That the audience will flock to a new, original, fresh movie that's not a remake or sequel/prequel. 500 Days of Summer, the Hurt Locker, and District 9 proved that.

What I Learned from Summer Movies: franchises films are not just movies. They are an entirely integrated marketing juggernaut, of which whatever gets thrown up on the silver screen is but one part. Their purpose is to perpetuate whatever demand someone feels after watching the film for more of the same, but in different channels.

DIMA: Unfortunately, there hasn't been a good turnout for The Hurt Locker; it seemed to suffer the same ghettoization other indy films get from studios: limited release, paper thin marketing. It only grossed about $11 million in the states.

District 9 is my absolute underdog winner that more than makes up for the early summer's big-budget lacklusters.

Not only are these the COLD HARD FACTS of the current state of Hwood and the motion picture industry, but they are verbatim what has been prolifically professed here on GITS.

And when I say "prolifically" I'm also referring to AMOUNT of postings in the last 15 months... Something like 2200? Holy-bejeemas.

GITS = SOURCE of mofo material.

Scott, you must read EVERYTHING to have as much constant article updates. How the hell does one plug into the mainline and voraciously read all this material? So million dollar question/lesson here:

1. How many hours a week do YOU spend READING? (and are there that many hours in a week, even? You have kids, and a life? WTF?!)

2. How many HOURS do you spend writing/posting your findings here at GITS?

And what about the other hours you spend teaching, prod'ing, etc. Sleeping?

So perhaps, what does your sked look like, and in a pie graph kind of way, can you list where/how you spend your time?


Clearly, I'm doing something wrong and need to see a wholesaler for whatever you use; I'm thinking it's about time you're up for corporate sponsorship.

RC

I learned this summer that Hollywood is underestimating audience's desire to see "just good movies."

The "flops" show that even "playing it safe" isn't safe.

I guess that's why "mise en scene" isn't a "screenwriting term." Writers are being swept away by "Fluff Fever." They don't realize that movies can be boffo and "substantive" at the same time because of money.

I really plan on making this work for me, but not for millions of dollars. I'm happy when other creatives respect what I do which, in my mind, translates to respectable box office.

But it would help if people stayed away from "the same crap" every summer. I have only seen two movies this year. Star Trek and GI Joe, but not because of quality because of time.

I'm a full-time SW developer who blogs too much and tends to stay out all night partying.

It's hard to find substance so I find the best movie with CGI and super heroes. Maybe the rest of the studios should TAKE A GOOD LONG LOOK AT WHAT PIXAR IS DOING.

No fluff and all successful. People want heartfelt stories - especially if you can get some cool FX and touching scenes (WALL-E comes to mind).

Anyway, back to the day job.
:-(

Twitter makes your big ending even more important now. They better be wowed at the end.

I guess what really upsets me is that I am doing a "home study" PhD, complete with Cinema 1 and 2, David Bordwell, Linda Seger, places like this and too much theorizing.

Hell, I could just write a silly movie about farting - wait I did.

It's just that a movie is better with scenes without dialog. Maybe I can help bring back the emotional close-up.

Another lesson I learned - from a year or so ago is that cinematic elements will help. Case in point "The Game Plan" with Dwayne.

It was really cinematic even with scene transitions and did boffo, whereas "Witch Mountain" which relied on silly jokes didn't do so well with the same actor\character.

It's ALL ABOUT ELEMENTS and TECHNIQUE; followed closely by dialog and character juxtaposition.

Drop by my blog sometime. I could use the company.

:-)

@Anonymous:

The ending should be the same as the beginning; back to normal life, with a joke tossed in.

The Dark Knight ended with a speech; as did Iron man, not ground-shaking I must say.

And endings will also be determined by whether you envision a sequel and it should end with a reason to return.

What E.C. learned from this year's summer movies:

1. Sometimes Hollywood CAN sucessfully re-image a franchise CREATIVELY: "Star Trek (2009)."

2. There are ways of making a dumb, cartoon action flick bearable to watch. "Transformers II": loads of very funny gags, shots of Megan Fox, and of course blow so much shit up that you leave the theatre shell-shocked and numb.

3. A great cast doesn't insure a great romantic comedy. "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past": Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner, Michael Douglas, (the underrated) Emma Stone, Breckin Myer.

4. A successful sci-fi movie has a solid plot BEGINNING TO END. "Terminator Salavation" v.s. "District 9." LOVED the first half of T:4... It has one of the best sci-fi action set peices I've EVER SEEN. But who's going to remember that after how this show fizzled coming down the stretch?! D-9, however, had a nice sci-fi EDGE and a story that kinda left ya guessing thoughout, something which was lacking in T:4's story. "District 9" will be remembered, "Terminator 4" will be forgotten, eventhough I still believe that "Terminator: Salavation" SHOULD have been the better of this summers sci-fi offerings.

Corralary point: investing in a good plot is still worth more than CGI affects.

5. Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds are the best at doing romantic comedies right now: "The Proposal." HUGE fan of Katherine Heigl, but she has yet to prove she's ready to take the mantle from Meg Ryan.

6. There are a lot of idiots in the U.S. right now. "Final Destination 3" was the # 1 movie in at the box office last week. How is that even possible!? And what does that say about our society today?

- E.C. Henry from Bonney Lake, WA

I honestly didn't learn anything and that's left me more confused and jaded than ever. I just don't think that you can isolate trend during a transitional phase that involves such massive change economically, technologically, and sociologically, because there's no baseline data to extrapolate lift from. People are broke, social networks haven't settled into the media spectrum, and quite frankly, people aren't all together these days. There's too many variables this year to understand what people want, especially crazy people.

But at least District 9 taught me you can use a pig as a deadly projectile.

Absolutely nothing. There will always be one or two good films a year -- "Hurt Locker" being the most satisfying this year (even if it did cop out and give us the obligatory cut-away to the wife during the phone conversation which sucked the wind out of what I had just seen). But the problems are much bigger in the industry. Instead of fresh, we get a fresh "look-how-much-I-know-about-obscure B-films" look at re-hash (Inglorious Basterds) -- is this post-pastiche? Where did the William Goldman's and Lorenzo Semple Jr.'s go? Where is the craft? The writing? Story? Dare I say it... actors? Why are filmmakers today not inspired by the cinema of long ago but rather moved to re-invent it via highway robbery? Anyone can re-invent an old script. Anyone can write a sequel. I have been to the cinema many times this year and almost every time I have wanted my money back. And my time. Spectacle is nothing now. We have seen the best explosions, the best CGI, the most edits per second, etc. Where are the ideas? A new idea is not an amalgamation of the best trailer moments of the last ten years into one film. Maybe this may be the answer... why have the best films in the last few years had actors that I never heard of? Maybe I don't want a Big Mac and Fries. Maybe I want home cooking. And not from a microwave. Because Hollywood is a rotten turkey pot-pie that's been re-heated in a microwave oven that doesn't work. I don't even think it is plugged in.

My take on the list:

1. Just putting stars in a film isn't enough anymore.

2. Great stories and characters work in any type of film, even animated ones.

3. Spending more money doesn't always make more money.

4. Grown ups love movies but can smell a bad film better than kids.

5. Well done movies that appeal primarily to woman can also appeal to men especially when they are good.

6. People love to laugh.

7. An indie film about the current war, no matter how good, is not going to do well in the theaters until the war is long over.

8. Kid movies, even mediocre ones do well because parents also have to go.

9. For sequels and prequels to work best, the characters and plots must be designed to be episodic from the start.

10. Word-of-mouth is now on steroids thanks to the Internet and smart phones. The days of huge opening weekends for a bad movie will soon be replaced by huge opening days.