L13FC: Home Theater or Public Cinema?

Welcome back to Cindy’s Lucky 13 Film Club. This month my good friend, Bill, has some questions for you.

The world of home theatre has one considerable advantage over the antiquated days of movie-going.  Choice.  Today’s streaming and downloads offer tens of thousands of options from the entire history of the cinema.  For less than the price of a single admission to a movie theatre, the whole family can enjoy a digitally preserved movie on a sizeable screen with optimal sound. What’s to complain about then?

Four Differences Between Your Home Theatre and Cinema Going Experience

1.     When I refer to the cinema, I write exclusively of films being projected onto a movie screen, not the viewing of digital files. so the first thing you are losing is the flicker. With film, you are in darkness for a measurable percentage of the films running time, giving the viewing of a film a dreamlike flavor.  Watching digital entertainment is closer to being hypnotized than dreaming. You are watching a glorified form of television, whether it is in a former movie theatre or on your home theatre set-up.

Taxi Driver

2.      No matter how large or small your home screen is, you cannot approximate the ratio of a 6-foot human being to the 30-foot high movie screen.  You can sit up close to a 40-inch monitor so the picture occupies nearly your entire field of vision,  but your size will always dominate the television.  At the movies even when those with smaller screens, you are physically dominated by the images you are viewing.

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

3.     The movies themselves, whether claiming to be restored or simply preserved, rarely have identical visual information as to their original release prints. BluRays are much brighter than the 35 mm originals, and the clarity reveals things that were better left obscured…hair dyes, bad make-up. painted skies, etc. Cheap, grainy exploitation films can now look like high budget mainstream latex makeovers.  These digital jobs might last longer than the old film stock, but you are not seeing a film, but an inexact copy of the film.

4.     One of the biggest drawbacks to the home theatre experience, which had its inception in the 1970s with the home box office and video rentals, is the dissolution of the timeline of film culture. In the days when television was television and cinema was cinema, we knew when we were watching an old movie on tv or a classic film at the art house.  We were aware that we were trespassing against the timeline. For a number of reasons, it is always best to see films at the time they are released.

There is much to enjoy in films that were made before our time, but those who saw Taxi Driver in 1976 at a luxury movie theatre saw a different movie than the person who selects it from the Netflix action menu in 2020.  In fact, a personal assessment of films often has a lot to do with when in their film going life they saw it.  For example, my favorite Howard Hawks western is Rio Bravo while people five years older than me usually prefer Red River.  People thirty years younger than me might be ardent fans of Euro-Westerns and have no interest in seeing any American western.  I came to the European auteurs in the late sixties, so I prefer Fellini’s Satyricon to his 8 ½,  and Bergman’s Persona to The Seventh Seal.   But I saw all Sam Peckinpah’s and John Cassevetes’ films in real-time, so they are among my favorite directors because I have lived with them and in them.

What do you think? How has your film-watching experience changed with the transition from film to digital, from public cinemas to home cinema?  Is the situation today better or worse than it was yesterday?

Thank you, Bill! Check out his blog at cinemaafterlife.movie.blog

257 thoughts on “L13FC: Home Theater or Public Cinema?”

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  1. Bill, I never thought about “the dissolution of the timeline of film culture.” I think that’s interesting. Growing up, a television star was below a film star. It was a stepping stone for actors hoping to get a break and cast in movies. (I just watched a Gunsmoke episode. It featured newbie Burt Reynolds.)
    It was a different world with three stations to watch and the promise of watching a film on T.V. was a treat, but nothing like going to the cinema house which was an event. To be allowed to go with your friends as a teenager was a marker unlike anything today.

    The idea of a film culture related to one’s personal timeline can’t be underestimated. Those emotional triggers are paramount to one’s sense of identity. It links us to the time period. I once had a horrible fight with my son right before we went in to see ‘Edge of Tomorrow’. The film has negative connotations with it, regardless of whether one considers it a “good” film or not. It will always be a “bad” film for me.

    I don’t have a home theater, but if I did, I would want to see movies like “Jaws” on the big screen. I just streamlined and watched “1917” in the comfort of my home. I paused it about 2/3 the way through to make dinner, have a conversation, etc. The experience was nothing compared to going to see it on the big screen. You are right. For sure, big epic adventures need to be seen on the big screen.

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  2. Very valid points. It’s wonderful to watch a comedy with strangers and all laugh at the same point, or gasp. And there are some films so beautifully shot they belong in a place with no distractions.

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    1. As a person who finds people talking in a movie house during the performance rude, I initially loved the privacy and seclusion of home to watch films. But something was missing. Like going to a play, the audience is real and as an entity, we are sharing the experience. That’s it, isn’t it? Going to a movie is a viseral experience. Even with a fancy home theater with the fancy chairs and surround sound, it’s not the same. I also think because of COVID there is a danger we will lose our humanity and that feeling of sharing 2020’s best films together as a society will be a thing of the past. It’s what binds a generation together, the films. As a child. Teenager. Young adult. Parent. Educated adult. Grandparent. Movies seen with these differing eyes make for a unique experience each time we watch it. The Wizard of Oz, comes to mind as a film that evoked a completely different reaction depending on the age I saw it.

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      1. While recently watching the Wizard of Oz with a person born in 1980, I told of the days when it was shown on television once a year and everyone in the country stayed home to watch it. This struck her as odd and she wondered why they didnt just rent it at the video store and watch it whenever they felt like it, and I told her there were no videos then. You had to watch movies in real time, whether on television or at the cinema. It was this element of synchronized viewing that created a culture. With the virtual demise of network television, we have become unsynchronized. We are not all staying home to watch I Love Lucy or The Fugitive anymorem but there are certain series like The Game of Thrones that still give viewers this type of communal experuence.

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        1. Yes, anything before 1970, other than Mary Poppins. I was a child and loved seeing it on the screen. Before 1970, I didn’t go to the movies. So, all the standard great ones would have been awesome. Giant. Cleopatra. Ben Hur. North by Northwest. Any musical like The Sound of Music. West Side Story. Casablanca. Magnificient Seven. The Great Escape…

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          2. When Lawrence of Arabia came out, I bought tickets three weeks in advance and had reserved seats. It is hard to believe that movies could command that much attention.

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        3. “Which film that you haven’t seen at the cinema do you wish you had seen? I think mine would be The Bridge on the River Kwai”

          If you are asking me Alex, that would be Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds 🙂

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          1. I saw the Birds on opening day at the beautiful Paramount theater in downtown Seattle. I have seen it a few dozen times since then and it remains my favorite Htchcock. I even taught a class on it .

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          2. That’s an excellent choice. That’s one I do remember as a kid seeing at the movies. The scene with the birds poking out the farmer’s eye scared me to death. The scene was so huge to my little eyes!

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    2. i saw its a wonderful like on christas eve 1982.. the film broke and the audience booed. then one person started to sing a christmas carol. soon the whole audience joined in and we sang until the fllm was back on the screen

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        1. sometimes im the first to leave. sometimes the last. what i mss are the grand logos of the studios at the beginning of the movie . now we get five minutes of production credits at the start instead of a roaring mgm lion or a columbia pictures statue of liberty. but i rarely go to the theatres anymore. in the last 8 yrs, ive been less than a dpzen times, and slept through all but three movies. wuth the old studio films, there were few enough tech people involved and they all worked for the studio so it took only a few cards to include them all. now there are so many people employed that it takes ten minutes to list them all, so the end is the best place to list them. i dont like having the main title credits at the end though. beginning a movie with the title and the names of the principal actos and crew really sets the tone for a movie.

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      2. “i saw its a wonderful like on christas eve 1982.. the film broke and the audience booed. then one person started to sing a christmas carol. soon the whole audience joined in and we sang until the fllm was back on the screen”

        To songladder: Sweet and funny at the same time 🙂

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    3. “Very valid points. It’s wonderful to watch a comedy with strangers and all laugh at the same point, or gasp. And there are some films so beautifully shot they belong in a place with no distractions.”

      Hey Alex did you ever see Jacques Tati’s Playtime from 1967? If not, check it out because it is a masterful example (or at least one of many) of visual comedy 🙂

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        1. “I haven’t, but will look into it.”

          To Alex: You will love it, I can guarantee you that 🙂 On one of my replies on this blog entry, I gave a youtube video link to a 2014 restoration of the 1967 classic. Just scroll through the replies and I think you will find it 🙂

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        1. “John…..Playtime was a 70 mm film.”

          To songladder: Omg, I forgot about that. Thank you for for reminding me 🙂 Come to think of it, I think I read something about that back in 2014, which featured a trailer on that. Here is a youtube video link 🙂

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  3. Whilst we don’t go to the cinema as often as we should (pre Covid) I would certainly miss this experience if it moved over to digital and home cinema. The Third Man is a favourite movie and one I’ve seen many times at home. Recently, I had the opportunity of seeing it on the big screen in an Art Deco movie theatre (near to London, UK). Whilst it was not in its original format (not that I know anything about these things) it was as close to Carol Reed’s vision as I’m ever going to see. With this in mind a move to the small screen/home cinema may also stifle directive creativity. The opening sequence in The Hateful Eight probably wouldn’t have the same impact if it were shot for the small(er) screen. I think there’s also a lot to be said for the shared experience – even with the endless sounds of rustling food packaging accompanying the soundtrack, which, actually, I think I miss right now! And some things just look better on the big screen.

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    1. Hi Sarah,
      Yep, I agree with you whole-heartedly. When I think of The Magnificent Seven sitting the dark theater with those awesome, giant images in front of me and Elmer Bernstein’s score surrounding me, it is so much different than streaming it on my television.

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      1. Now you’ve got me thinking and reminiscing about all those great cinematic moments. The Death Star just wouldn’t have the same sense of menace!

