With the exception of Alamo Drafthouse, I would not mourn the demise of the movie theater. Going to a new movie is an exercise in frustration.
Warner Brothers made big news this week when it announced that they would release all of their 2021 in theaters and on HBO Max on the same day.
I see this as one big positive thing to come from all the terrible things in 2020. The movie-going experience has been awful for years. I was starting to chalk it up to my being too old and not adapting to a new way of being. I cannot stand to see glowing screens all over a theater because people never put up their phones. I cannot stand to hear people talking. There used to be the expectation of behaving a certain way when seeing a movie in public, but that’s long gone. For the past few years, Livie and I have been buying tickets for the front row (not the ideal viewing location) solely because it means you won’t see ding-dongs on their glowing rectangles. At least modern theaters with their fancy, reclining seats are usually spaced far enough apart that you don’t get people kicking your chair anymore.
Other huge bonuses of being able to watch movies at home:
I would gladly pay an exorbitant amount of money to stream a brand new movie that I wanted to see right away (say, a new Marvel movie), but HBO Max is debuting all their things at no additional cost. Bye bye, movie theater. Come back when you’re worth something because you’re a well-curated experience and not just the default option.