Awesome article, I also have been thinking about why stupid crap like Transformers: Rise Of The Fallen (in my opinion, one of the worst if not *THE* worst movie I’ve ever seen) gets all that money. As a screenwriter/director/writer wannabe (as in “I’m still studying to become one) I do get down sometimes by thinking that, maybe, to survive as a writer I must make everything stupid and with explosions and nudity, lots of nudity and 0 IQ. I don’t caim I do the most intelligent introspective works ever, but I do try to make some clever and logic situations, outcomes and allegories. And then, after being two years structuring a small novel or a script, there comes Terminator: Salvation or that Transformers stupidity and gets jillions of bucks in their first weekend. Sometimes I wonder if it is even worth to try to do something good. I’ll still try to make good stuff but, it does feel awful.
Anyhow, I’m glad I’m not the only one that thinks this way, and it seems we share some thoughts and opinions on some things. Some of this kind of thpughts often gets me shunned by my self-proclaimed left-winged intelectuals I hang out with =P.
Best thing about this article is that it is so right, and even if people knew about this point of view they’d say “nah, not me, I see them knowing they’re bad”. Gotta love people, right?
Great blog, Sean, keep the work, I’ll be coming here more often

Nice blog. I don’t know why I was so surprised when I overheard people talking about going to see G.I. Joe, but I genuinely was. What could anybody have possibly seen/heard that would make them want to see that travesty? Now I know. And knowing is… never mind.

Apparently, I have no clue when it comes to judging a movie’s potential for financial success.

Btw, I’m curious to hear your thoughts on the Watchmen movie (unless you’ve already covered it elsewhere, in which case I apologize).

Your second point echoes a previous piece I wrote on why critics and moviegoers watch movies differently. Seeing films in the theater really has become about the spectacle, not the art form. And maybe it always WAS.

Still, I think there’s something weird at work when our culture will head out in the masses to films where women are objectified and racial stereotypes are played up amongst cartoonish storylines (which both Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra do, from what I’ve heard). Art DOES reflect culture, and when our most popular storytelling format contains that sort of content in its most popular offerings, I think it tells us something about who we are that is really, really disturbing.

I guess I’m in the Shawshank Redemption group; if it’s a really good, thinking movie then I’ll see it when it comes out on DVD. Seeing it on a small screen isn’t going to retract form the movie. But why bother seeing G.I. Joe on a small screen, with tiny car chases and tiny sword fights?