# What are American audiences thinking? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 30, 2003, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-american-audiences-thinking/151660 "2003-01-30T17:41:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-american-audiences-thinking/151660/1 "2003-01-30T17:41:42Z")
Darkness Falls, Kangaroo Jack, National Security and Just Married are (with Chicago, which, while I don’t care for musicals, I’m not appalled by) the top 5 movies in the U.S. right now? What the…? Can someone explain this phenomenon to me? Who are these people? ---
**Author:** ![stolichnaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@stolichnaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolichnaya)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-american-audiences-thinking/151660/2 "2003-01-30T17:46:46Z")
Lightweight Horror Silly Farce Goofy Action Harmless Comedy Find the connection… ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-american-audiences-thinking/151660/3 "2003-01-30T17:47:44Z")
I would probably love Kangaroo Jack if I was a kid (though it looks so bad I literally feel embarassed when I see the trailers for it.) Right now is a downtime for movies. The holiday rush is over and all the studios are laying low waiting to be the first to jump on the spring/summer movie rush. It’s probably going to start early this year with Daredevil, X-Men 2, and Matrix Revolutions all coming out before summer hits. If it makes you feel better all these movies have terrible ratings at the IMDB, so people don’t actually _like_ them, there’s just nothing else to watch right now. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-american-audiences-thinking/151660/4 "2003-01-30T17:47:44Z")
Aside from which, there aren’t many real interesting movies out anyway. Even the worst athelte will win if he has no competition… ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-american-audiences-thinking/151660/5 "2003-01-30T18:01:36Z")
I think Just Married looks pretty funny. ---
**Author:** ![Tars\_Tarkas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-american-audiences-thinking/151660/6 "2003-01-30T18:30:33Z")
Problem is nothing new that is good is out now. Shainghai Knights aint until next week, and all the cool comic book/sequals that you saw during the super bowl wont be out until later. But Kangaroo Jack needs to get beaten by a digeridoo ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-american-audiences-thinking/151660/7 "2003-01-30T18:32:39Z")
I was horrified last week when I saw that Kangaroo Jack was the number one film. But sometimes people are just looking to escape or laugh, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Suspenderzzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@Suspenderzzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suspenderzzz)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-american-audiences-thinking/151660/8 "2003-01-30T18:35:43Z")
95% of the American public are lunkheads. The other 5% work in Hollywood and know this. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-american-audiences-thinking/151660/9 "2003-01-30T18:38:45Z")
Eve during the Xmas rush, didn’t Scorcese’s movie get trounced? And how well has Catch me if you Can- a light comedy- done? And Confessions of a Dangerous Mind? Do critics have any effect on moviegoing at all anymore? I’ve seen ‘bombs’ for Darkness Falls and Just Married, and glowing recommendations for the first three mentioned. This is why I don’t play the stockmarket. It’s one thing to feel down and go out and watch Office Space. It’s quite another to pave the way for Kangaroo Jack 2: 'roo with a 'tude. To quote Adam Corolla last night, after deep frying a watch with Snoop Dogg on Jimmy Kimmel’s new show, “This is, at least in part, why the terrorists hate us.” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-american-audiences-thinking/151660/10 "2003-01-30T18:42:01Z")
And now for something completely different. Opening this week: The Recruit Final Destination Biker Boyz [sub]Eve? I don’t see a post from Eve… I’m confused…[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Legomancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@Legomancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legomancer)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-american-audiences-thinking/151660/11 "2003-01-30T18:42:03Z")
There are people here who HAVE to go to a movie on weekends. I don’t really understand that. I’ve actually heard someone saying, “Well we HAD to see ‘Glitter’ because it was the only thing opening!” There are also people, apparently with copious amounts of time and money, who will purposely go see something without reading any reviews on opening night. They will boast about doing so, because “the critics don’t know anything, they only like artsy, highbrow stuff”. Then these people will bitch to high heaven about how shitty the movie was when anyone with sense could have told them it would be. I like both of these sets of people, because I’m paid a dollar every time someone on a message board says, “Sure, it’s not Citizen Kane…” ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-american-audiences-thinking/151660/12 "2003-01-30T18:45:01Z")
There was a great piece on NPR about the disingenous marketing campaign that went into making Kangaroo Jack the #1 movie. It was concieved and filmed as the usual Jerry Bruckheimer shoot 'em up schlock, but when they put it in front of some test audiences they hated it. The only positive reactions were from the kids, who thought the kagaroo was cute. So Jerry Fuckheimer decided to make the kangaroo talk (which it does in only one scene, filmed after the completion of the rest of the movie) and marketed it with commercials during cartoons and kids programs so the kids would drag their parents to the movies. Now a whole lot of parents are pissed off because a) the movie sucked so much and b) it’s not a kid’s movie. There’s apparently lots of violence and wet t-shirts, etc. If you see Bruckheimer’s name attached to ANYTHING, ever, flee. In other words–for the love of all that is holy, don’t go see Pirates of the Carribean! ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-american-audiences-thinking/151660/13 "2003-01-30T18:49:11Z")
