>>This is the history of the studio system-- formula.
>Sometimes
>>exceptions peek through the cracks, but it's always been
>this
>>way.
>
>well, sure, and i would even add that formulas more or less
>work. still, if i can look back a bit with my rose colored
>glasses, this seems like thee most formulaic time in decades
>if not movie history. it seems if you are an adult and want
>some intelligence and thoughtfulness at your maturity level
>and outside of a superhero context, you have to look to the
>arthouse, wait out the dryspell until the narrow window of
>oscar season when everything comes out at once, or stay at
>home like you said, and none of those is really fair to the
>average moviegoer who had more options at the multiplexes in
>the not too distant past. it's nice to live on the east or
>west coast, but not everyone can make a limited NY or LA
>engagement or has an arthouse theater nearby for short runs.
>concentrating all of the good grownup movies in november and
>december is leaving money on the table. i know i wanted to see
>even more movies on the big screen than i did last oscar
>season, but most of us can't manage to see them all before
>they leave theaters, replaced by the more formulaic genre fare
>that sticks around a couple months. some of these critically
>acclaimed films never even make it to the multiplexes even for
>a week (even in the DC area), but i think they would have in a
>past era before the superhero explosion. i'm talking about
>films from arms of major studios, not true indies. i totally
>get that it's about money, but i think hollywood is so caught
>up in the tween and teen mindset that it misses chances with
>underserved demographics, and what gets made and how it is
>marketed and distributed has a rippledown/cyclical effect with
>what people see. it's a shame to have 20+ screens showing less
>than 10 movies, but obviously it reflects the ticket sales.

That's all well and good, but none of those things are true because Hollywood makes six superhero films a year. Those things are true because the profit margins are thinner on most adult dramas, and there isn't a huge outcry for the indie shit outside of the big cities. If there was, movies would go there and have sustained runs. Superhero films don't make things the way they are, the audience does.

And you see more female-led and black-led films now than ever, because female audiences and black audiences are rallying to those movies nationwide. Hollywood follows the money. Always has.


>>Yeah, this ain't a fad. Now that technology supports making
>>big comic book movies, they aren't going anywhere.
>
>most of the major characters have already made it to the big
>screen in the last 14 years. you can only reboot superman,
>batman, and spiderman so many times within a generation, but
>maybe i am underestimating hollywood's desperation and
>people's appetite for the familiar. maybe the people who see
>comic book movies aren't tiring of them--i'm still going--but
>i know there are moviegoers out there who feel they don't have
>as many choices most of the year as they feel they should
>because the movies that are available to them are aimed at
>young audiences.

If young audiences keep going, they'll keep making them. And young audiences will keep going.