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    2. “Whilst we don’t go to the cinema as often as we should (pre Covid) I would certainly miss this experience if it moved over to digital and home cinema. The Third Man is a favourite movie and one I’ve seen many times at home. Recently, I had the opportunity of seeing it on the big screen in an Art Deco movie theatre (near to London, UK). Whilst it was not in its original format (not that I know anything about these things) it was as close to Carol Reed’s vision as I’m ever going to see. With this in mind a move to the small screen/home cinema may also stifle directive creativity. The opening sequence in The Hateful Eight probably wouldn’t have the same impact if it were shot for the small(er) screen. I think there’s also a lot to be said for the shared experience – even with the endless sounds of rustling food packaging accompanying the soundtrack, which, actually, I think I miss right now! And some things just look better on the big screen.”

      Epics usually are best seen on a big-screen – I mean just check out Akira Kurosawa’s Ran as an example 🙂

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      2. I must admit my knowledge of Japanese film is non-existent, however, am happy to listen to recommendations. I did just look up Kurosawa and saw he was involved in Tora! Tora! Tora! Is that the movie that contains the scene when one of the stunts or sequences went horribly wrong? It was a scene on a runway. Big explosions that weren’t meant to happen or happen in the way they did. Genuine peril in any case and watching it with that knowledge does give it a different edge. From this description it doesn’t necessarily narrow it down to that particular movie of course. So apologies that my memory is a little hazy on this…

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        1. “I must admit my knowledge of Japanese film is non-existent, however, am happy to listen to recommendations. I did just look up Kurosawa and saw he was involved in Tora! Tora! Tora! Is that the movie that contains the scene when one of the stunts or sequences went horribly wrong? It was a scene on a runway. Big explosions that weren’t meant to happen or happen in the way they did. Genuine peril in any case and watching it with that knowledge does give it a different edge. From this description it doesn’t necessarily narrow it down to that particular movie of course. So apologies that my memory is a little hazy on this…”

          To Sarah: You are correct. Here is a youtube video link that delves a little deeper into it

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      3. I am sure you saw The Third Man in ts original format, which was 1.37 : 1, the standard for the times, pretty much a square picture. What I wonder though is whether you saw the original English version (104 minutes) with the voice over by Carol Reed or the US release cut (93 minutes) with the Joseph Cotton voice over…

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        1. “I am sure you saw The Third Man in ts original format, which was 1.37 : 1, the standard for the times, pretty much a square picture. What I wonder though is whether you saw the original English version (104 minutes) with the voice over by Carol Reed or the US release cut (93 minutes) with the Joseph Cotton voice over…”

          To songladder: I have seen both and while Joseph Cotton’s voice over narration feels more fitting (he is the actor of the picture), it is the shorter version of the film, so I would have to choose the Carol Reed voice-over of the longer version (the 104 minute one). Now, the version with Reed’s narration is considered the definitive and I read that David Selznick, who handled American distribution, felt that American audiences would be put off by the seediness of this version and decided to cut it to 93 minutes and replaced with actor Joseph Cotton’s narration. Now all of this information is based on wikipedia’s entry for it. Here is the link below

          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Third_Man#Differences_between_releases

          What is your opinion? 🙂

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          1. i dont have an opinion. ive seen the film a few times in both versions but havent studied it. couldnt even tell you which scenes were cut. i do have an opinion on the restorationm or i would say desecration, of welles atouch of evil. i albolutely hate the new version.

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  4. I absolutely hate going to the cinema. Last outing was to see 1917, a 2 hour movie. It was a visually stunning movie, however after 30 minutes the pain in my butt and back caused by the uncomfortable seats had me wishing the time away. I couldn’t be engrossed in the movie and be hurting at the same time. I have no desire to be with a herd of people, popping corn or eating nachos or wafting a phone about. We got the bluray last week, and our cinema room is dark, with a comfy sofa, big TV screen and 11 speakers to make the most of the dolby atmos soundtrack. I marvelled at the detail of the movie, paused it to have a good look at it all, rewound and replayed some of the amazing scenes. Had a glass of wine or 2 and went to the loo without having to miss anything. No, my ‘fancy home theater with the fancy chairs and surround sound’, is not the same. For me it’s infinitely better. Each to his/her own I think.

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    1. Something is lost and something us gained with each technological advance, and the technology of previous generations is irrelevant to those born into the world of today. But consider that it is the home viewing that has turned the cinema unto a communal living room, and made the act of pubic viewing so unpleasant in your case.

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      1. When I was a little girl my mum took me to the pictures a lot, and also there was the Saturday morning kids club, Champion the wonder horse was my favourite. It was so exciting back then. A lady would come round with a tray on a big ribbon around her neck and you could buy ice creams and the like from her.

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        1. Great memory. Yes, it was an event. I remember Saturdays you could go in and stay there most of the day, what with newsreels and Tom and Jerry and a double feature. I didn’t do it every Saturday, of course. But when ever I was allowed to go, it was a huge treat.

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          1. When I first started going to the movies, it cost a dime for a double feature, a cartoon, and a news reel. If you didn’t behave, the ushers (tough girls in high school) would call your mom.

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    2. Hi Fraggle, of course! To each her own. There’s not a right or wrong answer here. I think you make a valid point regarding being able to rewind and replay something you missed. Usually, some passages or details are bound to go over or around one’s head upon an initial viewing. You know what really hurts my viewing experience in the movies vs. the comfort of home, is that I’m 50 percent deaf in both ears (thanks to being a high school teacher). I can’t understand half of what’s said. Then add in an accent and a fast exchange of dialogue and it’s lost on me.
      So, having closed captions is essential for me.

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      1. When I watch a favorite movie on a bluray at home, it is primarily an act of nostalgia during which i am remebering the movie rather than experiencing it, which was not the case when the only way to see a favorite movie again was when it was screened in a repertory cinema. i must have watched pat garrett and billy the kid and children of paradise at least 30 times in the cinema, and each time was an immediate experience. These days, when i watch them at home, it is a remembered experience. i watch a lot of new movies at home, but dont respond to them as i once responded to cinema. i see them as television programs. As such, the age of cinema has ended, but televusion is better than ever.

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          1. netflix rakes in billions of dollars a year from subscriptions. with the collapse of the studios, they are the only corporation with enough money to finance big budget movies on a regular basis. television was always a place for aging movie stars as well as for those just getting started…

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    3. I have so many horror stories! One time, I went to see this action movie and a group of people ruined the movie for me. They were wearing jammies and took off their shoes. They kept their dirty feet up on the seats the entire movie. They also laughed at anything and everything. And, of course, they were constantly texting (the light of the phone is so distracting!). No thanks. 😦

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        1. U used t love the rude comments shouted out by patrons in LA and NYC grindhouses. sometumes entire conversations would develop between people in dufferent areas of the auditorium. Moviegoing was fun on the deuce and un downntown LA.

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          1. That’s like going to a bar and expecting everyone to whisper. That environment was more interactive and a chic fun house. Like seeing the Rocky Horror Show with all the accessories.

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    4. “I absolutely hate going to the cinema. Last outing was to see 1917, a 2 hour movie. It was a visually stunning movie, however after 30 minutes the pain in my butt and back caused by the uncomfortable seats had me wishing the time away. I couldn’t be engrossed in the movie and be hurting at the same time. I have no desire to be with a herd of people, popping corn or eating nachos or wafting a phone about. We got the bluray last week, and our cinema room is dark, with a comfy sofa, big TV screen and 11 speakers to make the most of the dolby atmos soundtrack. I marvelled at the detail of the movie, paused it to have a good look at it all, rewound and replayed some of the amazing scenes. Had a glass of wine or 2 and went to the loo without having to miss anything. No, my ‘fancy home theater with the fancy chairs and surround sound’, is not the same. For me it’s infinitely better. Each to his/her own I think.”

      Understandable fragile. I think that is one of many valid reasons why streaming services have become more popular 🙂

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    1. Here’s something else that’s different from pre-1990. It’s the amount of options that compete with my viewing. Today there are too many choices and most of them are not very well written. I’m talking about Netflix and all the other markets where you have an original series. Movies now seem to be so superhero excessive and I have to wait until the fall before the “good ones” come out. Movies compete with series that grab my attention away from traditional movies. Think about the recent Netflix film with Martin Scorsese at the helm. A very long movie, indeed! It did very well, so I reckon there will be more. The point is, between Netflix, Amazon, FX, Hulu, Showtime, etcetera, series seem to have taken over the market. If you don’t go to the movies and rely on streaming, your choices are so many, it dulls the senses after a while.
      There is something to be said for anticipating the next movie. You waited for it. Talked about the trailer. You went to it. You talked about it afterwards. I don’t think we do that much anymore. It was an event and the choices were fewer than today. The internet has changed our concept of entertainment.

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      1. And to really kick it back, we waited in the ticket line. 🙂 We share the opinion on the ‘blockbusters.’ Waiting for a good movie for the cinema seems endless. Maybe that’s today’s version of waiting in the ticket line. “-)

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  6. My lifelong love affair with cinemas was killed off by the multi-screen ‘mini-cinema’ experience. Also by the increased sales of ice-clinking drinks, various fast foods, and people who go to the cinema to socialise in groups, rather than to watch the film.
    I can salvage the experience occasionally, by attending virtually empty afternoon showings midweek. VHS/DVD and streaming never felt/feels the same to me. I believe some films can only be enjoyed in a dark cinema, when projected. I have had to learn to miss that feeling in the main though, especially as so many films I want to watch are not shown at all in the provincial cinemas where I currently live. That was one great thing about London. Choice.
    Best wishes, Pete. x

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    1. Ah, yes, you bring up a good point. An advantage to living in cities or a university town, at least, you can see projected movies and have a choice other than three mainstream choices. And yes, when I do go to the movies, it’s usually at the early matinee where there’s plenty of room and space. One of the biggest losses in the last 20 years is that technology leaped so forward so fast that those under the age of 30 had a different experience than generations before it. I mean, much was the same for generations up until the WWW was born. Now the movie experience is fractured and not shared by a culture. It was a part of the American identity. Your British experience was similar before 1990, too, and you had your films that made you uniquely different than we Americans. The same for other countries. AS a cultural phenomena, the event of going to the movies shaped a generation. It’s not the same. Perhaps I’m just getting old and nostalgic for what was once comfortable and memorable.
      I have hard time remembering the “great films” of the last decade or the last 20 years. But I can with the 90s, 80s,70s,60s, 50s, 40s, etc.

