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Jenny Angel posted:Having exactly as many hard stats to back this up as most of the doomsaying articles on the subject, I also feel like there's a sense of belt-tightening that's led to a lot of these nebulous "mid-budget movies" being made cheaper. You look at something like The Gift, and it has all the hallmarks of that handsomely-made mid-budget 90's domestic thriller archetype, but in 2015 it was made by Blumhouse for $5 million. I legit couldn't tell you what would've been improved about the movie by just nudging it up to that mid-budget range. I feel like sometimes I notice the effect of these super-low-budgets on the aesthetics, though it's tied into a deliberate minimalism and austerity that's kinda the rage now. Like, Midnight Special has a small cast and very nondescript locations and basic sets- it has a Spielbergian vibe to it, but feels stripped down to the bare minimum required to tell the story. Ex Machina has the feel of a stage play at times (though the effects probably did eat up the budget pretty quickly), Morgan has the same vibe, it's like to get these kinds of movies made you have to come up with the most simple way of realizing the premise. Like I said, though, I can't be sure, since that may just be the style. But it feels like economics is affecting how these movies get made and the aesthetics that become fashionable. If I could think of something that's a contrast, I'd actually point to The Nice Guys, which when I saw it struck me as the kind of movie that doesn't get made much anymore. The budget was enough to get a few names, some impressive stunts, some interesting settings and setpieces, etc., but it wasn't a tentpole picture. (Of course it also didn't do very well at the box office.) Obviously they were able to get it made, and you can argue it's a unique film in some ways, but it feels like a solid "B" production and I think that's what people talk about. It has a certain messiness. It has room to breathe.
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Oct 6, 2016 09:18
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Tenzarin posted:Are you sure people arn't going because something like 90% are lovely remake/reboot movies? Like suicide squad's thrilling climax is keeping people in seats. See this would make sense as a theory to me if good movies consistently made money and bad ones didn't.
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Oct 15, 2016 00:58
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Guy Mann posted:I'm always surprised that Peak TV and the increasing power of Netflix and other distribution formats isn't brought up more in these discussions. Even if there really are less mid-budget movies being made there are a shitload more serialized programs taking their place and arguably taking better advantage of the same resources; something like Stranger Things is for all intents and purposes a mid-budget movie that just happens to take place over 7.5 hours instead of 2 and is way better for it. I'm not sure about that, it could have stood to be shorter. Some ideas are better done without padding.
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Oct 16, 2016 04:23
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