the big screen

[(kelvin)]

Does it matter to you wether you watch a movie in a theatre on the big screen or you watch it at home on DVD? I like DVDs a lot, they offer amazing possibilities to every cinephile, but they simply can't be compared to the clarity (should I say purity?) of the projected image. I think both possibilities consist in a different approach to the art of film in general.
For me, a movie theatre is something like a temple, a cathedral, a sacred place so to say, whereas films you watch on DVD, VHS, or worse: on TV just seem to be far more ephemeral.
Does this difference also occur to you?

[Cecil]

sure there are differences, but they each have their own pros and cons.

everyones always talking about the "theatre experience." the home video experience can be great too. i love watching dvds at like 2 in the morning alone.

[Ghostboy]

Part of the reason I love making movies is because seeing them projected on a big screen with a lot of people watching is such an incredible experience. I love going to see movies in a theater. I love watching DVDs too, but there's something that's just...transporting...about going to the cinema. Watching movies at home puts me more in a scrutinizing mode, which is why DVDs are wonderful (you can learn everything you want to know about a film on one disc).

Love your new avatar, Kris. La Jetee is a masterpiece.

[Ravi]

It depends on the film.  Most films are enhanced on a big screen, but I don't mind watching Office Space, for example, at home.  I can't bring myself to watch 2001: ASO and Apocalypse Now on DVD after watching them on the big screen  (It certainly doesn't help that both AN DVDs are cropped).

[BonBon85]

I think I often prefer the home viewing experience. I like watching movies on my computer because I get a better picture than the tv and you can pause, rewind, etc. And if you stick your nose three inches from the screen it's just like the big screen!

[Ghostboy]

But...you can pause and rewind on your TV too! Provided you have a DVD player/VCR.

Doesn't watching movies on your computer screen hurt your eyes?

[Ernie]

I really love DVD's. I know I'm not the only one that sometimes worries about people talking or ruining the potentially amazing experience going to a movie theatre can be. It doesn't happen often for me but when it does happen, it can be devestating. So, I guess I'm more at peace when I watch DVD's...I have nothing to worry about. I still will always love going to the theatre though. Especially the local art house, it's all middle aged-older people that never talk...I have never had a problem with anything like that there, I'm very calm there. So I guess I can't say which one I prefer...I love them both. I watch DVD's a lot more than I go to the theatre of course.

[(kelvin)]

Definitely, there are pros and cons between the two main options of watching a movie. Truffaut said that he was a video fanatic, because was a cinema fanatic, but that he wouldn't like to watch a film for the first time on video. For him, a film in theatre was like a book you read for the first time, and a film on video like a book you take out of the shelve whenever you want to. I think that is a great comparison.
But is also a queston of availability: there are some films that probably will never be released on DVD because hardly anybody is interested in them. Yesterday, I watched Antonioni's "Il grido" in a theatre. Whereas you can get "L'avventura" without greater problems (except for the price of the Criterion disc   ), I don't think you could find his earlier films on DVD.

Love your new avatar, Kris. La Jetee is a masterpiece.

Thanks, Ghostboy, I agree completely . I'm somehow obsessed with this picture. I think that is a good example for a film I prefer watching alone at home. It's just more...shall I say "intimate"?

[budgie]

[©brad]

cool.

[Sigur Rós]

Does this difference also occur to you?

Sometimes! But then i just give my bigscreen-tv a nice big hog!  

[phil marlowe]

a nice big hog

ha ha.

[Ernie]

Definitely, there are pros and cons between the two main options of watching a movie. Truffaut said that he was a video fanatic, because was a cinema fanatic, but that he wouldn't like to watch a film for the first time on video. For him, a film in theatre was like a book you read for the first time, and a film on video like a book you take out of the shelve whenever you want to. I think that is a great comparison.

That is a great way to put it...Truffaut seemed like a really cool guy. I keep telling myself I need to see more of his stuff.

