Hollywood, you're out of ideas. We're sick of it now. Now just admit it!

As I sit here, my dear reader, Iron Man 3 is cleaning up at the box office. However, the movie didn't premeire in the U.S. until this past Friday. It seems that the U.S. box office is now second to the "worldwide" money that a film can bring in. There are many reasons for this, new theaters being built overseas, China and Russia now being bigger markets for films, but there's one glaring reason that everyone seems to be dancing around, and nobody has the courage (or audacity) in the industry to mention. It's the truth that dare not speak it's name in Hollywood and the film industry; WE'RE SICK OF YOUR S$%T!!!

Now that's not to say we're sick of movies completely, no siree bob! If given a decent film, we'll see it. Lord of the Rings still does well, as does Iron Man. Star Trek, James Bond, Batman, Disney, etc. The "summer blockbuster" will do well in the U.S., it's what comes BETWEEN the blockbusters (okay, even some of the blockbusters themselves, and I'll get to that in a minute) that's the problem. Since the advent of computers and CGI we were all led to believe that movies were going to now give us these fantastic experiences. We'd see things we never saw before, and go to worlds that we had never imagined. What have we gotten? Jennifer Aniston pining for love, Seth Rogen as the lovable stoner, and studios figuring out if they added 3D to everything (I'm looking at you Great Gatsby!) they could charge you an extra six bucks.

It's only the beginning of May, and we have been assaulted by no less than eight "romantic comedies" thus far, and it seems like they were all directed by Judd Apatow and starred Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston.  Last year there were a dozen released in the entire year. Yes, I've always thought Jennifer Aniston was an attractive woman, however there's only so much I can stand of her Rachel character from Friends trying to get the man of her dreams to like her.

Now anyone who used to listen to the former podcast Reality Wasted, will tell you that Donny, Dave, Greg, and I used to say on a regular basis that Hollywood was "out of ideas". No sooner did I say that, did we get news of the latest Superman "reboot". I'm not adverse to another Superman movie, but how many times do we have to sit through the origin story? Yes, Jorel puts his only son into a rocket and sends him to Earth, WE KNOW ALREADY! It doesn't matter if you cast a pretty boy Brit to play Clark Kent this time around to draw in the Twilight crowd. To compound this disaster waiting to happen, the movie doesn't even have a distinctive look to it.  I ask you, is this Superman or Star Trek?

This is the result of unoriginal thinking and the handywork of one of the biggest hack directors in Hollywood, Zack Snyder. We've also gotten word that The Crow reboot is in the works, and Men In Black 4 is on the way. Just keep giving me more evidence the well has run dry.

Now one of the other major problems is that actually GOING to the movies has become a major drag. The scourge of cell phones has largely contributed to this, as well as high prices, and the only new technology that the film industry has come up with, the advent of 3D, they created in the 1950's. Movies used to be a fairly cheap date, and you used to go see a lot of them, sometimes one or two a week. Now at $12-$15, taking two kids to the movies will run you over $50. And what are we paying for? Teenage vampires? There's also more ways to see movies. The days of the neighborhood movie theater and movies playing for a year, are long gone. With the internet and things like On Demand and Netflix, why put up with the hassle of going to a movie and having to deal with the expense and knuckleheads texting on there iPhones "OMG!! TIS MUVEE IZ SO BD!!".

I have no doubt in my mind that of all the Summer movies, Star Trek into Darkness will be the big winner. Now after decrying how Hollywood is out of ideas, why would I say that? Because it's probably the one movie that appeals to a widest audience possible. Also it's smartly cast, and Star Trek has been rediscovered and revitalized for an entire new generation. People are actually EXCITED to see it. I don't think it will be enough to see the U.S. box office turn around for the year. The domestic box office has been in decline for a number of years now. There are those who will say "isn't it nice to see that America isn't the center of the world", and to them I say this; Just you wait, you'll get just as sick of Jennifer Aniston, Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd and Adam Sandler, just like we are.