There were so many great films in the 90’s and earlier in the 2000’s, but over the last 10+ years it seems like Hollywood just pumps out garbage. What happened?
I actually know the answer!
A few years ago I was listen to the BS Podcast (Bill Simmons) and Simmons was talking with Matt Damon and he broached this very issue.
Apparently it's rather simple, Hollywood usually has three types of movies; Blockbuster, Mid-Major, Small Budget. The best movies are usually the mid-major ones, they're artistic niche stories with a solid budget behind them.
Historically, mid-major movies are some of the greatest pictures, such as Girl, Interrupted, The Talented Mr. Ripley, The Matrix, The Pianist, Good Will Hunting, The Shawshank Redemption ect. These movies come with a lot of risk to the production companies and can flop at the box-office (Shawshank did). An
important factor in mid-major movies being green lit was the rental market and dvd sales. These two things were very influential in allowing big artistic pictures to be made, Damon alluded to how even with their picture 'Manchester by the Sea', they weren't given the budget they wanted and as a result had to make cuts.
In 1994, Shawshank Redemption got crush at the box-office by Forrest Gump and only earned a global return of 58 million from a 25 million budget (not including advertising). But Shawshank Redemption would go on to earn about 80 million after it hit the secondary market, and by 2014, current and former Warner Bros executives confirmed that it was one of the highest-valued assets in the studio's $1.5 billion library.
Unfortunately with the introduction of streaming services, the secondary market has collapsed. This was the production companies safety net and without it, there are only blockbuster and small budget movies remaining.