Theatrical Future/PVOD Thread

[awhen]

So... the shared experience of theater-going is best done when it’s cheapest, nobody is there, and you avoid paying for the concessions that keep it open.

 

[Disneyhead]

So... the shared experience of theater-going is best done when it’s cheapest, nobody is there, and you avoid paying for the concessions that keep it open.

I love shared movie experiences too. There is nothing like hearing the room collectively gasp when the portals open at the end of Endgame or everyone laugh at a particularly funny moment in a comedy. But for something like The King's Speech a nice quite room is fine.

And I always buy popcorn/coke. Always. That's part "going to the movies".

 

[RevFreako]

Those "nerds" include people like cinematographers and directors who have to decide compositions for shots, what should and not be included etc. The rule of thumb is a movie is a medium for long distance and medium closeups, while television (including streaming) is a medium to close-up shot range. A film like 'Lawrence of Arabia" was certainly never meant to be experienced on a TV screen. On the other hand, a TV show on a big screen doesn't look right either. Plus on wide-screen films on TV you have two choices - black bands or crop the picture. (The worst "pan-and-scan" of a film ever was of 'The Lion In Winter'. A scene where two of the characters are on oppsoite sides of the screen have ping-pong dialogue. Rather than panning back and forth the edit just stayed in the middle... so NO ONE was on screen during the scene!).
Some of us still consider films as an art form, and like art, we don't think the Mona Lisa is improved by blowing the image up and cutting off the sides

Yup, and they're the nerds I'm talking about -- none of what they love affects Joey Bagadonuts in the slightest, and guess which pack of dollars matters more. We're talking about commerce, not art.

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

So... the shared experience of theater-going is best done when it’s cheapest, nobody is there, and you avoid paying for the concessions that keep it open.

I mean, wouldn't you like an empty theme park with concessions you brought in yourself and no one bothering you?

I think what @Disneyhead is trying to get at, is that for people who complain about crowds, longer films, bathroom lines, etc, there are definitely strategic ways to avoid that. Not everyone is able to go midweek day to see a movie, but they used to offer several showtimes, you can purchase tickets online AND see how busy the theatre will be beforehand, and dictate your movie going experience around that.

People often decide to see a movie like in the moment, not planing days beforehand like some. Im sure that can create frustrating experiences, but same thing with going to a loud restaurant, having to wait, the place being packed, or a filled bar, some things in the public are naturally out of your control, nor does anybody condone a theatre experience where people are constantly disrupting you.

BUT, as someone who never saw the originals or prequels in the theatre, man, hearing the crawl for Star Wars: The Force Awakens with a crowd cheering was a total highlight of my (pathetic) life haha. I have chills thinking about that moment as I type it!

I love movies for the community aspect. LOVE an empty theatre but don't need it. I went 50 times last year, on one hand I can count the issues I had and I would go to blockbuster films opening weekend. Having fans react alongside you is a great feeling as others have mentioned. I mean, not to spoil much but, *LIGHT SPOILERS* the basement scene in Parasite (when they find it), or when the doorbell rings and its the old cleaning lady, oh those gasps were FELT. Cant replicate that at home.

Or, SPOILERS FOR "GET OUT" BELOW AND NO SPOILER BOX CAUSE ITS BEEN OUT FOR YEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

but when the TSA agent showed up at the end, it was like someone scored a buzzer beater to win the NBA Finals. Literal celebration in the room, Get Out may be my best experience overall. I miss those so much.

 

[Disneyhead]

One of the best collective movie going experiences I ever had was back in 1982. I had moved from the secluded mountains of West Virginia to Richmond VA. I went to see Friday the 13th 3-D in a theater in a predominantly black neighbor. How much the audience reacted and enjoyed the movie was amazing to me. They were screaming, laughing, telling the characters "Don't go in there...I told you not to go in there". I loved it and that is the theater I always went to for Horror movies for the rest of my time in Richmond.

 

[rageofthegods]

I remember when we saw IT, some jokester brought red balloons into the theater and released them during the climax. That was amazing.

