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[Marty Chinn]

What does screen size matter when it fills your field of vision all the same?

If you have a good 4K HDR/Dolby Vision display at home and a Dolby Atmos sound system:

• Resolution is near identical to theaters.
• Color depth at home is better than most theaters.
• Sound system at home is better than most theaters.

Why would you opt to pay more for a lesser product (the theater) in that case?

Reading the various TV, audio and setup threads on this forum, most people buy low quality stuff because of price so most people don't really have good setups to begin with. I would think a lot of people wouldn't really have a setup that begins to approach a theater setting. I bet less than 1% of the people here have an Atmos setup and maybe will ever have one. Hell a significant majority don't even have proper 5.1 let alone 7.1. Whether that gulf is important to them or not is a different story though.

 

[Bobo Dakes]

he's completly right. no-one likes to give amazon any credit as their shows are largely rubbish whereas netflix's are largely very good, but their system for films is brilliant and seeing the amazon studios logo before a good film in the cinema is now becoming a regular occurence.

So ... Amazon gets credit for not taking away from theaters while doing what Nolan is accusing Netflix of to every brick and mortar store. That is hilarious to me.

 

[plagiarize]

I could pay $20 for an adult ticket and see 1 movie at my local, very overpriced cinema....or I could pay $15 a month and see many movies in the comfort of my own home.

I wonder which is better for me, the consumer? I guess we'll never know...

I go to the cinema every week with my wife, dropping $40+ for the experience. I love the experience. I subscribe to Netflix and watch movies on Netflix too, including movies like Okja.

I don't see why these aren't both totally viable things. Why do I give a shit if people watch movies on their phones?

Last I checked people were still going out to the movies too, and cinemas were still viable.

 

[jmood88]

I don't see why it's Netflix's responsibility to do what's best for theater chains.

 

[Ploid 3.0]

I could pay $20 for an adult ticket and see 1 movie at my local, very overpriced cinema....or I could pay $15 a month and see many movies in the comfort of my own home.

I wonder which is better for me, the consumer? I guess we'll never know...

Millennials spend your money! Well on stuff we think you should spend it on, and how we think you should spend it, not these new cost saving services. And go to Applebees for crying out loud!

 

[Mushroomer25]

What does screen size matter when it fills your field of vision all the same?

If you have a good 4K HDR/Dolby Vision display at home and a Dolby Atmos sound system:

• Resolution is near identical to theaters.
• Color depth at home is better than most theaters.
• Sound system at home is better than most theaters.

Why would you opt to pay more for a lesser product (the theater) in that case?

Now, if theaters were all running DCI 8K, with 16-bit color depth, you would have a visible quality difference.

Theater vs Home Theater is like Arcade vs Home Console.

There used to be a massive quality gap between what you could get from the Arcade/Theater vs Home, but the Home offerings have caught up and in some cases surpassed the dedicated offerings.

I cannot fathom a realistic setup for a home theater that replicates the feeling of going to even the lowest-tier 'Lie-MAX' operation. Unless you are rich enough to dedicate an entire room of your house to the experience - which is just miles beyond most people.

 

[Marty Chinn]

I cannot fathom a realistic setup for a home theater that replicates the feeling of going to even the lowest-tier 'Lie-MAX' operation. Unless you are rich enough to dedicate an entire room of your house to the experience - which is just miles beyond most people.

And still not as good.

 

[FZZ]

Horse salesman yells at car.

Bingo

 

[JABEE]

Also, people will be pirating films at a much higher rate the moment all releases are digital. It will be just like the music industry.

 

[Bobo Dakes]

Also, people will be pirating films at a much higher rate the moment all releases are digital. It will be just like the music industry.

Okay, but that's not the conversation. And plenty of movies have been pirated before release so that's not a new issue.

 

[Nipo]

Also, people will be pirating films at a much higher rate the moment all releases are digital. It will be just like the music industry.

People still pirate music? I thought spotify, apple music, google play, et, al basically stopped that.

 

[Bobo Dakes]

People still pirate music? I thought spotify, apple music, google play, et, al basically stopped that.

Hell no.

But people are more likely to pay for music services now that they're more accessible.

 

[Ploid 3.0]

Also, people will be pirating films at a much higher rate the moment all releases are digital. It will be just like the music industry.

