A Film Festival on a Couch in Your Underwear
Now playing in a living room near you
The death of theatrically distributed films has been rumored for ages; probably since the rise of television. Maybe longer. TV hasn’t killed it. Sticky floors, bad projection, uncomfortable seats and noisy audiences haven’t killed it; VHS and DVD haven’t killed it.
The latest threat to your local movie theater is the digital download of high definition movies to the comfort of your own home. For now though, the technology isn’t quite good enough for this to be a viable option on a mass scale. That’s changing fast and we may well be looking at the beginning of the end for movies that play to a large audience in a theater.
Rather than asking if it will happen and when, a more interesting question is “what will it mean to those of us who love movies and the people who make them?”
A column yesterday by Variety’s Anne Thompson (mercifully almost 100% Varietese free!) about the challenges indie filmmakers face marketing and distributing their films got me to thinking that when theatrical distribution truly faces extinction, indie films will be the first to go. They’ll be the proverbial canaries in a coal mine.
The thing is, just about anyone can make a film, the difficult and expensive part is getting it distributed and convincing audiences to come see it. Prints and advertising cost a lot of money. Even if digital projection becomes commonplace, what’s to motivate a movie theater with high overhead to take a chance on a small, under-advertised indie film over the seeming sure thing of a summer blockbuster arriving behind an onslaught of marketing?
As Thompson points out, marketing is the main problem even for the alternative methods of distribution. If you put a movie on DVD or on the Internet and nobody pays to see it, does the movie really exist? It doesn’t matter how cheaply it was made and released if it goes unseen. Of course, if a movie is cheap enough, it doesn’t need more than a niche audience to be worthwhile.
Companies like Netflix, Amazon and Apple promise different ways of finding audiences for their online product. Netflix views its recommendations based on user’s ratings as essentially a form of free advertising. Smaller movies can sort of piggyback for free on customer attitudes about the studio marketed product. It’s an interesting thought and, if it works, it could open up a new world for audiences and filmmakers alike. Audiences all over the world would be exposed to movies that now play mainly in the large cities before being shuffled off to DVD.
I can see a scenario where massively expensive event films, possibly in 3D, continue to fill a smaller number of movie theaters, but where most of the good stuff is available to anyone to watch any time on their televisions. Most of this will continue to be studio product supported by studio marketing, but if Netflix or someone else can figure out a way to break through the clutter with the little guys, the possibilities are potentially pretty exciting.
I would gladly trade the increasingly irritating ‘communal movie-going experience’ for the opportunity to see more and better movies and for these movies to be available to more people, at least sometimes. There’s still nothing quite like a giant movie projected onto a giant screen with a respectful and enthusiastic audience and I’d hate to see that disappear altogether, but maybe we can have the best of both worlds.
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There is something to be said for watching flicks & lounging around luxuriously in your hundred dollar lingerie in the privacy of your own abode.
But I do LOVE the experience of getting dressed up & going out to the movies. I could never ever give that up.
EVER.
Popcorn makes me hot…..
Lol, Serena. Popcorn makes you hot…it only manages to make me feel ill, so lucky you!
I just find it so much easier to sit down and concentrate when at the movies, I think I may suffer from ADD you see. But I also love lying on the couch (in my apparently not-so-hot underwear) and interacting with the TV too. And by interacting, I mean mockingly commenting on characters actions, screaming in annoyance or laughing in a way that could get me sent to the loony bin if I dare try it in a cinema.
Change is so annoying, I love things just the way they are, and this whole movie “download” thing is getting on my nerves. I don’t need my movies THAT conveniently available, not when DVDs are so easy for me to get my hands on. I have only ever downloaded one movie in my life, that being Little Miss Sunshine, and it made the whole experience feel insignificant, like the joy of watching the film was too simple and meaningless. If it were any less of a film, I may have had a nervous breakdown. Too dramatic? Maybe. I don’t even care if I am in the minority on this. I will try to avoid downloading anything else for as long as I can, which is almost tempting when films are released here later than anywhere else. Usually I can order a DVD from Amazon and watch it before it is released in SA, so the downloading thing isn’t all that necessary.
Movie going is an experience for me, and going out to catch a movie is great, as Serena mentioned above. I love my little art house cinema, free of all the annoying movie watchers, and my ultra dedicated video store and wouldn’t give them up for anything, not even for the convenient services of Apple, who always pressure me into buying all their expensive crap, can make me change my old-school ways.
When the environment is right (it so often isn’t) I’m with you Serena as far as making a night out at the movies, and Nick has a point about the way a big screen and galvanize your attention in a way even the best TV in a living room can’t quite manage.
This is why I sort of hope for a best of both worlds. I want a night out at the movies, but imagine being able to watch any old movie you want, whenever you want to watch it. Or, Nick, imagine getting to see There Will Be Blood on the same day as everyone else in the world.
