Maybe DVD Sales Collapsed Because Movies Suck

I assume you're talking about the Tim Burton version of Apes! (The only Burton movie I don't like.)

I have to agree and I'm buying much less new releases than I used to – I think the last ones I bought were from two years ago: Zodiac and Sweeney Todd. I've mostly been buying catalog titles and upgrading certain DVDs to Blu-Ray. What's weird is that there are several movies that come out today that, ten years ago, I probably would've purchased on DVD (Judd Apatow's movies come to mind) but today, I'm content to Netflix.

"well, maybe 'Planet of the Apes' — but I keep watching thinking it will get better"

I hope you mean the Marky-Mark version, because the original was the zenith of Charlton Heston's campy late sci-fi action period, which is among the top 3 or 4 Heston periods.

I agree… only it's blockbuster online.

I think it's the cost vs. how many times do you intend to watch that over and over again factor. DVDs also sit on shelves after the initial viewings are over. It's cheaper to either rent them or down load them watch them, then return to the rental store or delete them, as the case may be. Parents who buy a lot of DVDs for their young children to watch over and over again find out soon that these things can accumulate, and with changing technologies can be hard to re-sell or donate later.

My reluctance to buy movies has more to do with the actors than the actual movies. I mean, I absolutely loved the old Mission:Impossible TV show, but how can I buy a movie with Tom Cruise in it?

The same goes for John Travolta. I enjoyed Pulp Fiction, but I simply won't buy a movie with an avowed Scientologist in it.

Left-wing loon or Scientologist loon, all the same to me. I don't want to support them.

Whenever I think about why Hollywood sucks, I start thinking about shows like Lost.

Lost isn't a great show by any means. It has no real over-arching story (no matter what anybody says, they had no plan when they started and have been figuring it out as they go along) and doesn't make a whole heck of a lot of sense. But the reason I watch it is because the characters and dialog simply work. Even if, at the end of the hour, you're back where you started or have no idea what happened it was still a fun journey.

If you look back at the 60's, 70's, 80's and so on, a lot of movies were like this. There were tons of 'cannon fodder' movies that didn't have the most amazing premises but gave you an enjoyable ride. Many of them are forgotten (those that made any mark whatsoever have either already been remade or are in process). But there were so many everyone has their favorite in each genre.

It seems like this is what we've lost in Hollywood: the ability to make something good out of known material. The quality of the movies seems to have gone so far downhill. Think of the last 'comedy' you went to – how much did you actually laugh? If it was like most of the comedies I've seen recently you probably got one or two good laughs and were looking at your watch the rest of the way through. Writers just don't know how to do the guts of a story anymore, so they either overshoot on concept or use some rickety old cliche skeleton and fill it with bathroom jokes, lame pop culture references, dumb film tricks, or – worst of all – agitprop. Or, with a film like Zombieland, all the above.

I think it's more a matter of the following:

1. See the film in theatres ($10)
2. See the film in theatres and purchase the DVD ($30)
3. See the film in theatres and rent the DVD 5 times ($20)
4. See the flim in theatres and Netflix/Roku/Amazon the DVD 5 times ($20)

I always choose option 4 because I almost never watch a movie I bought more than 5 times (with the exception of all time classics, like The Big Lebowski). Why purchase a DVD you are going to watch only a few times when you have such easy access to the content for only $1.99 per view?

John, thanks for this. I'm a lifelong movie fanatic who hasn't been going to the movies, renting the movies, or buying the movies. Well, I take that back — if it's on TCM I'll watch it; if it's on their website, I'll buy it. (but only because they have Robert Osborne deliver it in person)
Other than that…

My lifetime purchase of DVD's, 0 out of all the Top whatever list.

Now I hardly buy any DVD's. I am now on a fixed income and cannot afford it as much and no longer have the secondary need to provide entertainment to my crew. It is nice to go through the collection now and then, I still have several unwatched DVD's from when I was purchasing about 2 or more a week. I have found a few gems but mostly they are only mildly entertaining.

I now use Netflix and Hulu to watch a lot of programming on line. I have discovered many movies and programs I was unaware of. One of my favorites is "Kingdom" from the BBC. I have seen two seasons of it so far and it has all the things you would want from a TV program. People will still seek out good entertainment but the method of delivery has changed and will contimue to change. It is the fact that not only has Hollywood been producing content that does not attarct as customers as before but they do not understand the changing delivery systems.

I haven't even read the column, I'm too busy cleaning up the wine that just came out my nose reading the head line.

I agree with AtheistCon. I watch a lot less movies now (except when I rent old ones that Nolte recommends) and I DVR a bunch of shows.
10 years ago, I didn't follow any TV shows because the were too predictable and brainless. Now, I get that feeling most times I go to the theater. I have a permanently broken rib from the many times that my wife has elbowed me for predicting the entire plot of a new movie based solely on the first 10 minutes.
On TV, however, the writing is MUCH better, the plots are more unique, there is less stereotyping to fit the political narrative (unless you still watch Law & Order), and the characters are more empathetic to those of us in Flyover Country..
I base this on the shows I currently like, i.e.: Dexter, Psych, Burn Notice, and Sons of Anarchy. Deadwood was also a modern classic. Even shows that have lost their fastball, like House, are better than any of the New Releases I've seen in the past year.

I love movies and have bought several DVDs in the past. But not now.

While the general quality of movies have fallen in the past few years (except for some great exceptions), I believe this is more to the point:

THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF MY WALLET

http://naturalfake.wordpress.com/2009/10/08/the-u...

Agree 100%. I use to keep up with "new releases". Tuesdays were important. Now, who cares? Movies are just not that interesting anymore and they should be. Blueray is awsome. Movies are much more fun to watch without commercials on BlueRay. This past year I have probably purchased 3-4 blue rays and see nothing about to be released that has any real interest for me.

Yeah, I totally agree with this.

The movies just aren't that good these days.

I find myself these days browsing the DVD stores looking for older movies. I've got my eye on a Buster Keaton DVD compilation that was released this year( also recently bought Murphy's Law, Bruce Lee's Game of Death and It's a Wonderful Life).

But even that, last year the only movie I considered buying last year was The Dark Knight(which I own), Gone Baby Gone and Prince Caspian, though I haven't picked up the latter yet.
I also got 3:10 to Yuma, which now I understand why my dad loves westerns so much.
And the Forbidden Kingdom, which came free with the newspaper Correio da Manhã(translation The Early Mail).

And even the good movies, I honestly can't say they are worth paying full price for the DVD. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a great film, but I'm not picking that DVD till the price drops.

I might pick up UP but again only if there's a price cut.

This year's been pretty bleak for Summer movies. I liked District 9, but there's no way I'm buying the DVD.

Damn! You beat me to it. They just ruin it when they start talking politics and clearly have no idea what they are saying. I used to like the Bourne movies but I can't stand looking at that blonde headed turd anymore. On the bright side, I have a new appreciation for Team America.

Perhaps Hollywood should get back to entertainment and stay the hell out of other peoples lives. My wife and I went to movies for the hell of doing it. Not any more, either the movies are crap, or the actors are on the liberal no watch list. Either way perhaps when Hollywood lifestyles get altered a bit, they’ll quit crapping in their beds?

"Inglorious Basturds" was a bore. My daughter and I left before it was over. Chris Rock's documentary, "Good Hair" was outstanding — definitely worth buying.

I've blogged about this a lot. It happened to Music (peak year for sales was 1999, it's now half of that), Newspapers (LAT circulation peaked in 1988, declined thereafter), Magazines, and TV (audiences combined a fraction of what they were in 1968).

In all cases, an elite, often hereditary, gained control over media, and turned it into a PC wonderland that is often a gay-female ghetto, of little interest to men. The content creators have no real craft honed by apprenticeship and little understanding of the audience desires/wants, with nothing in the executive level to match Otis Chandler or Samuel Goldwyn. Let alone Louis B. Mayer.

Existing DVD purchases compete for new ones, and classic DVDs such as Die Hard, or Star Wars compete at lower price-points than new releases with higher quality. There HAS been a shift in rentals, see my latest post, along with piracy and Redbox. This is in line with how streaming music and cheap piracy and Itunes changed the Music business. Hulu is part of this as well.

But Nolte is correct, content being poor is a huge driver in hard times. Box office HAS declined in tickets sold, and relies on increasing ticket prices, of which there is a natural ceiling. Date Night can sustain only so many ticket sales. What can work is broadly appealing, non-message, middle brow middle class entertainment. Unfortunately, not even Spielberg can make those anymore, much less anyone who signed "Free Roman" petitions. Would you part with even a dollar to see "Land of the Lost" or some of the other really bad films this year? There were more entertaining videos of the "remixes" of "Downfall" where the Fuhrer rants about Michael Jackson or Cameron's Avatar ("I waited ten years for Captain Planet with cats!") on Youtube than what was in theaters or DVD rental/purchase options.

In the case of Tom Cruise you get the best of both worlds-a left wing loon AND a Scientologist.

