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2006 ShoWest Round Up
posted by
Ross Melnick
on
March 17, 2006 at 7:00 am
LAS VEGAS, NV — Another ShoWest has come and gone, but there was a lot of news and views this week on display in Las Vegas. The following links hit some of the highlights:
Theaters' owners are optimistic
Distributors hold firm against day-and-date
Fithian, Glickman cite turning point for cinema
Challenges Seen for Film Biz After 2005 Slide
Theater owners are nervously eyeing empty seats
Digital on the Docket Again
The Future of Moviegoing Presented at ShoWest
Small window seen as film threat
New role for theaters: cops
Movie industry may turn to marketing to stop slide
Hollywood boosters rally the troops at convention
Bad films blamed for empty theaters
Theater ads don’t stop moviegoers: Study
Piracy, consumer habits hot topics at ShoWest
AMERICAN MULTI-TASKER: SHOWEST 2006
Boxoffice Magazine ShoWest 2006 Coverage
ShoWest opening ceremony gets ’M:I 3' sneak
Official ShoWest 2006 Website
Comments (1)
Well: I think there have always been bad films. I mean, has the product been that bad lately? What about films like Crash, Cinderella Man, and the Smartest Guys in the Room. None of them were garbage. How are things any different now than in the 80’s when we had slasher movies everywhere and three and four sequels of Gremlins and the Karate Kid? I think there have always been a few winners amid a lot of mediocre product. The problem, as I see it, has two main factors. 1) movie prices have gotten REALLY high in my opinion. You have to think before you go to the movies. If you are taking a date that means something like $30 when all is said and done (parking, tickets, concessions). I could take a date to a high-end night club for just a few more dollars. 2) home theatre systems and televisions have gotten pretty sophisticated. I think most rank-and-file humans want to feel like they have their own. Nobody wants to take public transit, everybody wants their own car. The closer a home theatre can come to reproducing the cinema, the more I think the movie business is going to lose the rank-and-file.
On another note, I wonder if the movie business hasn’t undone itself by including tons of bonus features on every DVD. I personally feel, after watching the bonus material on every DVD I rent, like some of the magic of the movies has been lost. I have seen inside the black box, so to speak.
Also, technology is evolving at a rapid rate. Just as television hurt the movie business, so I suppose does the internet. And how many years will it be before there are virtual reality simulators all over the place? Hell, I just found out the other day that I can pay for my groceries with a fingerprint scan now.
I don’t think the movie business is going away. But I think it faces these challenges. There is certainly change in the winds. There are a lot of exciting new ways to be entertained nowadays, just as the movie palaces were the exciting new way to be entertained back in the day.
My two cents (maybe five cents).