And the Oscar Goes to.........

According to the Motion Picture Association of America 172 million people went to the movies in 2007. The average American went to 6 movies during this time period while the average moviegoer went to 8.5 movies. Both figures have remained constant over the past five years.


Kent used to give me a bad time - "you never want to go to a movie" or "you have so many rules about when you will go to a movie" so being the data driven person that I am I decided to check out the statistics and track our movie going. I had a sense that we went to more movies than your average person. For the last 11 years we have been to every movie nominated for an Oscar. We try to see them before the nominations come out throughout the year and in order to do that we end up seeing a lot of movies in the course of a year.

• Here are a few other interesting movie facts that I discovered in my quest to prove that I was not depriving Kent of going to the movies:
• The domestic box office continued to grow in 2007, reaching $9.63 billion after a 5.4% gain.
• Worldwide box office reached another all-time high in 2007 with $26.7 billion, a 4.9% increase.
• Domestic theater admissions held steady at 1.4 billion tickets in 2007.
• In 2007, the top-grossing films offered more diverse fare in terms of ratings, with a 50% increase in both R and PG rated films.
• The average cost to make and market a major MPAA member company film was $106.6 million in 2007. This includes $70.8 million in negative costs and $35.9 million in marketing costs.
• In 2007, the average price of a movie ticket in the U.S. rose to $6.88, a 5% increase over 2006.
• The total number of films released in the U.S. in 2007 remained on par with 2006 with 603 films released.

Now I'll admit that I do have a few rules about going to the movies - I'll spare you the details but let's just say we are busy people and I need to make sure the movies fit into our schedule which sometimes limits my spontaneity - I can't just drop everything to go to a movie at the last minute - I need to plan these things out!

Ok - back to the number of movies that the average American goes to - 6 movies a year (remember - I don't make this crap up, MPAA) To prove my point - back in January I started tracking all the movies we attend (I know - this is so Jim)! Well - it's especially gratifying when you have the data to prove your point. To date we have seen the following 25 -that's right - 25 movies! No more saying "we never go to a movie" to me Kent!

Michael Clayton
http://michaelclayton.warnerbros.com/

No Country For Old Men
http://www.nocountryforoldmen-themovie.com/

There Will Be Blood
http://www.paramountvantage.com/blood/

Jumper
http://www.jumperthemovie.com/

Definitely Maybe
http://www.definitelymaybemovie.com/

The Other Boleyn Girl
http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/theotherboleyngirl

Charlie Bartlett
http://charliebartlett-themovie.com/

Vantage Point
http://www.vantagepoint-movie.com/

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
http://www.filminfocus.com/focus-movies/miss-pettigrew/movie-splash.php

The Bank Job
http://www.thebankjobmovie.com/

SnowAngels
http://wip.warnerbros.com/snowangels

Shelter
http://www.heretv.com/sheltermovie

Stop Loss
http://www.stoplossmovie.com/

In Bruges
http://www.filminfocus.com/focus-movies/in-bruges/movie-splash.php

Forgetting Sarah Marshall
http://www.forgettingsarahmarshall.com/

Indiana Jones
http://www.indianajones.com/site/index.html

Iron Man
http://ironmanmovie.marvel.com/

NewCastle
http://www.newcastlemovie.com/

The Visitor
http://www.thevisitorfilm.com/

Wall-E
http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/wall-e/

Wanted
http://www.wantedmovie.com/

The Happening
http://www.thehappeningmovie.com/

The Dark Knight
http://thedarkknight.warnerbros.com/

Mamma Mia
http://www.mammamiamovie.com/

Boy A
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1078188/

My favorites in no particular order include, The Bank Job, In Bruges, The Visitor, The Dark Knight, Shelter, Iron Man and Boy A.

Biggest disappointment: Indiana Jones (and I really wanted to love this movie).

What are your favorite movies of the year so far?????

Well we are off to picture day at Husky Stadium. Here's a teaser picture - more pictures tomorrow!

Later - Jim