

Oh, I forgot, it must be because the middle class is gone.

Pixy, you spoilsport.

Peril of blogging, #2: Not reading beyond the first paragraph.

I've been there. Man, have I been there.

A movie has got to be more than a movie now. Good acting, cool story? I can get that from Lost or Firefly or Battlestar G.
I think it's that people ask themselves if they really want to shell out that much money and wait in line etc or not. Does it have the special effects I need to see on the big screen? Do I need to see it right away? If not, you can always get to see it in some other venue, like home, for less and with less hassle.
That's why the focus is on making the blockbusters. It's got to be more than a movie, it's got to be an event.

It's got to be more than a movie, it's got to be an event.

I would pay to see Michael Moore, Alec Baldwin, or Ed Asner play Christ in a remake of Passion if the scourging were real not that fake hollywood F/X stuff. I would pay double if they cast Carl Rove as the devil figure.

The Borg was a swedish meatball gone wrong.

Perhaps it's because I'm currently listening to Niall Ferguson's 'Empire' on CD during my commute, but I can't help thinking that the Borg were created in part to represent hard imperialism in contrast to the Federation's touchy feely soft imperialism.

WTF? The "decline" happened among those who cast Jessica "Chicken of the Sea" Simpson as Daisy Duke.

The Borg are definitely Microsoft.

Pixy, Charlie and the Chocolate factory was so twisted it hurt. I kinda liked it.

And that's the sort of movie I'll still go see on the big screen. I watch a lot of animation, kid films and special effects flicks. Things where the size of the screen makes all the difference. That, and it's about my intellectual level. These sorts of movies are getting prettier and prettier, and stupider and stupider. Geez, Hollywood, hire some writers, why don't you?

Also, as a business model, I don't know how long you can survive on message to our customers: you suck. Disney long ago abandoned "whistle while you work" for "your white middle-class American ass is a disgrace to the planet."

Ugly, I'm about to wander down cubicle row to tell my friend Katrina she has a "white" name.

*back* She thinks it can be used for her too.

I always thought the Borg represented communist collectivism... supression of individuality and liberty in favor of the 'state' - you're just a cog on a gear in the big machine.

Or the Boy Scouts. That was my fallback position.

Maybe if they made better movies, the public might be more inclined to go see them. I saw the top 2 on that list and was completely underwhelmed. I wanted to see the next 4-5, but figured they could wait for video (the Blockbuster version of Netflix).

A lot of remakes and sequels on that list.

Dammit!
Again!

Is this gong on my performance review?

But the reason the Borg are America is because of the whole "assimilate to make the collective stronger" business. Of all the imperialistic, tyrannical, profiteering groups mentioned, only America assimilates new members.The rest just conquer and oppress as they view the individual as being almost without worth. The critique was that by assimilating, America was forcing its citizens into a bland homgenous whole. Remeber the Borg were written into STNG during the multi-culti revolution with "diversity" ( the rejection of western civ) being all the rage. The Borg was the STNG writers' lame attempt to critize our culture.
I still think the first Borg queen was hot though.

I got so sick of hearing actors run their mouths off about Bush and republicans, that I just stopped going to their stupid movies. I didn't want to contriubute to their cause. I get tired of seeing actors on the news media being asked about foreign policy etc... what the hell do they know about politcs. I say shut up and act.

The Borg and the Hard Left = one.
Resist anyway,

Last movie I can remember paying to watch was "Free Willie" taking my son when he was pre-school age. Typical Saturday matinee. I still wake screaming and sweatsoaked in the middle of the night. But I was never one for theatres anyway.

Give me a book anytime. A side benefit is getting them for .25 at garage sales and then putting the collectables up on ebay when I'm finished.