Trek was pretty good, especially when compared to the last few films. Wolverine was good, probably better if they stuck to the origin storyline. I'm looking forward to the sequel and the deadpool spin-off. And Iron Man 2.
My reason for not buying movies on DVD/Blu-ray, the economy, I've got no extra money to spend.

I'm just rephrasing Nolte because it makes me feel self-important.

John's right – quit blaming piracy, downloads, etc. Sales are down because quality is down. Case in point? For the first time, I am NOT buying the DVD of the latest Harry Potter. Why? Because 'Half Blood Prince' sucked! And folks, this comes from a Potter fanatic who flew to Edinburgh, Scotland for the release of the final Potter book and stood on the sidewalk outside Waterstones for 14 hours in full Gryffindor Quidditch outfit. Man, after I watched "HBP", I nearly had to bend over a toilet afterwards to hork out the bad taste in my mouth. That movie stank to high heaven. Hollywood? Like the man said, if you do not build a good film, we will not buy it.

I love movies, always have. That being said, I spend time at home watching TCM, even though it is owned by Ted Turner. The last time I went to the movies was to see a preview of "LA Confidential", which I loved by the way. No movie even interests me. My co-workers say I remind them of the old man in "Up", so I'll watch it at some time, even though that leftie idiot Ed Asner does the voice. And DVD's are way overpriced, not to mention the legal robbery that is blu-ray. This I know, because I work at Wal-Mart, in electronics, and sell the crude that goes out today.

It's strictly financial for me. I've been out of work for 7 months (well, I have my own business and do side jobs to get by), so I'll only buy a DVD if it's something amazing, and probably something my daughter would want to watch over and over (Up will probably get purchased for Christmas). If I get a decent job soon I'll still be stingy with my purchases. After living on the brink for so long, I have no taste for spending money capriciously. Netflix, Red Box and On Demand movies are cheaper and convenient.

Watch any classic movie, and then take a gander at the L.A. Times Calendar section. Wow, how far we've come. Maybe Bill Maher's right, people are stupid. The writing, the acting, the performers are all subpar, why toil to elevate all of those when they still get the big bucks and all the fame? People want to be entertained..

The new Vince Vaughn movie has gotten skewered by critics, but I've read that it's doing well because.. 'people are in the mood for Vince Vaughn.' Is that all it takes now? I'm in the mood for a great, enjoyable movie. I have been for years now. Still waiting..

Me too! I think if I look hard enough I'll spot a gem that I've missed.
Nope. Wishful thinking.
Gotta love non-union Walmart bargain bin. LOL.

Generally speaking, the films produced over the past few years have been poor. The story lines are recycled or predictable. The subject matter appeals to a junior high school intellect. The actors are typically untalented and offscreen are generally dislikeable. The characters are typically one dimensional caricatures. Special effects are presumed to make up for absence of plot or interest. There hasn't been a movie in the past three years that I have wanted to pay money to see. Hollywood caters to an audience with extremely low expectations.

Hear, Hear. Once the mystique is gone, we are left with the ugly truth.

Conservatives need to patronize people and businesses who believe in this country and the concepts upon which it was founded. I refuse to give money to those who don't.

I am legion.

Not sure anyone's hit on this, but one reason we don't go to the movies is we have a plasma tv (after our trusty Sony 27" finally died). Even non-blu-ray films look great on it! And the football. And the basketball. And Chuck, Monk, Psych, Closer…we even watch CSI Miami (with the sound off, of course) just because it looks so darned good (makes a great screen saver).

I'm sure you can add hi-def TV to one of the very many reasons folks aren't going to the flicks.

New love: The Middle (with Patricia Heaton).

could not agree more. So many great stories out there, stories that could inspire but they (libs in Hollywood) continue to spew this PC crap movies always wanting to make the US look like the worst country on the planet. It is a crying shame these entitled aholes don't have to live as most in the world do.

Absolutely!!! I haven't been to a movie since the last Indiana Jones movie and I only went to it because I loved the series and I wanted to see it on the big screen. Now I live on Netflix — old movies and old series. I can't even look at some of these actors and seeing them as acting. I just see that I can't stand them personally or politically. Completely ruins any chance at making a movie seem real. Do they not realize they have picked up a razor and cut their own throat? I never realized how stupid or arrogant (or both) actors are….I would have rather have been able to keep the mystique. I am sure many of the old movie star actors were morons, but they kept it quiet. I still have a VERY few movies I still buy, but not many.

Why buy or rent a movie when you can see it theaters in digital projection and surround sound, or order it on demand in hi-def or on Itunes or just wait until it's on HBO HD. That seems to be where the home market is heading. The future of movies at home is instant access, not fumbling for tapes or dvds.

