HOLLYWOOD—I really don’t know how to best say this beyond I have been so angry that theaters have been shuttered since March. I am a movie buff, a filmmaker, screenwriter, director and when it comes to cinema, it is best seen on the big screen. We have been placed into a bubble (quite literally) and because of that, filmmaking has changed in a way never seen before. Streaming has become the new trend and movies that were once destined for the big screen are making their way to the small screen.
Sucks for “Mulan,” and I don’t even know what other flicks were slated to come out this year that may not even see the light of day. I mean “Wonder Woman 1984,” “Top Gun 2,” “Halloween Kills,” “A Quiet Place 2” the list goes on and on for movies I couldn’t wait to see in the theater that have been delayed months, some now until 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Here is something that I will argue: hell will freeze over before I pay $20 to $30 for a movie that should have been released in theaters to watch it at home. It just baffles me. The movie going experience is something you just cannot get at home. You can’t even with all the technology. There are just some movies that need to be seen on the big screen with an audience. For example, horror just doesn’t work at home. You need the ominous presence of a dark theater, being on the edge of your seat and surrounded by a bunch of people to get that thrill of something you didn’t expect to happen.
The same applies to huge blockbusters and action flicks. Could you imagine watching “Jaws,” “Star Wars,” “The Matrix,” “Top Gun” on the small screen when they first came out? Of course you couldn’t it would not be the same, you would not get that same level of intensity and excitement that we get for a movie. One would hope that is the case, but it’s never going to happen. I have the slightest idea how the theater industry will survive this pandemic. I mean a vast majority of their funding comes directly from concession sales not ticket sales.
They have been shuttered since March, it’s now August and it still feels like we don’t know when theaters are opening. Heck, all awards shows should be cancelled until 2021 if you ask me because having theaters open for the slight 3-4 months that MAY (and that is a big MAY) people that they open just seems unfair and lacks a punch we expect when it comes to cinematic flicks. I thought in July theaters might reopen, it is now August and they still haven’t opened.
I’ll be honest and just say it now: I don’t think theaters will reopen before the end of 2020. If it happens we’ll be lucky, but to be truly honest I just do not see it taking place at all which is worrisome. Could the notion of going to a movie theater become a thing of the past? Possibly, because it is starting to feel like the drive-in theater is becoming more and more popular as each day passes. Can we just see a boom of drive-in theaters so we can get big movies and blockbusters released as they should be, and not being sent to home video?
There are some people willing to spend $20 to $30 to rent a movie. Sorry, I’m not that guy, because if I’m spending THAT MUCH for a movie, I should own it permanently in my digital library, the cloud or whatever the hell they call it America. That is just such a tough pill to swallow and then to behave as if it’s no big deal, I just cannot fathom that because it’s a lot of money in my honest opinion and it is not the same experience as watching a movie with an audience where you are wowed, petrified or just left speechless by what you’re watching on the screen.