If it can be pirated, people will pirate it. Movies at theaters are pirated just like music cassettes in the old days I'm sure. There's even a Seinfeld episode on recording movies with a vhs camera recorder.

 

[Astral Dog]

He is Jelly

 

[KooopaKid]

Okja had a fraction of the impact on my TV compared to if I had seen it in a theater.

 

[TheRedSnifit]

If theaters die out I'll probably just stop watching movies. I don't remember the last time I bothered with the vastly inferior TV experience.

 

[Ashhong]

This doesn't make any sense. In theaters you have a lot more noise and are forced to have subtitles. The fact that your friends dont respect your "home studio" either indicates they shouldn't be your friends or you really don't care that much about it.

In what country are you forced to have subtitles in the theater? And in what country are your friends not allowed to be on their phones in the comfort of their own home while watching a movie?

 

[teh_pwn]

Also, people will be pirating films at a much higher rate the moment all releases are digital. It will be just like the music industry.

I think piracy is way down. If you don't have VPN or a private tracker you'll get a 6 strike within hours from your ISP. You can't just download stuff on pirate bay anymore and most people don't know how to work around it.

 

[aadiboy]

People want to stay at home, it's just inevitable that movie theaters will die out.

 

[erawsd]

So, Netflix should artificially limit the marketplace's options and help prop up a corpse of a business model that can only be sustained by taking advantage of people's impatience... Hrm

 

[Nelo Ice]

Where the fuck do you go for that? Even matinees are like 11$ for me. Are you an employee for a theatre or something?

My local theater is $5.75 for matinees every day and I think it's even cheaper on Tuesdays.

 

[Marty Chinn]

I think piracy is way down. If you don't have VPN or a private tracker you'll get a 6 strike within hours from your ISP. You can't just download stuff on pirate bay anymore and most people don't know how to work around it.

I don't think this is true which is why there's been a huge crackdown on people selling boxes with Kodi and preinstalled illegal add ons lately.

 

[tearsintherain]

I appreciate Nolan's sentimentality about theaters, my mom hates watching movies at home and absolutely LOVES going to the theater - she says it evokes her childhood and youth when going to the theaters was special, you dressed up, it was a magical time, etc.

I'm not young (40s) but don't really have that kind of sentimentality, I love watching movies at home and the difference between me and my kids is that I require full concentration, no talking, no phones, and I have to watch it on a big TV. My kids will watch it on phones, will text and stuff constantly while watching everything, etc.

I think theaters have to evolve or die. Make it a night out, good food and drinks, reserved seating, maybe split it up into a few shorts, intermission, and a movie or even more radical things like give a digital token so you can watch whatever of the movie you want in the theater and watch the rest at home.

But fuck going to shitty ass theaters, paying $20 for some popcorn and a soda, no reserved seatings so you have to go 45 minutes early to get a decent seat, and janky aisles and seats that smell and the theater is filled with people talking and texting. Fuck all of that.

 

[Ashhong]

Again, this is just going to force subscribers to wait an arbitrary amount of time with potentially no other recourse on limited films. I certainly wouldn't be paying Netflix if they were holding out on content.

Do you consider the fact that Netflix has something like Captain America Civil War some 6 months after theater release as "holding out on content"?

What if Netflix made a film division that was dedicated to creating original movies, and put some in the theater first before the streaming service. Is that that much different than any other Hollywood movie that goes onto the service?

 

[Addi]

Maybe if the studio system he is a fucking part of hadn't stopped funding mid budget movies this wouldn't be an issue? I mean, when even someone like David Lynch says he wouldn't have gotten a movie funded today and Scorsese has issues getting the budgets he needs, then Netflix is doing a better job of "saving" film than his hard on for celluloid.

 

[Mushroomer25]

People want to stay at home, it's just inevitable that movie theaters will die out.

Hasn't this been the argument for over a decade, though? The infrastructure has been there for theaters to die out, if studios could make more money by releasing direct to consumer. Yet theaters are still here.

Clearly there's still demand for the experience.

I think exhibition is always going to be around. Will small-to-mid budget films still see a theatrical run in ten years? Maybe not. But I think it's foolish to assume theaters as we know them will vanish.

 

[Vyer]

Netflix didnt really come into the 'go to the movies or not' equation for me, and I love Netflix. It's a different animal. Something tells me the type of stuff they are helping get made wouldn't have probably been enough to ge me into th theater anyway.