Yeah, there's a lot of bad movies, but to be fair, there's just as much bad music, bad television and bad books as their are bad movies.

I'm just upset that people flock to garbage like Friday the 13th and Transformers 2 while there are great films out there nobody's seeing like Moon and Bright Star.

Hollywood's too busy aweing the global community (and each other) with their knowledge of politics, climate change and how to avoid it, saving the fishies and attempting to convince the entire human race that the is no God to take the time to work on a decent film.

What makes you think you have a right to purchase a DVD and watch it "again and again"? They intend for those to be a one-time viewing. And they expect you to send them the appropriate fees if anyone else watches it with you that one time.

I love this thread. I used to buy a lot of dvds but now I buy just a few and I rarely go to the movies. I can't stand paying so much (I am not so dumb as to buy anything) and sit there while the dumpster family comes in and gives you the pleasure of listening to them feed their faces with $50 of popcorn and crap in surround sound. There are still some good movies being made, I thought Benjamin Button was great and I keep watching the recent Pride and Prejudice because it makes me happy. I still rent a lot because I just like movies but most I can hardly remember watching as they made absolutely no impression. Not to mention the dvds I just stopped watching because they were so self-indulgent or just plain dull.

I have access to a blu-ray and HD TV at work and I bought, probably my favorite ever, Band of Brothers in blu-ray for $40 at Amazon, to watch at lunch time. Amazing. But there are so few movies that even deserve HD let alone forking out $30. No thanks. (OK, I might get Top Gun just because it is the best worst movie ever).

Then there is the list of actors who have so pissed me off that I will never see, rent, buy or suffer any of their movies (shut up and act). OK, if I was able to see a pirate copy I might watch. I can't believe the producers don't shut the idiots up because I imagine they lose 30% or more from people just like me. Of course for them, already rich from Daddy's money or sucking from the government art tit or in bed with the global warming money machine, they could care less–they are being socially responsible (also known as having no clue how people outside of NYC, DC or LA, or make less than 250K actually live). Life is very good thank you.

Will they ever get it? Probably not but that is OK. Technology is getting so good that passionate people just wanting to tell a good story without preaching or saving the world can begin to make films we will want to watch over and over again and even buy.

I've been saying for years that the best stuff is on television. I'd also add NCIS, The Office, Chuck, 30 Rock (I know, I know), and Lost to your list.

I watch TCM every morning for a little while before work, and I find it at once wonderful and depressing. There's nothing like getting lost in an old film, rediscovering a movie you loved when you were a kid, and watching great stories come alive. But then the movie ends, and I drive to work bummed that movies just aren't like that anymore. I used to go see everything, and I've spent years giving my kids an appreciation for great films, but now there is just so little to see that is worthwhile.

I had to give up on Blockbuster. I get so angry when I see that whoever does their ordering apparently isn't aware that movies were made before 2000. And then I see that they carry Pumpkinhead and all of its sequels, and it just about sends me over the edge.

The curious crop of filmmakers and studio people in Hollywood for the past ten years has been the kind who grew up watching movies and TVs and never really experience real life or adventure (like fighting in a war, etc.) or school of hard knocks. The recent batch of comedy and horror movies are no longer entertaining or shocking, just for the shock or juvenile-cartoonish value.

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Perusing through the Top 20 Money Makers of each year featured has confirmed my suspicion that the big money-makers have always sucked. There are a few good movies in there, but from 1998 to 2008 there hasn't been a year where I've owned more than 12 movies from the top 20 (and that was an outlier; the average was hovering around 5). They are predominantly sequels, remakes or TV-adaptations; great for raking in the dough, but never the best indicator of the quality of any given year.

There are still great movies coming out, but they are not the hundred-million-dollar grossers. Moon, The Hurt Locker, Coraline,and Public Enemies (although fairly close to cracking the $100 million mark) were all amazing movies. As usual, they were for the most part ignored. However, I don't know if I will indeed pick any up on DVD new. Blockbuster sells used copies about one month after their release for half-price. They have effectively eliminated most reasons to purchase a DVD brand-new.

