Not a Lot of People Went to the Movies Last Year
You may not be the only one at your Oscar party tonight pretending to have seen all nine Best Picture nominees: 2011 moviegoing attendance was the lowest in 15 years.
Can you guess why? Oh, man, I know this one. Let's ask Hollywood.com's Paul Dergarabedian.
The economy, that's one of the things I think that comes into play. When people are really having a hard time putting their money together, you know, filling their wallet, you have to pick and choose what you're going to spend your money on.
Right, the economy. It was on the tip of my tongue.
Also, there were a lot of shitty movies, something this piece kind of glosses over. And either way, attendance in 2012 is already on the rise, so we're either making better films or recovering economically. (Or spending our money more frivolously, if you want to be cynical about it. I did pay $18 to see Star Wars: Episode I in 3D.)
But wait a minute — cut! Thanks to some new popular films, plus mild weather and a whatever-it-is that movie marketers can't bottle (but worship), movie attendance in 2012 is UP.
I don't think I will ever be able to muster as much enthusiasm for box office numbers as this author did in her transition. But hey, at least we'll all be able to do a more thorough job complaining about what doesn't get nominated next year.