Catch Me If You Can, Gangs Of New York, and LOTR:Two Towers all opened at roughly the same time. Two of them were going to get creamed. I’m wondering why somebody didn’t hold off on one of the three to take advantage of a cinematic dead zone like this. As for the movies ruling the box office now…:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Super\_Gnat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Super\_Gnat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Super_Gnat)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-american-audiences-thinking/151660/14 "2003-01-30T18:49:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by vibrotronica \* > \*\*In other words–for the love of all that is holy, don’t go see Pirates of the Carribean! \*\* But… but… Orlando Bloom is in it! ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-american-audiences-thinking/151660/15 "2003-01-30T18:50:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by smiling bandit \* > \*\*Aside from which, there aren’t many real interesting movies out anyway. Even the worst athelte will win if he has no competition… \*\* You’re kidding right? In the last few weeks I’ve seen some EXCELLENT movies: Adaptation The Hours Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and then there are the ones I really want to see: About Schmidt Chicago Far From Heaven I guess if your idea of an “interesting” movie is a big action blockbuster, then that may be why you’re having problems. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-american-audiences-thinking/151660/16 "2003-01-30T19:18:55Z")
This seemed topical: > [@](#): > > Britney Spears […] caused a stir during a Sundance Festival screening of Robert Downey Jr.'s “The Singing Detective” when she and her large entourage walked out 45 minutes into the flick. Spears later told a PAGE SIX spy, “The official line is we had our schedules mixed up, so we had to leave, but I didn’t like the movie… Sundance is weird. The movies are weird - you actually have to think about them when you watch them.” [Cite.](http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/pagesix/20030128/en_pagesix/thumbs_down) :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Darwins\_Finch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darwins_finch/32/20304_2.png) [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-american-audiences-thinking/151660/17 "2003-01-30T20:02:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Super Gnat \* > \*\*But… but… > > Orlando Bloom is in it! \*\* This is, in part, why otherwise crappy movies can reach #1 at the box office: star infatuation. You attach a big name to a project, either as director or producer or actor or even cameo, and you can be assured that fans will flock to see it, regardless of its actual quality. ---
**Author:** ![Arden\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b487fb/32.png) [@Arden\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arden_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-american-audiences-thinking/151660/18 "2003-01-30T20:03:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Super Gnat \* > \*\*But… but… > > Orlando Bloom is in it! \*\* Exactly! And the [stills](http://www.orlandomultimedia.net/pirate/pirateimages.html) look cool so far. Love the ships. ---
**Author:** ![stolichnaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@stolichnaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolichnaya)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-american-audiences-thinking/151660/19 "2003-01-30T20:08:21Z")
Ah, page six. There are a heckuva lot of people out there who are perfectly capable of thought who wouldn’t watch “The Hours” if you put them in that contraption from “A Clockwork Orange” which they also haven’t seen. I would venture to guess that more paople in america would rather see “Kangaroo Jack” than “The Hours”, “Far From Heaven”, or even “Chicago”. That doesn’t make them moronic, it just means that they want something different out of a night at the movies than you do. The fact that highbrow films continue to be made at an astonishing clip means, to me, that the “mainstream” flicks are not damaging the ability of Hollywood to make good stuff, and they may in fact be helping (at least financially). The simple answer to your question is that most Americans could give a rat’s patoot about serious film, and they want them a good comedy or rollercoaster action movie on their night out. Their dollars are paying for the distribution system and infrastructure that that most serious film hitches a ride on, so I try not to complain. Of the movies that the OP listed, I am looking forward to seeing “Just Married”. ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-american-audiences-thinking/151660/20 "2003-01-30T20:41:02Z")
I work very hard at a mentally draining job five days a week, usually with 10-11 hour days. When I get home, I’m completely wiped out and want three things: food, sleep and mindless entertainment. When I have the mental energy for them, I see films that demand thought, like _Adaptation_. But when I’m more or less shot and just want to relax and veg, I see things like _Darkness Falls_. Besides, bad movies can be more fun to talk about than good ones. We had a ball chronicling all the narrative leaps taken in _Darkness Falls_, making up bad dialogue and sideplots, etc. With _Adaptation_, though we certainly talked about it, it was mostly along the lines of “Wow.” I mean, hell. I love fine food, but that’s not going to stop me from eating a cheeseburger when the mood strikes. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-american-audiences-thinking/151660.md?page=2)