Of course then you could come to a place like LiC to come talk about it. (heh heh)
(Little does Serena know, the crack team of LiC monkeys have replaced the ordinary blog scent with that of hot buttered popcorn…)
That would be great, really, that would be amazing. If that is ever possible, I may just convert.
Downloading and all that is only *beginning* to take off in SA the way it has in the US, and internet is still so criminally expensive here. You would not even believe how backward our internet capabilities are. Plus, there isn’t even an Apple store online where South Africans can download from, all I can do is look and download trailers. The closest thing we have to NetFlix is the video store down the road, and every time I order a DVD from Amazon, I, or rather my mother, end up paying more for importing costs than for the films themselves, so downloading would probably be a far cheaper alternative.
It is far more probable that you guys and girls in the US and perhaps China and Japan will reach a point where downloading becomes a feasible alternative than me. I am sure I will get over my stubbornness eventually, it seems like soon I will have no choice, but for now, I am more than content.
Downloading is still in its infancy here in the US too, but Netflix and Apple are on the case.
There are other considerations besides technology, for one thing the movie studios are still really afraid of piracy and that’s helping to slow the trend down.
Hmm, I just noticed the new LiC look. Very nice.
It’s funny that you mention this because just today I was directed to bedroommedia.com. I’m sure I’m way behind on this, but it was a little weird to be watching I Am Legend in fairly good quality without downloading anything. The only thing I really download is music, so this was a bit weird.
Here’s a shock - I don’t have Netflix account. And I rarely even see movies on DVD except for older classics. Probably about 95% of the movies I see are in the theater, because as you all mention, it’s an entirely, entirely, ENTIRELY different experience.
But, as you mention Craig, it would be great to press a button and have all of those 1957 Muriel nominees (or Alexander’s noir list that screened last week) all available at any time.
Yes, it would be something to press a button, Daniel, and have those ‘57 Muriel nominees or the noirs screened at the Castro.
Ultimately, though, nothing can duplicate the experience of seeing a film where it should be seen. I’m cautiously optimistic about the moviegoing experience surviving for the points Craig enumerates in his post–it’s survived some very devastating assaults and I suspect it will continue to do so.
You know, Craig, thinking about this more and more, I think there’s going to be a place for indies and foreign films in major cities for quite some time…if the distribution system continues to support it.
Most major cities have decent indie theaters, some even have chains of indie theaters, and while they’re not making the profits of say Walmart they have a loyal fan base that wants to see smaller fare on the big screen. I think multiplexes are more likely to disappear much more quickly to be honest with you. Their target audience has no loyalty to them at all and there are numerous negatives including price and user experience that make multiplexes less and less attractive to the general public.
Of course, all this relies on a distribution system to support the theaters. If no one is out there subtitling those foreign releases or marketing and distributing indies, the smaller theaters may literally have no show to put on for their customers.
Remember a few years back when digital projection was supposed to save modern movie-going? Yeah, no one else does either. The cost killed it before it ever got started.
The next big gimmick to get people into theaters is supposed to be 3D but I remain underwhelmed by the technology or the potential of it. I think it’s only a gimmick. It might excite people for a few years, but the fad will fade as they always do.
I can definitely see the appeal of having the freedom to watch any film you want when you want from the comfort of your own home, but that still seems a long ways off. And no one can ever get me to buy the line that seeing a No Country or a There Will Be Blood for the first time from my couch will ever replace the experience of being in a crowded theater electric with anticipation.
As much as I dislike annoying theater patrons, I’d hate to lose that experience.
I believe an audience will remain for theatrically distributed indie films, but I wonder if the product will continue to flow through the pipeline and will the audience dry up when it becomes easier and easier to download?
I don’t know.
As I said, in a perfect world there is some combination of both. For me, digital downloads would essentially replace DVD rentals, but I’d still want to go to the theater when possible.
It’s a very frustrating thing, you know. For a BIG city on the west coast we have relatively few movie theatres downtown. We have tons of what I call “airplane hangars” in the suburbs - those horrid barns where you come in & the huge black & white screens change constantly (like an airport) as you attempt to choose what film you want to see in those ghastly 20 auditorium environments.
I HATE THOSE. I never go anywhere near them if I can help it - & I’m not a purist either. I don’t need a 50 year old single screen movie palace. But they’re great. We still have a few left. Wish we had more.
But I did find from looking at Cinema Treasures (if you guys haven’t found that site, check it out - it’s great) that some of the brand new mutiplexes are gorgeous. Particularly out in California. I guess they really clung on to the old Hollywood glamour ideal, which is something I dig to no end.
