Economy!
Food and oil prices push US inflation to highest since 1991
The cost of living in the US surged at twice the rate expected last month to the fastest annual level in 17 and a half years, official data showed today, due to spiralling food and oil prices.
Yikes!
No Mocha For Me, Thanks. I've Gotta Buy Gas
It is odd how much we take for granted the zillion little purchases we make everyday that really add up, until we start to feel the pinch someplace else, like at the gas pump.
Rising gas prices will continue to have an enormous impact on consumer spending. I also expect it will impact many businesses, like Starbucks that rely on small purchases.
Ouch!
Are we in a recession or not?
The unemployment rate is high, the dollar is low, people are losing their homes, gas is likely to hit $4 a gallon. What the hell is going on?
No one wants to admit that we are in a recession. Fearing that by admitting it that the economy will somehow get worse. Here is an idea: what about admitting that we are in a recession and lets start talking about what we are going to do to get out of it?
Is The Future of Movies… Free?!
Slash Film, inspired by the recent Wired cover story, runs the numbers to show that it would be possible to show movies in theaters for free. Having spent a bit of time in the movie exhibition business myself, I believe this is completely possible and could actually be a benefit to the lagging movie industry.
In Portland, Oregon the local micro-brew behemoth McMenamins runs a number of pub theaters, showing second run movies (originally for a $1 per ticket, but now for $3). Making there money on a full food menu and beers and not on the ticket price, which is pretty much true of all movie theaters.
Movie theaters only get a small percentage of gross ticket sales in the first week, like 10%, the lions share goes to the studio. The longer a movie is in “first run,” the higher the percentage of the ticket gross the theater gets. So a movie like Cloverfield which only had one great week, then dramatically trailing off, makes the studio millions and each theater relatively little. But a movie like Juno, which sees a long run in the theaters makes both a nice profit.
So the problem here is that studios have no cost benefit to make good movies. All they care about is the first couple of weeks in release, which is where the recoup their investment (or not). Theaters on the other hand and being punished for the low attendance from competing DVD sales, or “free” airings on cable. But I think mostly the problem stems from consumer feeling ripped off. Paying $8-10 to see a bad movie is a bitter pill to swallow.
As the quality of movies goes down, the shorter the runs, meaning the ability for theater owners to make a buck becomes increasingly difficult. This all equates to higher ticket prices, infinitesimal screens per multiplex and pretty crappy cinema experience for you and me. Which just makes a bad movie worse for the wear. It is a classic Catch-22 scenario.
Back at McMenamins, I was always surprised how a lame Jim Carey comedy, that performed relatively poorly in first run, would have people rolling in the aisle. It was apparent that people enjoyed themselves a lot more at the movies when their pocket books weren’t being pinched on the way in. Like some sort of cinema going Taoists, their expectations were lowered, allowing themselves to enjoy the experience.
I’m not sure if Peter from Slash Film has the right formula, but Free (or really cheap) is a good idea worthy of exploring. Something is obviously broken in today’s movie going experience and the industry needs to start trying new ideas, or I believe they will quickly find themselves irrelevant.
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