It's always curious to reflect what came and went in the theater. I'm thinking of "The Family," Luc Besson's much-anticipated film and why it didn't connect more with audiences. We've seen successfully-mixed genres before, and fairly often, especially by him. What we need is consistency, which ties back to expectations, not cookie-cutter mass-market-moviemaking. If expectations are not even met but treated respectfully, then you'll win. I still think back to the book "Movies and Money" by David Puttnam who won the Oscar for Chariots of Fire." He wrote about how movies have to be sold to their audiences, and many who work in the industry have advertising backgrounds. Over here, I think, people eat up the marketing campaigns, then vote with their feet. Especially if the film doesn't resonate or fulfill. "The Family" didn't, and it's out of the fall lineup already. Then imagine, and anticipate, "Twelve Years A Slave," "The Counselor," and the just released "Gravity" and "Captain Phillips." We have ideas on what they're about. Now it's time for expectations, and surprises.
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