“Cinemas are too expensive!” Yeah, I get that. It used to be a fun day out for the family. Now if you want to do that, it could easily set you back triple-digit dollars.
“People got used to the lockdowns!” Eh, I don’t know – coming out of lockdowns, folks were itching to get out of their homes. Going from your dark, air-conditioned home to sit in a dark, air-conditioned cinema was nice and gentle.
“Movies go on streaming platforms 39 seconds after hitting the cinemas!” Yeah and that’s a stupid decision. I guess they want to get ahead of the movie pirates? Or they want the movies to hit homes while they’re still talked about. I don’t know.
All I know is when I went to see The Fall Guy – opening weekend – there as maybe ten people in the cinema.
But the last time I went, it was half full.
Imagine that – a half-full cinema, one where all the good seats are already taken. That seems almost miraculous.
Well, it was for a screening of The Thing. As in the 1982 horror film.
People still go to the cinema, just not to see modern movies.
I don’t know how sustainable that is for cinemas. One occasional retro showing can’t make up for the hundreds of seats folks used to fill for new releases.
But it’s a way of getting people to the cinemas, at least.
(Especially because retro tickets tend to be cheaper.)
So Hollywood can strut around, blaming TikTok and lockdowns for why no one sees their bloated, boring preachfests.
But people still love movies and they still love cinemas.
If Hollywood wants to blame the fans rather than cater to them, I look forward to that corrupt industry’s extinction.
Yesterday, I talked about the value of tradition.
Today, I talked about the merit of older movies.
Maybe I’m just feeling nostalgic.
Or maybe I’m so far ahead of the curve that everything feels like the distant past.
(It’s probably not that last one, but hey.)
Anyway, here’s a link. Go follow it: