Can a Netflix Movie Be Considered a "Real" Movie?

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by Vidiot, Mar 1, 2019.

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  1. Ghostworld

    Ghostworld Senior Member

    Location:
    US

    You wanna save the cinema? Food. Better food. People will always go out for food. Let the cineastes stay home in the comfort of their leather chairs and BluRay- lined walls, nestled in their cone of silence, losing their tempers over teal/green, while the barbarians head out to the hybrid cinema where live music and food is all a part of the movie watching experience. Where you can sit at your table and howl all you want at Steve Carell, and no one will give a damn because they're munching on burgers, partying and having a good time. It's kinda what they do with Texas Alamo Draft house, I assume. Although I've never been to one.

    HEY, MOVIES ARE FOR THE PEOPLE, MAN! How many people here can afford an 80" technician-tweaked, 4K surround sound system in their home, like the ones I've looked at at Best Buy for forty years, but could never buy? VIVA LA MOVIES!!!
     
    Last edited: Mar 3, 2019
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  2. Spencer R

    Spencer R Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oxford, MS
    I sort of agree with that. Even here in the provinces, the chain theatres now offer beer abs wine and slightly better food to try to attract people. But how about not gouging moviegoers with a small popcorn and Coke for ten or twelve bucks, with a 50 cent upgrade to a gallon bucket of each that no human being could eat and drink without having a heart attack or contracting diabetes? I get that that’s how they make their money, but gouging a captive audience with insane prices for food isn’t a winning strategy, And they’re not in the food business, they’re in the movie business. No matter how much they upgrade the quality of the food, they’re not going to have better food than real restaurants. What they need to upgrade is the quality of the movie experience. They need a game changing equivalent for today like Technicolor or Cinemascope were decades ago - a picture quality experience that the 4K TV at home can’t match. That’s a tall order, but, if they can’t offer something that you can’t get at home, why would you leave home?
     
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  3. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR! Thread Starter

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
  4. Ghostworld

    Ghostworld Senior Member

    Location:
    US
    A redesign of the essential movie watching experience. I would do it like an inside drive-in. Separate speakers at tables. Big space. Make it fun like a drive-in. You DID NOT go to drive-ins for the pristine color and sound! Bwah! But you loved to go because it was FUN!
     
  5. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR! Thread Starter

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    The problem is that the profit split between the theaters and the distributors is hugely in favor of the latter. Theater owners traditionally don't make much money on ticket sales in the first week or two of a blockbuster. They make money on the concession stand. I agree that the prices are generally too high, but as it is, many theater chains are having financial problems. Some (like the posh Pacific Grove theater not far from me) has put in an upscale bar to allow patrons to get relatively-expensive alcohol and wine to give them another source of revenue. They also charge a higher ticket fee for 3D and "Premium" theater seats, particularly with Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, and similar extras. I don't see this trend changing.

    Bad movies in their initial theatrical release are still theatrical films. Ain't nothing in Spielberg's argument about bad vs. good.

    Having said that, I predict Adam Sandler and Will Ferrell will still never win Oscars. :sigh:
     
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  6. Trashman

    Trashman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Wisconsin
    Can a Kenny G recording be considered a real album?
     
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  7. Willowman

    Willowman Senior Member

    Location:
    London, UK
    Yes, if it’s a nice restaurant and a good experience.
     
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  8. Willowman

    Willowman Senior Member

    Location:
    London, UK
    Meanwhile in the UK, cinemas are booming. Two new ones have opened near me in the past 6 months.

    BFI stats for 2018 show new high for UK cinema admissions
     
  9. Spencer R

    Spencer R Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oxford, MS
    I’m aware of that. However, if the studios and distributors gouge the theatres so hard that the theatres have to up the price of a small popcorn and a small Coke to the point that moviegoers feel ripped off ... moviegoers will either sneak their own food into the theatre or simply stay home and watch a movie on Netflix. Taking a family to the movies is forty or fifty bucks for tickets and then forty more bucks for junk food, no wonder Netflix seems like a bargain at ten to fifteen bucks a month.

    That was my point above: they need to differentiate the quality of going to the movies from the quality of watching movies at home. Five years ago, the Dolby “all ... around ... you” demo with the bouncing balls was sonething most people couldn’t replicate at home. Now you can get Dolby Atmos on Apple TV. If I were Hollywood, I’d be less concerned with trying to prevent Netflix and Roma from winning an Oscar, and more concerned with trying to stop Dolby from putting a technology like Atmos in the home. Because it kills the quality/gee-whiz edge that has always made going to the theatre special. If you went to see a big screen Technicolor movie in the 50s, it was miles better picture quality than what you could see on TV at home. But 4K TVs, Blu-Ray, and better and better surround sound in the home have all but eliminated that quality gap. And that’s a big, big problem for movie theatres.
     
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  10. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Netflix movies use Hollywood talent and crew, and spends often the same production costs as any other Hollywood production. It's union rates (high) paid for everything. And if they want to show their film in theaters for the added revenue potential or the Oscar considerations, then so be it.

