LA CONFIDENTIAL

Believe it or not, behind all the incredibly high weekend gross numbers that you see on rottentomatoes or moviefone or whatever, Hollywood is in a sad state. And you may not have known it by how well the movies are doing that are currently out. But behind the huge profit margins of Transformers 2 or Bruno or the ever-so-cute-and-funny romantic comedy, The Proposal, you will see the realistic truth. Hollywood is only making films that they absolutely know will make money. It's why there are so many sequels being made, it's why there are so many blockbuster, big budget, blow em up films being made. Because in the end, middle America and the South, will basically pay 12 dollars a ticket to go see anything where bombs explode and hot chicks show some cleavage (see Meghan Fox in Transformers 2). And this goes way beyond the recession in the economy and the lack of investors who usually help patron small, independent films. It has to do with marketing and the current, extremely outdated distribution system of Hollywood. Right now, a movie gets made and most often it premieres nationally, all across America. This is very much outdated. With companies like NetFlix, who have compiled research over the past decade to show that certain zip codes order certain certain movies, even certain genres, the future of Hollywood distribution is targeted, selective distribution. Within the next ten years, you'll start seeing movies only be released in certain movie theaters, in certain towns. This will bring a wave of criticism regarding racial profiling and stereotypes, but in the end, Hollywood will claim what every business does when it comes to marketing--1). everyone else does it, 2). numbers talk.

Let's be honest, Anne's Hathaway's recent independent film, Rachel Getting Married, a film about a rich, white girl who ends up becoming an alcoholic, a role that got her nominated for best supporting actress, wouldn't do as well in Newark, NJ as it might in Chatham, NJ. Just as Friday or everyone of their sequels would have done better in Newark, NJ than Chatham, NJ.

Thus, why even distribute the film to an area whose audience would prefer a different film? Why waste that money? With modern technology and the influx of Ondemand and various other at-home ordering/viewing capabilities, the people who may have wanted to watch Anne Hathaway slur over her wedding toast and the people who wanted to watch Chris Tucker and Ice Cube smoke weed, can do so with ease and not cost Hollywood production companies millions in distribution fees.

I for one can't wait for this to happen because a few more summers of shitty, over budget, under developed films like The Proposal, Transformers 2, and Terminator 3 as the only options at the theatre, and I may have to pick up a new hobby. Maybe cycling...