I guess I’ve gotten old (and also own my own house and can buy whatever equipment I want)
All the other stuff I completely agree with. Movie theaters are obsolete, as far as I'm concerned.
My subwoofers disagree
If streaming services could handle busy times without artifacts my LG 4K 77in would always be a better experience for all content
I’m glad my independent theaters made it through COVID. I haven’t been as much as I did prior to COVID, mainly because of COVID and moving further away, but I just really love seeing a good movie at the theater. I miss being bored on a Friday night and hopping down to the local theater to see a movie. My movie theaters have really good popcorn and ice cream as well.
Maybe you're just talking hyperbolically, but that sentence really screams not having grasped that, with so many millions of humans around us, in any topic there will be many who have completely different preferences/views than you.
That said, I'm a hypocrite because I'll never understand people who don't like ice cream!
I'm just providing some other perspective when it seems so many have vitriol towards theaters. The person I responded to said "I’ve all but sworn-off theaters", and someone else said "Movie theaters are obsolete, as far as I'm concerned". I think for the most part, they probably go to the wrong theaters. Also, I do realize I am lucky in that my local theaters are in old buildings that were either actual theaters or are just old movie theaters from back in the day, so they have a lot of character. But they have actually upgraded the theaters to be nice and show a lot of unique stuff and events. I saw 2001: A Space Odyssey and a few other movies in 70mm at my local theater. You're not going to get that experience at home.
I don't understand your point, "I'll never understand people who X" contains an acknowledgement that those people exist. He just wanted to lay out his perspective...
I love forgetting about everything else for 2-3 hours and becoming absorbed in the experience. One of my favorite feelings is at the end of the film when I walk out of the theater with a mind that is empty and still after having focused for so long. I get to observe the feeling of my thoughts creeping back in along with the noise of the world. In this way it's akin to a meditative experience for me.
Of course, this can also happen at home with enough willpower, but the temptation to break focus is ever-present.
Around the time Edwards was sold to Regal a few years ago the experience in all theaters was declining. As the good script writers turned to TV shows, the spectacle remained in movies but the stories stopped being compelling. Even the good theaters started showing crappy non-movie commercials before they ran trailers. Even the expensive movie theaters were unable to supply good fresh popcorn. Apparently operating the popcorn machine is just too much trouble. Much better to get trash bags full of stale popcorn from some central location.
Even at high-end theaters, customers started using their phones for social media while the movie was running. Phone screens are pretty bright these days.
Theaters were able to stem the decline a little bit by introducing even more expensive theaters that had comfortable assigned seating and passable restaurant service. The passable restaurant service quickly declined, right along with the movies. We could still sort of enjoy movies like Iron Man, Deadpool, or Pirates of the Caribbean. It was over $20 a person to see a movie, so about the price of a DVD.
By the time Covid hit, I was the only one in my family going to movies. My adult kids didn’t even want to go on my nickel. My wife wasn’t having any of it. She simply could not stand the poor quality of movies or the theater experience itself. I did go to see the new top gun movie, and it was about $25. At that point, with the degraded experience, I see no reason to do anything but stream or purchase the movie months after the hype has died down.
So now it’s me in my family room, alone, watching streaming services on a big screen and wondering what the fuck happened.
If the option is available to you, I'd like to recommend a medium-sized chain of theaters in the US called The Alamo Drafthouse. They're slowly expanding across the US and I find their approach refreshing:
Firstly, their business and programming exudes a real love for film and cinema that you only see in a superficial way at Regal Theaters or an equivalent. It's a good mix of big-studio releases, indie films (which they often make efforts to highlight and platform) and old films that are beloved or noteworthy. It's a very well-mixed bag. Quite often they host specially-themed showings or events that expand the traditional experience.
I'd say their big blind-spot is in not programming what I'd call "film school" films: Films that are extremely niche or academically interesting or avant-garde. I imagine it's hard to consistently pack a theater for a Pasolini retrospective or something from the Lumiére Brothers. That said my local branch (Los Angeles) features a replica video rental shop in the lobby that is EXTREMELY well-curated with DVDs that you can rent for free.
A quality that I find endearing from this franchise is that they play unique pre-roll footage while you wait for the lights to go down that is specifically curated for the movie that you're there to view. For thirty minutes prior to showtime they play everything and anything that is thematically related to the movie you're about to watch: Does the movie star Bryan Cranston? They'll play an old aspirin commercial that he acted in in the 90s. Are you seeing a Spiderman Movie? They'll play footage from the 1980s Turkish Spiderman movie where Spiderman wields a pistol and stabs people. It's all very good-natured and fun and infinitely more enjoyable than watching trashy word-scramble puzzles, or advertisements for a local dealership.
