The phrase “they don’t make ’em like they used to” can be applied to a wide array of topics within our collective sociological paradigm . The art we admire, the music we listen to, and above all else — the movies we watch and consume.
No matter how you slice it, the result is the same: movies just aren’t as good as they once were. In fact, I’ll even go as far as to say that movies haven’t been good since the mid-2000s, and there are plenty of reasons why .
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Let’s begin by establishing a benchmark or a turning point.
I’m going to use 2010 as the divider. Now, that’s not to say that every movie released since 2010 is necessarily bad. Rather, I’m only saying that since that time, there has been a stark decline in the overall quality and impact of movies/films.
One of the biggest reasons why there’s been a decline in movie quality has to do with a lack of diversification.
In 2020, three studios accounted for more than 60% of the total North American market share for movies, film, and TV. They are NBCUniversal, Walt Disney Studios, and Sony Pictures.
Since 2010, the majority of the top-grossing films of the year have been produced by either one of two companies.
Those two companies are Walt Disney Studios and Sony Pictures. In the last 12 years , Disney has taken the top spot 9/12 times, while Sony has come out on top twice. The outlier occurred in 2011 when Warner Bros. released Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II .
Because of this incredible monopoly, mini-major and minor studios simply aren’t able to compete.
If you add up the collective 2020 market share of Lionsgate, The Amblin Group, ErosSTX, and MGM — the total is less than 7% . By comparison, ViacomCBS (the smallest of the five Majors) had an 8.8% market share all on its own.
Another reason for the decline is that for the past 12 years, the film industry has been firmly rooted in the era of the superhero.
Disney bought Marvel Entertainment back in 2009 for $4 billion . Since that time, 21 different Marvel movies have received a theatrical release — five of which went on to become the top-grossing movie of the year.
Are there examples of Marvel movies that have been both a critical and commercial success? Without question.
However, they are few and far between. In my humble opinion, the only MCU films that possess any inherent rewatchable qualities are Guardians of the Galaxy , Captain America: Civil War , Thor: Ragnarok , and Avengers: Infinity War .
Moving on from the superhero argument, it would appear that Hollywood has also run out of original ideas.
Have you noticed that nowadays, every single movie released in theaters is either a reboot, a remake, or a sequel? You’re not alone in your observation.
Starting in 2010 and up until 2019, an astounding 79 movies that received theatrical releases were remakes.
These include such films as the 1984 horror classic A Nightmare on Elm Street , Jaden Smith’s rendition of The Karate Kid , as well as 2018’s “Best Picture” finalist A Star is Born .
Beyond that, films nowadays are more preoccupied with making a political statement than they are about telling a good story.
Nobody cared that Ghostbusters (2016) sucked because it had an all-female cast. People threw endless praise at Black Panther even though it was a sub-par B-class superhero movie, at best. Yes, we need more diversity and equal opportunity in Hollywood, but it shouldn’t have to come at the expense of a film’s overall quality.
On that note, movie studios nowadays are absolutely terrified of offending their audience.
Cancel culture is a real thing. One wrong move and you can find yourself ex-communicated from the pack. Movie studios are well aware of this reality and have drastically changed the manner in which they create and distribute films as a result.
As the great comedian George Carlin once said, “Political correctness is fascism pretending to be manners.”
Either everything is sacred or nothing is sacred. But in order to be able to think, at times you have to risk being offensive. It’s high time that movie studios either piss or get off the pot. Otherwise, the steady decline of cinema as a whole will only become greater and more expansive.