Home vs Theater

ShoreRoadLady · Jun 26, 2008

I thoroughly appreciate the theater - the big screen, the sound, the total experience. Some movies just have to be seen in the theater. Some, I'd love to see in the theater, but they're *old* now, so I can't.

But I also very much enjoy watching movies at home. I can put up my feet, adjust the sound to my liking, giggle hysterically at things that only I find funny, munch popcorn (with my choice of topping)...life is good. And I can watch many movies, because I'm not paying $8-10 a ticket. The only problem is people interrupting you, so choosing the proper time is paramount. I hate it when someone waltzes in and starts talking at a critical point!

For the few theater trips I make (maybe 3 a year, max), I can tell you that I love it when I watch a movie during an "off" time. When I saw Batman Begins, several weeks after it had been out, there were maybe 10 other people there. A morning showing of KOTCS had even fewer. (Mysteriously, I could *still* hear someone crunching their popcorn.

)

Maguire · Jun 26, 2008

AmateisGal said:
I like going to the theater to see films that I *really* want to see - not only because it costs so darn much, but I want to go for the whole experience. I knew I had to see the new Indiana Jones in the theater, and I also knew I had to go see Casino Royale - and I went to the theater and saw both of them and am very glad I did.

But man. It's certainly cheaper to rent it when it comes out on DVD or buy it on pay-per-view. Whenever I go to the theater, I have to get my M&M's and popcorn - and with the price of the movie ticket, it ends up costing a fortune!

My indiana jones experience reminds me of one menitoned here- just when the nuclear blast was about to happen the projector died and the film burned away. And we in the audience figured this was just because of the nuclear blast so we literally sat there for the next 20-30 minutes waiting for the next scene until the manager of the theater came in and gave everyone refunds.

John in Covina · Jun 26, 2008

Maguire said:
My indiana jones experience reminds me of one menitoned here- just when the nuclear blast was about to happen the projector died and the film burned away. And we in the audience figured this was just because of the nuclear blast so we literally sat there for the next 20-30 minutes waiting for the next scene until the manager of the theater came in and gave everyone refunds.

**************
What gets me is how long it took the theater management to figure out there was a problem.

C.K.Farnsworth · Jun 26, 2008

great films in great theaters

We Los Angelinos are lucky in that the L.A. Conservancy shows old films in some of the great historic theaters in downtown L.A. every year. I saw Mildred Pierce a couple of weeks ago at the Million Dollar theater which was built in 1918. It has been restored beautifully. Last year I saw a couple of Silent films at the Broadway Theater, also downtown, with a live orchestra and an organ played by the conductor. There are always a handful of us who dress the period of the film. It is a hoot! there is also a silent movie theater on Fairfax in L.A. one of the organists who plays there, Bob Mitchel was acompanying these same films when they first came out and he is still amazing!

Twitch · Jun 26, 2008

Where there are some "vintage art" theaters around the nation in some cities they aren't all set up for the widescreen size originally intended but what they have is better than nothing I guess.[huh] I don't consider myself a rabid cinema fan but do recall in my younger days seeing widescreen flicks at the original run theaters downtown then being disappointed when they made it to the neighbothood theaters because the screen seemed so small.

C.K.Farnsworth · Jun 27, 2008

links

Why, yes John there is a link. Thank you for asking. http://laconservancy.org/remaining/index.php4
I believe this season is already sold out. The best bet is to become a member by donating a minamum of $40 for the year and then you get to purchase tickets to the Last Remaining Seats movies (individually or all of them) in advance and at a members discount ( I think about $5 off each movie) plus the money goes toward the preservation and up-keep as well as litigation to save historic landmarks that are in danger of being destroyed. Honestly I don't work for them I just strongly believe in the cause. Those old theaters are stunning inside and out.

There is also the Silent Movie theater I mentioned. They are not affiliated with the L.A. Conservancy. but it is an historic theater and thouugh they play a wide range of films, they have series of silent films usually themed. For instance they did a series of Mary Pickford films and then they did a series of Rudolf Valentino films. here's the site:http://www.silentmovietheatre.com/

don't forget the popcorn!

