Hunger Games vs. Game of Thrones vs. John Carter...

I'm old.

Or maybe just too set in my ways to change.

I can't believe The Hunger Games makes a ton of money while John Carter is now called the biggest movie bomb of all time.

How is this possible?

Some may say "It's the story", and I'd accept that...if it weren't for the fact that John Carter of Mars came out in novel form roughly 90 years ago versus The Hunger Games that came out around 2007.

And don't tell me "Special Effects" because I call B. S. on that. There's no question John Carter has more.

"Okay, how about the 'we've seen it all before' argument?"

So you're telling me that thanks to James "f**king" Cameron, there's no longer a market for high budget science fiction films (loosely based on a Disney film btw) but there's a HUGE market for Twilight-like angst that's been parodied everywhere from SNL to Youtube (with a bit of The Running Man thrown in btw)?

Never mind the fact that the book was written to cash in on the Twilight reading market in the first place?

I'll give you the marketing angle. Disney totally screwed the pooch on that one. The Hunger Games was promoted exactly for what it is, while John Carter ads had different tones, themes and even titles.

I'll probably end up seeing both when they're available of Netflix, but I have to save my cash for The Avengers.

As for Game of Thrones, it looks to me like Conan the Barbarian meets Lord of the Rings with a little Walking Dead mixed in. My wife has started reading the books, and loves them. Just like she loves the LotR books...which I have yet to read.

Both GoT and LotR have a shit ton of characters, and I know I'll never be able to tell them apart.

"But aren't there a lot of characters in The Avengers and comics in general?"

Yes, there are. And they all have costumes...with colors in them...that make them easily identifiable. In every clip of GoT I've seen, all the men wear leather, all the women have their hair tied up tight, and all the kids sound whiny and annoying. The only character that stands out is the dwarf...who's name I can't remember but the actor is dead-on to play Puck in the eventual Alpha Flight Marvel Studios film.

But as before, I'll probably watch the show when I have access to it, but I'm going to need a lot of help keeping track of it all.

I have read The Hobbit though, several times in fact and I love it. THAT is a movie I also can't wait to see...

Maybe I'm not old, just more Bilbo-y than I used to be.