WTF: Is It Really the Economy?

Posted by Kevin Carr (kevin@filmschoolrejects.com) on April 2, 2009

It’s been a tough few months – from your average blue-collar worker to Barack Obama himself. As a country, we’re knee-deep in a recession, and no one quite knows when it will end.

Things have gotten so bad that even popular television series are paying homage to the recession demons. A recent South Park saw Eric Cartman taking to the streets as the superhero the Coon to fight crime in a city torn apart by a bad economy.

Even Desperate Housewives has had multiple storylines about how everyone is feeling a pinch in this economy. (Of course, the people writing for Desperate Housewives seem to forget that the current season is actually taking place more than five years in the future, so I guess we’re in for another big recession in 2014 if Marc Cherry has anything to say about it.)

It’s enough to make me say…

What the financial crisis?

Frankly, I just don’t buy it. Oh, I know we’re in a recession. And I know people have lost jobs. And I know that many aspects of the economy from the Dow Jones Industrial Average to your average American’s bank account are showing serious signs of stress.

But are all the bad things that are happening really a result of a bad economy… or is this just being used as an excuse.

For example, in my home town of Columbus, Ohio, the major daily print film critic has been let go from the paper. Moreover, the paper itself has slashed its arts coverage considerably. They blame it on the economy, but wouldn’t it be fair to say that film criticism in print outlets is a dying breed. I think the death of the print film critic has been happening for years. The papers are just using the state of the economy as an excuse to trim the fat and skirt blame in the process.

Another example is what has been happening nationwide with early film screenings. Over the past three months, there has been an uncharacteristic number of films that haven’t been pre-screened for critics, or the screenings have been cut from everywhere but the biggest markets.

I never expected Lionsgate to screen Madea Goes to Jail, and after seeing Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, I am not surprised in the least that FOX refused to show this movie to any critic.

So far this year, the following films have had limited or no screenings for the press:

The Unborn (Rogue Pictures, January 9)
My Bloody Valentine 3D (Lionsgate, January 16)
Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (Screen Gems, January 23)
The Uninvited (Universal, January 30)
Taken (20th Century Fox, January 30)
He’s Just Not That Into You (New Line Cinema, February 6)
Madea Goes to Jail (Lionsgate, February 20)
Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience (Disney, February 27)
Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (20th Century Fox, February 27)
Sunshine Cleaning (Overture Films, March 13)
The Last House on the Left (Rogue Pictures, March 13)
Duplicity (Universal, March 20)
12 Rounds (Fox Atomic, March 27)
Fast & Furious (Universal, April 3)

That’s a lot of movies to hold back on, even for the first few months of the year. Some, I expected like The Last House on the Left and 12 Rounds. But Taken and He’s Just Not That Into You ended up with pretty solid reviews and became bona fide hits.

Still, even with some rogue elements, most of the films that aren’t screened in all market are exactly the type you’d expect not to be screened. The studios are just afraid to admit that they don’t want to show press films they are likely to pan. And now, they’re just blaming the economy for being cowards.

I just don’t buy the fact that studios like Universal or Fox can’t afford to hold early screenings for their films. After all, amid all the economy blahs, one major news story has been how movies are still bringing in the bucks (presumably for their relatively low ticket prices compared to other entertainment options like concerts and Broadway).

Suck it up, Hollywood. Quit hiding behind the excuse of the economy for trying to control the press.

Either that or make better movies… but I’m not holding my breath for that option.

Read more articles by Kevin Carr