I also never rent. I don’t do Netflix or Blockbuster. I still buy quite a bit of stuff but I find renting boring. The only time I rent is when I’m attempting to catch up on awards contenders at Oscar time. Seeing as I always keep on top of that stuff, I rarely have more than one or two performances or films to look back on.
My dream would be to have a movie theatre or own a great chain & get someone else to manage it for me while I do other things *ahem*. I didn’t know that Pauline Kael actually owned a movie theatre back east many years ago. I’m sure if she was in charge the programming was excellent.
Ahhh, Craigster. The blog smells like…POPCORN?
*swoons*
Whatever shall I do…?
Nick, you’re so funny. Your first post was hilarious. I like your POV, sweetheart. You may be young but I think you’re a man with strong likes & dislikes. LOL
Don’t EVER change, Nicky….
Serena, as far as new theaters in LA go, the Arclight is great (including the restored Cinerama Dome), The Bridge isn’t bad, the Landmark is made better by by proximity to swoontacular apple pie and The Grove is just like a hooker: pretty from a distance, but cheap and phony in the cold light of day.
I actually have The Grove website bookmarked. It’s so beautiful. Anyone that knows anything about me knows that I’m highly motivated by my senses. I like beautiful surroundings & things that I can look at. As long as it’s not a bad neighbourhood I’m much more motivated to be a regular patron of a gorgeous theatre, whether it’s a single screen or a multiplex.
I personally know people that love the Arclight but I’ve seen lots of complaints online about it. (And yeah, you can’t please everyone. So don’t even try. LOL)
Craig, you do impress me as an apple pie fan. I just knew that. Don’t ask me why.
Still trying to negotiate that trip to LA. Wanted to make it down there some time this year. The unfortunate thing is that everyone I know in the city is someone I haven’t actually met yet. Now if a few of these people could get off their dead derrieres & come up to my city for a few days then I’d be confident that I couid go down there & figure out the lay of the land. As it were.
Damn, don’t wish that life were just a tad simpler? LOL
People bitch about Arclight because it’s expensive. It’s not perfect, but it’s worth every penny. It’s all about quality of presentation and Arclight excels. Reserved seating alone sets it apart from most theaters.
Like I said, The Grove is as pretty as a picture, but it’s just another mall cineplex at heart.
Funny thing about apple pie is that it’s not my favorite. I’m more of a blackberry guy, but good apple pie is not easy to find and isn’t to be trifled with.
Ha, we all have our theatre-related eating habit rituals.
I cannot go to the Castro without grabbing at least one cookie from a cookie shop about 20 yards away from it. Sooooo gooooood…
lol, thanks Serena :) I would like to think I am a *man* who knows what he wants outta life, and if there is anything I avoid in life, it is that little b**ch “change.”
There is not a funnier person over at LiC than you, and Craig (even if I need to speak to him about doing something about that popcorn smell….)
We do Alex, we do, like for example, I have been BOYCOTTING eating anything when going to the movies, which is really hard for obvious reasons, but it is way too expensive, like four times more expensive than the damn movie tickets themselves. I am starving for all the poor people out there who cannot afford to feed themselves when going to the movies, someone has to.
I dunno. Apple pie’s a classic choice. But there’s a wonderful Jimmy Stewart type wistfulness & simplicity about you, crab boy - & I certainly do mean that as a compliment.
My parents dig pie. Me, not so much. I’m more of a chocolate cheesecake girl myself.
Yeah, not having been there I’m at a disadvantage to explain myself, Craig. But I think the major complaint regarding the Archlight is its…well…lack of an aesthetic, shall we say? Apparently it’s REALLY minimalistic & I heard the phrase “black boxes” on more than one occasion.
So let me explain. Though I daresay you’re more than intelligent enough to get the point I’m trying to drive home. We kind of missed this (as it’s really the generation just before ours) but you know how the theatrical experience started evolving say, around the late 70s/early 80s? That was when the gorgeous single screens started their downhill phase. Some jerkoff decided that theatre owners could make a hell of a lot more money if they had more than one film showing simultaneously. So, all over North America around that time, lots of single screens were split & renovated into duplexes or triplexes - & they began closing the movie palaces & selling the properties out for something much more culturally edifying. Like parking lots. When new theatres were built they were cineplexes, not single screens.
Now when new cinema complexes go up a lot of them come equipped with all the bells & whistles - & some ot them are just exquisite. But the ones in the 80s were a lot like plain unadorned screening rooms (”black boxes”) & that didn’t sit well with a lot of potential patrons. Many older people who had grown up with the grand palatial theatres were totally turned off. I guess the prevailing attitude from their side was, If I’m going to pay to see something in a place like my rec room, then I may as well stay home. I think a lot of them did. Permanently.