Lucyinthesky · Jan 18, 2019

happyfilmluvguy said:
On the other hand, at home, you have the ability to pause the movie, which can be helpful. but you also lose your concentration on the movie every time you do it. The phone rings or someone's at the door. I have my parents ALWAYS walking in when I'm watching a movie and start talking and I end up just turning it off. You have some friends over and maybe they aren't as into the movie as you are.

There are pros and cons with home vs theatre...
Also don't forget outdoor theater's in parks....Los Lngeles has outdoor moving screenings! I have seen Pulp Fiction, Blue Velvet.....and many more outdoors!!!

Seb Lucas · Jan 19, 2019

Movies are much more vivid when seen in the theatre, regardless of the photography. But I see all my stuff at home. I can get up have a coffee, etc. I've been to a cinema twice in the last 20 years. Not keen on auduences or 99% of the films shown.

bluesmandan · Jan 19, 2019

Home. No contest.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Fading Fast · Jan 19, 2019

It's the people around you that keep us home. And, as always, it's the 10% - talking, cellphones, moving around during the movie, being slovenly with their food, etc. - that ruin it for the 90% that behave like adults in public.

A few years back, when prices for this stuff dropped suddenly and dramatically, we bought a large screen TV and Sonos sound bar and speakers. It's not an elaborate setup and was not crazy expensive, but the result is a beautiful picture, good sound - where you can even hear when the actors are mumbling (a seemingly new obsession with "reality") - and no audience around you.

scottyrocks · Jan 19, 2019

Wow, an almost 11 year bump. Love it! haha

I'm often torn between going to the theater, or waiting and then watching at home.

For just the pure experiencing a film, theaters win, hands down. The big room, the big screen, the sound, can't be replicated at home, even with the best home equipment. A viewing room at home is not a theater.

But all the negatives mentioned previously outweigh, for me, going to the theater. Inconsiderate audience members are the worst. I also hate walking down the aisle to my seat when the bottoms of my shoes stick to the floor.

My daughter is a movie nut. She can see the same film multiple times in the theater (I have never done that).

It's one of the few things we do together - have been for the last 10 years, but less and less now, as the whole theater experience, not to mention my feelings on the types of films being produced nowadays, has changed.

She and I used to go, on a weekend, to see a film at any local theater that had a pre-noon showing, as it was half price. We also didn't load up on junk at the snack stand. So that made the whole thing reasonably inexpensive.

Then there is the issue of aging, By that, I mean me, not the films. These days, unless I time it just right, I can become very uncomfortable about 3/4 of the way through a film, especially if my blood sugar is high. At home, I can pause the machine and relieve myself without missing anything.

The point of my lack of desire to go a theater was driven home recently during the lead up to, and then release of Bumblebee (hey, don't get on my case - it stars a VW

). But when it came down to it, I passed, and will wait until I can see it on pay-per-view, or even better, when the DVD is in the $5 bin at Target.

Lucyinthesky · Jan 19, 2019

Seb Lucas said:
Movies are much more vivid when seen in the theatre, regardless of the photography. But I see all my stuff at home. I can get up have a coffee, etc. I've been to a cinema twice in the last 20 years. Not keen on auduences or 99% of the films shown.

scottyrocks said:
How, an almost 11 year bump. Love it! haha

I'm often torn between going to the theater, or waiting and then watching at home.

For just the pure experiencing a film, theaters win, hands down. The big room, the big screen, the sound, can't be replicated at home, even with the best home equipment. A viewing room at home is not a theater.

But all the negatives mentioned previously outweigh, for me, going to the theater. Inconsiderate audience members are the worst. I also hate walking down the aisle to my seat when the bottoms of my shoes stick to the floor.

My daughter is a movie nut. She can see the same film multiple times in the theater (I have never done that).

