@northcoast said:

lostincinema--

I was waiting for that sort of argument.

The issue is that, though a majority might wish for simultaneous streaming, a solid minority will prefer the big-screen experience. (I remember the film critic Leonard Maltin saying in one of his books that he even had a friend who NEVER saw releases on home video and refused to own a VCR; he only saw films in-theater. Kind of like me never owning a microwave, and never planning to . . . and I've been cooking for myself for 25 years).

The majority is not always right.

Another issue is the loss of yet another service economy job from the landscape-- thousands and thousands of them, actually. It is not good psychologically for anyone when the society moves completely to an "at-home" experience . . . where entertainment is streamed in, food is delivered, every other purchase big and small is made virtually, even work itself is no longer in-person . . . empathy is lost, and humankind becomes just a collection of unconnected, even unfeeling, recipients of various sustaining inputs.

lostincinema, your very screenname suggests love for the cinema-- but the "cinema" was never intended as an exclusively solitary experience, watching movies alone on a smaller screen. It is more immersive than that . . . the sounds around you, the visuals, the gasps and laughs of the audience around you.

And I say this, lostincinema, as someone who watches plenty of films by myself, at home, largely, like everyone else, out of cost and availability concerns (can't afford to watch everything in-theater, nor are many films even available theatrically where I live).

But the option to watch in-cinema, SOCIALLY, immersed, should always be there, and it won't be if we move to streaming-only or even streaming-simultaneously . . . again, the majority is not always right.

You can have your streaming, lostincinema-- you will just have to wait. A little while. One or two months. Unless, of course, your viewpoint wins out. Which would be a sad day for the art form.

I am sure I have not convinced you, lostincinema-- so you and I will just have to disagree on this.

Actually I see what you mean. I really appreciate watching a movie at cinema: the large screen, the unmatched audio quality, the immersive experience and the social setting of it.

The thing is at least from where I am, the theaters are very exploitative. It costs a ton to watch a movie with family or a group of friends. There is too much greed in there that people who do "service economy jobs" still get only the scrapes. It's like putting money in the pockets of powers that be instead of employees who deserve it. Even worse the government (again, from where I am) is accusing them of not even paying taxes properly.

So the ideal you are arguing for is largely corrupted with greed. The "the sounds, the visuals, the gasps and laughs of the audience around" are too costly for the average person and it's unfair that they should have to wait to stream the same movie in their homes.

Maybe the theater business is not sustainable anymore and from it's ashes, maybe, some thing much better will come out that is to your liking.

@northcoast said:

mechajutaro--

Oh, I do agree on that, mecha. Around my neck of the woods, my small-town two-screen theater charges $5 - $6.50 depending on time of day, which I think is reasonable. They charge up to $8 if it's a 3-D release, which I usually avoid anyway since, due to my vision, I can't see 3-D projections (to me they just look like 2-D; although I will sometimes pay the higher price if no 2-D projection is available).

The bigger town 15 miles over, with three "mega-plexes" of 7 to 10 screens, are charging up to $8 for regular releases, $9 for 3-D; these are actually reduced rates-- courtesy of the pandemic --which I still think are reasonable. BUT, I have heard horror stories where major metropolitan areas with those enormous 20- to 30- screen theaters charge much higher . . . and that will have to change.

Usually $8-$13 depending what time of the day you go here. Ive been seeing a trend in cinemas, at least in the Northeast, of going full recline chairs. And offering full service bars and meals option. It seems like this is a new strategy to try and compete with streaming. You can literally go to a move and dinner at the same time. This seems to target parents mostly who probably dont have as much time to go out. Its a good idea overall but they have to stay within a desirable price point for it to work.

@northcoast: What lovely posts you have written on this thread! I really enjoyed reading them. I remember when I saw Skyfall for the first time in the theater. The scene where M dies is on screen. I'm crying, Daniel Craig is crying, hell, the entire audience is crying! And at just that moment, someone decides to enter the theater via the Emergency Exit door! Needless to say, it did not end well.

@SecretaryIMF said:

@northcoast: What lovely posts you have written on this thread! I really enjoyed reading them. I remember when I saw Skyfall for the first time in the theater. The scene where M dies is on screen. I'm crying, Daniel Craig is crying, hell, the entire audience is crying! And at just that moment, someone decides to enter the theater via the Emergency Exit door! Needless to say, it did not end well.

Thank you, SecretaryIMF. Those were very kind words of you to say. I try. I haven't commented as much on threads dealing with more contemporary films (let's say after about 2010) just because, in my opinion, the quality of filmmaking-- especially the writing, whether it be the plot or the actual dialogue --has gone really down in the last decade or so-- but there ARE occasional gems here and there.

I haven't seen Skyfall, as the last James Bond for me was Pierce Brosnan-- but I am glad you enjoyed it!

Thank. Which Pierce Brosnan James Bond movie bldid you see and what was your opinion of it? I'd really like to know. BTW, I really liked your contribution to the "things that you would have liked to have hear said on Star Trek but never did." 🇨🇮🇺🇸🇺🇦

SecretaryIMF--

The last James Bond film I saw was "Tomorrow Never Dies" (1997). I very much enjoyed it. Thank you for your compliment regarding my Star Trek post. I see you are very active on those threads right now-- you must be a big Star Trek fan like me (especially the Original Series)!

And that is quite an interesting signature you have. I don't think I have ever seen someone post on TMDB from Cote d'Ivoire! :)

Actually, I'm from America! And I love Tomorrow Never Dies! Michelle Yeoh stole that movie right out from under Pierce Brosnan!