Movie Reviews

I just learned that Alice in Wonderland, the movie I pushed for a boycott of, is breaking all kinds of records at the box office, earning something like $116 million in its opening weekend. My powers of persuasion and/or my scope is weak. I figured that a large part of its success was due to a dearth of kids movies since Christmas-time, with Tooth Fairy being the only one that really came to mind. I knew it was more or less a failure, but I was curious as to just how big of one it was. So I headed on over to Box Office Mojo and looked at the chart for 2010, where I saw that it has made ~$55 million to date.
And that’s when I stumbled upon something much more interesting.
As of right this second, I’ve seen just three of the top 20 box office grossers (The Book of Eli, Daybreakers, Shutter Island) so far this year. It’s not like I’m a theatrical hermit, either, seeing ~75 movies a year. On the other hand, I’ve seen three (really four, as they combine the Oscar Shorts into one entry somehow; Animated Shorts, Live Action shorts, The Ghost Writer, Saint John of Las Vegas) of #21-71.
Because I’m an elitist snob, this makes me somewhat proud, and reminds me of what it’s like when I look at the Billboard Top 40 albums these days. Music plays a constant role in my life, yet my tastes are so far gone from the pop charts (as are most people over the age of 12, I believe) that I usually own no more than two or three of those top 40, and I’ve never even heard a song from probably half (and I consider myself to be pretty knowledgeable of overall pop culture goings on).
Well, now it’s passed over to film, though I admit that this probably has more to do with generally crappy January/February crappy fare than anything else, and had I looked at the same list on the same date in previous years, I might not be so surprised now. Still, just three of the top 20? This means you’re failing, Hollywood. At least with me.