It's one of the few things we do together - have been for the last 10 years, but less and less now, as the whole theater experience, not to mention my feelings on the types of films being produced nowadays, has changed.

She and I used to go, on a weekend, to see a film at any local theater that had a pre-noon showing, as it was half price. We also didn't load up on junk at the snack stand. So that made the whole thing reasonably inexpensive.

Then there is the issue of aging, By that, I mean me, not the films. These days, unless I time it just right, I can become very uncomfortable about 3/4 of the way through a film, especially if my blood sugar is high. At home, I can pause the machine and relieve myself without missing anything.

The point of my lack of desire to go a theater was driven home recently during the lead up to, and then release of Bumblebee (hey, don't get on my case - it stars a VW ). But when it came down to it, I passed, and will wait until I can see it on pay-per-view, or even better, when the DVD is in the $5 bin at Target.

I agree that at home there the luxury of pausing a movie or even television.
If I am away I can use my DVR and record a movie or a show that I like and come back to it...
Or there is the option of redbox, netflix...
Going to the movies can be a pain but
They bring back old memories ...
I myself have a medical condition ( epilepsy) I find it hard to get out and have actually had a seizure at a movie theater I was 11 years old...

belfastboy · Jan 19, 2019

I am a watch at home guy.....for all the reasons stated before. The one exception is the Met Opera, "Live at the Met" productions. For a $25 price of admission I get the best seat in the house, the sound is great and on the large screen I get to see the singers perform/act out the character. Live which I go to the local opera or Seattle 2 to 3 times a year is wonderful, but the tickets are $150 each and even in the good seats really do not see the performer's face emote the character.

Edward · Jan 24, 2019

Flivver said:
So I wind up watching movies at home on DVD or tape; either alone or with friends. I brought my copy of "It" with Clara Bow to a friend's house recently. He and his wife, who are not silent movie fans, got quite a kick out of it. They were amazed at how entertaining a good silent movie can be.

More recently, The Artist had that effect for a lot of folk in the UK.

LizzieMaine said:
Given the choice, give me a theatre every time -- especially with vintage films. They were made with the communal viewing experience in mind, and lose a great deal of their impact when seen on the home screen. Plus, film properly projected is still visually superior to any digital format.

I'll watch films at home on TV when something's on that I really want to see, but it always seems to me like looking at photocopies of art.

Ironically, for all I'm gung-ho about buying the biggest television we can get and doing the cinema-sound-at-home thing, much of my viewing nowadays is done on a 10" tablet.... For me, the best thing about cinema exhibition in reality is less the picture and more the sound quality, which can never be fully (affordably) realised at home.

I like the cinema experience - it's nice to get out of the housed for an evening sometimes (it helps that there's a lovely independent cinema less than five minutes from my front door). With some things the communal experience can add to it - comedy especially, I find. It's also interesting how one film can 'feel' totally different with a communal audience than at home - I've found that with Theatre of Death and Cry Baby both. Hitchcock's Rope was a thriller when I watched it at home; on the big screen it somehow transformed into a very dark comedy. Rocky Horror of course is never the same without a bawdy audience doing everything I otherwise hate in the cinema.

These days, we go irregularly. We are elective about hat we pay the big screen prices for - typically, it'll be visual and sound spectacles where we feel the big screen makes the difference. I often then catch up on other releases on Netflix, or when I travel. There's something quite magical about watching film on a long-haul business class flight, especially when it's a discovery of something wonderful like In Bruges.

scottyrocks · Jan 24, 2019

Edward said:
Rocky Horror of course is never the same without a bawdy audience doing everything I otherwise hate in the cinema.

When I was a teen, we went to see TRHPS a 'few' times <haha> at the weekly Thursday at midnight showings at the Uniondale Mini Cinema. Definitely a communal experience that defined 'audience participation.'

Then, a few years later, the film was broadcast on TV for the first time (here), and it was a completely different thing, meaning, even though it was a single showing, it was much less of an event than when it could be a weekly thing, if that's what you were into.