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        1. Ah, yes, thanks for the memory. You brought up a detail that hasn’t been discussed yet. The truly classy theaters that were made in the “Art Deco, or Modernist design.” Today, there are several theaters across the States that are treasured landmarks–the special ones in Hollywood like the Chinese Theater or around small cities they are cherised historical markers. That, to me, is the pinnacle of the cinema experience. Not only do you go to see the film, you see it in a beautiful building, a very magical place for magic to unfold before your eyes. 🙂

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          1. three of the remainng movie palaces in seattle, the paramount the moore, and the 5th Avenue, are still standing because they are used for live concerts and touring theatre productions,,and even the occasonal movie.

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          2. I’m grateful. Even my hometown, The Apollo, while not very fancy, is still showing movies–continuously since 1898!!
            It’s sad to hear that even the movie chains — I think AMC?? is closing their doors? IDK. Maybe I’m misinformed. The only reason I’d drive over to Hollywood is to visit the classic cinemas available. They are historical treasures.

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    2. “My lifelong love affair with cinemas was killed off by the multi-screen ‘mini-cinema’ experience. Also by the increased sales of ice-clinking drinks, various fast foods, and people who go to the cinema to socialise in groups, rather than to watch the film.
      I can salvage the experience occasionally, by attending virtually empty afternoon showings midweek. VHS/DVD and streaming never felt/feels the same to me. I believe some films can only be enjoyed in a dark cinema, when projected. I have had to learn to miss that feeling in the main though, especially as so many films I want to watch are not shown at all in the provincial cinemas where I currently live. That was one great thing about London. Choice.
      Best wishes, Pete. x”

      To beetleypete: Have you ever watched a Kurosawa epic on a theater screen? I haven’t, but how much do you want to bet, that for serious cinema lovers like me, you, and a lot of others on here, it would be exhilarating? 🙂

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      1. I saw the following Kurosawa films at cinemas in London. All in single cinemas with large screens
        Yojimbo
        Seven Samurai
        Throne Of blood
        Rashomon
        Kagemusha
        Ran
        The Hidden Fortress
        Sanjuro
        The older ones I saw at The National Film Theatre. Ran and Kagemusha are amazing on a big screen. I didn’t get to see Dersu Uzala in a cinema, only on DVD.

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        1. “I saw the following Kurosawa films at cinemas in London. All in single cinemas with large screens
          Yojimbo
          Seven Samurai
          Throne Of blood
          Rashomon
          Kagemusha
          Ran
          The Hidden Fortress
          Sanjuro
          The older ones I saw at The National Film Theatre. Ran and Kagemusha are amazing on a big screen. I didn’t get to see Dersu Uzala in a cinema, only on DVD.”

          To beetleypete: Wow, I am so envious 🙂 Speaking of large screens, have you ever watched Jacques Tati’s Playtime on a large one? 🙂

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        2. Ran was shot in 35 mm, but a 70 mm print was also blown up from the 35 mm negative for special showings, Aspect ratio was standard 1;85,,,so it wasnt in widescreen. My most memorable Kurosawa screening was at the Coolidge Corner in Brookline, which had oe of the biggest screens un the greater Bosto area.of Higj and Low, 35mm widescreen black and white

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          1. “Ran was shot in 35 mm, but a 70 mm print was also blown up from the 35 mm negative for special showings, Aspect ratio was standard 1;85,,,so it wasnt in widescreen. My most memorable Kurosawa screening was at the Coolidge Corner in Brookline, which had oe of the biggest screens un the greater Bosto area.of Higj and Low, 35mm widescreen black and white”

            To songladder: Those must have been extraordinary experiences 🙂

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    1. Thanks for sharing, Derrick! You illuminate the past with details that I admire. For instance, you talk about the sounds of your home, garden, and the three notes of the “signing off” of the telly. I remember as a girl there were only three channel choices. I remember the static of the television after 10, 11, midnight when they’d play the national anthem and then there was nothing. The sounds one heard was nature in the yard. This is important because today one is so inundatded with noise pollution, it’s inconceivable for most of us at any age to hear nothing. My head aches from the sounds of our civilized world. This ties in nicely with our pandemic shutdown and our addiction to watch something. Anything. It has replaced our love for reading or playing outdoors. It has limited our communication with others verbally. We have tuned in and shut out our neighborhoods and society. Okay, I’ll get off my soap box…

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  8. I love the cinema. I always have. My mother took my brother and I to the movies often. Everything about it, e.g., the bigness, the darkness, the “coming attractions,” as we called them, the plush seating, the sound, the perfect climate control, was luxury to me. I loved the snack bar, too. The hot dogs were supreme, as well they should; they were more expensive than filet mignon. The experience of the cinema cannot be duplicated at home unless you have an actual cinema there. Sadly, convenience often trumps the experience these days.

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    1. Pam, I never ate a hotdog at the movies, but it’s nearly impossible for me NOT to eat popcorn. Where a person sits in a movie theater is a fun question. Where do you like to sit? Are you pushy about it? I like the end of the aisle about two-thirds the way in. Unless the place is nearly empty, then I like the center seats with no one around me. Ha! One advantage to going to the movies is this notion of community gathering. Like a play. Hearing the laughter and the tears. There I am, a natural-born social distance-er. For example, I feel extreme annoyance when I’m in my seat and someone one comes and sits right behind me. It makes my skin crawl.

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      1. I like to sit smack dab in the middle, which is pretty where I sit politically–coincidentally or not. Ha! And yes, I’m pushy about it. My husband, on the other hand, loves to sit in the middle, yes, but on the first row! No! That’s the worst. That’s the only place where he won’t go to sleep when we go to the cinema; so when we go, he sleeps.

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    2. “I love the cinema. I always have. My mother took my brother and I to the movies often. Everything about it, e.g., the bigness, the darkness, the “coming attractions,” as we called them, the plush seating, the sound, the perfect climate control, was luxury to me. I loved the snack bar, too. The hot dogs were supreme, as well they should; they were more expensive than filet mignon. The experience of the cinema cannot be duplicated at home unless you have an actual cinema there. Sadly, convenience often trumps the experience these days.”

      I hear that Pam 🙂 I always love getting Pop Corn and Peanut M&M’s at the movie theater 🙂

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  11. Interesting the shot of Robert DeNiro from “Taxi Driver” because it is exactly the point made: the film is a classic 70’s gritty New York film – it is supposed to look grimy, but the blu-ray has polished it up and taken that important element of the film’s style away. Also, the communal experience of laughter, sadness and good old-fashioned “jump scares” is lost completely at home!

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    1. i agree, it is really depressing to see films losing their period look……if this defacement continues, future generations are going to think that all 20th century movies looked the same (and so far, most of 21st century movies do look the same)

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      1. I think that’s a valid point. Rather like rewriting History. But that’s a different topic. Scrubbing and shining the past takes away from the historical context. Whether it is history books or movies. Take the recent Gone with the Wind controversy…

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    2. I was happy to find the image for it fit perfectly in the discussion today. 😉 Glad you noticed. Jump scares. Hmmm. I haven’t seen a horror movie for at least twelve years (the last was Saw) in the theater. Talk about exaggerated jumps for me! I can’t go. I’m always peaking through my fingers. Even suspense films are amplified in the cinema than at home. For instance, Scorsese and DeNiro in Cape Fear really scared me and excited me with the reverse negative scene. I wonder how I would have jumped had I been old enough to witness Psycho in the movie theater!

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    3. “Interesting the shot of Robert DeNiro from “Taxi Driver” because it is exactly the point made: the film is a classic 70’s gritty New York film – it is supposed to look grimy, but the blu-ray has polished it up and taken that important element of the film’s style away. Also, the communal experience of laughter, sadness and good old-fashioned “jump scares” is lost completely at home!”

      Unfortunate, but inevitable If it is to preserve film or maybe I am missing something John. Nevertheless, the same sentiment can also be applied to David Cronenberg’s Videodrome, which is great on Blu-Ray, but watching it on a grainy looking VHS, makes the experience more involving given it’s subject matter. 🙂

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  12. Watching movies in theaters, especially real theaters, not cement block bunkers, brings back so many fond memories; but the years have caught up with me watching movies in theaters. I need closed captioning. Hearing aids have a volume control but not a clarity control. Home watching has a pause control or commercials, necessary for old age bladders. And I love the rewind button to go back to where I dozed off. If I have a hard time getting out of my chair it is nothing compared to trying to get out of a theater seat. If I am too tired or interrupted in the middle, I can always come back to it the next day or next week. Or if I don’t like it, I don’t waste the big money a ticket costs.
    Oh, but I still love the memories of seeing movies in theaters.

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      1. The last movie I saw in a theater was Wonder Woman, mainly because my grandnephew, a stunt man, was the fight coordinator and did a lot of stunts as Wonder Woman. But I had to buy the DVD later so I could understand it better. Good movie but I really didn’t like all that hopla at the end.

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        1. I liked Wonder Woman, probably because as a teenager I watched the television series with Lynda Carter religiously. I like Chris Pine, too. I have grown to expect a superhero ending with the universe at the edge of catastrophe, so I wasn’t surprised.