 

[Nick]

Cost is definitely an issue, whenever I’d go between tickets, popcorn, ridiculously gigantic sodas, it’s always been around $40-$50 and, to me, I just don’t see that being worth it.



I think comfier seats would be great! The AMC in Disney Springs might as well have steel benches installed, they’re so uncomfortable.

Cinemark at CityWalk has recliners and so does the DS AMC. It’s hard to find a theater without recliners these days.

Yup, and they're the nerds I'm talking about -- none of what they love affects Joey Bagadonuts in the slightest, and guess which pack of dollars matters more. We're talking about commerce, not art.

And yet, everyone lost their collective **** when The Simpsons debuted on Disney+ without the 4:3 formatting option. People do care about the small stuff. What you want is to Walmartize the entire movie making industry.

 

[Allison]

Cinemark at CityWalk has recliners and so does the DS AMC. It’s hard to find a theater without recliners these days.

Are they in the regular theaters or in the Dine In section?

Edit: Googled to make sure I wasn’t totally losing it, and as of the last time I was there they only had recliners in the Dolby and Dining theaters. Not sure if they’ve installed them in the regular theaters now though.

 

[Nick]

Are they in the regular theaters or in the Dine In section?

The Dine-In side actually has some of the worst chairs. From my recollection they look like recliners, but aren’t (I used to work on that side of the AMC).

AMC was doing a redo of the entire theater last year though, updating auditorium by auditorium and inserting recliners in the regular section. Not sure if the ever finished though.

 

[Allison]

The Dine-In side actually has some of the worst chairs. From my recollection they look like recliners, but aren’t (I used to work on that side of the AMC).

AMC was doing a redo of the entire theater last year though, updating auditorium by auditorium and inserting recliners in the regular section. Not sure if the ever finished though.

Posted my edit I think the same time you replied, the two regular theaters I saw TLJ in didn’t have recliners but hopefully they were added in before Covid.

 

[JungleSkip]

[QUOTE="Nick, post: 874605, member: 3723”]

And yet, everyone lost their collective **** when The Simpsons debuted on Disney+ without the 4:3 formatting option. People do care about the small stuff. What you want is to Walmartize the entire movie making industry.
[/QUOTE]
When aspect ratio changes affect the subject matter, they’re obvious and detrimental, which is what happened with the old Simpsons episodes.

 

[RevFreako]

Cinemark at CityWalk has recliners and so does the DS AMC. It’s hard to find a theater without recliners these days.


And yet, everyone lost their collective **** when The Simpsons debuted on Disney+ without the 4:3 formatting option. People do care about the small stuff. What you want is to Walmartize the entire movie making industry.

Everyone lost their minds because jokes were being missed. I'm not talking about something egregious like full frame vs. widescreen with the Ghostbusters elevator scene. I'm talking about things the moviegoing public just. Doesn't. Care. About. In this discussion, if it doesn't noticeably move the spending needle, it's a non issue for me.

 

[GadgetGuru]

It seems like theaters are going more high-end to compensate for lower attendance. As a movie buff, this is my ideal.

My local theater has IMAX, great food, great drinks, recliner seats, Atmos sound. All of this in the Midwest. Yeah, it’s more expensive than the Regal down the street(and even a little further away), but I’ll pick it every time. The crowds seem better behaved too since the price / upscale theater seems to scare away more obnoxious movie-goers.

 

[TheGentTrent]

I'll just add this: if you want to get the theatrical experience at home, the best way in my experience is to buy a pair of Beats headphones, turn out the lights, and watch stuff on your laptop. The bass will vibrate in your ears and you'll hear the kind of echoes that normally get lost on TV. Also, having the screen close to me helps make it immersive because you're less likely to see your surroundings. I've watched plenty of movies this way and even shows like Mandalorian, Game of Thrones, and Stranger Things.

 

[OLSinFLA]

Yup, and they're the nerds I'm talking about -- none of what they love affects Joey Bagadonuts in the slightest, and guess which pack of dollars matters more. We're talking about commerce, not art.

And yet, if a film is done poorly, commerce suffers as well. Without theaters, basically films simply become made-for-TV movies-of-the-week. They will look, and be made, mostly cheap. There's no reason to shoot a big spectacular film with wide sweeping shots when 75% of people will watch it on their phones.

