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Comment by jdlyga | Hacker News Reader

Going to the movies was always a habit left over from an earlier time. Of course when all you have is a standard definition tube TV and VHS movies, going to see something on the big screen is exciting. But nowadays, large 4K HDR TV's are cheap now, and you can get almost everything on streaming. Covid really hit the big reset button and made people question a lot of their habits, including still going to movie theaters. What's the point of spending $15 per person for tickets to a movie I could see in a few months on my own equivalently good screen for a subscription I'm already paying for?

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Cinema's latest brainwave, at least in the UK, is to run patronising adverts about how great the "big-screen experience" is, and how we shouldn't ruin films by watching on our TVs, laptops, phones, etc. Except, like the old anti-piracy ads, they run these adverts in cinemas before movies, to a group of people who've literally just made the decision to go to the cinema. Like a priest ranting at his congregation about the evils of not attending church.

Every time I see one of these adverts, I think that cinema deserves to die.

Funnily, the big picture is the least interesting part of the experience for me.

Back when I lived in NYC, I used to go to Nighthawk cinemas every once in a while for a date night. We'd pick a movie, shell out for some fancy cocktails and dinner, and enjoy the drinks and food while watching the movie. It was a great experience, really loved their menu. They even had a really smart ordering system, where you wrote your order down on a piece of paper and the servers picked them up silently so as not to disrupt the movie.

But most cinemas are just typical garbage big chain locations with way-too-loud, poorly balanced speakers, crappy food, crappy drinks, full of screaming children. Why would I go to all the trouble and expense for an experience that's just worse in every way?

I also prefer watching all content with subtitles, which makes me want to go to the cinema even less because so few showings have subtitles. Given that something like 70% of Gen Zers watch content with subtitles most of the time, I wonder how long it will take that to change?

> Back when I lived in NYC, I used to go to Nighthawk cinemas every once in a while for a date night. We'd pick a movie, shell out for some fancy cocktails and dinner, and enjoy the drinks and food while watching the movie. It was a great experience, really loved their menu. They even had a really smart ordering system, where you wrote your order down on a piece of paper and the servers picked them up silently so as not to disrupt the movie.

This is essentially how the Alamo Drafthouse works as well, and I loved their FiDi location (opened just over a year ago). The Alamo also has a monthly membership for 30 bucks that I used for a long time. Unfortunately, both of their NYC locations are inconveniently located for me, and I eventually switched over to AMC - and the amount of screaming children is insane - why are people bringing children to a PG-13/NC-17 movie?! The Alamo staff will come and shush people talking or disruptive in any way, while my most recent AMC experience had somebody in the theater smoking/vaping pot.

To add some context for those not in the UK or Europe...

I am guessing the advert you are referring to is the "Get lost in great stories" one [1] run in Vue cinemas. Other UK cinemas (Picturehouse, Odeon) mention the "big screen experience" but I think the Vue one is the only one that singles out that watching on a phone / laptop / TV can lead to a negative experience.

It's certainly one of the longer "please switch off your phones" messages, at over two minutes in length.

I used to enjoy seeing the adverts and trailers before a film at the cinema, but that was when I rarely visited. Now that I'm going much more regularly (sometimes multiple times a week), the lack of variety is very obvious: when I am forced to sit through the exact same collection of four or five adverts / trailers multiple times, it gets a bit old.

Of course, in my haste to post, I forgot the most important bit - the link to the advert itself!

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6jrYeBA7BA

They probably run those ads as placeholders until they find some real advertisers. Youtubers employ this practice sometimes.

But what about the children?

A movie in a theater was great for early stage dating. It gets you in a dark place in neutral territory with the other person where you sort of have some privacy but still public enough that it is safe, and you have a good excuse for sitting right next to them.

There you can do things that try to inch up the intimacy but with plausible deniability, such as the classics we've all seen a billion movies and TV shows like hand touching while reaching into a shared extra large popcorn ("it was a better deal than buying two smaller sizes...yeah, that's why we have to share!") or the arms resting on the back of the seat that sort of turns into a side hug.