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    2. “Watching movies in theaters, especially real theaters, not cement block bunkers, brings back so many fond memories; but the years have caught up with me watching movies in theaters. I need closed captioning. Hearing aids have a volume control but not a clarity control. Home watching has a pause control or commercials, necessary for old age bladders. And I love the rewind button to go back to where I dozed off. If I have a hard time getting out of my chair it is nothing compared to trying to get out of a theater seat. If I am too tired or interrupted in the middle, I can always come back to it the next day or next week. Or if I don’t like it, I don’t waste the big money a ticket costs.
      Oh, but I still love the memories of seeing movies in theaters.”

      To Don Ostertag: As I implied with others on here, there is no right or wrong answer when it comes to how one likes to view a film – in theaters or at home 🙂

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  13. A digital screen at home with high-def and a soundbar with a woofer has made a world of difference in watching movies (and sports for that matter!) 🙂 I gave up going to the movies a while back, too far to drive and cost too much and I don’t find them as entertaining as the old ones.

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    1. Fair enough, GP. I find the more I talk about it, the more I wish I had grown up in the late 40s, 50s and 60s if for only to see the great classics on the screen. Now I go back and forth. I do love going to the movies, though. It has always been a prime source of entertainment for me.

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      1. I have seen most of the great classics on the big screen.what i would wish for is to go back to the 20s 30s 40s and 50s to see them in their origunal theatres with the original audiences. Id like to see Battleground with the soldiers who had come back from the war, LAge Dor when they slashed the screen in Paris, Frankestein in uts first day of release, All that Heaven Allows with shopgurls and housewives, Chaplins shorts with people who had never seen him before, the films of Naruse, Ozu. and Mzzoguchi in their Tokyo premiers. ad so on. You get the picture,

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      2. Have we forgotten what it was like to walk out into a cold, snowy night after watching “Doctor Zhivago” with miles to go before we reach home? Try that with a home theater.

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          1. crunching through the snow. i did a lot of that while living in boston. but the time i remember best was with friends in seattle walking 70 blocks on lsd in deeo snow to see Yelllow Submarine.

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          2. Good grief! 70 blocks! I did that once in NYC to get to the MOMA. That was worth the trek. I’m not sure, however, that I would do that to see Yellow Submarine. With friends it would be different. I imagine you had lively conversations on your way which is why I bet Yellow Submarine you think of fondly even though it is a silly movie. But I’m being presumptuous.

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          3. i went ti moma with a stripper from jersey. we got on a train and after one stop the conductor announced this s an express train, next stop 125th street. so we jumpe out like frightened rats. after spendng the day in the museum, my date expressed surprised that there had been normal paintngs on the walls, she thought a museum of modern art would just be filled with weird stuff like bicycles hanging from the ceiling.

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          4. Ha Ha. You know, seeing art in a museum is parallel to the art of cinema on the screen. I can look at paintings in coffee table books or documentaries and it is nothing like going to the building, walking around the room brushing shoulders with people and hearing whispered comments. I love standing back away from the art form and seeing it burst forth alive in color and perspective. The worst experience I had was going to the Louvre. What a cattle herd. Upon entering the gallery which holds the Mona Lisa, all I could see was the sea of cell phones raised to take a picture. It was depressing. My favorite so far is still the Chicago Museum of Art. I get lost in it and I don’t want to be found.
            Anyway, it’s the experience that saturates the heart and mind.

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        3. “Have we forgotten what it was like to walk out into a cold, snowy night after watching “Doctor Zhivago” with miles to go before we reach home? Try that with a home theater.”

          To a gray: One of my many viewings of Terry Gilliam’s 1998 film Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (home viewing) was on a hot summer day 🙂

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  14. I no longer enjoy going to the movies. First, people have become so rude! Because of home viewing, people no longer know how to behave in a movie theater. Once upon a time you could have heard a pin drop in a movie theater. Those days are over. Second, the price of admission is absurd (it cheaper to just buy the DVD/Bluray). Finally, never underestimate the comforts of a nice home theater! You can stop the movie for bathroom breaks, wine refills, replay scenes at will, etc. Ever since we bought a 60 Inch Smart TV, we stopped going to the movies. We are big theater people, so we still enjoy seeing a stage play occasionally.

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    1. I wish I could go to see a play. I like live audience. That communal experience. I’ve been pretty fortunate that I don’t experience rude people at the movie theaters. Maybe because I sit away from people. Even when a movie is packed, they settle down once the trailers start.

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      1. “I wish I could go to see a play. I like live audience. That communal experience. I’ve been pretty fortunate that I don’t experience rude people at the movie theaters. Maybe because I sit away from people. Even when a movie is packed, they settle down once the trailers start.”

        To Cindy: As with you, I have not had the misfortune to experience rude people at the theaters, but some people have and I can totally understand why people feel the way they do 🙂

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          1. “BTW, thanks for your involvement in the post, John. You are always welcome.”

            To Cindy: Always a pleasure 🙂 In fact, I still find myself holding conversations with everybody replying to your blog entry here 🙂 It’s like a big party 🙂

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    2. “I no longer enjoy going to the movies. First, people have become so rude! Because of home viewing, people no longer know how to behave in a movie theater. Once upon a time you could have heard a pin drop in a movie theater. Those days are over. Second, the price of admission is absurd (it cheaper to just buy the DVD/Bluray). Finally, never underestimate the comforts of a nice home theater! You can stop the movie for bathroom breaks, wine refills, replay scenes at will, etc. Ever since we bought a 60 Inch Smart TV, we stopped going to the movies. We are big theater people, so we still enjoy seeing a stage play occasionally.”

      To Eric Binford: All of those alternatives are preferable considering how people sometimes behave at a show 🙂

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  15. I haven’t been to the movies for years. Much easier for me to fit a digital movie into my program of an evening as I don’t have the time during the day to spend in front of a movie screen. Maybe there are disadvantages but I like the internet digital presentations because you can choose exactly what you want to watch rather than get in a car and fight your way through crowds to get a seat in an unhealthy atmosphere. Netflix, YouTube or its ilk at least give you a variety of choices to fit the mood. I will not let Hollywood dictate when, where and what I watch. 🙂

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    2. “I haven’t been to the movies for years. Much easier for me to fit a digital movie into my program of an evening as I don’t have the time during the day to spend in front of a movie screen. Maybe there are disadvantages but I like the internet digital presentations because you can choose exactly what you want to watch rather than get in a car and fight your way through crowds to get a seat in an unhealthy atmosphere. Netflix, YouTube or its ilk at least give you a variety of choices to fit the mood. I will not let Hollywood dictate when, where and what I watch. 🙂”

      To ianscyberspace: I hear what you are saying 🙂 Some people (like myself) do not have time to go to the movies a lot and that is why Streaming services and home viewing are a great alternative 🙂

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  17. You make a very good point about my size relative to the TV screen or the cinema screen. When I watched “Jurassic Park” I sat on the front row of the cinema, in a morning showing with very few people and the dinosaurs were fantastic. I haven’t been to the cinema for a good while, but I am assured by my daughter (mid-thirties) that, sadly, it is not a viable option any more. Yobbish kids talk, shout, argue and eat extremely smelly fast food and cinema employees are too scared to do anything about it. Not very good value for your £15 ($19).

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      1. the worst thung about turning twelve was that the price of a ticket went up from a quarter to 50 cents. i always wondered why adults had to pay a dollar, as they didnt seem to enjoy going to the movies as much as the kids, i thought they shoud pay less.

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    2. “You make a very good point about my size relative to the TV screen or the cinema screen. When I watched “Jurassic Park” I sat on the front row of the cinema, in a morning showing with very few people and the dinosaurs were fantastic. I haven’t been to the cinema for a good while, but I am assured by my daughter (mid-thirties) that, sadly, it is not a viable option any more. Yobbish kids talk, shout, argue and eat extremely smelly fast food and cinema employees are too scared to do anything about it. Not very good value for your £15 ($19).”

      To jfwknifton: I hear what you are saying – I always taught to never talk during a movie and I lived up to that ever since. Why can’t others do the same? 🙂

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  18. This is another interesting Lucky 13 post Cindy. I’m glad Bill could get involved because I always enjoy reading both of you. It must be nearly 20 years since I last visited a cinema, coinciding with the closure of The Palace Cinema in the town where I live. I really miss that place with seats in the balcony and an intermission for refreshments. I used to go there most weeks in the 1990s, watching films like Unforgiven, Heat, Terminator 2 and The Rock. Modern films really don’t appeal to me, and from what I hear of people’s behaviour I doubt I’ll be visiting the multiplex any time soon.
    I agree with what you both say about film culture in relation to people’s timeline. Cindy, your comment about ‘Edge of Tomorrow’ struck a chord with me. A friend of mine once called me to see if I wanted to watch ‘Mrs Doubtfire’ and I turned her down. She was murdered not long after, and I think of her every time I see that film in the television listings. I’ve never had the heart to watch it. For that one sad memory, I’ve got a lot of happy ones, although I often wish I had a time machine to take me back to Hollywood’s golden age, to watch all the great stars in their prime.

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    1. Well said, Paul, and thank you for sharing your memories. I’m sorry about the tragedy and association with your friend and Mrs. Doubtfire. It does show the power of films and how they are linked with one’s personal timeline. I like how different my responses are now when I revisit a film periodically. I’m glad that I understand a lot more now, say, films from the 1970s, than when I initially watched them because I was simply too young to know what I was watching. I will always love the movies, and maybe it’s my age and love of history, movies from the past feel always better than movies of today, most of the time. I get a kick out of actors that I’ve watched my whole life. Let’s say Tom Cruise or Tom Hanks or Meryl Streep. I wonder what they think about at night. I wonder if they feel movies just aren’t the same as they used to be. I wonder if they feel the pressure of sustaining their careers. I wonder how different their careers are compared to Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart and Katherine Hepburn.