[(kelvin)]

That is a great way to put it...Truffaut seemed like a really cool guy. I keep telling myself I need to see more of his stuff.

In that case, you should watch "La nuit américaine" ("Day to Night"). I just love that movie.

[MacGuffin]

Movie Theaters Try an Upgrade in Ambience

Going to the movies no longer has to feel like you're riding in coach or sitting in the bleachers. But do moviegoers care?

At about a dozen National Amusements Inc. theaters around the country, some auditoriums have been fitted with extra-wide, VIP leather seats no arm-rest sharing here and private concession stands. Some other theater chains offer valet parking and fine dining all at a higher price.

"If you're going to a football game, you can sit in a luxury box. If you're flying, you can sit in first class," National Amusements spokesman Brian Callahan said. "At the movies it had been always one level of service."

Because movie houses make little money from ticket sales, they must profit from popcorn, candy and soda sales.

Selling glasses of wine and higher-priced seats in an atmosphere that has a country club feel is another way to increase earnings and give people a reason to leave their homes for a night.

The number of movie tickets sold dropped from 1.63 billion in 2002 to 1.57 billion in 2003 to 1.53 billion last year as the availability of home entertainment options soared.

The theater extras add from $2 to double the price of a regular ticket. The average cost of a ticket was $6.21 in 2004.

It's all about giving the moviegoer more choices, said Jason Squire, editor of the book "The Movie Business" and an instructor at the University of Southern California's School of Cinema-Television.

"You don't have to choose the deluxe environment," he said, adding that the industry deserves credit for trying to enhance the experience of going to the movies.

The National Association of Theater Owners doesn't track how many cinemas offer VIP seating. But interviews with theater operators indicate the number is just a fraction of the 37,000 movie screens nationwide.

They realize that most customers, like Will Norris of Toledo, are satisfied enough to opt against the extras.

"Movie theater seats are so comfortable now anyway," Norris said after catching "Be Cool" at the Maumee 18 Cinema De Lux in suburban Toledo.

Four auditoriums at the National Amusements cinema were transformed from the standard stadium seating to wider aisles and seats. It costs $3 more to watch a movie in those theaters.

The added charge would be worth it, said Mike Day of Toledo, just so he could avoid crowds and some people's constant commentary during the film.

Matthew Harrigan, a movie industry analyst with suburban Denver-based Janco Partners Inc., said he's doubtful that VIP seating will take off even though it's worked in Britain.

"Americans are too unruly for that," said Harrigan, laughing.

Loews Cineplex Theaters, the nation's fifth-largest movie chain, has tried a couple of approaches to VIP seating.

Some of its theaters offer first-class seats that are sectioned off and reserved inside the traditional theater and allow those customers to order snacks from their seats.

The more exclusive Loews Club at a theater in West Homestead, Pa., offers free coat check, lounge chairs to watch the show and a restaurant.

Sitting in those stuffed leather chairs costs $5.50 more per ticket.

At the Muvico Palace 20 in Boca Raton, Fla., there's a separate entrance to the premier seating area. An escalator takes moviegoers to a bistro and bar where they can eat dinner, have a drink or walk down a hallway to one of six balcony seating areas.

There are love seats in the balconies, and the popcorn is free. Tickets cost $18 for evening shows, double the normal price.

"We patterned it after club level seating at sporting complexes," said Jim Lee, a spokesman for Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Muvico Theaters Inc.

It opened five years and is still packed on weekends, Lee said.

The Palace 20 is the only one of the company's 12 theaters with premier seating. Another under construction in New Jersey next to the Meadowlands Sports Complex will offer it.

Cleveland Cinemas President Jonathan Foreman decided against adding VIP seating at the chain's seven sites but did add coffee and fresh baked muffins along with beer and wine at some theaters.

"Anytime you can do something to enhance the viewing experience, it's certainly worth trying," Foreman said. "It's the one way of making the moviegoing experience different."