By Dave Montalbano

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

2013 has shown that the youth and family markets drive the box office dollar. The Top 5 box office motion pictures, Iron Man 3, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Despicable Me 2, Man of Steel and Monsters University had a cumulative gross of nearly $2 billion.

With rising ticket prices, consumers are being pickier than ever. Social Media can destroy a motion picture before it can get out of the gate, witness The Lone Ranger.

A success two years ago (Machete) became one of the biggest box office bombs of the year (Machete Kills). Harrison Ford seemed to be on career redemption with 42, but he contributed to two of the biggest box office flops of the year, Paranoia and Ender’s Game.

Film festivals and conventions are becoming more and more important to the film industry. The major studios targeted the Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival (FLIFF) with Nebraska, starring Bruce Dern, and August: Osage County, starring Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts. Gregory von Hausch, president and FLIFF CEO, managed to produce the best local film festival in five years. It helped that the celebrities he invited this year were Class Acts.

Class Acts are hard to find in the entertainment industry, most individuals are very self-centered. Lea Thompson, John Shea, Stephen Moyer, Tab Hunter and Ann Margaret proved to be Class Acts by living up to fan expectations and having grace under pressure at FLIFF. Behind the scenes, the volunteers and Cyndi Boyar helped make FLIFF run smooth.

Pain is a rude awakening from grief. Last January, my chronic back pain got the best of me and I have spent all of 2013 treating it. Besides reading my column on a regular basis, Dr. Thomas Goberville has gotten at the root cause of my problem, prescribing regular physical therapy. Thanks to the Angels at MedDiagnostic Rehab, I was released last Friday.

Any sense of self pity was knocked out of my psyche when the Palm Beach International Film Festival presented the documentary Comedy Warriors. Severely injured in Iraq and Afghanistan, these wounded warriors found therapy in making others laugh.

This lesson was reinforced at FLIFF with the screening of the documentary Cine- Ability featuring local Class Act and now BackStage Angel, Danny Murphy. This excellent documentary looks at how Hollywood views people with disabilities. When CinemAbility ends, one realizes that everybody faces hardship. How one reacts to such hardship defines if they are a winner or loser in life.