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      1. You’re welcome, as usual we’re on the same wavelength. For me, films from the past definitely feel better than the films of today. I’ve virtually given up on the new releases, the last one I watched was Hell or High Water. I’ll always love films, luckily there are thousands of older movies for me to discover and enjoy. As for actors, some of them remind me of boxers who carry on too long. I don’t like seeing De Niro and Pacino appearing in garbage. I didn’t like seeing Meg Ryan ruin her looks trying to stay young. At least she had the sense to finally step out of the limelight, shame the damage was done.

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    2. “This is another interesting Lucky 13 post Cindy. I’m glad Bill could get involved because I always enjoy reading both of you. It must be nearly 20 years since I last visited a cinema, coinciding with the closure of The Palace Cinema in the town where I live. I really miss that place with seats in the balcony and an intermission for refreshments. I used to go there most weeks in the 1990s, watching films like Unforgiven, Heat, Terminator 2 and The Rock. Modern films really don’t appeal to me, and from what I hear of people’s behaviour I doubt I’ll be visiting the multiplex any time soon.
      I agree with what you both say about film culture in relation to people’s timeline. Cindy, your comment about ‘Edge of Tomorrow’ struck a chord with me. A friend of mine once called me to see if I wanted to watch ‘Mrs Doubtfire’ and I turned her down. She was murdered not long after, and I think of her every time I see that film in the television listings. I’ve never had the heart to watch it. For that one sad memory, I’ve got a lot of happy ones, although I often wish I had a time machine to take me back to Hollywood’s golden age, to watch all the great stars in their prime.”

      Oh Paul, I am so sorry to hear that 😦 I am glad to hear that you have a lot of happy ones though and your talks of Hollywood’s Golden Age sounds fascinating – you know talks about that period a lot? Peter Bogdanovich – search youtube on him, but here is just one of many examples 🙂

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  19. I’m conflicted!
    There are some moments you cannot replicate at home. I remember seeing THE GRADUATE in a crowded theater at the time of its release and how the audience cheered when Benjamin came to the church calling out for Elaine or seeing JAWS when it first came out in a crowded theater and how the entire audience screamed. Those moments cannot be replicated at home. And screen size matters. Sadly, the theaters today are more like boxes and not the grand theaters of the day. I find today’s multiplexes cold, interchangeable, and sterile. As for home viewing, there are so many films I never would have seen if it were not for home video, streaming, etc. The experience is different, I don’t have a home theater, but I like the access to so many films that I never would have seen.
    Excellent topic!

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    1. You have summed up the argument perfectly! You are quite right ! I find the films that I feel should be seen on the big screen, I do. Then, I rewatch them later as a rental and put on the closed captioned. The second viewing fills in holes that I missed at the theater. The fall is when I try to see all the award nominations and will venture out more to the movie houses. For much of the rest of the year, I’m exploring blindspots in cinema or focusing on a specific actor or director because there doesn’t seem to much out that interests me. Always looking for the blast of action in the summer, however.

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      1. “You have summed up the argument perfectly! You are quite right ! I find the films that I feel should be seen on the big screen, I do. Then, I rewatch them later as a rental and put on the closed captioned. The second viewing fills in holes that I missed at the theater. The fall is when I try to see all the award nominations and will venture out more to the movie houses. For much of the rest of the year, I’m exploring blindspots in cinema or focusing on a specific actor or director because there doesn’t seem to much out that interests me. Always looking for the blast of action in the summer, however.”

        I hear what you are saying Cindy 🙂 I mean I have no problem with popcorn spectacle (superhero movies and stuff), but as a true cinema lover, there is more to the art form than just that. Nevertheless, there are still lots of films like that that stand out for me – for example, I saw Mad Max: Fury Road 4 times in the theater and the animated film Inside Out from that same year (i.e. 2015) 6 times 🙂

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        1. Ha! I LOVED Inside Out. It really spoke to me. I also loved Mad Max: Fury Road, too. They both belonged on the big screen. So what’s the most amount of viewings in a cinema house that you paid to see? What film?

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          1. “Ha! I LOVED Inside Out. It really spoke to me. I also loved Mad Max: Fury Road, too. They both belonged on the big screen. So what’s the most amount of viewings in a cinema house that you paid to see? What film?”

            Those are two of them 🙂 If you are talking about Netflix viewings, then that would be The Irishman – I have seen it 10+ times 🙂

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    2. “I’m conflicted!
      There are some moments you cannot replicate at home. I remember seeing THE GRADUATE in a crowded theater at the time of its release and how the audience cheered when Benjamin came to the church calling out for Elaine or seeing JAWS when it first came out in a crowded theater and how the entire audience screamed. Those moments cannot be replicated at home. And screen size matters. Sadly, the theaters today are more like boxes and not the grand theaters of the day. I find today’s multiplexes cold, interchangeable, and sterile. As for home viewing, there are so many films I never would have seen if it were not for home video, streaming, etc. The experience is different, I don’t have a home theater, but I like the access to so many films that I never would have seen.
      Excellent topic!”

      I hear what you are saying John – nevertheless, film culture is changing and for people who prefer arthouse fare or something richer, Netflix is distributing it for them since major studios seem to only be interested in popcorn spectacle these days. I watched both The Coen Brothers The Ballad of Buster Scruggs and Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman on Netflix and loved them both.

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  20. In the 50s and 60s, we didnt think about screen size. it was the movies that were big or small. i saw Cleopatra in a movie palace and Ben Hur in a small suburban theater and each experience was equally big. Cinerama was the only exception, and that was likely due more to the curved screen, which took in our peripheral vision, than the size of it. It wasnt until arrvial of the mall multiplexes that screen size became an issue.

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    1. “In the 50s and 60s, we didnt think about screen size. it was the movies that were big or small. i saw Cleopatra in a movie palace and Ben Hur in a small suburban theater and each experience was equally big. Cinerama was the only exception, and that was likely due more to the curved screen, which took in our peripheral vision, than the size of it. It wasnt until arrvial of the mall multiplexes that screen size became an issue.”

      Hey songladder, I read somewhere that gave off the implication that watching Lawrence of Arabia on a 70mm screen is akin to an event 🙂

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      1. 70 mm is a wide screen format through which a sphercal lens ss employed so that the film need not be projected through an anamorphic lens. it has little to do wth the size of the image on the screen although its early days, screen size was part of its lure. but it was the new expensive 70 mm projectors that were the determining factor in whether a theatre was equipped to show 70mm films. Today many theatres, such as the Somerville in MA, have 70 mm festivals without the Cinerama sized screen with which 70mm is associated. With the right projector lens, a 70mm image can fit onto a smaller screen

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        2. “70 mm is a wide screen format through which a sphercal lens ss employed so that the film need not be projected through an anamorphic lens. it has little to do wth the size of the image on the screen although its early days, screen size was part of its lure. but it was the new expensive 70 mm projectors that were the determining factor in whether a theatre was equipped to show 70mm films. Today many theatres, such as the Somerville in MA, have 70 mm festivals without the Cinerama sized screen with which 70mm is associated. With the right projector lens, a 70mm image can fit onto a smaller screen”

          To songladder: Gotcha 🙂 Did you ever get to watch a Max Ophuls film on any special format or at an Art House? 🙂

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          1. ive seen all the films he has made since 1948, but not recall them in any special format. lola montes was known for its unusual use of color and tracking shots, what movies did you have in mind?

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  21. Much has been written about the demise of the movie palaces, but there has been scant reference to the backbone of American moviegoing..the suburbanm neighborhood theatre. For me in the 60s, much of the adventure was traveling to different neghborhoods to experiece the diversty of the city. Downtown was a world unti utselfm but the suburbs were like unusual satellites where anything could happen. Each neighborhood would prioritize a certain kind of movie, You would travel to one part of town for a fmily movie, nother for a horror moviem and yet another for teen oriented fare. I I remember not only most of the movies U saw pror to the advent of the mall, but the theatres I saw them in. I now live in a city of 12 million people, and the same 12 movies are playing in every one of the theatres throughout the city.

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    1. That’s a shame. I see what you mean. I didn’t have that opportunity. I prefer rural areas to suburban or urban life. I like to visit, but choose not to live in them. So, I can’t share your experience, but I acknowledge it. For me, the drive-in was an integral part of my life. Lots of memories there!

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      1. “That’s a shame. I see what you mean. I didn’t have that opportunity. I prefer rural areas to suburban or urban life. I like to visit, but choose not to live in them. So, I can’t share your experience, but I acknowledge it. For me, the drive-in was an integral part of my life. Lots of memories there!”

        Any films you saw during then that time Cindy that stand out for you at the moment and you can just name one or two films? 🙂

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        1. Ha! Wellll, one story I have was my seventeen old hippy uncle “babysat” my younger brother and I in a car and smuggled us in to the drive-thru. We saw “Candy” (1968) on the screen. I still blush thinking about the father of the Addams Family on screen with Ewa Aulin. I was five….

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          1. “Ha! Wellll, one story I have was my seventeen old hippy uncle “babysat” my younger brother and I in a car and smuggled us in to the drive-thru. We saw “Candy” (1968) on the screen. I still blush thinking about the father of the Addams Family on screen with Ewa Aulin. I was five….”

