In just two months, “American Sniper” has become the first movie in ages to rise to the level of cultural phenomenon — in part because its success caught everybody by surprise……
…..This parochialism is a form of willing blindness about what America wants to watch. That’s why it keeps coming as a total shock when works of popular culture that celebrate the military rather than pretend it doesn’t exist blow away shows about narcissists picking lint hair out of their belly buttons and whining about their careers
via ‘Sniper’ and ‘NCIS’ success shows how out of touch media is | New York Post.
The Movie industry appears to have failed on the number one dictum for any business: Sell a product people want. Act of Valor was a little movie filmed with mostly love and a budget go $12 million, a pittance that would not cover catering for most Hollywood super projects. It ended up grossing $70 million domestic according to IMDB and that gents is 5.8 times the investment which any Hollywood mogul would sacrifice the very rare virgin to obtain.
I remember the JAG episode where the people from NCIS first appeared. It was possibly the best episode of a show who was already declining (No matter what, a series seems to start dying after 5 years) and warned SWMBO that we may had a new show that we may coming. Apparently that episode fared so good that NCIS went into full development and it is the success we have nowadays.
There is a market for Good Over Evil stuff. The problem is that most writers do not know how to write about it and end up doing a parody of something they loath assuring its failure. I for one am amazed that Gotham has me hooked with 4/5th of the characters being criminals, but it is Jim Gordon that holds the show: The Lone Voice in the wilderness that stands up and even makes others do their best even when doing nothing would make their lives easier.
Do we like bad guys? Oh yes, no doubt there. Red Reddington is the poster child for the end justify the means, but he is classy as hell and has panache flowing by the gallons, but he is the exception rather than the rule.
Now brace yourselves for the inevitable flood of cheap copies that are sure to come out trying to cash on American Sniper, the Hollywood version of Chinese knock-offs.
While I’m glad to see American Sniper getting seen by a lot of people, to make it a victory in an “us vs. them” culture war is a little much, I think. Have you researched what else is at the top of the all-time highest grossest movies? Kids movies, sci-fi and Forrest Gump. What does that prove? Well, nothing, other than, as you pointed out, Americans like entertaining movies. There aren’t many people who don’t, come to think of it.
Speaking of which, Shifty Shades of Grey….big money this weekend. What does THAT prove?
They went that way… fuck ’em if they can’t take a joke and need a ton of accountants and lawyers to deal with the monetary losses.
You did mention entertaining movies
There’s a saying that my friends and I have picked up from game and TV reviewers. “The best villain is one you love to hate.”
He doesn’t have to be human. He doesn’t have to be understandable. He doesn’t have to be sympathetic. If you’ve got a villain who is brilliant and evil, play him like it, make us want him dead, then you’ve got a good villain. It’s one of the things that, for example, Fallout: New Vegas does well. The antagonist shoots the player in the head at the beginning of the game. Universal response from everyone I’ve heard talk about him: “I wanted to GET THAT GUY!”
Act of Valor wasn’t even that great a movie, yet… Saw it in the theater, paid for the home version, watch it fairly often…
The mini-gun scene still gets my vote for “Best Misappropriation of Defense Spending Ever Put On Film.”