Blockbuster Movies
Blockbuster Month Roundup: Essays, Features, Lists, and Merch
Blockbuster Month has come to an end. All throughout July, Consequence of Sound celebrated the blockbuster experience and the true titans of the genre with a variety of features that dug deep into the greatest hits of Hollywood — from popcorn classics to underrated gems. There were lists, there were op-eds, there were interviews, and there was plenty of merchandise. It was a truly spirited event that saw many of our strongest writers buckle under the whims of nostalgia. Thank you, Mr. Spielberg! Fortunately, like all of our old VHS tapes, you can revisit that magic below — and you should. After all, our favorite blockbusters aren’t going anywhere, especially not as Covid-19 continues to keep new releases at bay. So, clean out that popcorn bowl, make another batch, and enjoy the show (again...
Why Summer Blockbusters Won’t Ever Go Straight to VOD
Blockbuster Month is celebrating the true titans of the genre. All month long, you’ll read through a variety of features digging deep into the greatest hits of Hollywood, from popcorn classics to underrated gems. Today, Josh Spiegel debates whether the blockbuster will ever eschew the theater experience and go straight to our living rooms. Back at the end of March — remember March? Like, even the concept of the month of March? — my wife informed me that our sister-in-law was being proactive. She was starting an online petition regarding an issue about which she felt passionate. Was it related to the dearth of Covid-19 testing throughout the country? Staggered school re-openings in her state or others in the Union? No, she had begun a petition to exhort the Walt Disney Company to release Mu...
Whatever Happened to the Movie Theme Park Ride?
Blockbuster Month is celebrating the true titans of the genre. All month long, you’ll read through a variety of features digging deep into the greatest hits of Hollywood, from popcorn classics to underrated gems. Today, Clint Worthington revisits a time when the theme park ride was often a part of the summer blockbuster experience. I was never a big theme park guy. Between my disdain for crowds and heat and the high-level anxiety I get around rollercoasters, suffice to say I never actively sought them out in my early years. Then my eighth-grade school band was invited (like many bands do) to play at Walt Disney World in high school, so off we went to Orlando for a week of chaperoned magic — both there and at Universal Studios Florida. Yes, the rides were fun, the merch was overpriced (albe...
Jurassic Park Movies Heading to Netflix in August
Life finds a way, and so do blockbusters. According to Variety, the original Jurassic Park trilogy is battering down the fences and stomping over to Netflix in August. Like those birds at the end of Steven Spielberg’s 1993 original, the series is flocking away from NBCUniversal’s Peacock after only 17 days, making it quite a coup for Netflix. It’s also just downright timely. After all, Jurassic Park has been back in the box office, thanks to repertory screenings at drive-ins across America. What’s more, Consequence of Sound just named it the single greatest summer blockbuster of all time. As this writer wrote in his glowing blurb: Decades later, and hyperbole be damned, Jurassic Park remains the standard for comparison. It’s in the DNA. This is a blockbuster about creating a blockbust...
We Promise This Impossibly Perfect Limited Edition T-Shirt Doesn’t Bite
We’re taking a big bite out of summer with a capsule of exclusive merch to celebrate the 100 Greatest Summer Blockbuster Movies of All Time. The first in these limited-edition designs, the Chum Crew T-shirt features a list of familiar names on the front and our new logo on the back, printed on a unisex Ice Blue tee. You’ll have to obey your instincts and get yours now before supplies run out, because this shirt is limited to just 50 printings. Proceeds go to Consequence of Sound, an independently owned company, and benefit the MusiCares’ COVID-19 Artist Relief Fund. Order yours below, or head to our official store to see additional T-shirt designs as well as our line of custom face masks, including more blockbuster inspired designs. More products are coming soon. You Deserve to Make M...
Quiz: Are You a Blockbuster Movie Expert? Test Your Might!
