February 25, 2006

"It's the Pictures That Got Smaller"

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Well, maybe not the pictures, but certainly the Oscars are getting smaller.Marketwatch reports that, "If the past two years is any indication, it won't be good for Oscar viewer-ship and may cut into future revenue. For

2005 and 2006, household share for the Academy Awards has fallen below the critical 40% level and has been under that threshold for three of the last four years. There's a good chance ratings may end up below that 40% mark again this year, since none of the five best-picture nominees has blown off the doors at the box office"

At the same time that Al Gore will be anointed by Hollywood for his speaking role in "The End of the World According to Me, IX," Nick Cage's Ode to Ignited Petroleum, Ghost Rider, is indeed blowing the doors off the box office this weekend with a $19.7 million take. In its 10 days of release, the Cage opus has grossed $95,255,917 worldwide. Since May of 2006 the total BO take for "An Inconvenient Truth" is $45,287,899. As always, the pocketbook poll tells the tale, regardless of how many million barks of blather Al Gore has floated in his dubious bowl.

Given this trend it is a safe bet to say that ultimately many more Americans will see Ghost Rider than An Inconvenient Truth or the Oscars. It might well be a case of Hollywood diddles while Cage burns. Look for Gore to come back next year to accept the Academy's Irving Thalberg Award for Lifetime Achievement.

As it turns out, any Oscar for Gore will have been decided, in the nomination phase, not by the entire voting contingent of The Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences as you might assume, but by a small cohort of less than 50 people,

a very small group of volunteers from that division (estimated at 30-35 persons) who have time to troop down to the Academy to view the potential nominees.
In short, the fix is in and it will stay in.

No matter who will take their turn at the podium this evening to fondle the world's favorite phallic symbol, what this day will ultimately be remembered for in the history of entertainment will be that it was the day when "Netflix Delivers 1 Billionth DVD."

For this, and this alone, Hollywood should at last "thank all the little people."

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Posted by Vanderleun at February 25, 2006 12:54 PM | TrackBack
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