At least two good movies come out every month

The “everything sucks” mindset is wrong- you just need to know where to look

The impending death of theatrical movie exhibition has once again been greatly exaggerated. 

After such “sure things” as The Fall Guy and Furiosa underperformed earlier this summer, dozens of think pieces were written, casting doubt on the future of movies in the theater. Like every other time this has happened, a hit movie emerged to call off the jackals for a few more weeks anyway. 

The big box office bow for Bad Boys Ride or Die, which earned more than $50 million domestically and over $100 million worldwide, blew up a whole bunch of narratives: The idea that every significant movie this summer would flop, the notion that movie theater audiences were still holding The Slap against Will Smith, or that the fourth film in a series that dates back to 1995 couldn’t still excite audiences today. 

It also goes against the idea that there isn’t plenty of worthwhile stuff to see at the movies. 

I thought Bad Boys Ride or Die was pretty middling, but it appears it connected with audiences, which I could tell was the case when I saw it last week. And since the same two directors also made the Batgirl movie that Warner is refusing to release… maybe they should consider releasing it. 

But no matter what, the idea of “there’s never anything good to see at the movies” persists.