So are movie theaters dead?
Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2020 9:17 am
Looks like Regal theaters is closing. Is it the end of movie theaters, or maybe the beginning of something new?
Even before Covid I wasn't going to the theaters much. Just the occasional visual spectacle that I wanted to see on a really big screen, like 1917, but even then it's a chore.
I went to matinees to avoid noisy crowds and kids and get a good seat in the center that I can still easily get out of in the middle of the movie. Because. Let's be honest, I'm 60, and it's pretty damn hard to sit through a 2 1/2 to 3 hour movie, without having to take a piss.
I'm a former sound engineer, and it's a 50-50 chance that I will spend the entire movie, angry at the projectionist because the sound is either too loud or too soft.
And movies are f'ing expensive to just be bearded in like cattle, with as little leg room as economy class on a jet liner.
We all have decent size HDTVs at home by now. I've got a stunning 95 inch TV in my living room, and I can sit in my favorite recliner, and eat or drink anything I want, while petting my cat, and pause the movie and take a leak any time I want.
What I HOPE is that some entrepreneurs will buy up some of those theaters and refurbish them in a modern recreation of a cinema.
I went to one of those in Miami a few years ago. Someone remodeled an old theater with extremely comfortable recliner seats, with monstrous leg room, and a full bar. I'd be willing to pay a premium for a luxurious cinema experience like that.
Even before Covid I wasn't going to the theaters much. Just the occasional visual spectacle that I wanted to see on a really big screen, like 1917, but even then it's a chore.
I went to matinees to avoid noisy crowds and kids and get a good seat in the center that I can still easily get out of in the middle of the movie. Because. Let's be honest, I'm 60, and it's pretty damn hard to sit through a 2 1/2 to 3 hour movie, without having to take a piss.
I'm a former sound engineer, and it's a 50-50 chance that I will spend the entire movie, angry at the projectionist because the sound is either too loud or too soft.
And movies are f'ing expensive to just be bearded in like cattle, with as little leg room as economy class on a jet liner.
We all have decent size HDTVs at home by now. I've got a stunning 95 inch TV in my living room, and I can sit in my favorite recliner, and eat or drink anything I want, while petting my cat, and pause the movie and take a leak any time I want.
What I HOPE is that some entrepreneurs will buy up some of those theaters and refurbish them in a modern recreation of a cinema.
I went to one of those in Miami a few years ago. Someone remodeled an old theater with extremely comfortable recliner seats, with monstrous leg room, and a full bar. I'd be willing to pay a premium for a luxurious cinema experience like that.