 

[Thug Waffle]

Sooner cinemas die the better.

lol no

as much as i love consuming media from the comfort of my own home, it doesn't beat the theatrical experience.

 

[Spinluck]

People want to stay at home, it's just inevitable that movie theaters will die out.

This isn't true.

 

[brianjones]

I think theaters have to evolve or die. Make it a night out, good food and drinks, reserved seating, maybe split it up into a few shorts, intermission, and a movie or even more radical things like give a digital token so you can watch whatever of the movie you want in the theater and watch the rest at home.

they basically are doing most of these things

the annoying thing is they've made it so comfortable for people to forget that they're not in their living room.. talking, checking phones, bringing infant children to inappropriate movies etc. are more prominent than ever unless you go at odd times

also I think people are vastly overrating the quality of television as a legit threat to cinema

 

[Jombie]

Theater's are becoming more archaic every year. I like watching movies in my living room while having a beer; going to the movies is ridiculously expensive. Seeing Spider-Man reminded me of why I never go.

 

[Mr_Antimatter]

Having worked in a cineplex once, the distributors charge an arm and a leg to show the films. Honestly, that's mostly due to Hollywood accounting where no movie has ever turned a profit.

Can't blame netflix for avoiding that racket.

 

[DizzyCaffeine]

It depends on the movie. Adam Sandler stuff can stay on just Netflix. But films like War Machine and Beasts of No Nation really need the exposure that a theatrical release can bring.

 

[Stumpokapow]

This isn't true.

It's not inevitable that they'll die out, but in the last 15 years:
- TV has taken an aggressive bite out of cinema in the competition for talent
- Domestic cinema has eroded dramatically, saved only by increased Chinese buy-in (and Chinese production companies)
- The number of films that bypass the cinema in favour of home distribution has risen
- The window for which theatrical films stay in theatre has fallen

The main bright spot has been premium theatres that charge an astronomical amount for assigned huge seats, blankets, beer, etc; i.e. chasing a narrower audience and having them pay more.

This doesn't bode well going forward in terms of choices, pricing, and mindshare. When someone says "die out", I don't think they mean extinction, I think they have in mind something more like vinyl, home phones, cobblers, travel agents, and packaged software.

 

[plagiarize]

Okja had a fraction of the impact on my TV compared to if I had seen it in a theater.

Agreed.

But I didn't get to see The Host or Snowpiecer in a theater either, because they didn't play anywhere less than an hour and a half drive from my house. I saw them on Netflix, and rather enjoyed them. I'm happy Netflix is supporting Bong Joon-Ho.

Maybe Nolan's production company should have put up the money to ensure it got released in theaters.

 

[DrSlek]

I go to the cinema every week with my wife, dropping $40+ for the experience. I love the experience. I subscribe to Netflix and watch movies on Netflix too, including movies like Okja.

I don't see why these aren't both totally viable things. Why do I give a shit if people watch movies on their phones?

Last I checked people were still going out to the movies too, and cinemas were still viable.

Good for you. For me the experience just isn't worth it for that price. I vastly prefer watching stuff on my TV through my Chromecast.

 

[plagiarize]

Good for you. For me the experience just isn't worth it for that price. I vastly prefer watching stuff on my TV through my Chromecast.

Okay?

I'm saying that even as a loyal cinemagoer I think Nolan is wrong, and that Netflix is a viable alternative method for films to get made and released. I'm not sure what end of whose stick you grabbed a hold of.

I'm certainly not telling people they shouldn't be enjoying movies at home.

 

[Beer Monkey]

Sound system at home is better than most theaters

There are over 100 speakers in the Atmos auditorium I go to and Atmos can use them individually and dynamically using the metadata in the mix.

I've been in home theaters that cost 50k to build and it's not the same.

 

[NotTheGuyYouKill]

I love movie theaters and hope they never go away. Watching spectacle or having fun with a huge crowd is a feeling that home theaters can never replicate.

 

[CREMSteve]

Reading the various TV, audio and setup threads on this forum, most people buy low quality stuff because of price so most people don't really have good setups to begin with. I would think a lot of people wouldn't really have a setup that begins to approach a theater setting. I bet less than 1% of the people here have an Atmos setup and maybe will ever have one. Hell a significant majority don't even have proper 5.1 let alone 7.1. Whether that gulf is important to them or not is a different story though.

