[tomcam]

I was you for a period of about 30 years. As soon as I could afford to go to movies I went to about 100 every year. I adored the experience and dragged all my girlfriends and, later, my wife and family to the movies. They knew me at all the Edwards theaters in southern Orange County, California. The shared audience experience could be electric. We even liked waiting in line for a select movies, such as new movies in the first Star Wars trilogy, Batman sequels, Indiana Jones, Terminator, Alien, or back to the future. I cheerfully paid inflated prices for snacks because the overall experience was a delight.

Around the time Edwards was sold to Regal a few years ago the experience in all theaters was declining. As the good script writers turned to TV shows, the spectacle remained in movies but the stories stopped being compelling. Even the good theaters started showing crappy non-movie commercials before they ran trailers. Even the expensive movie theaters were unable to supply good fresh popcorn. Apparently operating the popcorn machine is just too much trouble. Much better to get trash bags full of stale popcorn from some central location.

Even at high-end theaters, customers started using their phones for social media while the movie was running. Phone screens are pretty bright these days.

Theaters were able to stem the decline a little bit by introducing even more expensive theaters that had comfortable assigned seating and passable restaurant service. The passable restaurant service quickly declined, right along with the movies. We could still sort of enjoy movies like Iron Man, Deadpool, or Pirates of the Caribbean. It was over $20 a person to see a movie, so about the price of a DVD.

By the time Covid hit, I was the only one in my family going to movies. My adult kids didn’t even want to go on my nickel. My wife wasn’t having any of it. She simply could not stand the poor quality of movies or the theater experience itself. I did go to see the new top gun movie, and it was about $25. At that point, with the degraded experience, I see no reason to do anything but stream or purchase the movie months after the hype has died down.

So now it’s me in my family room, alone, watching streaming services on a big screen and wondering what the fuck happened.

[jessechahal]

Some streaming services added a feature called "watch it together" during covid. Essentially you stream a movie with someone simultaneously. I think plex, Netflix, and Amazon prime have this feature. For many years there have also been online "watch parties" similar to book clubs but done online. It's usually slightly older movies but these groups do exist.

[Slow_Hand]

I can very much relate to your experience of theaters becoming corrupted by crummy programming and non-film advertisements as well as the audience being poorly "moderated" by the ushers. I have a very strong aversion to all of these things.

If the option is available to you, I'd like to recommend a medium-sized chain of theaters in the US called The Alamo Drafthouse. They're slowly expanding across the US and I find their approach refreshing:

Firstly, their business and programming exudes a real love for film and cinema that you only see in a superficial way at Regal Theaters or an equivalent. It's a good mix of big-studio releases, indie films (which they often make efforts to highlight and platform) and old films that are beloved or noteworthy. It's a very well-mixed bag. Quite often they host specially-themed showings or events that expand the traditional experience.

I'd say their big blind-spot is in not programming what I'd call "film school" films: Films that are extremely niche or academically interesting or avant-garde. I imagine it's hard to consistently pack a theater for a Pasolini retrospective or something from the Lumiére Brothers. That said my local branch (Los Angeles) features a replica video rental shop in the lobby that is EXTREMELY well-curated with DVDs that you can rent for free.

A quality that I find endearing from this franchise is that they play unique pre-roll footage while you wait for the lights to go down that is specifically curated for the movie that you're there to view. For thirty minutes prior to showtime they play everything and anything that is thematically related to the movie you're about to watch: Does the movie star Bryan Cranston? They'll play an old aspirin commercial that he acted in in the 90s. Are you seeing a Spiderman Movie? They'll play footage from the 1980s Turkish Spiderman movie where Spiderman wields a pistol and stabs people. It's all very good-natured and fun and infinitely more enjoyable than watching trashy word-scramble puzzles, or advertisements for a local dealership.

Finally, their biggest innovation is that the theaters have integrated the serving of food and drink (entire meals and alcohol) into the experience. Every audience member's reclining seat has a desk in front of it and a staff-member will quietly come in and take orders that you can write on a card. Now this may be a good thing or a bad thing to you, but what it also means is that each theater is moderated by a crew of 2-3 servers who regulate any disturbances or unwanted behavior. I've definitely pulled out my phone to text at one point and been told I need to do so out in the hall.

Anywho, whether you're able to attend The Drafthouse or not I hope you find a way to reconnect with the experience of seeing movies. It's something I greatly value and love to share with everyone.

[tomcam]

Thanks for the kind message and the enticing description of Alamo Drafthouse. Man, I cannot wait until they get to the Seattle area. That sounds like just the experience I was hoping for.