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OT: Movies/TV Shows

MindzEye said:
There's certain event movies that are definitely better in a crowd. The last 2 Avengers, Top Gun, a couple more in recent years but that's about it. Maybe 1 a year overall. Other than that though, gimme better popcorn with real butter for 5% of what the theatre charges and pajama pants.
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Most movies are as good at home bit there are a few that are just better on a big screen. I saw Oppenheimer in IMAX to maximize the experience of the special effects. I can still remember going to the Imperial Cinema in Montreal on the first day that The Hunt For Red October was shown in 70mm Dolby. I own the movie on DVD but nothing will ever compare to seeing it.in the cinema. Glory was another movie that was a different experience in 70mm. So was Saving Private Ryan. Some movies just need to be seen on a big screen.
 
WeHaveMoreCupsThanYou said:
Most movies are as good at home bit there are a few that are just better on a big screen. I saw Oppenheimer in IMAX to maximize the experience of the special effects. I can still remember going to the Imperial Cinema in Montreal on the first day that The Hunt For Red October was shown in 70mm Dolby. I own the movie on DVD but nothing will ever compare to seeing it.in the cinema. Glory was another movie that was a different experience in 70mm. So was Saving Private Ryan. Some movies just need to be seen on a big screen.
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I saw the 1976 film Midway at the Stanley theatre equipped with "Sensurround". Yeah it was gimmicky (sensurround) but I think it added a bit to the experience (didn't hurt I think the movie was pretty good imho). I didn't find out until much later it was actually a fairly accurate portrayal of events - minus the 'love story' heh.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMrVTMRbtJg
 
MindzEye said:
Yeah, I think covid broke the habit for a lot of people but it's been a strained relationship between theatres and the viewing public for years.

movie tickets and popcorn/stuff for 2 is like 40-50 bucks, obviously less convenient than staying home, most movies aren't really worth making an event out of unless you love the theatre experience. Theatres are the same cookie cutter corporate bullshit so there's nothing really unique or interesting about going....oh, your theatre has a small arcade section I can drop 20 bucks and shoot a couple of free throws at? Cool. Obviously the size and quality of the screens we watch at home have changed as well...back when I went to theatres a lot as a teenager I had a 20 inch box of a TV in my room as the alternative if I just wanted to rent the VHS tape instead. Parents might have had a 30-35 inch box in the living room with standard potato resolution. Now most/all of us have anywhere between 42-70 inches of 4-8K flat screen technology strapped to the wall.

So yeah, as an experience it's become mediocre in both form and to a degree, content (most movies really don't need a full theatre screen to be enjoyable, it's largely CGI fests or big cinematic action flicks that show better like that), and if you're selling me the same or similar content that I have fucking mounds of at home, the experience should be worth it and it just isn't.
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I agree that as much as I enjoy movies in a cinema I loathe the whole Cineplex "experience". Whenever I walk into a Cineplex, I always have the same thought: this is a movie theatre made by and for people who hate movies or, at least, have no respect for them as an art form.

The cinemas I remember going to before the Cineplex model took over was a venue where movies were revered rather than incidental to the experience. People went to a cinema to see a film, not to play video games or eat a meal. The lobbies would be carpeted, softly lit, and above all, QUIET. People would mingle and talk about the film they were about to see or about films they had seen and the loudest thing there was the sound of the popcorn popper at the concession stand. And when you went inside the cinema itself there were no ads being shown for 20 minutes, no bogus trivia contests, nada. Just silence and the sound of people talking quietly. There were no cell phones or other distractions. You sat patiently waiting for the house lights to dim and killed time by reading the latest issue of Trubute that was available in the lobby.

And then finally the show would begin, there'd be previews of coming attractions and then the main event (back in the 70's they also played O Canada before the show, and the last 8 rows of the theater were for smokers) It was a sedate, pleasant experience in which the film was the thing, not the air hockey game or the pizza joint in the lobby.

Sadly, aside from the odd repertory cinemas in larger cities, that type of movie going experience no longer exists. And more's the pity.
 
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oscarheyman said:
I saw the 1976 film Midway at the Stanley theatre equipped with "Sensurround". Yeah it was gimmicky (sensurround) but I think it added a bit to the experience (didn't hurt I think the movie was pretty good imho). I didn't find out until much later it was actually a fairly accurate portrayal of events - minus the 'love story' heh.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMrVTMRbtJg
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Yes! I remember going to see Midway at the old Regent Theatre in Oshawa. The "Sensurround" effect I believe could also shake the seats in the theater. But it was awesome when the planes were taking off from the carrier deck. The disaster movie "Earthquake" was also made in Sensurround.

I remember seeing The Towering Inferno at the Bay Ridges Drive In in Pickering that was next to what was then called Sheridan Mall (now Pickering Town Centre just east of Liverpool Road) as part of a triple feature. The drive in has made a mini comeback thanks to Covid but they're just pop-ups in mall parking lots for one night here or there.
 
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