I’d be more concerned that there aren’t going to be any movie theaters left at this rate. The studios own all the streaming channels now — they’re going to cut out the middle man.
They tried that during the pandemic and didn’t like it.
This. There’s little point in seeing most films in a theater when they will be streaming a few months later.
That’s not too different from renting a movie a few months later. Theaters have always been more fun to go to for a movie you actually care about.
The problem I have with theaters is that the time and money sink is a terrible value these days. For my wife and I it’s always somehow shy of $70 and takes up most the night.
The problem I have with theaters is that the time and money sink is a terrible value these days. For my wife and I it’s always somehow shy of $70 and takes up most the night.
The money is bad, yes, but the deal breaker for me is…other movie-goers.
For 90 minutes, modern movie-goers simply:
- can’t keep their bright phones in their pockets
- can’t stop talking to each other above an occasional whisper
- can’t consistently keep their food and drink off other movie-goers
- can’t level their infants or small children at home during non-family movies
- can’t quietly not do any of the above when someone challenges them on it
Paying for a movie is expensive, but when its regularly ruined by others in the theater it simply stops being worth trying to go anymore. I’ll watch it at home when it comes there.
edit: After checking on responses overnight I see I have 3 downvotes. I can only assume that these are the movie-goers I’m talking about in my list above. To those folks, why are you upset with my post? You won. You have the whole theater to yourself because I’m certainly not going to be in the same room watching a movie with you. Enjoy your theaters. I hope there are enough of you and you don’t annoy each other enough to drive each other off that movie theaters don’t go out of business.
This. Its like people have no sense of decorum anymore. There was a couple chit chatting through every other scene in a movie I watched a while back like they had the whole cinema to themselves. Super distracting.
I’m lucky enough to have an Alamo Drafthouse theater nearby. Those issues aren’t a problem. Plus, the clarified butter for popcorn makes it the best I’ve ever had at the movies.
Other than the bright screens, all of the other points have been true since I was a kid in the 80s. We just didn’t have the affordable giant screens at home as an option back then.
Theaters have always been more fun to go to for a movie you actually care about.
I’m not convinced that’s true. Clerks and Mall Rats both bombed at the box office but were huge on VHS. I don’t know if I’d want to sit in a movie theater and watch Groundhog Day. I don’t need “Ned! RYERSON!” bigger than god booming down at me from a 30 foot screen and a 90 gigawatt sound system. Some movies are designed to be watched on a couch with your legs pulled up beside you clutching a cup of hot tea. Or to be laughed at and riffed on with friends. Some movies work best when watched several times, maybe even while doing something else, just listening to the dialog as it plays on the living room television while you’re doing the dishes, letting the dialog simmer long and low on your mind’s back burner.
I find movies that rely on the spectacle of the big screen and powerful sound system just aren’t that interesting. I mean, I saw Transformers in the theater and I haven’t wanted to see a movie for its special effects since. “Spectacular” has become a synonym of “noisy” to me. And that’s functionally all they make now.
Kill the ads for sure, but go ahead and give me movie trailers before the start, but with some limitations in place:
- None of this “THE. TRAILER. STARTS. NOW” before the trailer starts
- The trailer must have a maximum length so it doesn’t go on too long
- The trailer shouldn’t give the entire plot away
The trailer shouldn’t give the entire plot away
Someone once told me that once you decide to watch a movie you should no longer watch trailers for it. My experience has been that it was a good piece of advice. It’s INSANE how much of the plot some trailers give away. I remember people put together the entire plot of Prometheus before it was released just from all the spoilers in the trailers, and that’s not even the worst offender.
This is what I have always done. I have a very good memory, and I’ve lost count how many times I’ve been let down by a film purely because of the trailer(s) beforehand just exposing all elements.
On the flip side, it big sucks when a trailer shows all of the cool parts, and it turns out those couple of moments were the only good parts of the movie.
The trailer is about ~2 minutes of different action scenes that looks fantastic. Then when you see the movie it’s a snooze fest minus the few minutes of action, all of which were shown in the trailer.
None of this “THE. TRAILER. STARTS. NOW” before the trailer starts
Trailers played in movie theaters do not include this. That is only used for online ads, because sometimes the trailer will play as a pre-roll ad and they don’t want people to skip it.
The trailer shouldn’t give the entire plot away
There’s a reason studios do this. They run focus groups for trailers, and studies have shown that the more plot they reveal, the more likely audiences will buy a ticket to see the movie.
I’ve actually seen trailers play in the theater that say that whole “TRAILER STARTS NOW” thing. It’s like the studios didn’t want to pay for another trailer so they just used the Internet version.
Ive never seen either, is it a new phenomenon?
A trailer or two for upcoming films is acceptable. When I used to be a fan of movies, I wanted to be informed of other movies that were potentially interesting to me. 20 years of Comics And Comics Alone have cured me of cinema, so.
I’m lucky enough to have a theater nearby where I can pre-purchase a particular seat. Once the seat’s bought, I just show up 25 min after the “start time” and skip the ads.
With the Advent of reserved seating I don’t get why this is an issue anymore. Buy the seat you want, let the companies buying ads subsidize your ticket price, and show up after they’ve played. There’s no reason anymore to be stuck in your seat for 20 minutes before show time.
Because you dodn’t actually know when “showtime” is. I’ve never seen a ticket that listed the amount of time the commercials were going to take so I’d know when to be there. Ticket says 5:00, but actual movie didn’t start until 5:37.
My local theater: Ticket window opens 10 minutes before the start time. Cash only. No reserved seating. No commercials. It’s a blank screen until the trailers start.
We get two new first run movies a week to choose from.
I think the regular ticket price is $7. We always go during matinee so it’s only $5.
Going to my local theater is like walking into the past where everything except the movie showing is a throwback to the 80s.
Don’t assume all theaters have reserved seating or any other modem thing.
Ok, but you also didn’t mention ads.
I thought that was covered under “No commercials.”
The how is your anecdote even relevant? By your own admission there are no ads.