I still think it would be fun if I saw it in its natural environment of a midnight showing in a theater where they actually let you get up and move around and throw things, etc, even at my age.

Edward · Jan 24, 2019

scottyrocks said:
When I was a teen, we went to see TRHPS a 'few' times <haha> at the weekly Thursday at midnight showings at the Uniondale Mini Cinema. Definitely a communal experience that defined 'audience participation.'

Then, a few years later, the film was broadcast on TV for the first time (here), and it was a completely different thing, meaning, even though it was a single showing, it was much less of an event than when it could be a weekly thing, if that's what you were into.

I still think it would be fun if I saw it in its natural environment of a midnight showing in a theater where they actually let you get up and move around and throw things, etc, even at my age.

I've had the great good fortune to serve for many years in various floorshow casts; I'm glad that while I may have missed the 80s and 90s heyday (active shadowcaster since 1999), I was able to experience being part of a weekly / regular show. These days, a lo of kids will say they want to start a cast, they might get some nice costumes together, but they'll do one show and done: a lot of 'em aren't prepared to put the work in that it really needs. Of course, it's also part of a much wider fandom change with the DVD generation: I feel Rocky has become like so many other things now, where it's more about DVD at home and a good costume for the generic autograph conventions.... but hey ho. There are people keeping the flame alive, all is not lost...

scottyrocks · Jan 24, 2019

Edward said:
I've had the great good fortune to serve for many years in various floorshow casts; I'm glad that while I may have missed the 80s and 90s heyday (active shadowcaster since 1999), I was able to experience being part of a weekly / regular show. These days, a lo of kids will say they want to start a cast, they might get some nice costumes together, but they'll do one show and done: a lot of 'em aren't prepared to put the work in that it really needs. Of course, it's also part of a much wider fandom change with the DVD generation: I feel Rocky has become like so many other things now, where it's more about DVD at home and a good costume for the generic autograph conventions.... but hey ho. There are people keeping the flame alive, all is not lost...

I didn't do costumes, but I did bring an umbrella and toast.

MisterCairo · Feb 18, 2019

Certain films need to be seen once on the big screen, and sometimes it's just good to get off the chesterfield and go to the movies! Once we realize we really, really enjoy something, we get the disk, and enjoy it again on the big flat screen.

Touchofevil · Feb 18, 2019

Edward said:
More recently, The Artist had that effect for a lot of folk in the UK.

Ironically, for all I'm gung-ho about buying the biggest television we can get and doing the cinema-sound-at-home thing, much of my viewing nowadays is done on a 10" tablet.... For me, the best thing about cinema exhibition in reality is less the picture and more the sound quality, which can never be fully (affordably) realised at home.

I like the cinema experience - it's nice to get out of the housed for an evening sometimes (it helps that there's a lovely independent cinema less than five minutes from my front door). With some things the communal experience can add to it - comedy especially, I find. It's also interesting how one film can 'feel' totally different with a communal audience than at home - I've found that with Theatre of Death and Cry Baby both. Hitchcock's Rope was a thriller when I watched it at home; on the big screen it somehow transformed into a very dark comedy. Rocky Horror of course is never the same without a bawdy audience doing everything I otherwise hate in the cinema.

These days, we go irregularly. We are elective about hat we pay the big screen prices for - typically, it'll be visual and sound spectacles where we feel the big screen makes the difference. I often then catch up on other releases on Netflix, or when I travel. There's something quite magical about watching film on a long-haul business class flight, especially when it's a discovery of something wonderful like In Bruges.

In Bruges was/is wonderful. Funny, sad, beautiful cinematography, great acting, it was a surprising treat.

Touchofevil · Feb 18, 2019

Home is where I would rather be, but some films are must see on the big screen. The big event films like the Bond or Indiana Jones flicks I look forward to seeing at the theater.

Home vs Theater

ShoreRoadLady

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Maguire

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C.K.Farnsworth

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Twitch

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Lucyinthesky

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Seb Lucas

I'll Lock Up

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Edward

scottyrocks

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