In an article attempting to give movie critics credibility (and to me doing just the opposite), Slate.com posted a few new ways that Transformers was number one (US only) at the box office last year. As always, it’s just how you play with the numbers.
The thrust of the article is that if you calculate the income of a movie by a per theatre or per screen basis, you better a better idea of its performance and through the author's calculations, good reviews can add dollars to the per screen average for a film. "Almost any way you slice it, if a majority of critics like a movie, chances are it will do better at the box office than a similar film the majority of critics don't like."
On this I call BS. Being a journalist (and therefore needing to justify his declining importance), he neglects to remember the common man that goes to these movies, talks to friends, posts blog and forum comments and basically through the wonderful world of "word of mouth" probably has a far greater impact on a film then the collective of critics ever will. It’s the one thing that publicists and movie studios forget about...the public sharing their opinions is probably the most important factor in a movies success. So in that regards, yes "quality matters" but then I think pretty much everyone already knew that. The goal is always quality, sadly movies just fall short.
Anyway, thanks to his calculations, we have new ways to declare Transformers number one and really that is all that matters. So out of 237 films for 2007, Transformers was number one with a per theatre take of $12,366. However, theatres play movies on multiple screens Transformers is number one there too with $8,887 per screen average. So the take away of this little thing is Transformers is Number One...depending on how you play with the numbers. Thanks to Josh for the link.
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"Almost any way you slice it, if a majority of critics like a movie, chances are it will do better at the box office than a similar film the majority of critics don't like."
ReplyDeleteThat IS BS...seeing as how only 57% of critics gave TF1 a good review according to RottenTomatoes.com, and TF1, I believe, was the third highest grossing film of the summer of 2007...
Critics are a dime a dozen if even that much and I pay little to no attention to them and have for most of my life. Who are they to tell me that I may like or dislike a movie because if I recommend something to eat or drink we are all going to like it ? well of course not we all have different tastes plain and simple. Critics belong on the bottom of the ocean along with Megatron from the 2007 transformers movie! :)
ReplyDeleteThat's about as true as it gets... I almost never read critics reviews... mainly cause I almost never agree with them. lol. I find them either too harsh, or too liberal. I usually just ask my friends and cousins (who are my age), because I get a more realistic response from them. And, of course, there's no better critic of a movie than oneself.
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