Friday, January 27, 2012

Nothing worth watching in Japan's movie theaters.



The results for the Movie box-office revenues in Japan have been released for 2011.  The top news is the 17.9% decline.  But is the March 11 disaster to blame?  In my opinion, yes, mostly - but not entirely.

My wife and I like watching movies and there have been many times we have been at the mall and thought, Hey, let's watch a movie, only to be severely disappointed by the available screenings.  In our area of Niigata, all the movies available in the theater seemed to be either Japanese only, harry potter, or animated. Some of the Biggest blockbusters were in the theaters, but many others never made it to our part of Japan.

Granted, since the March 11 disaster there was a drop in our movie going, but not because we weren't in the mood. It was because none of the movies were interesting.

Buying foreign film leases is a risky gamble, and with the disaster purported to cause an economic windfall, theaters were not willing to spend the money.  Maybe there are some decent Japanese films, but the long term affects will be great. This year, less Hollywood movies in the theaters means less people wanting to go. If the people acquire the mind set that the theaters never have anything interesting to see, they will find some other form of entertainment. And that is what my wife and I did. Now we go to live houses, concerts, parks and shopping.  Anything is better than going to the movies and realizing you wasted the trip.  If you live in Japan, how was the movie selection in your area?

Mainichi Daily
CBS Los Angeles



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