    The movie industry needs more competition what with Fox just bought by Disney, I hope that Amazon comes up with features that also compete with anything on the big screens. Here wishing Netflix and Amazon all the good fortune the old studio's have traditionally had.
     
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  11. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR! Thread Starter

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
  12. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    J. Kanter wrote:

    The Academy has already sacrificed the standard by allowing voters to vote based on DVD, Screeners and Academy given codes to stream the film on your computer. In essence, they innovated the turning of theatrical films into television films for voting purposes. If Spieldberg wants to end the netflix system, and I do think he has some points, then Voters should commit to seeing the films up for consideration in movie theatres, and not in the comfort of their tvs and laptops, or phones. You want to put an end to Netflix. You have got to put an End to SCREENERS.
     
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  13. Rufus McDufus

    Rufus McDufus Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    Well that's the irony isn't it? Many movies are judged for Oscars by watching them on TV, and often only DVD quality at that.
     
    Last edited: Mar 3, 2019
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  14. Grand_Ennui

    Grand_Ennui Forum Resident

    Location:
    WI

    ^^^ This! ^^^
     
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  15. Grand_Ennui

    Grand_Ennui Forum Resident

    Location:
    WI
    Sometimes the meal *does* taste better at the restaurant, because some leftovers don't taste as good reheated... Just like some films really do play better in a theater...
     
  16. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR! Thread Starter

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    My god, the experience of watching a huge comedy like Blazing Saddles, Airplane, or Animal House in a theater... just stunning. Hell, I saw The Shining with <let me be careful here> an inner city audience in Chicago, and that was one of the most memorable theater experiences I ever had. Let's just say there was a great deal of people yelling at the screen. Ain't gonna get that at home.
     
  17. Grand_Ennui

    Grand_Ennui Forum Resident

    Location:
    WI

    We have something sort of like that around here... They went to being a "budget/.99c" theater with the regular concession stand, etc. and I don't remember when they switched over, but they went to having tables for the people to sit at, and you can order pizza for sure, not sure what other food they may serve now, and I believe they added beer at one point... I haven't been there since it was the regular ".99c" theater, but my brother and his kids went there for some movies and seemed to like the experience...
     
  18. PhilBorder

    PhilBorder Senior Member

    Location:
    Sheboygan, WI
    Sure, you're correct. And yet: witness the many threads dedicated to vinyl and cassettes elsewhere at the SHF. One could say that's outdated technology but clearly is appreciated by some. Why not a dedicated retro theater experience. Booked with some creativity I think it could be a success in some cities. I can think of a lot of movies I'd like to see in a theater again (not on 4k or 8k or 12k...) 3 that come to mind from the 70's are Emperor of the North, Farewell My Lovely and Sorceror. One from this century is The Assasination of Jesse James by the Coward...

    Some movies (especially those shot on film) just should be seen that way...
     
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  19. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    I think it would've been interesting to see how Spielberg's career went if he'd won an Oscar during his glorious 1975-1982 run.

    If Spielberg wins for "Raiders" or "ET", does he continue to make "popcorn movies" primarily or does he still "go serious" in 1985?

    I've always thought he felt lots of pressure - internally and externally - to make more dramatic movies to show he's a "real filmmaker" and win the Oscar.

    An Oscar in 1981 or 1982 alleviates that pressure and theoretically allows him to pursue his muse more fully, perhaps.

    Maybe he did anyway - maybe he made exactly the movies he wanted to make and a desire to win awards and shut up critics that he's not a "serious filmmaker" had no bearing.

    But I doubt it...
     
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  20. Hot Ptah

    Hot Ptah Forum Resident In Memoriam

    Location:
    Kansas City, MO
    You haven’t seen Roma?
     
  21. Hot Ptah

    Hot Ptah Forum Resident In Memoriam

    Location:
    Kansas City, MO
    Except now the communal experience is a bunch of people talking through the entire latest Marvel superhero franchise film and being much more concerned with their overpriced snacks and mega size sodas.
     
    Last edited: Mar 3, 2019
  22. Hot Ptah

    Hot Ptah Forum Resident In Memoriam

    Location:
    Kansas City, MO
    To me, movie theaters have become a series of tiny rooms with small screens filled with teenagers there to hang out with friends. The film on the screen in front of them is irrelevant to their socializing experience so they talk, eat and look at their cellphones.There are adults sprinkled into the audience who also talk, ear and look at their cellphones.

    Or there are a few huge IMAX screens mixed in with the tiny rooms for the enhanced viewing experience of the latest comic book superhero adaptation of the week.

    Those talking about the magic of seeing a film in a theater—have you actually been to a theater recently?
     
  23. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    Yup!
     
  24. the pope ondine

    the pope ondine Forum Resident

    Location:
    Virginia
    yeah i think thats more fun than all the 5k surround sound dolby (etc) .... great comedies, scary movies...(actually thats the only way i like to watch a scary thriller, in a packed theatre)

    here we go again, paging chris :uhhuh:
     
  25. Nice Marmot

    Nice Marmot Nothin’ feels right but doin’ wrong anymore

    Location:
    Tryon NC
    I’m guessing non-Netflix subscribers will say no while people who subscribe to Netflix say yes.
     
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