10 Times That Hollywood Misunderstood The Impact Of Big-Budget Movies

Hollywood is often and rightfully criticized for being out-of-touch with audience tastes (see the Oscars), and their attempts to capitalize on trends often fall horribly flat (also see the Fan Favourite section of the Oscars).

This is unsurprising as those who call the shots in the industry usually do not care about crafting films that balance topicality and timelessness, but rather the focus is on cynical products that are driven by box office receipts and unnecessary franchise expansion. This is especially true in blockbuster filmmaking, where for every Dune or Gravity, audiences are subjected to overpriced drivel that act as sources of embarrassment for everyone involved in their making.

Ideally, these mammoth budgets would mean moviegoers would be treated to films that are both technical and narrative accomplishments, but this is far from the case. Fortunately, audiences have become more aware of these soulless cash-grabs and are staying far away from them.

Despite the reduced interest and diminished box office hauls, studios still feel the need to double down on their widely misguided notions and fill cineplexes everywhere with their lackluster products. Hopefully, these studios will learn to move away from these beliefs and actually respond to audience desires in a more genuine and attentive manner.

Despite technological advancements, it feels like a fair number of movies are becoming more and more incomprehensible. Most films opt for dark lighting, colour grading, disorienting editing and other tricks such as smoke and dust to hide the fact that their action choreography or VFX work is shoddily done/rushed. In addition to this, many audience members have bemoaned the questionable sound design plaguing most movies in recent years.

For example, technically proficient as they may be, Christopher Nolan’s movies post-Inception have all been criticized for their barely audible dialogue. Tenet was especially notable for its garbled sound work, to the point where some wondered why dialogue was included in the first place if it will be washed over with deafening music and sound effects.

The intent is to create a sense of immersion but all it does is hurt the audience’s enjoyment of the film. If all a moviegoer can think about is why they cannot see or hear the events on screen, then the filmmakers’ experiment is a failure and the film becomes a sensory assault in the worst way possible.