Synonymous with ice cream, swimming and flip
flops that define the summer months in the Northern Hemisphere, the Hollywood
blockbuster is part of that summer tradition. Summer 2012 is no exception and
one of the biggest summers for blockbusters in recent years. What are audiences
to do if not interested in explosions, massive amounts of GCI and special effects or superheroes? Before the traditional fall and winter Oscar releases.
This summer, along with The Avengers, The Amazing Spider Man and
The Dark Knight Rises (to name a few) there are smaller, non Hollywood blockbusters
that attempt to focus more on story than spectacle.
People Like
Us, Savages, Moonrise Kingdom, Take this
Waltz, Ruby Sparks, Beasts of the Southern Wind and Cosmopolis (again to name a few) are all
being released during the summer months.
Is this a new trend? Are we seeing a shift
within the film industry towards a better balance between blockbusters and
those darling little indy films (some not so indie) to appeal towards a larger
audience and to get more butts into theatres? It will also help to compete with
online film viewing and specialty channels on television, such as HBO and
Showtime. It is still too early to tell, but personally, I hope so.
Don’t get me wrong, I do like to see things
getting blown up, and comic book characters come to life now and then, but it
can get old fast and, as we see this summer, oversaturated. Part of the point
and appeal with the blockbuster is that it is an event to experience, a crazy
and fun time to relax and get lost in the spectacle. I can only imagine the craziness
that the midnight screenings (many already sold out) of The Dark Knight Rises will be like. If audiences were continued to be
given a better balance of blockbusters and indies, it would make the experience
of the blockbuster that more special and maybe even more competitive and unpredictable.
Maybe I am being too optimistic, but I like to think there is room for both.
Time will tell. For now this possible sift
is in the early stages, but with Man of
Steel, Iron Man 3, Star Trek 2 and World War Z all set for release for Summer 2013, this possible new
shift is on shaky ground, so lets nurture it.
VS
As you know, I'm able to enjoy both summer blockbusters and independent films equally. I'm all for both genre's being released during the summer months. If more people are willing to check out the less action oriented films then the more will be made! I'm a little bored with the superhero dominated movies the last few summers. It's getting predictable and they're all starting to blend into together. They don't really differentiate after a while especially now with the 3D obsession. Unfortunately I feel the movie going audience is being dumb downed with these films. It's like they have ADD and must witness things blowing up or having objects pop out in order to keep their attention. It's a shame. But I like your theory and I hope it holds true!
ReplyDeleteYou're not too far off when you mention films being dumb down and ADD. If you compare with older films (like classic Hollywood or European art films for example,) the amount of edits or "cuts" between shots within a scene has pretty much doubled. It is in part to keep audiences attention, especially in the tech heavy day and age. Usually when a movie feels "slow" today is in part due to this.
DeleteI wish I can dig up the article from school I read this. You get my point though.
This is one of my pet subjects about films.
ReplyDeleteI love super hero movies especially Superman as you know - Batman I enjoy as well despite that ridiculously annoying voice of Christian Bales. While I like the big blockbusters there is nothing better than a lovely little movie that relies on a good script, good directing and acting and put together with love without thinking about the bottom line.
I think unfortunately a large part of the movie going public has no appetite for story centric movies anymore if there isn't any action every few minutes they are bored. Stories for a lot of movie goers have become second place for a lot of them unfortunately with just more chase scenes, blowing up things - you get my drift.
Yes agree I like your theory Paiman I sure hope that beautiful movies don't get lost amongst the big blockbusters - there are still people out there that enjoy the 'small' movie but more people have to go and see them as the box office is ultimately the bottom line.