[nsxwolf]

The ability to pause, rewind and get up to go to the bathroom changes the experience for the worse. You just don't have to get serious about watching a movie anymore. You don't have to prepare to settle down, be quiet, and focus.

[autoexec]

> The ability to pause, rewind and get up to go to the bathroom changes the experience for the worse. You just don't have to get serious about watching a movie anymore. You don't have to prepare to settle down, be quiet, and focus.

I disagree. Nothing is stopping anyone from staying at home and acting like they're in a theater. If that's what you really value you can choose to just ignore any important dialog that you didn't catch the first time instead of rewinding to hear it again. You can be distracted by the fact that you have to pee without pausing the film to run to the bathroom. You can divert your attention while you try to be as silent as possible while eating or opening snacks so as not to annoy anyone else in your virtual theater.

I think that it's far easier to focus on a movie when I'm at home and don't have anyone else talking or kicking seats or getting up and walking between me and the screen. While I have the option to obsessively check my phone while the movie is playing at home somehow I see fewer screens blaze up like beacons when I watch movies with the family than when I'm at the theater.

I can also fully control the lighting and temperature, and all while not spending a fortune on crappy food and drinks.

The one time I actually prefer to see things in a theater are live performances or special events where part of the fun is being in a crowd. I have some good memories of special showings and long awaited releases where the whole audience was buzzing with excitement while lined up outside and cheering and clapping while the film was rolling. None of that is getting serious about and focusing on the movie though, it's more about being a part of a shared experience and that's something genuinely harder to replicate at home.

[nsxwolf]

"Nothing is stopping anyone from staying at home and acting like they're in a theater"

This is incorrect. The temptation to use the deleterious conveniences stops me. Going to the theater forces me into a certain posture.

[oramit]

While framing the watching of a movie as "serious" is probably a bit much I do agree that going to the cinema is a great exercise in focus. The whole place is setup for watching movies and when I'm there I feel engrossed in a way that doesn't happen at home for me. At home everything I watch sort of blurs together into a smear of "content". I can think back on the things I've watched and I do have favorites but I don't have the same visceral memories I have for movies I've seen in the theater. I remember where I was, who I was with, and all the feelings the movie conjured up.

It is certainly less convenient than streaming at home and does cost more but I get the same amount (at least) of entertainment in the moment and the memories are certainly more vivid. That has to be worth something?