I read an interview with a director this morning that was warning cinemas may disappear forever due to conronavirus. And it got me thinking, would this actually be a bad thing?
Cinema started over 100 years ago when nobody had TVs at home. It was still very popular up until the early 2000s, when home TVs and stereos were still far inferior to the cinema. But now that almost every home has a 50+" TV, surround sound and 4K streaming services, I personally would rather watch new films at home. Going to the cinema is simply an inconvenience for me, I would rather not watch a film next to people shouting or laughing, and I would definitely rather not pay £10 for a coke and a bag of popcorn. Watching a film in the comfort of my own home with the best view in the house and at a time that suits me is much more appealing.
Does anybody still actually enjoy going to the cinema? Or should we confine these historic but now frankly pointless venues to history? Everybody still wants to watch new movies, they just want to do it differently. And this isn't the first time an industry has been late to the party regarding what its users want, instead trying to cling on to the past. Coronavirus may be a catalyst, but I think cinemas were already in decline long before this.
Cinema started over 100 years ago when nobody had TVs at home. It was still very popular up until the early 2000s, when home TVs and stereos were still far inferior to the cinema. But now that almost every home has a 50+" TV, surround sound and 4K streaming services, I personally would rather watch new films at home. Going to the cinema is simply an inconvenience for me, I would rather not watch a film next to people shouting or laughing, and I would definitely rather not pay £10 for a coke and a bag of popcorn. Watching a film in the comfort of my own home with the best view in the house and at a time that suits me is much more appealing.
Does anybody still actually enjoy going to the cinema? Or should we confine these historic but now frankly pointless venues to history? Everybody still wants to watch new movies, they just want to do it differently. And this isn't the first time an industry has been late to the party regarding what its users want, instead trying to cling on to the past. Coronavirus may be a catalyst, but I think cinemas were already in decline long before this.
. Jaws, James Bond, Alien, countless Sci Fi films and the Marvel universe to name but a few, not sure they have the same impact out of the cinema. I think Infinity War was one of the best cinema experiences I have been to, just to be in that auditorium when the credits come up at the end and the audience were WTF, the gasps of what ! Even on the pirated copy I downloaded after going to the cinema twice to see it, which was a webcam, just the reaction from other people, you cannot get that at home. I went to watch A Quiet Place in the cinema and the experience was amazing, the silence added so much to the intensity, it was unlike any other cinema experience. I have since watched it at home and it just doesn't work, vehicles passing by, a plane passing overhead ETC. May be my home watching experience is different to others, I do have a big TV and comfy sofa, my homemade popcorn is not bad but I also have a ****ing doorbell, a telephone, 3 cats and kids to interrupt. So if there is a film I want to watch, I would always try and go and see it in the cinema, as I just love " Bollocks to everything else in the world, for the next two hours my time is mine"
