Cinema Lounge, a film discussion group, takes place at 7:00 PM at Barnes and Noble, 555 12th St., NW in Washington, DC (near the Metro Center Metro stop). The group meets informally on the second floor in the open dining area, seated at round dining tables. You do not need to be a member of the Washington DC Film Society to attend.

Cinema Lounge is moderated by Daniel R. Vovak.

What Makes a Blockbuster Movie?

On July 19, 2010, we discussed "What makes a blockbuster movie?" Immediately, someone commented that making a good blockbuster is limiting the CGI effects. Then the discussion evolved into talk about James Bond. The Bond movies started getting uninteresting with all the CGI in Die Another Day (2002). In Casino Royale (2006), they went back to reality and the franchise's realistic roots. Bourne Ultimatum (2007) has become a new blockbuster with a James Bond-type character.

The other mass market success is Toy Story 3 (2010). Pixar realized from the onset that they could create dots, but they always needed a good story! Pixar spokesmen have said they have made bad movies, but they do not release them, instead cutting and remaking their movies (even down to a total rewrite like Ratatouille, 2007) until they are good.

A blockbuster that did not work was Knight and Day (2010), which was dead on arrival. With that, it has now become clear that the brand of Tom Cruise has faded, though it was drawing a fairly big crowd for a weeknight. One person commented that Tom Cruise was a good-looking, young actor who banked on his winning smile. Yet how could he have maintained it as he aged? In addition, the bizarre religion of Scientology has also hurt audiences' view of him, along with John Travolta, too.

Modern marketing for blockbusters cannot rely on the old concept of two big stars to push a film. Then again, Jaws (1975) and Star Wars (1975) did not have any big stars. The audience seems to want a summer surprise each year, with The Blair Witch Project (1999) and Little Miss Sunshine (2006) being good examples of cult films that fall into a good pattern of successful summer releases.

One person added that there aren't that many new stars coming out anymore. Maybe that's because a lot of the big hits nowadays really aren't making stars out of the actors in the movies. These days, it just seems like you don't need a star to have a blockbuster. Maybe that was true in the past, but it seems even more true in the future. Jim Carey getting $20 million a film may have ended that era, too. It was a lesson that no star makes money automatically for a movie. Will Smith is maybe an exception, though, with Johnny Depp not far behind. Regardless, the star-centered Hollywood system has faded. Harry Potter's Daniel Radcliffe is not a true "star" until he pulls in revenue in a non-Harry Potter movie. On the other hand, some movies don't make it without stars, like Mr. and Mrs. Smith (2005). Avatar (2009) didn't have huge stars either. Looking back to old hits, Alfred Hitchcock didn't have swat teams in his movies, so intense action is not necessary a blockbuster help.

It seems with blockbusters, one person has an original idea and then everyone else copies it. For instance, after Avatar's success, so many new movies are now using 3-D. Imagine if they remake the old films in 3-D. Raging Bull (1980) felt like 3-D! With Inception (2010), the marketing buzz was that the plot was a secret. Twilight (2008) marketing plan was that if the audience loved the book, then they would love the movie. Saw has become the new Halloween or Friday the Thirteenth. Machete (2010) could become a blockbuster. Grindhouse (2007) didn't become a blockbuster because the concept was foreign to most people. Snakes on a Plane (2006) was the first movie to be viral-marketed.

What works as a blockbuster now is franchises, or what wants to be a franchise. Is a world where blockbusters were based on franchises worse than the old system?

One person added the following: "First, a blockbuster movie happens when it tells a story of such a magnitude of interest and in such a compelling manner that people are willing to spend big bucks and go venture out to a movie theater within the first week that a movie opens. Maybe they'll even repeat their buying again and again, bringing friends. Secondly, a blockbuster movie happens when the nature, type, content, artists, etc. are of such a significance that the public feels that it will be of some disadvantage to not have seen on the big screen!"