Comment You gotta love Katz (Score 1, Redundant) 1007
I think the reason they keep around is so that we can all feel superior to his obvious mistakes.
- They are just movies. Every couple years a new summar blockbuster will unseat all previous records; this is just they way things work; their is nothing momentous behind it.
- Spiderman was hyped more than Star Wars:AOTC. There are more movie commercials, product tie ins, billboards, the lot. Just look around you.
- Katz uses the opening weekend's receipts to prove that Spiderman is a better film. Um, opening weekend is to0 quick for word of mouth; it is really more of a measure of the hype leading up to the opening than the quality of the film. In any event, the money earned in American theatres represents about 10% of what a film earns (international, video, TV, etc.) making up the rest.
- Lucas is not in it for the money. This is precisely the problem with the Episode I and Jar Jar: Lucas is not trying to appeal to the masses but is instead trying to achieve his artistic vision. (Of course, people lob millions his way, his only crime is not rejecting more of it).
- Do we really care precisely how Anakin Skywalker got pissed off and turned to the Dark Side? Um, YES! Lucas's vision was a rich backstory that we saw only a couple of episodes in the middle of. The public has put huge demands on him to develop that backstory.
- When Episode III comes out, Katz will be describing how that summer's blockbuster narrowly edges it out. Nobody will care who beats SpiderMan2 on opening weekend. Ten years from now, interest in Star Wars will be high; interest in SpiderMan won't.