            Considering how psychedelic that film was and your age at the time, that experience must have been unique 🙂

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          2. my most embarrassing drive in moment was when a coming attractions trailer for a bardot movie came one when i was with my father to see pit and the pendulum. she comes out in a towel, the narrator promises that we will see a part of bardot that we have never seen before, and she throws the towel at the camera. i was ten years old and was so aroused i couldnt stand it, and my dad suggests we return the next week to see tthat movie because it looked pretty good.. i swallowed hard and replied that i had already planned to see Big Red, a disney dog movie, then,

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      2. Most of my experience with drive ins was when i lived in south dakota, tennessee , and florida. Drive ins are the worst place to see a movie. terrible sound and its always too light for the first feature..but there are things to do in a drive in that you cant do anywhere else when you are a teenager. as a kid i would always look for that snatch of movie on a drive in screen when my dad was driving at night,

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        1. “Most of my experience with drive ins was when i lived in south dakota, tennessee , and florida. Drive ins are the worst place to see a movie. terrible sound and its always too light for the first feature..but there are things to do in a drive in that you cant do anywhere else when you are a teenager. as a kid i would always look for that snatch of movie on a drive in screen when my dad was driving at night,”

          Everything you mentioned here songladder serve as the perfect main drawbacks to why drive-ins are also too much of a disappointment – I mean let us compare that with sitting down in a building and watching a screen. After doing that, drive-ins pale in comparison 🙂

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    2. “Much has been written about the demise of the movie palaces, but there has been scant reference to the backbone of American moviegoing..the suburbanm neighborhood theatre. For me in the 60s, much of the adventure was traveling to different neghborhoods to experiece the diversty of the city. Downtown was a world unti utselfm but the suburbs were like unusual satellites where anything could happen. Each neighborhood would prioritize a certain kind of movie, You would travel to one part of town for a fmily movie, nother for a horror moviem and yet another for teen oriented fare. I I remember not only most of the movies U saw pror to the advent of the mall, but the theatres I saw them in. I now live in a city of 12 million people, and the same 12 movies are playing in every one of the theatres throughout the city.”

      I do not know If this is relevant to anything you said sondladder, but have you ever been to arthouses? Places like those show non-mainstream fare – foreign films et tetra 🙂

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      1. I was a regular art house patrom since 1964 and managed both the Harvard Square Theatre and the Orson Welles Cinema in Cambridge MA through the 1980s. I also had the Z channel in Los Angeles in 1979,

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        2. “I was a regular art house patrom since 1964 and managed both the Harvard Square Theatre and the Orson Welles Cinema in Cambridge MA through the 1980s. I also had the Z channel in Los Angeles in 1979,”

          Hey songladder 🙂 I was only 4 years old when Z Channel became defunct in 1989, but after watching that 2004 documentary about it (Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession), for a cinema lover like myself, it would come off as paradise for me. A coincidence that you were talking about it because in one of my replies to Cindy here, I gave her two links – which included a link to the trailer for that 2004 documentary on the channel and another to one of their features 🙂 Check it out 🙂

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          1. i didnt know anythng about the dcumentary, so tanks for that heads up. the main thing u remember about the z channel was seeung all the oscar nomunated movies on it. bravo was my favorite channel in the 80s.. they would have triple features of the great directors, and once they showed all of fassbinders berlin alexanderplatz over a weekend…once they started showing commercials, it was all over.

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          2. i watched the z channel doc.. i never knew aytshe mhng about herrym et along that he was resinsuble for three of the most imoirtant restoratins of the 20th century,,,,,the leopard, 1900, once upon a time in america,

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  22. Great post Cindy 🙂 As with a lot of people, I think we need Cinema houses every bit as much as we need streaming services and movie channels. One great thing about Netflix is that in an age where major studios are afraid to gamble on anything non-commercial, Netflix is there to finance great stuff like The Coen Brothers The Ballad of Buster Scruggs and Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman to name just two of many examples. Speaking of other ways to watch films, the very first premium film channel to offer viewers the opportunity to watch films presented uncut and commercial free was the inception of Z-Channel in 1974. That station no longer exists (it became defunct in 1989) and sadly, one had to live in the California area to watch the channel. Nevertheless, based on their entire back catalogue, they were better than HBO, Showtime, Starz, Encore and all of the others combined. Today, TCM is the closest we have to true cinema culture. Sadly, Bravo and IFC became too corporate in the late 2000’s I believe. I have a few youtube links I can give you and keep up the great work as always 🙂

    Here is a youtube video link to the trailer for Xan Cassavetes 2004 documentary Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession that chronicles the channel, I think you can also view it both online or buy it on Amazon

    You can search for many more examples by typing in quotes “Z Channel” under your youtube search, but here is one of many examples of how they programmed stuff in their prime 🙂 A channel like this prior to all of the ways we watch films now, would have been paradise for me 🙂

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    1. Hi John! I’m glad you arrived. L13FC wouldn’t be the same without you. 😉 I appreciate your contribution of the Z channel. Never heard of it, but I will check out your link. I’ve always liked TCM and I have a hard time finding it. I have Direct TV but wonder how much longer I need it. It’s becoming obsolete. I just can’t see paying a higher monthly payment when I get most anything for a lot less.

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  23. “i didnt know anythng about the dcumentary, so tanks for that heads up. the main thing u remember about the z channel was seeung all the oscar nomunated movies on it. bravo was my favorite channel in the 80s.. they would have triple features of the great directors, and once they showed all of fassbinders berlin alexanderplatz over a weekend…once they started showing commercials, it was all over.”

    To songladder: While I do not know when Bravo started commercials, I vaguely remember Bravo’s peak years, but it was probably at the tail’s end of it. Thinking about what Bravo has become today is just too painful to think about when one considers how great it was at one time.

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  24. “ok. so thats the fist star wars, the only one i saw, and i dpnt recall that scene. i was probably dozing..”

    For me, George Lucas best film as a director is still American Graffiti 🙂

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  25. “my most embarrassing drive in moment was when a coming attractions trailer for a bardot movie came one when i was with my father to see pit and the pendulum. she comes out in a towel, the narrator promises that we will see a part of bardot that we have never seen before, and she throws the towel at the camera. i was ten years old and was so aroused i couldnt stand it, and my dad suggests we return the next week to see tthat movie because it looked pretty good.. i swallowed hard and replied that i had already planned to see Big Red, a disney dog movie, then,”

    To songladder: Although I probably told you this before, I always had a crush on actress Theresa Russell 🙂

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  26. “i like the chicago museum as well. saw a miro exhibition there during an amtrak layover”

    To songladder: When you were traveling to Chicago (among many other places), were you ever at The Music Box? That is a really great theater that shows all sorts of films 🙂

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      1. “no. i was only in chicago for overnight layovers between seattle and boston. i did get to watch depalma shoot some scenes for the untouchables there.”

        To songladder: I only mentioned The Music Box because you mentioned that you visited the Chicago Museum of Art to Cindy 🙂

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  27. “ive seen all the films he has made since 1948, but not recall them in any special format. lola montes was known for its unusual use of color and tracking shots, what movies did you have in mind?”

    To songladder: Nothing at the moment, though I always would have loved to have one of Kurosawa’s epics either in Cinerama or on 70mm 🙂

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      1. I saw The Exorcist on screen and The Shining. That did it for me. I could not watch horror movies after that. Unless dragged. That larger than life experience truly tainted my ability to endure the uncomfortable fear.

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        1. i thought he eorcist was dull and mussed the while point of the novel…the shununng was more a dysfunctional family satire than a horror move. the film that scared the pants off me was the accudental tourist, with william hurt caught between and manipulated by two horrorble women. that was a true horror movie.

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          2. “i thought he eorcist was dull and mussed the while point of the novel…the shununng was more a dysfunctional family satire than a horror move. the film that scared the pants off me was the accudental tourist, with william hurt caught between and manipulated by two horrorble women. that was a true horror movie.”

            To songladder: Hey now, I loved The Exorcist – I am also a huge Friedkin fan. Sounds like you loved The Shining though and If so, I totally agree with you on the latter 🙂 I love your sense of humor regarding The Accidental Tourist as a horror film – me and Cindy think you have a great sense of humor 🙂

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          3. i was managing a theatre sponsoring a sneak preview of deal of the century. nat segaloff, then boston herald film critic andlater friedkin biographer, was interviewing friedkin in my office during the screening. i told them they had 15 minutes because i needed to get in there to count the money. after half an hour they still ouldnt leave so i physically threw them both out. thats my friedkin story.

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      2. “very few films wre made in cinerama, but i always loved going tothe cinerama theatre where i saw the first runs of 2001, taxi driver, the shining, barry lyndon, and grease,”

        To songladder: Wow, that must have been exhilarating to see 4 great films (or at least in my opinion) in cinema: in case you are wondering which ones I mean, they are: 2001: A Space Odyssey, Taxi Driver, The Shining and Barry Lyndon. It has been a while since I have seen Grease, so I can’t really comment on that one 🙂

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  28. “When I first started going to the movies, it cost a dime for a double feature, a cartoon, and a news reel. If you didn’t behave, the ushers (tough girls in high school) would call your mom.”

    To a gray: How times sure have changed 🙂

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    1. “Kurosawa never made a film in 70 mm or Cinerama”

      To songladder: Oh I know he never did, I was just thinking about how awesome one of them would look in that format 🙂

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      1. hus movies looked awesome in any format. when i was managing the orson welle cinema in cambridge ma, we got the first run of Ran, and I used to go into every screening to watch what u still think is the best battle scene ever filmed.

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        1. “hus movies looked awesome in any format. when i was managing the orson welle cinema in cambridge ma, we got the first run of Ran, and I used to go into every screening to watch what u still think is the best battle scene ever filmed.”

          To songladder: Of course 🙂 I think films look awesome in any format 🙂 I only said that based on the question you asked me regarding what I would like to see in either 70mm or Cinerama 🙂

          Also, thanks for mentioning that battle scene in Kurosawa’s Ran – I mean nobody staged action the way Kurosawa did and as a result, his work has gone on to influence tons of future filmmakers 🙂

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          1. the probem us you cant really show a film in 70 mm or Cinerama unless it was made in those formats.. \of urcourse you can project any wudescreen moviie on a curved screen, but unless it was shot with three 35 mm cameras in aligjnment, its not cinerama. Also, i dont know of any 35 mm films being blown up to70 mm, although the reverse us common.

