But also, the films have not been very good. I think some have gotten mixed reviews, some have gotten awful reviews, and I think that’s definitely playing a part too…

…A lot of the critics of the more recent films have said that the films are full of speeches, and it’s very obvious what the political angle is. And I think an artist, maybe if he or she had some time to reflect on the material, may give a more nuanced balanced performance. Maybe because their emotions are so hot at that moment, they can’t really check themselves, they can’t edit themselves and they just go with what they’re feeling as opposed to being more careful, more considerable about what they’re doing. The Wall Street Journal looked at similar issues in a piece today titled, “Hollywood Bombs.”

As Hollywood sees it, the fictionalized stories worth telling about Iraq and the war on terror involve the rape and murder of an Iraqi girl by American soldiers (“Redacted”); the kidnap and torture of an innocent Egyptian (“Rendition”); the duplicity of the Army surrounding a soldier’s death (“In the Valley of Elah”), and other American perfidy. “Lions for Lambs” has performed so poorly that it may not make back its $35 million investment…

…It is not impossible to make a successful antiwar film, as the “Deer Hunter” and “Platoon” proved regarding Vietnam. But they also came several years after that war ended, when our soldiers still weren’t fighting and the public was in the mood for perspective. That’s a different audience than the one now in theaters, which is less than thrilled at the opportunity to spend 10 bucks to watch American soldiers depicted as rapists and murderers while our own real-life troops are being killed by roadside bombs.

Bloomberg kicks of its look at the failing movies with the headline, “Iraq Movie ‘Curse’ is a Myth Worthy of Hollywood.” Here’s their look at the actual box office numbers:

I was able to obtain data on 2,138 movies released in the U.S. from Jan. 1, 2004, to Oct. 26, 2007. Of those, 17 dealt directly with the war or issues relating to it, such as torture and the treatment of prisoners, according to the Internet Movie Database. Some of these titles include Fahrenheit 9/11,'' In the Valley of Elah’’ and ``Rendition.’'

The top-line numbers suggest there is something to the hypothesis about an Iraq curse'' at the cinema. During this period, the average number of tickets sold for each movie was about 2.52 million, generating average inflation-adjusted revenue per film of $16.5 million. For Iraq’’ movies, average ticket sales were 2.24 million tickets, generating inflation- adjusted revenue of $14.7 million.