Finally, their biggest innovation is that the theaters have integrated the serving of food and drink (entire meals and alcohol) into the experience. Every audience member's reclining seat has a desk in front of it and a staff-member will quietly come in and take orders that you can write on a card. Now this may be a good thing or a bad thing to you, but what it also means is that each theater is moderated by a crew of 2-3 servers who regulate any disturbances or unwanted behavior. I've definitely pulled out my phone to text at one point and been told I need to do so out in the hall.
Anywho, whether you're able to attend The Drafthouse or not I hope you find a way to reconnect with the experience of seeing movies. It's something I greatly value and love to share with everyone.
We strolled down the Embarcadero after Dune - couldn't tell you what we talked about, but it was peaceful.
Worked like a charm.
Improvenent is possibe by combining the above with relieving yourself immediately before the performance begins.
If you relieve immediately beforehand and can't hold it for 90 minutes, there is likely a medical issue (e.g. old man, pregnant, etc).
I suffer from what I've dubbed "Movie Bladder".
Being in a situation where it would be inconvenient to have to use the bathroom creates the urge, regardless of actual bladder fullness. As soon as the situation is resolved, the urge vanishes. It's all in my head.
Job interview? I'll hit the bathroom five minutes before it begins. As soon as I enter that Zoom call, the urge returns. As soon as we sign off, the urge goes away.
When I fly, I love the window seat, but have too much social anxiety to ask the people in the middle and aisle seats to let me out to use the bathroom. So naturally, as I get seated, the urge comes and remains the entire flight. As soon as we land, the urge is gone. Even after getting off the plane, I'll walk past the bathrooms, and not even the power of suggestion brings back the feeling of needing to urinate.
The urge isn't completely constant, and it's not overwhelming. After all, my bladder is anything but full, since I make it a habit to relieve myself as late as possible before entering the situation. It's still annoying to deal with though, since I know it's all in my head and is not an actual bladder issue.
Avengers Endgame is 3 hours and 1 minute long.
Some of that is credits, and maybe you should be able to hold it for 3 hours anyway, but some people do have medical problems. They should still be allowed to enjoy movies.
Also still requires you to check your phone during a movie which should be immediate jail time across the board.
Not true! The app has cues that you can read ahead of time. Eg:
> Bob says “I didn’t know you were French!”
When you hear Bob say that, there’s your chance to go.
The app will give roughly 3 cues per movie, about 15 to 30 mins apart, so you have multiple chances.
Also, apparently you can set it to go off with a timer, although I haven’t used that feature. On iPhones you can allow specific apps notify even when you’re on Do Not Disturb, which would probably be useful in this case.
So instead you suggest making it go off with a timer instead? That seems even worse!
I think about that a lot when I'm trudging through the muck on forums, especially TeamBlind. There are kids in their 20s getting burned out at Amazon who'd be able to singlehandedly revolutionize the engineering processes at most normal companies in the world.
When I used this, that's how it worked for me.
Unless you use a smartwatch.
And to me, it’s part of the experience to find the right timing if you really need to go.
In Canada, where I lived for a while, the number was probably 10-20%. It was more of a norm and just a thing that a lot of people did.
Or Interpission.
I just barely made it to the end of the trailer. I can only imagine the steaming pile that was the whole movie.
Trailers seem to have only a loose connection to the movie itself. They're made by different teams, sometimes with different (unused) footage.
Well, I mean, SOME people would, because SOME people get upset whenever a woman gets out of what they see as her lane, but the rest of us wouldn't.
(My top 5, today: Black Panther; Ragnarok; Winter Soldier; Iron Man; Endgame. But the only ones I'd rate below a B are Thor 2, Iron Man 2 & 3, and Eternals.)
There are too many superhero movies. I like the format, they can be very enjoyable, but the more the genre expands the more it has to mine parody, bathos, and other comedic techniques. Even Shakespeare wrote some stinkers.
It was one of my favorite Marvel movies. I was on the edge of my seat and/or laughing uproariously the whole time
I'd say it proves I just don't have any taste, but you'd think that applies to anyone intentionally watching comic book movies..
Especially the parts with Thor.
It is pervasive in India and movies are designed to end on a high/cliffhanger before the break.
Go with the flow is a better policy than subjecting your bladder to a movie’s rhythm.
Your body will thank you.
You could just use your great film sense to know when you're in an obligatory scene, or alternatively just skip the horrendously large liquid sugar infusion.
