Each week I look at a different topic around the film industry, focusing on the data and statistics which reveal what’s going on.
A few weeks ago I was contacted by a journalist at the New York Times, who asked if I felt that film critics were losing touch with the tastes of the broader public. Naturally, I turned to the data to have a look at what’s going on. I built up a database of 10,449 movies […]
Last week, a row erupted over a film review in Variety of Carey Mulligan’s new movie Promising Young Woman. In an interview for The New York Times, Mulligan discussed her frustration of reading character descriptions along the lines of “Beautiful but doesn’t know it”, and with the way movies present women as sexual objects for […]
In a previous article, I have looked at the ‘brands’ of top actors by studying the genres they most frequently appear in. Today, I am going to look at another facet of an actor’s brand: what their presence in a movie signals to the audience about the movie’s quality. Quality is obviously a subjective term […]
Last week, I used the release of Robin Hood as a catalyst for an article about box office flops. Normally, I don’t like to single films out for undue criticism but sometimes it can’t be avoided. I’ll try and be more restrained in future articles. This week, I’m turning to the completely different topic of […]
I am currently working on a long-term project about horror movies, which should be ready early next year. In the meantime, the occasion of Halloween affords me a good excuse to start to talk about the genre, specifically which are the most culturally important horror movies. As part of my research, I wanted to find a […]
Regular readers will know that I often study topics suggested by members of the public. In the past, they have included subjects such as racial diversity, movie recoupment and public investment in the arts. However this week, most of the questions I have received have been about clowns in movies. Yes, clowns. To be honest, […]
Some producers do all they can to court film critics, under the impression that one positive review in the right journal can herald financial success for their movie. While other producers scoff at the notion of the all-powerful film critic, believing instead that reviews hold no sway in the actions of movie-goers. Bruce Nash from […]
In the last few weeks I have been writing articles about big budget Hollywood blockbusters and in doing so I have faced a linguistic dilemma. Until now, I almost exclusively used the term film on this blog, rather than movie. It somehow felt more appropriate and mirrored the conversations I have in the industry. However, it sounds strange to […]
There a number of clear signs you’re getting older; Policemen look younger, music gets louder and more unintelligible and you start complaining more often about “How could they possibly remake that movie?” Personally, I think part of the outcry against any upcoming Hollywood remake is in fact misplaced anxiety about the passage of time and the […]
Last week’s article on how original Hollywood movies are had such a great response that I’ve rushed out a sequel featuring many of the same characters. Not only that, but I’ve twigged that I can split the follow-up into two parts to maximise my audience. (I may have been studying Hollywood for too long…) This week I am looking at […]