I've got 7.1 and 65". Next upgrade will likely be Atmos speakers, already have the receiver for it.

Worth every penny!

 

[plagiarize]

I love movie theaters and hope they never go away. Watching spectacle or having fun with a huge crowd is a feeling that home theaters can never replicate.

Doubly so for horror movies and comedies. When you get a good audience, it lifts the experience to places that you aren't going to get with a dozen people in your home theater.

 

[Ridley327]

Maybe if the studio system he is a fucking part of hadn't stopped funding mid budget movies this wouldn't be an issue? I mean, when even someone like David Lynch says he wouldn't have gotten a movie funded today and Scorsese has issues getting the budgets he needs, then Netflix is doing a better job of "saving" film than his hard on for celluloid.

I'm not sure Scorsese is a great example to bring up in the conversation about what happened to mid-range budget films. Most of his films in the past decade and change have been routinely $80-$100 million, making him one of the most expensive prestige directors out there.

 

[teh_pwn]

There are over 100 speakers in the Atmos auditorium I go to and Atmos can use them individually and dynamically using the metadata in the mix.

I've been in home theaters that cost 50k to build and it's not the same.

Yeah my audio system is nearly 5k and nearly all theaters sound better. Better speakers and a more suitable space, at home you pretty much have to be in a 3 foot radius in the center

 

[gatti-man]

Sooner cinemas die the better.

But they won't. They've already evolved to something better.

Good for you. For me the experience just isn't worth it for that price. I vastly prefer watching stuff on my TV through my Chromecast.

People that don't care about quality will always be able to stream their movies. But don't ask us that do to give that up.

It's not inevitable that they'll die out, but in the last 15 years:
- TV has taken an aggressive bite out of cinema in the competition for talent
- Domestic cinema has eroded dramatically, saved only by increased Chinese buy-in (and Chinese production companies)
- The number of films that bypass the cinema in favour of home distribution has risen
- The window for which theatrical films stay in theatre has fallen

The main bright spot has been premium theatres that charge an astronomical amount for assigned huge seats, blankets, beer, etc; i.e. chasing a narrower audience and having them pay more.

This doesn't bode well going forward in terms of choices, pricing, and mindshare. When someone says "die out", I don't think they mean extinction, I think they have in mind something more like vinyl, home phones, cobblers, travel agents, and packaged software.

Alamo draft house is the answer. Most theaters that offer assigned seating in my area charge like $1 more.

 

[Mr. Hyde]

Benefit of living in the middle of nowhere. $5.50 matinee everyday. I saw Baby Driver last week, 5.50, and I was the only one in the theater.

My main theater in Orlando offers $6.00 Tuesdays and also $6.00 first showing off the day. It's a Cinemark theater.

 

[teh_pwn]

Normal theaters are so awful though. I swear its standard to have some ad rep walk out with the most disingenious shit grin to give you a sneak peak first look at a garbage bin of random ads for 30 minutes because fuck you that's why.

 

[black_13]

He's right. Just cause you hate going to theaters doesn't mean everyone else does as well.

And that's how movies make the majority of their money. If theaters died then you'd have to pay alot more for streaming movies so studio's can recoup their money. There is no way Netflix could be financing Marvel movies with those huge budgets and be able to recoup all their money with just $12 a month price point. Clearly most of you don't see the bigger problem here with theaters getting sidelined when it comes to releases.

 

[Addi]

I'm not sure Scorsese is a great example to bring up in the conversation about what happened to mid-range budget films. Most of his films in the past decade and change have been routinely $80-$100 million, making him one of the most expensive prestige directors out there.

I brought him up because of his netflix deal for The Irishman, Paramount pulled out deeming it too risky, even with De Niro, Pacino and Pesci in the cast. The flop of Silence might have affected that decision, but that one "only" cost $40 million.

 

[duckroll]

I don't see why it's Netflix's responsibility to do what's best for theater chains.

They are not but they should feel a responsibility to distribute the works of talented filmmakers in the way they can be best appreciated for the audience who likes to experience things that way.

 

[Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku!]

I pretty much only watch (new) movies in theaters. I love the movie theater experience. If movie theaters went away I would watch a lot less films