So I’ve heard the “black boxes” comment about the Arclight. Never having been there I couldn’t say how accurate that is. I’m sure if I were to be a permanent resident that I would have some personal favourites amongst the LA theatres immediately - & they likely wouldn’t match up with everybody’s.
I have yet to run across anybody who’s been to that theatre on Catalina Island yet, though. I really want to hear about that.
For me, I would dig that the Cinerama Dome is in the same complex. I know that there’s a restaurant in there as well. That’s a bonus. Plus the reserved seating. We don’t have anything like that up here. Since I like to sit up in the balcony consistently (or, in a regular hall, right up against the back wall in the centre - away from everybody else, whether I’m with someone or not) that would be a great option.
Ahh…the old snack bar racket. 10 cents worth of popcorn for $5.
Nicholas, I don’t think I’ve bought anything at a movie theatre since I was about six. I’m not big on popcorn, personally and I’m not too big on candy, either. And everything is so overpriced it’s just ridiculous.
But, when I go to the Castro, I’ve gotta have my cookie with a pint of milk. It’s the only thing I eat at any theatre ever. Please, don’t tell those people at the Castro I’m sneaking stuff in… :-)
So far, I’m all in favor of the new digital diversity. Around Oscar time, the theaters here get some of the more obscure nominees, but most of the time it’s just big studio films, dumb comedies, and a multiplicity of slasher flicks.
Now that we get the OnDemand service through our cable, though, we can watch things like 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days in our living room while they’re still in theaters in bigger cities (haven’t watched that one yet, but it’s gratifying to know that I can). There isn’t a lot of OnDemand content available yet, but there’s usually a pretty good movie or two. Now that Netflix also lets us watch movies online, that gives us 90,000 more options with no additional expenditure, as long as it’s something I don’t mind watching on my computer screen.
The in-cinema experience is unique, but I don’t find it necessary for every film. Some of the theaters around here have such lousy facilities and technical aptitude, it’s about 50/50 whether a film is going to be in focus, on the screen, scratchy, overlit, audible, etc. The first time I saw Sideways in a theater, I couldn’t figure out why Payne had filmed the whole thing in such a washed-out, faded pastel palette. Then I saw it on DVD and it was like a different movie.
Plus, as more and more theaters adopt digital technology, I understand that could make their content a lot more versatile as well and allow smaller films that could not afford wide, traditional print releases to still be seen in places where there’s a market.
Overall, I’m optimistic. Now the challenge is finding time to watch everything I’ve for years complained about not being able to find.
Exactly my way of thinking Jennybee. I’m a little spoiled by the variety in LA, but I’m also aware that a lot of smaller movies only get released in the big cities so they’ll get reviewed in the papers to build buzz for a DVD release.
My first choice is to see a movie in a theater and I hope I’ll always be able to, but if other methods lead to increased variety for more people, nothing bad can come of it.
lol Alex, sneaking things in is the way to go :)
I love your optimism Jen, wish I had some of it in me.
Oh, hell. That’s the first thing I’m gonna do.
Finds long distance phone directory.
“Hello, Castro theatre in SF? Yes, there’s a tall blond Russell Crowe lookalike in his early 20s that attends your showings regularly.
He’s been sneaking COOKIES & MILK into your theatre. Kick his ass out, would you? Thank you.”
ROTFL….
Sorry, Alexander. It’s actually a sign of affection when I…uh…ride you that hard.
I have to agree with all of you about the movie experience in the theater. I have a large flat screen with surround sound that Craig has had the pleasure of watching. I think he’ll agree that even with a nice home theater set up (OK, that’s a stretch, it’s a television in my living room, but you get the point), it doesn’t remotely compare to going out to the movies.
Watching in my underwear on the couch is all well and good, and quite comfortable, but doesn’t give you that “crowded theater electric with anticipation” that Joel talks about.
Serena, as for the “black boxes” at the Arclight, they are actually part of why I love the Arclight so much. The theater caters to the true movie fanatic. The one that is there to watch the movie, experience the fantastic visual and sound quality, all in a comfortable seat without teeny boppers making out in the back row. It’s an homage to the movie itself rather than the building you are seeing it in. And other than the great movie theaters of old, all too often the attempt of the theater designer to capture the true movie experience yields nothing more than a decor that becomes outdated and tacky rather quickly.
You will just have to come down to LA and check it out yourself. I think you will appreciate it for what it is.
Thank you for that, Peter. My intention was to come down to LA some time this year. There are a million things that have to be taken into consideration. But that IS the plan. If not this year, some time in the near future. We’ll see how it all works out.
It’s always cool to get an opinion from someone who has experienced something firsthand. I am close to a couple of people that love the Arclight & go there regularly. So they are definitely in agreement with you.
As with anything else, you can let your imagination run wild. But you never really know until you see it for yourself.
Hopefully that won’t be too far down the line, Peter…