Will you miss the big theaters?

[Jackalope]

I'm not fanatical about being first to see a movie. I'll see it cheaper and more comfortably in 3-4 months.

I'm not either, I maybe see one movie in theater a year but it's usually one I've been waiting for.

[Angrboda]

I like going to theaters for the experience, especially watching something new with a crowd. Home theater can't replace that.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I agree, I don't have to put up with a pack of idiots when I'm at home. Just that one over there.

[zwanzig]

Not going to miss them at all. The last one I went to, it had really cushioned, faux leather recliners. So, like trying to simulate the experience of reclining in your chair at home?

Movies are getting to be 2+ hours long as the norm. And I admit, just in general, at home watching movies by myself, I frequently pause for bathroom breaks, to grab something to eat, or check social media. I can't just sit there, eyes glued to the screen, not moving for three hours. Possibly for the right movie I might. But the recent output does not warrant such dedication. And movie theaters, there is no pause button. Just sit there for over 2 hours, like a vegetable.

And that's just aside from the discomfort dealing with crowds. I am not a sports arena fan nor do I like concerts. I don't like crowd energy, especially when I'm trying to get my escapism on.

I dunno what they'll be replaced with but good riddance to them dying away. Watching movies in my own living room, I don't have to sneak in snacks and drink.

[arewethereyet]

There was a time when going to the theater was your only way to see a movie. Now, even a big movie will be available for purchase or streaming in just a few months.

Theaters are trying everything in the last few years to stay afloat. Between the recliner seats and serving alcohol and meals, they are trying to make it more like home. Then I may as well just stay home. I am short...that's some code for tall people to come sit right in front of me. I have watched a lot of movies over the years with a big hole shaped like the shoulders and head of another patron right in the middle of the screen.

I can't remember the last time I saw a movie trailer and thought "I really want to see that!" It seems to me that most movies in the past few years are remakes or sequels.

I've moved away from watching movies, even at home. I tend to go for series that I didn't watch when they first came out and various documentaries...especially music docs and concerts.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I don't have a 2+ hour attention span anymore.

[Spongebob]

The recent trend toward remakes is problematic. A remake can be a vast improvement on the original but often times it's just a thinly veiled cash grab. Total Recall comes to mind as an example of the latter. With only 22 years between these two films, there was not that much that new CGI technology could do to improve the story. The original wasn't a masterpiece, but it was a fun sci-fi flick worth 90 minutes and a bag of popcorn. The remake included script and tone changes that actually made the story less coherent and the cast seemed ambivalent at best. Even though the second film wasn't orders of magnitude worse, it still felt like a complete waste of time and money. There are so many great sci-fi and fantasy books to draw from, why go back to this particular book/movie to redo something that was done pretty well the first time? If this film's remake is to be taken as the example, then it's time the Harry Potter series remakes began.

On the flip side, the original Cape Fear was released in 1962 and the remake in 1991 and although I enjoyed both of them, I sincerely felt the latter improved on the experience. Robert De Niro was far more sinister than Robert Mitchum as the antagonist. And the style of filmmaking had evolved quite a bit in the near 30 years between the films. So I'm a fan of remakes as long as there are good artistic reasons for doing it and not just a payday for the studio.

Overall there's more content than can ever be realistically harvested for making scripted films, but the brake this creative output is always profits. To flip that script, though, consider Blumhouse Films, which is a studio 100% driven by profits and nothing but, yet they consistently churn out really good films like "Get out", "The Purge" and "The Invisible Man" (another remake). Their model is to produce a high volume of low budget films with the expectation that a few will be big hits while most will make little money at all. Yet somehow they are producing some great artistic content. I think they are demonstrating that you don't need $200 to make a great film.

[Mister Agenda]

I hope they make a comeback after the pandemic. I like to go to matinees at a discount late-showing theater and munch some popcorn watching a movie on the big screen while I'm the only one on my row. Plus my SO doesn't care for my taste in movies, so I get to watch one I like without having to hear her complain about it.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I thought the second "Total Recall" was a vast improvement over the original. For one thing, no Swartznegger.

[Rhizomorph13]

There was a time when going to the theater was your only way to see a movie.  Now, even a big movie will be available for purchase or streaming in just a few months.  

Theaters are trying everything in the last few years to stay afloat.  Between the recliner seats and serving alcohol and meals, they are trying to make it more like home.  Then I may as well just stay home.  I am short...that's some code for tall people to come sit right in front of me.  I have watched a lot of movies over the years with a big hole shaped like the shoulders and head of another patron right in the middle of the screen.  

I can't remember the last time I saw a movie trailer and thought "I really want to see that!"  It seems to me that most movies in the past few years are remakes or sequels.  

I've moved away from watching movies, even at home.  I tend to go for series that I didn't watch when they first came out and various documentaries...especially music docs and concerts.

You wouldn't have the tall person problem in a Cinetopia style living room theater. your feet are head level with the people in front of you! Cinetopia is no more now but their theaters still exist, having been bought out. They also have a parlor style viewing experience where there is a bar in the middle of the room and many different screens, kind of like a sports bar but with one movie being shown, and you pay to get in.