Boxoffice-July.1995

Autumn '94A/Vinter '95 Blue Ribbon Poll Results
DUMBSTRUCK
Audiences get "Dumb," according to our survey,
but respondents pick "Pulp" and exit "Eden"
By Christine James
Forrest Gump" topped the Spring/Summer
'94 Blue Ribbon Popularity Poll;
now "Dumb & Dumber" emerges victorious
with 311 points. No wonder "I.Q."
fizzled—dimwits are where it's at! The nobrainer
"The Santa Clause" took second place
in the Most Popular category with 288 points.
Violence and gore were the hallmarks of the
third and fourth place winners, "Pulp Fiction"
and "Interview With the Vampire." Theatregoers
were also wooed en masse by the
romantic epic "Legends of the Fall," making
it the fifth most popular film.
As one of our respondents, Travis Cape of
St. Louis, put it, "Popularity and best film
seldom mix." Readers were unanimous in the
sentiment that "The Shawshank Redemption"
and "Quiz Show" were greatly overlooked at
the boxoffice, voting them number two and
number three on the Best Films list.
But the mega-successful "Pulp Fiction,"
which has earned over $104 million at the
boxoffice to date, echoed another reader's
sentiment: "Great films always win out!" said
Darren Froula of Columbia Cinema in East
Wenatchee, Wash. "Pulp" won the Best Film
category with 315 points, a landslide over
"Shawshank's" 180 points.
Voters were more divided on the Worst
Film category, which might be explained by
the numerous complaints that there were so
many bad films to choose from. "Sadly, it was
challenging to find even five films to fill the
most popular section of the ballot," said Scott
K. VanDenBerg of Pella Theatre Corp. in
Pella, Iowa. "As always, [there were] plenty
ofworst film candidates." "It's easy to pick the
worst film—there are so many. Not so for
good ones," said Lou Radakovich of
Waynesboro Theatre in Waynesboro, Pa.
One respondent felt so strongly about his
Worst Film selection, "Before Sunrise," he
voted it First, Fourth and Fifth Worst. (Sorry,
but we couldn't use those last two!)
"Exit to Eden," the critically unacclaimed
comedy about a sadomasochistic sex resort,
won the not-so-coveted first place position in
this category, with 150 points. "Mixed Nuts"
was second with 122 points, revealing that
Christmas comedies about suicide and insan-
ity are not a hot ticket with audiences. Third
and fourth were "The Specialist" and "Street
Fighter."
The top four Worst Film selections certainly
reflected the boxoffice takes of the films in
question, but not so with Number Five,
"Dumb & Dumber"—which, as you may recall,
just a few paragraphs ago was revealed
to be the Most Popular film. "It's a sad commentary
when the most popular film is also
the worst film of '95!" said Terri Cabral of
Cinema 140 in New Bedford, Mass., in reference
to "Dumb & Dumber." The film has
taken in a "stupefying" $125 million to date
in boxoffice receipts.
knows what conclusions Hol-
decision-makers might
Wholywood
derive from these results. But if
you see a film in the near future starring a
moronic vampire dressed like St. Nick, armed
to the teeth with weaponry while discussing
Le Big Macs and foot massages with a ferocious
bear in the wilds of Montana, you'll
know they were listening.
am
Most Popular Film
Title
Points
1. Dumb & Dumber* (311)
2. The Santa Clause* (288)
3. Pulp Fiction* (235)
4. Interview/Vampire* (227)
5. Legends of the Fall (124)
6. Disclosure (110)
7. Star Trek Generations (108)
8. Stargate(75)
9. Little Women (47)
10. The River Wild (39)
* = gross of over $100 million
Title
Best Film
1. Pulp Fiction* (315)
Points
2. Shawshank Redemption (180)
3. Quiz Show (147)
4. Legends of the Fall (143)
5. Interview/Vampire* (83)
8. Hoop Dreams (76)
7. Little Women (66)
8. Disclosure (62)
9. Ed Wood (60)
10. Nell (56)
The Santa Clause* (56)
Worst Film
Title
Points
1. Exit to Eden (150)
2. Mixed Nuts (122)
3. The Specialist (94)
4. Street Fighter (80)
5. Dumb & Dumber* (78)
6. Highlander III (74)
7. Demon Knight (61)
8. Mary Shelley's
Frankenstein (60)
9. Wes Craven's Nightmare (58)
10. Junior (53)
56 BOXOFFICK