[barrkel]

Two things:

* I don't think polarization is a good signal for poor quality; I would rather suggest it means a more niche product, more highly focused. That the niche being served is largely adolescents is unfortunate.

* I think big-budget movies have been getting more conservative and predictable, but I would hazard a guess that it's due to financial industry turmoil and consequently less desire for risk taking.

[SandB0x]

"That the niche being served is largely adolescents is unfortunate"

Ever seen the Poochie episode of The Simpsons? The producers try to boost the ratings of Itchy and Scratchy by adding a ridiculous character designed to appeal to everyone. Near the start of the episode they hold a focus group (text from snpp.com):

Man: How many of you kids would like Itchy & Scratchy to deal with real-life problems, like the ones you face every day?

Kids: [clamoring] Oh, yeah! I would! Great idea! Yeah, that's it!

Man: And who would like to see them do just the opposite -- getting into far-out situations involving robots and magic powers?

Kids: [clamoring] Me! Yeah! Oh, cool! Yeah, that's what I want!

Man: So, you want a realistic, down-to-earth show... that's completely off-the-wall and swarming with magic robots?

Kids: [all agreeing, quieter this time] That's right. Oh yeah, good.

[pjscott]

> So, you want a realistic, down-to-earth show... that's completely off-the-wall and swarming with magic robots?

That actually sounds like the first few seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I would have given any of several other examples, but you specified that there must be "magic robots", which narrows things down a lot.

The kids' desires aren't actually contradictory, if you've got the writing skills to pull it off.

[derefr]

I would say that Buffy isn't so much evidence that two opposed motifs can exist at the same time in a show, so much as that they can exist in close quarters, alternating in a schizophrenic-but-enjoyable fashion. I don't recall many moments where I was thinking of any of the characters as both teenagers and gothic-fantasy-world occupants (even in, say, The Body, you're just watching a well-plotted drama about a teenager; the vampires, though serving as setting elements, could be traded for mobsters or hospital patients or needy pets in that episode without affecting the theme.)

[mgkimsal]

"one kid seems to love the Speedo man"

[huangm]

You'll have to forgive slightly imprecise language. This post was in response to the noise around the blogosphere that Hollywood has become too conservative, and is targeting reliable niches (as you point out).

We think one interesting way to observe the above is via polarization.

[SoftwareMaven]

"That the niche being served is largely adolescents is unfortunate."

That is the power of the high school date movie crowd at work.

[munificent]

It's more than just date movies. High school kids have lots of disposable income, few bills, plenty of time to kill, can't get into bars, and don't need get hire a babysitter.

College kids have lots of other things to spend their money on, like booze and, uh, booze. Once you're past that age, the odds of having kids goes up and then going to a movie becomes a major outing. For my wife and I to see a movie in the theatre now, we'll have to shell out close to $80. It's just not worth it, especially as home theatres keep getting better and better.

[bingaman]

You don't have to buy the $60 popcorn.

[jamesbkel]

Yes. But, it sounds like he has children, so he probably needs the $60 babysitter.

[jacques_chester]

Your kids expect to see the overpriced 3D version though. That'll be $20 per ticket, please.

[burgerbrain]

Learn to say "No."?

[jacques_chester]

Agreed. This worked for my parents. They were essentially immune to pleading for ice-cream.

[noibl]

I think Moki.TV just redefined 'polarizing'. If you look at the individual bar graphs for each movie (especially the ones on the top right of the main graph), the voting distribution is actually very even ('square' or 'sloped' looking). For the data to be truly polarised you would expect the graph to be U-shaped: lots of 5s and lots of 1s and little in between.

What this data shows is that lots of people are giving these films a chance (and paying money to do so) who aren't really that engaged with the genre, or niche. That's a big validation of the studios' design strategy for the films.

An illustrative example I can think of that isn't in the top 20 is District 9: a very familiar 'niche-y' core genre, a fairly predictable plotline, but with enough influences from other genres to keep a diverse audience interested. The Dark Knight would probably be another.

[chrischen]

> I don't think polarization is a good signal for poor quality;

I think they just mean that polarizing may be explained by the re-use of old materials. Re-use = bad movies.