I don't think that would work with movies at home. It is not neutral territory. There might be parents, or worse, obnoxious siblings around limiting privacy or even actively trying to see how your date is going. For the person who is the guest it isn't as safe as a theater. There isn't an excuse to sit right next to each other so the arm trick is out. You probably each have your own bag of microwave popcorn.

Like many others, there's a lot of reason still, today, to go sit down in a dark theater after spending $15 on a ticket.

Yeah, we have large 4K HDR TVs, but they aren't as large as what's down at my local movie theater. I have a decent sound system in my house, but it's not as loud or tuned as nicely as what's in that theater. Being able to see a film on a large screen is still a unique experience that very few people can truly replicate at home. I still love that experience as it provides a much more immersive way to experience a movie. Certain movies I think require that kind of screen and sound to work properly.

Plus, depending on the movie, the energy in the room of a packed movie theater also plays into that experience. Personally, I am willing to spend that $15 for a ticket to support the kind of films I want to see as well. I feel like I'm throwing a few bucks at the director and saying, thanks for making this, I appreciate it.

(I'm the kind of person who still has a large physical media collection, buys blurays, 4K blurays, etc.)

I went to the movies last weekend. I was one of 5 people in the entire theater.

The posted movie start time was 1:30. At 1:50, the movie still hadn't started. Even the previews hadn't started. They were still spamming us with TV quality advertisements for Coke-a-cola and other stuff I couldn't care less about.

20 solid minutes of ads. Under no circumstances is that acceptable. If I hadn't been with other people I would have walked out and lobbied for a refund. But as it stands, It's hard to imagine why I would go back.

That sounds horrible and rather disrespectful, what a bad experience.

That said, is "coke-a-cola" a humorous spelling (like "Micro$oft") or just a misspelling of Coca-Cola?

just a misspelling. Apparently those time wasting adds don't work.

There are still reasons people might want to go to the theater (and they do since there are some movies like Top Gun and Wakanda Forver have raked in money). One is you don't want to wait. Another would be that you like going to the theater, particularly if you have a nice one nearby. It's an afternoon or night out. A third would be that some movies you want to enjoy with a crowd. End Game or Avatar come to mind.

There are also dates, and it's a place teenagers can hang out, and you something for your kids to do away from the house. The socializing stuff you might not get as much of at home.

I went to the theater a couple months ago because Smile looked like a good enough horror movie that I wanted to see it when it came out. I enjoy the theater experience for certain movies. Dune was a really nice theater experience. There's been a few that were great to see in IMAX 3D, like Prometheus or Tron: Legacy. Infinity War and Endgame were magical becuase of the audience reactions and just they incredible excitement around them across the globe. Granted, that was pre-pandemic, but maybe the latest Avatar recaptures some of that.

For me, it depends on the movie. I'm glad I saw Mad Max: Fury Road on the big screen - it grabbed, and didn't let go until the credits. And the audio is a big component of that (at home, I just have regular headphones).

But for 90% of dramas, comedies, etc.? The 4K TV in the living room will do just fine.

Eh, I disagree on comedies. Seeing a good comedy in a theater is much more enjoyable than watching it at home. Laughter is contagious.

I wonder if anyone here has the AMC A-List subscription. I have had it for years and overall while I don't think I have gotten my money's worth across the entire lifetime of the subscription, overall it is still good value since when some really favorite movies come back I am going multiple times a month in the most premium format. For 25$ a month you get access to all movies playing(with exception to special third party events they play once in a while like "Fathom" events) in all formats. Three movies a week every week. You'd make your money back in essentially one or two of the premium screenings.

Despite this offer in the last two years I still have seen so many non-superhero comic book movies play to an audience of 1-2. (Me and a friend). I sometimes walk by a theater that has literally no one watching. I once watched with the lights on because why not? (there is a light switch located near the entrance)

Went to the movies recently and was disappointed about how bad the screen looked compared to my TV at home. I've got a nice OLED TV, but I was still shocked about how muted the colors were on the screen.

Find the nearest AMC Dolby theater. Everything else stinks if you have a quality setup at home.

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.

> 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.

"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.

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?

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