Is the "movie theater" dying?

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by The Doctor, Sep 18, 2017.

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  1. dprokopy

    dprokopy Senior Member

    Location:
    Near Seattle, WA
    My moviegoing experiences are basically broken down into two categories these days:
    • Heading to the (increasingly smaller number of) art house theaters in town. Generally populated by film aficionados who wouldn't dare disrupt a film with their phone or extraneous chatter.
    • Seeing a mega-blockbuster-CGI-superhero-space film on opening night (or weekend) with a huge crowd of nerds and fans, who are also generally respectful, but enjoy the "vibe" of seeing an "event" film with fellow fans.
    The only times I end up with audiences that are even remotely disruptive or disrespectful of their fellow patrons are when it's a movie primarily aimed at kids (like a Pixar film), or one aimed primarily at seniors.
     
  2. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    No. It's common knowledge people tend to be more rude and selfish in big cities.
     
  3. Trashman

    Trashman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Wisconsin
    With large screen HD televisions and home theater sound systems, the experience can be made very similar at home... gone are the days of VHS tapes played back on 19-inch CRTs (for many people, at least). Also, I often feel I'm often getting a better experience at home than at the theater, and for a fraction of the price... also without having the obnoxious people behind you talking throughout the movie or kicking your seat.

    Some movies are definitely worth seeing at theaters, but it's not always practical to see movies at the theaters each week. In contrast, it is practical to watch movies (even multiple movies) at home every week.

    Plus, the comparison between full-sized stereos and earbuds isn't really comparable here. The choice of movies at the theater (the "full sized stereo") is very limited. The choice of movies to watch at home (the "earbuds") is practically limitless.
     
  4. Trashman

    Trashman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Wisconsin
    In some ways, the movie theater is definitely a downgrade from watching films at home. Recently we went to a theater to see a re-showing of The Goonies. My girlfriend wanted to experience the movie on the big screen, despite already having it on disc at home. Guess what... right before the movie started, we saw the "menu" of the DVD/BR copy they had.... you know, the menu that lets one choose between playing the movie, watching the extras, or adjusting the playback setup. Essentially, we just paid to watch a DVD (that we already had) played on a movie screen.

    Talk about disappointing...
     
  5. Chris DeVoe

    Chris DeVoe RIP Vickie Mapes Williams (aka Equipoise)

    I have a top end Sony CRT projector projecting onto a 10' screen - and no, it is still not comparable to the theatrical experience. And, as I have said over and over again, in the last ten years I've seen more than a thousand films in the theater and have had a total of TWO unpleasant experiences - in Chicago, one of the world's biggest cities. And my wife sees one every night, and if theaters are as hellish as the people on this thread have claimed, she should be having at least one bad experience ever week.

    My wife sees a film in the theater every night via MoviePass.

    With her $9.95 a month MoviePass subscription, it's cheaper to see current films in the theater than to see anything at home other than the DVDs we already own. We'd need subscriptions to multiple streaming services, since none of them have everything we'd want to watch. When the Golden Globes. Independent Spirit Awards and the Oscars roll around, she will have likely seen everything nominated in every category - and I can't imagine how much that would cost you in subscriptions to NetFlix, HBO-GO, Amazon Prime, VUDU, FilmStruck and however many others necessary to see all these different films, plus criminally overpriced "rentals" that all seem to be north of $5 for the films you really want to see.
     
    Last edited: Sep 21, 2017
  6. Gramps Tom

    Gramps Tom Forum Resident

    AMEN !

    I may be part of the problem. The last film I paid to see in any theater was Iron Lady. The last worthwhile film I paid to see was Lincoln in 2012. (Lincoln was an awesome experience in the theater). It cost $9/apiece then. My wife and I always avoid buying snacks there.

    When in HS, my usual routine was a pizza and movie Sat night after work (grocery store that closed at 6PM Sat and stayed closed Sunday). Saw NUMEROUS films that became classics first-run on the big screen with friends. Still went to movies after marriage & children, though not as often, of course. Long before home video and streaming.

    My theater experience is well captured above, except to add that I am not a fan of overwhelming computer special effects.

    GT
     
  7. bherbert

    bherbert Forum Resident

    Location:
    South Africa
    The last time I went to a movie theatre was over a year ago. I can stream movies or rent them from Apple via Apple TV. It cheaper and more convenient.
     
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