[jfengel]

And Hollywood is crying all the way to the bank. People can deride those movies all they want, but people (not necessarily the same ones) pay money to watch them. For some reason, those terrible movies engage audiences. And Hollywood has gotten really, really good at knowing how to do that.

Much better movies also get made. A lot of them, in fact. The critics' Top Ten lists are full of them. But they rarely make all that much money, because movies with deep characterization and challenging plots aren't very enjoyable. They're fulfilling, perhaps, in the same way that a job well done is fulfilling. But when you've worked your 40 hours (or more) this week, you may not want any more fulfillment. You want to relax.

There are plenty of movies for everybody, including the ones who want a challenge. You won't hear commercials for them, because they're not going to please everybody. Hollywood has somehow mastered the trick of pleasing, if not everybody, at least a largish majority, and they rake in a ton of cash.