If you couldn’t tell already, Consequence of Sound is celebrating Blockbuster Month all throughout July. For the past few weeks, we’ve been revisiting the mighty Davids and titanic Goliaths of the genre with a variety of features. But we’re curious how much you actually know about this area — particularly, when it comes to box office receipts. Are you a Blockbuster Avenger or are you a Blockbuster Flop? Don’t answer that; we’ve got something better. Below, we’ve put together an online quiz that will no doubt test your might. To quote Yoda, you must feel the Blockbuster around you; here, between you, me, the dollars, the popcorn, everywhere, yes. Even between the mouse and your finger. Do or do not, there is no try. Read more You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Onl...
The 100 Greatest Summer Blockbuster Movies of All Time
“Cool.” “Riveting.” “Gripping.” “High-Octane Thrill Ride!” All cliches of film criticism and yet all feelings we’ve experienced while watching a crackerjack summer blockbuster. Oops, there we go again. All things considered, any moviegoer can speak to the divine feeling of sitting in a cool, packed theater in the heat of the summer and being united by narrative. Not just united, but hypnotized, mentally convinced that the fate of the world is before your eyes, and there is nothing more important in that very moment. It’s escapism. It’s popcorn. It’s Chinatown. But also, it’s the power of spectacle. Over the years, Hollywood has certainly run that concept through the ringer, having turned what used to be a summer blockbuster season into, well, an entire calendar year. Now, all those aforeme...
Inception Is Why We’ll Wait for Christopher Nolan’s Tenet
Blockbuster Month is celebrating the true titans of the genre. All month long, you’ll read through a variety of features digging deep into the greatest hits of Hollywood, from popcorn classics to underrated gems. Today, Sam Mwakasisi delves into the daunting challenges Christopher Nolan and his potentially game-changing new film, Tenet, face in these uncertain times. Every era in film comes with its own technological advancements, but it takes that perfect note to unify the tools of the times. Amidst the ensuing pandemic, and its share of indefinite delays, hope for a solid note is thinning, not least with the filmmaker who has been central to the conversation for the past decade. On July 16, 2010, exactly 10 years ago yesterday, Christopher Nolan unleashed Inception into theaters, galvani...
Netflix adds another 10 million subscribers
Getty Images Netflix is still growing as people continue to shelter in place around the country, but the company is now seeing the slowed subscriber growth executives predicted would arrive three months ago. On top of announcing that longtime chief content officer Ted Sarandos would join CEO Reed Hastings as co-CEO, the company made a few impressive announcements. Netflix added 10.2 million subscribers in its second quarter, beating the company’s own estimates that it made in its first quarter, which suggested it could add around 7.5 million. Netflix noted that it added 26 million paid new subscribers in the first two quarters of 2020 alone; in 2019, the company added 28 million subscribers in total. The company’s revenue grew 25 percent year over year, but missed its revenue goals for the...
The Lost Art of Summer Blockbuster Counterprogramming
Blockbuster Month is celebrating the true titans of the genre. In the weeks ahead, you’ll read through a variety of features digging deep into the greatest hits of Hollywood, from popcorn classics to underrated gems. Today, Josh Spiegel discusses the art of counterprogramming and whether studios can still pivot around major tentpoles and blockbusters. All movies are not created equal. For decades, the summer was the domain of the blockbuster: big-budget films with loads of action, special effects, and anchored by some kind of intellectual property. Sometimes, those films were able to boast A-List stars; other times, those films created A-List stars. (Will Smith was well-known for his music career and starring role on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, but Independence Day made him a star. The fo...
The 20 Greatest Summer Blockbuster Movie Trailers
Blockbuster Month is celebrating the true titans of the genre. In the weeks ahead, you’ll read through a variety of features digging deep into the greatest hits of Hollywood, from popcorn classics to underrated gems. Today, we head to the theater early with Editor-in-Chief Michael Roffman to revisit the greatest trailers in summer blockbuster history. Hype begins with the trailer. Sure, there’s the studio announcement, the lobby poster, even the intellectual property itself, but there’s nothing like first seeing those epic few minutes. If you’re lucky, you get some glimpses of the action, a sense of the film’s tone, maybe even pieces of a score, and a tagline that sends shivers up your spine. Yeah, that’s when the magic sets in. Today, we take the trailer for granted. We not only know ther...
