Author Archives: Dennis Toth

There is no real way of determining a movie’s box office. At least not in some kind of 100 percent, absolute manner. At best, the market is fickle and the audience has a constitutional right not to buy tickets to your movie. And it is a right that the public is exercising with increasing vigor. ... Read more

Hey kids, let’s put on a show! At least that’s the gist of the recent New York Times story on the surge in internet-based indie productions. Though the Gray Lady doesn’t quite utter the infamous Mickey Rooney line, she comes close. It also means that the rapidly emerging field of small feisty productions going directly ... Read more

Somewhere in Los Angeles, an army of spin doctors is working hard to present the current box office report in a positive light. After all, just last weekend the movie Hop played much better than anyone in their right mind thought possible. So maybe there is a silver lining out there somewhere. Or maybe not. ... Read more

The more things change, the more they stay… well, sort of the same but increasingly different at the same time. The old rules still apply unless they don’t, and this has become the main rule for just about everything. Which is close to saying there are no rules unless you get caught. And even then, ... Read more

We all believe in a lot of half-truths. Mostly they are little things that help get us through the day. Minor things like “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.” Often these half-truths are harmless. After all, that apple may not do you any real good, but it certainly will not harm you (well, ... Read more

Predication about the immediate future of the film industry is a lot like watching a pack of ten-year-olds go careening through a round of bumper cars. Lots of theories and ideas are whizzing around out there, wildly colliding into each other until somebody gets a case of whiplash. Take for example Hollywood’s war with Netflix. ... Read more

It’s official. Hollywood has discovered old people. They’re right there in the front row of the theater. Well, not the front row. They tend to sit more toward the back, near the exit door. It’s closer to the restrooms, you know. Yep, the hot scoop from the New York Times is that Hollywood is looking ... Read more

It is really getting to be more and more difficult to tell the difference between the Oscars and the Film Independent Spirit Award presentation. OK, there are some differences. For one, two-time Spirit winner James Franco seemed more animated at the Spirit Fest than he ever appeared during the Oscar broadcast (though I’ve heard that ... Read more

Previously I asked if everything was changing at an alarming rate. The question was meant to be provocative. But now, it is simply rhetorical. The political landscape is changing as a battle for the economic soul of the nation erupts throughout various state houses. Diametrically opposed forces are colliding with the monotonous regularity of a ... Read more

Is it just me, or are we living in some pretty confusing times? Seemingly this is an era so lacking a center that everything appears to be flying every which way like a handful of nuts in a washing machine during the spin cycle. A year ago, obits were being written for low-budget indie films. ... Read more