The Academy’s Desperation Removes Dignity!

    

    Hello Everyone! It has been four years since I started this Blog.  Now I am actually breaking a tradition here as I usually review a Don Bluth movie. However, the Academy must have wanted me to criticize them again, because it’s been over a year since I did a huge rant about them. So last week the Academy announced 3 big changes to the Oscars. One of which is something that doesn’t make much difference. The second  I may be able to live with. The third, however, is a terrible idea and whoever thought of it should really take a good long look in the mirror. So let’s begin:

    The first and least foolish decision is that in 2020 the Oscars will be moving from Late Feb or early March (on winter Olympic Year) to early/ mid February, the idea is to attract more viewers, by shortening award season. This idea may work but, I don’t feel it will make much difference.  Award Season at the moment really begins in early January with The Golden Globes and ends in late Feb with the aforementioned Oscars. The reason it won’t make much difference is because, the other award ceremonies will also move their dates earlier. I've got news for them, “the other Award Shows really like to predict the Oscars.”

The second change is that they are going to be more cautious on the length of the ceremony.  It is only supposed to run for 3 hours but tends to run anywhere from a couple minutes to two hrs over (it usually only runs an hour over). What they are going to do is eliminate some of the smaller categories out of the telecast by presenting them during commercial breaks and then highlight the acceptance speech when the telecast resumes. Now the Tonys do the same thing which I can't say I like but I don't mind it because it’s traditional for them. My opinion that doing this during the Oscars is disrespectful because these people work very hard and receive very little fame or fortune. You can make the telecast shorter without removing them and by not performing the best song nominees. Also by removing all the fillers such as Neil Patrick Harris’ predictions, Chris Rock selling Girl Scout cookies, and Jimmy Kimmel going across the street to another theater and surprising the audience as they were watching a Wrinkle In Time . It seems that the Academy prefers These Moments, over what they are supposed to be doing which is honoring the previous years best in film.

Now the final and worst of all is that there is going to be a new category called Best Popular Film. First of all the title needs to be changed immediately! You hear this every year, “why did this or that picture not get nominated for best picture”. Some of them for instance The Avengers probably is not best picture material (although my 7th grade mind did think it was ) but other movies like Logan definitely are.  My last rant about the Oscars was on the animation category which is very much like a participation trophy. That is saying that with the animation category, an animated movie winning best picture within 10 to 20 years is basically zero percent. Getting nominated is a little higher but still very low. The Academy is basically doing the same exact thing to Blockbusters! What exactly do they  mean by popular films? Do they mean how much the audience scored it on sites like cinemascore or do they mean box office numbers and if so how much does a movie need to make? For instance does it merely need to make back its budget or make a billion dollars? Also if this is like a participation trophy, if they had this from early beginnings, would fan favorite movies which were best picture contenders when they came out such as Get Out and Avatar even be nominated for best picture.  There have been fan favorite movies that have gone on to win best picture like the final Lord of the Rings film, Titanic, and even earlier The Sound of Music. In other words would those movies still have won or would the Academy have felt the best popular film trophy would have been sufficient?The only thing that the Academy has clarified about this new category is that the nominees for best popular film will still be eligible for the best picture award.

In conclusion, I think two of the decisions are bad, one worse than the other, and the other will not make a difference. All of these changes are for ratings but the best popular film award might just backfire on them!  

My thanks to everyone that has read my blogs for the last 4 years and my volunteer staff for helping to get every blog out! I will be forever grateful to all of you! Goodnight and Bee Happy!™

Mr.Bee

copyright 2018 Mr. Bee Studio International All rights belong to Mr. Bee and webmaster Wesley M. and if anybody breaks this copyright they will have to spend ten years as my personal slave, and thanks for your understanding. 

So What Constitutes a “Blockbuster”, Anyway?

                                               
Originally Published on May 31 2018
Hi! This was originally written as an essay for my film class last year. Now that the industry seems to be churning out more and more big-budget, high-grossing movies, I figured now was an appropriate time. Also, my blog posts are becomming more and more scarce these day...so, sit back and enjoy this ‘blockbuster’ edition of my blog.


Mr.Bee


A Hollywood Blockbuster can be an expected or a surprise based solely off ticket sales. A modern example for an expected blockbuster is Star Wars: The Force Awakens while an unexpected blockbuster is Deadpool. The three characteristics that both these films share are starpower or notoriety and a diverse audience bolstering box-office returns.


True Hollywood blockbusters either have notable movie stars and/or another form of notoriety. For example, the name “Star Wars” alone automatically gives a film credibility even though an argument can be made that there may not be a true “a-list” celebrity in the movie. However, most blockbusters draw obvious stars. For example, Ryan Reynolds, the star of Deadpool, was named People’s Sexiest Man Alive. Notoriety through either measure makes the public more likely to pay the ticket price to go see the/their movie on the big screen. Batman vs. Superman was a recent “blockbuster” despite the fact that most critics panned the movie as sub-par. The movie, overall, did not perform as expected but still made $873 million on a $250 million dollar budget. The Transformers franchise is also another example of poorly received blockbusters. Many film fans consider the series one of the worst of all time, but they keep making money and movies. Some form of notoriety is the reason that nearly half of summer blockbusters are remakes or sequels.





A true blockbuster has a huge box-office intake due to its appeal to a diverse audience . In order to be a box-office hit, it has to make double its budget including advertising. In addition, if a movie has a far-reaching appeal, then it sustain its popularity thereby bolstering its intake. For example, a movie like Frozen, which, granted isn’t your typical blockbuster, was a box-office darling that audiences couldn’t let go of. Children loved the movie and watched it over and over again and it was watchable by adults because they were also entertained. Further, merchandising for the movie held on for years. Another instance of appealing to a diverse audience is the United States’ overall apathy for foreign films. Many foreign films are critically acclaimed, but don’t become blockbusters because they can’t draw a big audience in the States because of lack of interest. Spirited Away or Ponyo are examples. In summary, a blockbuster needs a broad appeal and relatability in order for people to go see it thereby increasing its box office take.

Bibliography

https://www.writersstore.com/secrets-of-blockbuster-movies-part-1/

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-11-defining-features-of-the-summer-blockbuster/

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?yr=2016

copyright 2018 Mr. Bee Studio International All rights belong to Mr. Bee and webmaster Wesley M. and if anybody breaks this copyright they will have to spend ten years as my personal slave, and thanks for your understanding.
 image courtesy of Schmoes Know