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  31. This whole experience has changed very dramatically over the years. I REMEMBER the old theatres. They were Palaces. Carpeting, Chandeliers, Ushers, beautiful lighting, curtains, columns. staircases … etc. You really felt like you were going some place special. And you were. And the presentation was great too: Shorts, Newsreals, Previews, Cartoons, Serials, then the movie. So the flavour of modern theatres is not the same as it was. The main advantage (as I grow old) however, is that i can go the the washroom and not miss ten minutes of the movie. (LoL!) The popcorn is usually not as good though. I have to say that I still like to go the Theatre. It still has something that the home environment doesn’t offer. Yet we do watch most of our movies at home in our living room. I wouldn’t call it a Home Theatre, but we do have a wonderful large TV. Up until recently we used to Pirate a lot of movies. And I do have to tell we didn’t regret it because a lot of those movies were crap and I sure wouldn’t have wanted to have wasted the time and money to have seen them in a Theatre.

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    1. “This whole experience has changed very dramatically over the years. I REMEMBER the old theatres. They were Palaces. Carpeting, Chandeliers, Ushers, beautiful lighting, curtains, columns. staircases … etc. You really felt like you were going some place special. And you were. And the presentation was great too: Shorts, Newsreals, Previews, Cartoons, Serials, then the movie. So the flavour of modern theatres is not the same as it was. The main advantage (as I grow old) however, is that i can go the the washroom and not miss ten minutes of the movie. (LoL!) The popcorn is usually not as good though. I have to say that I still like to go the Theatre. It still has something that the home environment doesn’t offer. Yet we do watch most of our movies at home in our living room. I wouldn’t call it a Home Theatre, but we do have a wonderful large TV. Up until recently we used to Pirate a lot of movies. And I do have to tell we didn’t regret it because a lot of those movies were crap and I sure wouldn’t have wanted to have wasted the time and money to have seen them in a Theatre.”

      To jcalberta: When it comes to home viewing, I bet you always have a ball when you are watching your favorite westerns? 🙂

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    2. Thanks for joining in, JC. That’s the key. All our conveniences weakens us, I think. Actively doing something as opposed to passively receiving something is never advantageous. The event of going to the movies, a play, art, ballgame is better than sitting in the dark at home. We are human. We are supposed to interact and move.

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  32. “I saw the Birds on opening day at the beautiful Paramount theater in downtown Seattle. I have seen it a few dozen times since then and it remains my favorite Htchcock. I even taught a class on it”

    To songladder: Mine too 🙂 While all of Hitchcock’s films (or at least most of them) come off as pure cinema, in The Birds, that virtue seems to be obvious from start to finish. I mean, it just comes off as the work of a master filmmaker, which in my opinion, Hitchcock always was 🙂

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      1. “He was always a master film maker, but with The Birds he became an artist.”

        To songladder: Undoubtedly. Did you ever hear about one of the two unrealized films of Hitchcock’s post-The Birds. The first one was Kaleidoscope (Frenzy) (no relation to what would become the 1972 film that he directed). It was chronicled in this 1999 documentary on his work and here is a youtube video link below to that

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  33. Its too bad that both the studios and the theaters have worked together to push people from the theater going experience by making it so damn expensive. You make a lot of valid points about seeing a film on a big screen but consider this….a family of four pays 10.00 a ticket plus another 30.00 for a mere popcorn and a drink….70.00,right? I spent 25.00 this weekend at a Dollar Tree where I picked out 25 movies that I can watch in my home and sit where I want to.
    The days of the theater chains are done.

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    2. “Its too bad that both the studios and the theaters have worked together to push people from the theater going experience by making it so damn expensive. You make a lot of valid points about seeing a film on a big screen but consider this….a family of four pays 10.00 a ticket plus another 30.00 for a mere popcorn and a drink….70.00,right? I spent 25.00 this weekend at a Dollar Tree where I picked out 25 movies that I can watch in my home and sit where I want to.
      The days of the theater chains are done.”

      To The Inner Circle: I hear ya 🙂 Though my main gripe is that I love to buy popcorn at the movies (a large bucket) and refill it before I go home and If there ever comes a time that I have to take a cab home or walk home, I would have to lug it with me and I would not want the refilled popcorn and beverage to drop on the floor 🙂

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  34. “i watched the z channel doc.. i never knew aytshe mhng about herrym et along that he was resinsuble for three of the most imoirtant restoratins of the 20th century,,,,,the leopard, 1900, once upon a time in america,”

    To songladder: I am so glad that you enjoyed the documentary 🙂 I first saw Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession three years after it originally came out. In this case, that would be 2007 (three years after it came out in 2004). And yes, Luchino Visconti’s The Leopard, Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1900, Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in America and (for my money) Michael Cimino’s Heaven’s Gate as four of the many important restorations of film. I know how you feel about Heaven’s Gate, but I love that film so much. Let us not forget, shortly before Jerry Harvey’s death, he also showed an alternate cut of Sam Peckinpah’s fairly mutilated Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid in 1988. Like you, I am also a huge Sam Peckinpah fan 🙂

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    1. that turners cut of garrett and the kid was a disgrace… i wish it could be destoyed..some of the sceens cut frm the theatrcal version were restored. that was good, but so many of the scenes that peckinpah was happy with were extended with material he had himself cut….and they are all out of rhythm ,,just horrible. a lso, there are a couple scenes that give the same unformtion,,in one case, the revelation as to where billy is huding out . fortunately there us a third version availabl with all the material from the theatrucal version intact plus the scenes that were cut from the release print. This is called the 2005 special edition and us as close as you can get to the film peckinpah made..my favorite film of all time.

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      1. “that turners cut of garrett and the kid was a disgrace… i wish it could be destoyed..some of the sceens cut frm the theatrcal version were restored. that was good, but so many of the scenes that peckinpah was happy with were extended with material he had himself cut….and they are all out of rhythm ,,just horrible. a lso, there are a couple scenes that give the same unformtion,,in one case, the revelation as to where billy is huding out . fortunately there us a third version availabl with all the material from the theatrucal version intact plus the scenes that were cut from the release print. This is called the 2005 special edition and us as close as you can get to the film peckinpah made..my favorite film of all time.”

        To songladder: In case you are interested, here is a blog entry on my site regarding my favorite films of director Sam Peckinpah 🙂

        https://cinematiccoffee.com/2018/06/20/my-favorite-sam-peckinpah-films/

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        1. 1, Pat Garret and Billy the Kid
          2, The Wild Bunch
          3. Cross of Iron
          4. The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970)
          5. Ride the High Country (1962)
          6. Junior Bonner (1972)
          7. The Killer Elite (1975)
          8. Straw Dogs (1971)
          9. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974)
          10. The Getaway (1972)
          11. Major Dundee (1965)
          12. The Osterman Weekend (1983)
          13. Convoy (1978)
          14. The Deadly Companions (1961)

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          1. “1, Pat Garret and Billy the Kid
            2, The Wild Bunch
            3. Cross of Iron
            4. The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970)
            5. Ride the High Country (1962)
            6. Junior Bonner (1972)
            7. The Killer Elite (1975)
            8. Straw Dogs (1971)
            9. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974)
            10. The Getaway (1972)
            11. Major Dundee (1965)
            12. The Osterman Weekend (1983)
            13. Convoy (1978)
            14. The Deadly Companions (1961)”

            To songladder: We both have The Wild Bunch, Cross of Iron and Junior Bonner on numbers 2, 3 and 6 respectively 🙂

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          2. for the first week of cross of irons theatrical run, i, went every day with a different person. much later. it showed up as a second feature with saint jack, and me and four friends made a pact to go to every sunday matinee throughout the run, no matter how hungover we were…the ending always brings me to tears. coburns laughing was an accident. he had ruined a take by dropping his machine gun and started laughong about it and they kept the laugh and used it to underscore the atrocity photos, then the tragic music kicked in, then the quote frpm brecht, then the chidrens song…these things together created one of the most gutwrenching sequences of all cinema.

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  35. “i was managing a theatre sponsoring a sneak preview of deal of the century. nat segaloff, then boston herald film critic andlater friedkin biographer, was interviewing friedkin in my office during the screening. i told them they had 15 minutes because i needed to get in there to count the money. after half an hour they still ouldnt leave so i physically threw them both out. thats my friedkin story.”

    To songladder: Oh I am so sorry to hear that. I know you may not be a huge fan of him like myself, but it always sucks when somebody famous (even though in 1983 Friedkin was on the decline) displays behavior that could come off as rude to others, even If that is not the intent, though maybe it was in this situation. Nevertheless, Friedkin is much older now and while his bite remains intact, he does not seem to come off as possibly rude (for a lack of better word) anymore.

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      1. “he had the personality of oil when it is rubbed into a leather jacket”

        To songladder: Somebody I knew had a similar story about Otto Preminger back in 1959 during a showing of Anatomy of a Murder. This person was an usher and Preminger was present at the screening and the usher was unaware that it was time to close the door to watch the film and Preminger angrily told him to shut the door, but according to the usher, a lot of people felt that Preminger could have told him in a more polite manner.

        On an unrelated note, did you ever get to interview Peter Bogdanovich? As with a lot of people who heard of him, he is quite the intellect on the Golden Age of Hollywood 🙂

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        1. when i directed hamlet in boston, all the senior cast members had been in premingers the cardinal and all compared him to hitler. bogdonavitch went from good film student to promising film maker to the bastard responsible for dorpthy strattons murder..and after that all his films were garbage. still,, he made the documentary that exposed john ford to a new generation of film goers.

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          1. “when i directed hamlet in boston, all the senior cast members had been in premingers the cardinal and all compared him to hitler. bogdonavitch went from good film student to promising film maker to the bastard responsible for dorpthy strattons murder..and after that all his films were garbage. still,, he made the documentary that exposed john ford to a new generation of film goers.”

