theaters Tagged Articles at Cinematical

I love seeing movies in theaters rather than on my TV or computer. I like the communal experience, the big screen ... well, not the commercials they show before movies, but I try to avoid those theaters. But lately, at least where I live, I'm finding increased technical problems in theaters that make it difficult if not impossible to enjoy a movie.

Last week I went to a matinee of Spread at a multiplex owned by a large national chain. I was watching the movie to review. About 20 minutes into the film, the right speaker started shutting off and on sporadically. It was still possible to understand the dialogue, in a mushy way, but the movie sounded terrible at times. I was torn. If I left to find a theater employee, it would take at least five minutes and I might miss important plot points. On the other hand, the sound problem was extremely annoying, and I hate paying for a movie in a faulty theater. No one else walked out, so either it didn't bother them or they didn't want to miss any of the movie either.

Earlier this morning, Ryan wrote an editorial about how Transformers nearly smashed the release window when it was rumored a few weeks back that the film would premiere on TV (for a price) at the same time it hit theaters. Obviously that didn't happen, but it served as a launching pad for Ryan to point out a number of things wrong with the current theatrical set up. A year or so ago, I would've been pissed if a film like Transformers went day-and-date. But now I, along with practically everyone I know, welcome such a change. Heck, imagine how many kick ass Transformers parties would've occurred across the country. Everyone chips in five or ten bucks and you get to watch the film with your friends, in a comfortable seat, in an environment where you know the guy next to you won't bring his two year-old baby and an attitude problem.

Instead of checking out an advanced critics screening of Transformers, I decided to pony up some cash and see it along with the rest of the country after it officially opened in theaters. And since my friends and I wanted a decent seat, we played it safe and arrived two hours prior to the show. Two freaking hours. And guess what -- there was already a line. So not only did I pay around 20 bucks (for a ticket, soda and popcorn), but I had to stand in a pen for two hours before I was allowed into the theater. Oh, and then as the previous screening let out, the guy next to me insisted upon asking everyone what they thought of the film -- "What was your favorite part," he asked one dude. Thanks, it's bad enough I have to stand here for two hours in a crowd, but now I get to have the movie ruined for me too. And all it cost was twenty dollars! Sweet!

Four and a half hours later, I practically crawled out of the theater -- waited fifteen minutes to use the bathroom, while listening to some guy yell into his cellphone "That sh*t was a thousand times better than 300!!!" -- and smelled worse than I did after Woodstock '99. I find it funny how in this day and age, where "waiting times" have decreased significantly for practically everything, it's getting worse and worse at the local theater.

So, I ask you: How long did you wait to see Transformers? And would you have been more inclined to either join or throw a party at home if the film arrived on TV as well as theaters?

Unless I am with hardcore film geeks, it seems like every time a group of friends or relatives talks about movies, they vent about why they don't go out to see movies in theaters as much anymore. It's too expensive, they can rent perfectly good movies at home, babysitters cost way too much, it's not worth dealing with a loud and annoying audience, and by the time they sit through 30 minutes of high-volume commercials and banal previews, they are ready to leave before the movie even begins. Even my sister complains about the pre-movie ads, and she has no problem with watching commercials on TV.

Many big theater chains are fighting the trend to home entertainment. They are against shorter windows between theatrical release and DVD, they snarl the minute they hear the term "day and date," they claim that the problem is that the movies just aren't as good as they used to be. I think that theater owners need to think about innovative ways to get audiences back into theaters, instead of arguing themselves into obsolescence. Fortunately, many theaters are doing just that, so you can still find some places to enjoy a night out at the movies.

Going to the movies is supposed to be fun. Theaters need to make the theatergoing experience special and fun and as hassle-free as possible. There's nothing like seeing the manager or owner of a movie theater right there in the audience with you because he or she can't resist joining in the enjoyable time you're having. I've come up with a list of seven ways in which theaters, both chains of all sizes and indies, can potentially draw people out of their living room home theaters and back into big theaters again. I've included a few examples from my part of the country, but feel free to tell us about other theaters that are innovating to keep audiences returning. And if you have more ideas for theaters yourself, I'd enjoy hearing about them.

When Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner's production company -- 2929 Entertainment -- simultaneously released Steven Soderbergh's Bubble theatrically, on DVD, and on pay TV, the movie business went into an uproar. "They're killing the cinema!" people cried. To silence those haters, Cuban and Wager are now working on making going to the movies the kind of experience that will get butts off of couches nationwide. They plan to put millions of dollars into a theater model that will look more like your living room, complete with VIP chairs, sofas, and beanbags (could be cool). They want to have independent, foreign, and blockbuster films all at the same multiplex, like the Arclight in LA (cheers to that). They want to bring in higher-end food and drink, and are introducing a higher-priced ticket (is that possible?) which will include concessions and let the audiences serve themselves with something called the "Wall of Popcorn." Cuban and Wagner are unveiling their new concepts at three theaters in their Landmark chain -- locations in Baltimore, Denver, and at the Westside Pavilion in Los Angeles.

"Landmark's goal is to be the ultimate night out for grownups. Today's customer has different expectations than the customer of 10 and 20 years ago, and we need to recognize that and respond to it," says Cuban. "In our new Denver theater, we completely removed the concession stands. The original design had the traditional concession stand taking up prime real estate and dominating the look and feel of the theater. We decided that we would rather use that space for amenities, retail sales (movies, books, indie cinema related items), and 'interstitial' type entertainment that complements our 'datenight for grownups' concept in a lounge-like environment. Basically it became a place where you could go on a date, have a drink, food and be entertained before and after seeing a movie." Since theater-owners already hate Cuban after his day-and-date releasing plan, chances are that news of these theaters will not be greeted with open arms. I've got to say I'm all for it. Going to the theater is far too expensive to be as unpleasant as it so often is - why not experiment with the formula?

Film bloggers are spending a lot of time this week pondering the recent efforts by the MPAA and big theater chains to urge people back into movie theaters, and suggesting more practical solutions.

• Mike at Techdirt claims the trouble is that most theaters aren't offering a good social experience anymore (I feel like we're cattle at certain large chains), but they fail to see this as the problem. He also notes that they're missing the point entirely about the competition of movies on DVD.
• John Rogers at Kung Fu Monkey proposes the best way to improve the theatergoing experience and draw crowds back to movie theaters: hire bouncers disguised as ushers. He has a point: the Alamo theaters in Austin rarely get obnoxious, because the theater chain devised a discreet way for patrons to complain about noise. (Or as their house ad says, "Don't talk or Ann Richards will take your ass out.") [via GreenCine Daily]
• Scott Kirsner at CinemaTech explains the difficulties that theaters will face as the length of time from theatrical to DVD release decreases, and suggests a number of clever ways in which theaters might choose (or have already chosen, in some cases) to attract audiences.
• Unrelated: A couple of entertaining themes are traveling around the world of film bloggers this week. Edward Copeland has been asking bloggers to post lists of their choices for the top ten worst Best Picture Oscar winners. Also this week, girish put out a call for bloggers to write about Abel Ferrera, which has produced some fascinating essays. I regret not having time to tell my story about seeing Ms. 45 in London in 1989.
  
• Finally, also unrelated: Peter Nelhaus posted a great entry this week about William Castle horror films that I had to mention, I enjoyed it so much. The photos from Mr. Sardonicus are especially creepy.