 

[RevFreako]

And yet, if a film is done poorly, commerce suffers as well. Without theaters, basically films simply become made-for-TV movies-of-the-week. They will look, and be made, mostly cheap. There's no reason to shoot a big spectacular film with wide sweeping shots when 75% of people will watch it on their phones.

And from a commercial standpoint - which again, is all that matters right now - that might not be the worst thing in the world. We're not going to come to an agreement here, so we're going to end this thread here. Be well.

 

[Nick]

And yet, if a film is done poorly, commerce suffers as well. Without theaters, basically films simply become made-for-TV movies-of-the-week. They will look, and be made, mostly cheap. There's no reason to shoot a big spectacular film with wide sweeping shots when 75% of people will watch it on their phones.

This is true of most films made for streaming, but Netflix has taken some chances with Scorsese's The Irishman (which was phenomenal), 6 Underground (which as I have said isn't good), and Extraction, which had everything you want in an action movie except for a good plot/characters to care about. They tried to copy the John Wick formula with Extraction seemingly, but only got the action right. I kinda would like to see a sequel to that movie just to see if they can get it right next time. Pretty much most streaming movies you watch are low budget.

A prime example of a big budget movie just completely feeling like it was a made-for-TV movie was the 2017 movie "Bright" with Will Smith. That thing really sucked and amazingly, it's getting a sequel. But those things happen in cinemas with big budget movies, too.

 

[RevFreako]

This is true of most films made for streaming, but Netflix has taken some chances with Scorsese's The Irishman (which was phenomenal), 6 Underground (which as I have said isn't good), and Extraction, which had everything you want in an action movie except for a good plot/characters to care about. They tried to copy the John Wick formula with Extraction seemingly, but only got the action right. I kinda would like to see a sequel to that movie just to see if they can get it right next time. Pretty much most streaming movies you watch are low budget.

A prime example of a big budget movie just completely feeling like it was a made-for-TV movie was the 2017 movie "Bright" with Will Smith. That thing really sucked and amazingly, it's getting a sequel. But those things happen in cinemas with big budget movies, too.

None of Bright's problems are budget-related though - it was what, 90-100 million and every dollar of it is on the screen, well done - they were all script-related. Max Landis is an idiot manchild whose next intelligent, original thought would be his first. That doesn't change whether the budget is five million or five hundred million. When (not if, but when) the theater system crumbles, and lower budgets become more of a norm, I'm hopeful stuff like Bright won't even get a look.

 

[Nick]

None of Bright's problems are budget-related though - it was what, 90-100 million and every dollar of it is on the screen, well done - they were all script-related. Max Landis is an idiot manchild whose next intelligent, original thought would be his first. That doesn't change whether the budget is five million or five hundred million. When (not if, but when) the theater system crumbles, and lower budgets become more of a norm, I'm hopeful stuff like Bright won't even get a look.

I'm hopeful that when the megachains crash and burn, i'll at least have an Alamo Drafthouse or an equivalent to one to go to for things like an Avengers 5 or something. I'm more closely with you guys who are speaking against theaters than you think, I just hope they stay around in some form so that if i'm in the mood to go, I have the option.

As for lower budgets, I outlined this yesterday, but I really think the way movies that would normally cost $200M can cut their budget way down in size to around $75M is by using the stagecraft technology that they used to film a decent part of The Mandalorian with.

 

[RevFreako]

I'm hopeful that when the megachains crash and burn, i'll at least have an Alamo Drafthouse or an equivalent to one to go to for things like an Avengers 5 or something. I'm more closely with you guys who are speaking against theaters than you think, I just hope they stay around in some form so that if i'm in the mood to go, I have the option.

As for lower budgets, I outlined this yesterday, but I really think the way movies that would normally cost $200M can cut their budget way down in size to around $75M is by using the stagecraft technology that they used to film a decent part of The Mandalorian with.

I think I've said before, the movie industry's accounting system needs an amazing amount of oversight. I don't for a second believe a 200m movie legitimately costs 200m. This is an industry where a Ghostbusters can go two decades "without turning a profit."