By Lee Pfeiffer
Call it "Suddenly Last Summer"...one year ago, Hollywood was crowing about the performance of its usual spate of special effects-laden monstrosities designed to appeal to the least-demanding audiences, at least in terms of intellectual content. Now, suddenly, comes the realization that even viewers who thrive on shallow sex comedies and the celluloid equivalent of monster truck rallies may finally be wising up. With cinema tickets now considered a major investment by moviegoers who are still reeling from the last recession, it appears that the studios may have hit the wall: Hollywood has seen its worst summer since 1997. In July, boxoffice receipts for the North American market plummeted by 30% compared to the same month last year. Studio executives call the disastrous summer a fluke and have even blamed competition from the World Cup, which finally caught on with Americans, as a prime reason for the boxoffice decline. They may be right - and some of these so called "bombs" will go into profitability once international grosses and home video sales are calculated. However, no one wants to consider another possible reason: many of these overblown epics simply stink. The cost of a couple attending a movie in a big city now requires a small loan to be taken out. Greedy studios take the lion's share of the profits, leaving hapless theater owners to rely on diverse offerings at the snack stand in order to ensure profitability. Who wants to pay $15 a ticket to sit next to a guy who is burping up tacos and pizza? For a New York Times report click here.