            To songladder: I think citing Bogdanovich as being responsible for Stratten’s murder is a bit far-fetched. He did not want her dead. The guy who killed her was Paul Snyder. If Bogdanovich was guilty of anything, it was dating her, which she was with Snyder. I did see Star 80 – I loved it btw. I also heard about the Theresa Carpenter article that director Bob Fosse used as source material. As for Bogdanovich’s output after Stratten’s murder, I did love They All Laughed, Texasville and two documentaries (one about Tom Petty and the other about Buster Keaton). The Cat’s Meow was very good too.

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          2. snyder would never have killed hs wife had bogdonovitch not seduced her/ they all laughed is notable for the directors skill in directing crowds and movement in general. there are very few shots with stationary characters. u oved targets and the last picture show. mde before he became a predatory creep.

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          4. that is correct cindy. paul snider was a psychopathic jealous husband who killed his wife and then himself because she had come uner the sway of a predatory director and was lying to her husband about the affair. i hold bogdonovitch equally guilty of her death. he was one of those playboy mansion parasites who thought the world was his bordello.

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  36. “grease was my favorite experience of all because it was my brthday and i was taken to the movie y thr most beautifuu girl i have ever known.”

    To songladder: Aww that’s nice 🙂

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  37. “That’s an excellent choice. That’s one I do remember as a kid seeing at the movies. The scene with the birds poking out the farmer’s eye scared me to death. The scene was so huge to my little eyes!”

    To Cindy Bruchman: That and when the crows all gather around the school playground 🙂

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        1. the end of cross of iron used a similar device but with additional material that complicated ones reaction….coburns finest performance. and he does it all with his eyes. characters are defined by the way he looks at them. when sked uf ut ws an anti war film, peckinpah replied that all war films are anti war films. orson welles cited cross of iron as the best anti war film he had ever seen.

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          1. “the end of cross of iron used a similar device but with additional material that complicated ones reaction….coburns finest performance. and he does it all with his eyes. characters are defined by the way he looks at them. when sked uf ut ws an anti war film, peckinpah replied that all war films are anti war films. orson welles cited cross of iron as the best anti war film he had ever seen.”

            To songladder: OMG I was just about to mention Orson Welles praise of Cross of Iron and you beat me to it 🙂 Peckinpah must have felt genuinely touched to receive praise from Welles, who is reported to have been hard to please 🙂

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  38. “for the first week of cross of irons theatrical run, i, went every day with a different person. much later. it showed up as a second feature with saint jack, and me and four friends made a pact to go to every sunday matinee throughout the run, no matter how hungover we were…the ending always brings me to tears. coburns laughing was an accident. he had ruined a take by dropping his machine gun and started laughong about it and they kept the laugh and used it to underscore the atrocity photos, then the tragic music kicked in, then the quote frpm brecht, then the chidrens song…these things together created one of the most gutwrenching sequences of all cinema.”

    To songladder: Wow that must have been awesome to see it on all those days with different people and various friends and on a double bill with another favorite of mine – Peter Bogdanovich’s Saint Jack 🙂 Everything you just said about Cross of Iron I totally agree with you. I too was moved by everything 🙂 Have you ever heard of the website Trailers From Hell? It is a commentary site on films and screenwriter Josh Olsen does a video entry on it 🙂 Here is a youtube video link below:

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    1. i enjoyed the montage but the commentary was superficial and missd the point. especially when it came to the attitude of the soldiers toward the war. steiner was not undifferent to the nazis. he despised them. “do you realize how much i hate this uniform and everything it stands for?” he also choses a rather weak line to sum up peckinpahs anti war attitude when he paraphrases the last line of james jones novel from here to eternity. the quote for clausewitz was far more relevant and profound.

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      1. “i enjoyed the montage but the commentary was superficial and missd the point. especially when it came to the attitude of the soldiers toward the war. steiner was not undifferent to the nazis. he despised them. “do you realize how much i hate this uniform and everything it stands for?” he also choses a rather weak line to sum up peckinpahs anti war attitude when he paraphrases the last line of james jones novel from here to eternity. the quote for clausewitz was far more relevant and profound.”

        To songladder: I hear ya, but don’t forget Trailers from Hell is more of a mainstream commentary site as opposed to a cerebral one, so maybe that was to be expected. I was just happy to see someone who loved Cross of Iron as much as you and I did 🙂

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        1. a good review is beter than a bad review, but misinformation is misiformation. t is essentual to the flm that we understand that Stransky is not a Nazi but an aristocraat from the Weimar republic. Alsom the russianwoman who he refers to us a soldier not a nurse.

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          1. “a good review is beter than a bad review, but misinformation is misiformation. t is essentual to the flm that we understand that Stransky is not a Nazi but an aristocraat from the Weimar republic. Alsom the russianwoman who he refers to us a soldier not a nurse.”

            To songladder: Do not worry, I am not disputing anything that you have just said 🙂

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  39. “That’s quite a connection to a film! I haven’t seen Cross of Irons, but your description of the ending sounds awesome. I always loved Coburn; He is an unforgettable actor.”

    To Cindy Bruchman: As me and songladder have implied, Cross of Iron is truly powerful film 🙂

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  40. “snyder would never have killed hs wife had bogdonovitch not seduced her/ they all laughed is notable for the directors skill in directing crowds and movement in general. there are very few shots with stationary characters. u oved targets and the last picture show. mde before he became a predatory creep.”

    To songladder: Still no excuse for Snyder to murder her. Nevertheless, I do agree with you that Bogdanovich should not have taken advantage of Stratten the way he did. Not to mention, he should not have done that at all.

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    1. snyder is 100% guilty of murder. but bogdonovitch was the stressor. and hollyood was polluted by scumbags like him. i think strong character is essentual to an artist, and bogdonovitch had none.

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      1. “snyder is 100% guilty of murder. but bogdonovitch was the stressor. and hollyood was polluted by scumbags like him. i think strong character is essentual to an artist, and bogdonovitch had none.”

        To songladder: I hear ya and yeah, strong character was something Bogdanovich did lack or at least at the time.

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  41. “that is correct cindy. paul snider was a psychopathic jealous husband who killed his wife and then himself because she had come uner the sway of a predatory director and was lying to her husband about the affair. i hold bogdonovitch equally guilty of her death. he was one of those playboy mansion parasites who thought the world was his bordello.”

    To songladder: I remember reading somewhere that Bogdanovich would marry Dorothy’s younger sister Louise in 1988 when she was 20 years-old and they divorced in 2001. Here is some interesting anecdotes about that in this wikipedia link

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_Stratten#Legacy

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  42. Hey Cindy, you know what Movie palace celebrated it’s 90th anniversary last year? Chicago’s The Music Box. As a proud Illinoisan, I feel it is my duty to give you this youtube video link of folks involved with the place commemorating it’s 90 years 🙂 Here is a link below 🙂

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        1. “the only theatre i have been to in chicago us the Briar Street Theatre, where I saw the first touring production of driving miss daisy in 1988.”

          To songladder: Interesting cause that was a year before the 1989 film adaptation of the same name came out. As for that Music Box I gave to Cindy, anybody talking in that video who stands out for you? 🙂

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      2. “Thanks, John. I like the Music Box, too, and also the Logan. As far as theaters go, I like the Chicago and have been backstage and in the cellar, too! I love Chicago.”

        To Cindy Bruchman: Thank you for bringing up the Logan 🙂 That is also another great Chicago Landmark 🙂 Here is a youtube video link for that one as well 🙂

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  43. There is something about the vulnerability of the movie theatre, the inability to hit pause or discuss what you’re seeing out loud with a friend, and the and strangers around you that give the experience an otherworldly experience, heightening the effect two fold. Seeing the recent Invisible Man by myself gave unanticipated chills, and I loved it. Seeing The Hateful Eight with my friend and watching a new person (primarily female) get up and leave every ten minutes was oddly memorable. My favorite: Seeing Terminator 2 with my dad in a packed, loud, and rambunctious theatre. Such joy.

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    1. Interesting take on the experieince of seeing a movie in a theatre. As more and more people enter life in the age of home entertainment, going out to the movies will seem stranger and stranger. It may even get to the point where people wonder why cinemas even existed.

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    2. “There is something about the vulnerability of the movie theatre, the inability to hit pause or discuss what you’re seeing out loud with a friend, and the and strangers around you that give the experience an otherworldly experience, heightening the effect two fold. Seeing the recent Invisible Man by myself gave unanticipated chills, and I loved it. Seeing The Hateful Eight with my friend and watching a new person (primarily female) get up and leave every ten minutes was oddly memorable. My favorite: Seeing Terminator 2 with my dad in a packed, loud, and rambunctious theatre. Such joy.”

      To Rely Bernie: I hear what you are saying 🙂 I saw Mad Max: Fury Road four times on a big screen and Inside Out six times on the same 🙂 Other ones were Baby Driver (four times), Jordan Peele’s Us and Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. The experiences on all of them for me was just extraordinary 🙂

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  44. I sure hope not, but you are right – several big chains are already threatening bankruptcy, and some independent theatres have even less backup revenue to keep them afloat. My wife and I got a projector for the wall. Being somewhere that is not a “comfort zone” is still more fun, though, I think.

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  45. Wow. Right on point. So agree with “BluRays are much brighter than the 35 mm originals.” I’d have to add that digital film, for me, has no depth-of-field. Digital will always look “flat” to me. And it is true: the clarity revealed isn’t always a good thing. As you show with the Night of the Living Dead still: the washed-out versions of that, before a restore, are the best, as it lends to its “documentary” like quality; and it wasn’t that technically stellar to being with, so no need to see it “warts and all,” right?

    I’ve been reading quite a few insights of rent-streaming via Netflix vs. Amazon. vs. Hulu and the battle between Netflix vs. Hulu: which is better, which is more prestigious. Crazy!

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