For me I got into the ground floor when it came to DVD's. I had missed the initial launch of laser discs so at the time DVD's was marketed as the replacement for Laserdiscs, the high end so to speak of movie watching. So I jumped on board buying DVD's when Tower Records had maybe a small display case with a couple dozen movies to chose from and none of them I wanted to buy just yet. So I re-bought all my favorite movies on DVD's when they came out, and re-bought with each new special edition or new directors commentary. When they announced the new HD-DVD and Blu-Ray format – and the ensuing long drawn out fight – that's exactly when I gave up on DVD's and movie buying. Okay so Blu-Ray finally won – I just didn't care any more. I had all my all-time favorite movies on DVD – I had invested thousands and thousands of dollars on DVD's – let alone the thousands of dollars I had invested on VHS movies. I was done feeding the Hollywood machine. The last three DVD's I have bought were 300, Watchmen, and The Dark Knight – each on the day they were released, that's it. As it was 10 years ago I was buying 10 or more DVD's a month at times if not more because when a new DVD came out the studios were great in releasing older movies of a similar nature with the new releases.

It's not like I'm 60 years old, I'm 42, but just for the record, how many times do we need to re-buy the Star Wars Trilogy – as an example – I bought the original VHS mass release, I bought the 'digital' remastered VHS set – then stupid Lucas refused to bring out the Special Edition set on DVD right away mumbling something about not being the one to "promote a new format like I did with VHS" blah blah blah – so he brought the set out on laser disc of all things – bah – so he finally brings out the set on DVD – but just the Special Editions – and then he brings out the set that has both the Special Edition and the Original on DVD. Now who in their right mind is once again going to re-buy another Star Wars set on Blu-Ray. Are you kidding me? Seriously. If you got into DVD's near the start – you were mostly buying to replace VHS or Laser Discs thinking that "Sweet DVD's are going to be around for a long long time – I'm rebuying everything I had on VHS and buying stuff I had always wanted to but never did." – and now they want me to start over with Blu-Ray. Not going to happen, no more money for a morally bankrupt Hollywood and their crappy new movies.

Am I bitter? Yes sir.

I am still as passionate about movies as I ever have been. Unfortunately that passion is for good movies which means most of the crap pooped out of Hollywood today makes me ill.

Why DVD sales are falling?

Two words.

Lime. Wire.

I can't believe you bought as many as you did. I went through the years and came up with about half as many that I could see myself spending any money on. You many be a movie lover, but you are certainly not a lover of great movies… and if by chance you are and I am wrong you do have an extremely large range for what constitutes watchability… and I am no elitist when it comes to film.

Jesus. I love Breitbart but wish this site was not attached to his others. There is no way this is set up for people who love art, cinema, acting, etc. If you dismiss all art associated with liberals, idiots, radicals, people of questionable morals, etc you would end up with nothing. You would not be able to watch a Brando film, read a Hemingway novel, a Ftizgerald novel, Shakespeare, watch a Muhammed Ali fight, watch Pulp Fiction, Goodfellas, Raging Bull, anything Hitchcock, any Marx Bros. Film, Chaplin film, Reagan film when he was a liberal democrat, Kubrick, etc etc etc. Separate the art from it all. The films, works, art, books are bigger than the individuals involved. Live in your closed mind and sacrifice some of the greatest art men have ever known. Why can you not separate? I for one will stop writing and watch Chinatown for the 79th time.

Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes… the only Burton movie I don't like.

I have to agree and I'm buying much less new releases than I used to – I think the last ones I bought were from two years ago: Zodiac and Sweeney Todd. (Also The Dark Knight.)

I've mostly been buying catalog titles, cancelled TV shows (The Middleman, The Dana Carvey Show, etc.) and upgrading certain DVDs to Blu-Ray. What's weird is that there are several movies that come out today that, ten years ago, I probably would've purchased on DVD (Judd Apatow's movies come to mind) but now, I'm simply content to Netflix.

I don't know how many movies my husband and I have gone into the past couple of years and either left half way through the movie… or after forcing him to watch the rest of the movie because I am HOPING that it will get better by the end, but usually doesn't we come out saying how much the movie sucked… I love comedies of all kinds… but I don't watch any with Seth Rogan (because time after time they prove to suck majorly even if my sides are spliting at the previews)… I remember even just a few years ago when movies would come out I would want to see a good lot of them… Now, every friday when my husband and I have to decide what movie to see it seems more like a chore than planning a fun outing… :/

Oh please most of the crap made now is just that. If it hasn't sold what little soul it had to the godz of CGI then its a political piece of absolute garbage made solely for the moron sect. Good luck if Hollywood's vector takes it full on into the idiocy of the politico forever. I'll stick to purchasing the blu ray editions of my old favorites (just past 60 last month), all the damned pre-orders I've made (should top 80 by Christmas)and get used to hunting down foreign blu rays managing to steer clear of preaching global warming to me or the nastiness of that same capitalism which affords me the purchasing of my entire DVD collection on blu ray.

Funny how Hollywood always ignores the obvious.

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