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Author Topic: Lost that moviegoing mojo Brian Guckian Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 594 From: Dublin, Ireland Registered: Apr 2003 posted 01-17-2009 05:37 PM                     My strong belief - backed by my own experiences and research - is that all the problems we're talking about are in some way connected to the profoundly uneconomic nature of exhibition today, where it appears that the margins available to the exhibitor are tiny. What about that perspective? It just looks like, yes, theatres should have fully trained staff, correct design, excellent presentation (without disruptions), constantly maintained fixtures and fittings, and so on...but - how to make that possible? quote: Monte L Fullmer Check out this opening webpage. The owner is planning to do such .. to bring back "The Magic of the Cinema", and the lost art of "Showmanship". Well if they can accomplish that, hats off to them and it would be fascinating to know how they do it...it would break new ground.  |  IP: Logged Chad Souder Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 962 From: Waterloo, IA, USA Registered: Feb 2000 posted 01-26-2009 02:36 PM                     Well, we just finished our second weekend in a row of being busier than we were over Christmas - and Christmas was pretty good. It appears as if the mojo still exists for a lot of people.  |  IP: Logged Julio Roberto Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 938 From: Madrid, Madrid, Spain Registered: Oct 2008 posted 01-26-2009 02:59 PM                    I lost the movie going mojo about 20 years ago when, for professional reasons, I had to watch just about every movie that opened every week for 2 years. That did it. It was also when Jean Claude Van Damme and Steven Segal were coming out with like 3 films a year. That nailed it (I liked JCVD the movie, btw). Movie mojo indeed benefits from theater's personnel and "luxury touches" that are long gone from most of the industry. It survives in some small or independent theaters, but employees in large chains have little incentive to go out of the way to make sure the theater experience is as good as air travel used to be a long time ago. I remember getting to an airport and knowing I'll be taken care of in case of any problems. Now I go to an airport KNOWING I'm gonna have lots of problems (cancelled flights, delays, missed connections, lost luggage, security problems and overweight charges ... even a bottle of water is a problem) and none of them are going to be taken care *at all*. When I was young, going to the movie theater was a similar experience. You knew you could get your ticket quick, will have nice air-conditioning/heater on a confortable chair, and a nice bright image. Now I go (when I go) to a theater KNOWING I'm gonna have some problem. It'll be either a long line at the BO, or people talking to cellphones, or a flickery bulb or a scratched print or a blown speaker or a piece of gum in the screen/seat. I don't know which, but something. I'm fortunate to have some great theaters available nearby. Even though I can get in for free, I only go a couple times a year, usually because someone else's wants to go. Most of my movie watching is either in festivals or at home. Last movie I remember watching in the big (12.5m) screen was Dark Knight on a Prevost P70 SRD. I enjoyed it.  |  IP: Logged Chris Slycord Film God Posts: 2986 From: 청주시, 경북도, South Korea Registered: Mar 2007 posted 01-26-2009 03:19 PM                     Losing luggage isn't a new thing. I remember having my grandfather visit us and they had lost his luggage... and that was over 20 years ago. And movies seeming like they're amazing when you're a kid isn't that shocking. Heck, I saw a drawing I had made from when I was in 1st or 2nd grade that was supposed to be of our family. My creation had my dad looked like he was 10 feet tall in comparison to my mom and I. Quite a long time ago, I realized that he is (like myself) quite a lot shorter than average.  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 01-26-2009 03:38 PM                        I think for a lot of people, they don't lose their moviegoing mojo, they just like to stay home once they get home. In the "good old days," there was nothing else to do but go to the movies. Now there are tons of other possibilities. I have a friend in L.A. who says he still loves going to the movies, but (his words) "Once I get home safe at night, I'd just as soon not go out again." I think age is a huge reason alot of people stop going out for things. Meanwhile the movie industry is currently in a 5-week streak of beating last years' attendance figures for the same period.  |  IP: Logged Julio Roberto Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 938 From: Madrid, Madrid, Spain Registered: Oct 2008 posted 01-26-2009 03:56 PM                    Don't get me wrong. Losing luggage is the staple of the norm in the aviation industry. But 20 years ago, when your luggage was lost, you received an apology, $100 for inmediate expenses and a phone number you could check the status. It was then delivered to your house in 24-48 hours usually. If it indeed was lost, 20-30 days later you got your $700 insurrance no-questions-asked (almost). Now you would be amazed at the piles-and-piles-and-piles of lost luggage left around everywhere at the airports, in the actual floor of the parkways near airplanes after falling from trucks carrying it ... even full warehouses of stuff nobody will put any more efford into recovering. And insurrance claims for unrecovered luggage that DON'T GET HONORED claiming automatically that they don't insure the items in your luggage even though it also incuded clothing, shoes, etc. They also no longer make it easy (or at all in some places) for you to repair luggage they've damaged by obvious mishandling. Had the handle in a brand-new really though $150 Samsonite smashed. What was the answer at the airline: we no longer take care of broken luggage. Next. Do they care if you travel with them again? No. And I don't, but I'm running out of airlines from my black list. I don't really blame them. With cutthroat competition and low salaries, luggage handlers are not going to give a damm about whether the birthday present for your daughter in your luggage makes it on-time (or at all). And it's not like you have much of a choice. Nowadays, with reduced allowance for carry-on plus higher security screenings you are FORCED to check-in a lot of stuff you could usually just take with you. I once had the bad idea of (trying) to carry with me a power transformer from a high-end piece of audio equipment. It was (of course) heavy as hell and about your average size for a step-down 750W transformer (relatively small). Well, the security person wouln't allow me to board with it claiming it couldn't see the inside ... hell, he could see it was a transformer (didn't have a cover) and not big enough to hide a gun or even a significant knife inside ... I wasn't going to abandon a >$1000 (I know ... high-end prices ...) piece of equipment behind, so I had to miss my flight and arrange for it to be transported by insurred courier. Just one of many, many, many, many, many, many bad experiences with air transportations which gets worse, and worse, and worse year after year. Specially in the USA.  |  IP: Logged Monte L Fullmer Film God Posts: 8367 From: Nampa, Idaho, USA Registered: Nov 2004 posted 01-26-2009 05:00 PM                     quote: Mike Blakesley Once I get home safe at night, I'd just as soon not go out again." This is an issue that a lot of theatre owners are not in tuned with: the safety of their patrons within and surrounding their premises. Is the parking lot well illuminated, or is poorly lit? I know of one 20yr old 6plex that does decent guns of business for their 7p shows, but for the 9's, attendence drops close to 80% of what the 7p shows received. Why? Mainly due to the theatre's location which is behind some other businesses, including two seedy "biker" bars, poorly lit parking lots, no form of plaza security around and access to this plex in general. Also, it all depends on how the mgmt and staff presents themselves to the public - can the patrons feel safe being in that theatre if the staff show any concern of safety and security attributes...? ..-Monte  |  IP: Logged Chris Slycord Film God Posts: 2986 From: 청주시, 경북도, South Korea Registered: Mar 2007 posted 01-26-2009 05:08 PM                     quote: Monte L Fullmer I know of one 20yr old 6plex that does decent guns of business for their 7p shows Does this mean that during the 7 o-clock hour, the staff holds people at gun-point?  |  IP: Logged Todd Shelskt Film Handler Posts: 26 From: Manchester, CT Registered: Feb 2008 posted 01-26-2009 09:32 PM                     I reread "Making Movies" by Sidney Lumet. Sydney says that movies are being made more and more "by committee." Work prints are screened before they go wide. Studios need to make sure their films have a happy and/or thrilling ending or profits will be lost. The ending of "Fatal Attraction" was changed from something thought-provoking to a "Friday the 13th" bloodbath because audiences needed it dumbed down. We're becoming a country of cookie-cutter drones. Very apparent. (I suggest we change the ending of "The Godfather." Al Pacino needs to have a stupid car chase with Shia LeDoofus before someone kisses his ring.)  |  IP: Logged Jesse Skeen Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1517 From: Sacramento, CA Registered: Aug 2000 posted 01-27-2009 04:32 AM                     quote: Scott Jentsch I think that theaters should become smaller, not larger. After all, would you rather have auditoriums that were full or empty if you were a theater owner? [YODA]That, is why you fail.[/YODA]  |  IP: Logged System Notices Forum Watchdog / Soup Nazi Posts: 215 Registered: Apr 2004 posted 12-16-2011 05:53 AM                 It has been 1053 days since the last post.  |  IP: Logged Pravin Ratnam Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 844 From: Atlanta, GA,USA Registered: Sep 2002 posted 12-16-2011 05:53 AM                     3 years later, wow, I am going less and less. I find myself watching more TV than ever, though it's a lot of multitasking. Movies like Hatchet 1 and 2, fun to watch on TV, though I dont think I could sit through them in a theater. The last movie I saw was Rise of the Planets. I used to watch one or two movies a week. Now it's one or two movies in a quarter. I was going to watch Tower Heist, but after I had things to do for a couple of weeks, I didn't even bother as I knew it would go to a smaller screen. It doesn't help that chains like AMC have destroyed their frequent moviegoing program. And even Regal has limited perks. That curtails my weekday moviegoing too and inertia curbs my weekend moviegoing too as I learn to live with home viewing. While I have finally accepted digital presentation, I see many cases of it being done wrong, especially the age old brightness problem. Whether it is older bulbs or the infamous SONY 3d/2D issue, the thing is I cant be guaranteed a nice bright presentation. I can tolerate a slight misframing, but cannot tolerate dim presentations. So at this age, I want to be guaranteed a good presentation. Funny thing is I watch more movies than ever on cable. Though I confess to multitasking even more. I am watching some terrible movie Camille as I type this. I was going to upgrade my TV to a 65 inch Panasonic plasma, but now want to see if they come up with a 70 inch version next year. Sharp has their 80 inch, but not as one of their top of the line models. Once I do that, there is no hope of me watching anything but must sees even in the summer season. I do want to check out the IMAX version of Mission impossible 4.  |  IP: Logged Jesse Skeen Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1517 From: Sacramento, CA Registered: Aug 2000 posted 12-17-2011 07:14 PM                     quote: Pravin Ratnam I was going to watch Tower Heist, but after I had things to do for a couple of weeks, I didn't even bother as I knew it would go to a smaller screen. Again, why theaters shouldn't even HAVE small screens. They should at least charge less for those, though with the current mentality they're more likely to just raise the prices some more for the larger ones! I saw a 70-inch LCD at Wal-Mart last week for about $2600, was pretty surprised to see one at a store like that.  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 12-18-2011 01:49 PM                     It's crazy how big and affordable these big screen HDTV sets have become. 3 years ago a good 50"+ HDTV set could cost over $4000. Now it's easy to find 120Hz models or even ones capable of doing 3D for well under $2000. Sharp has a new 80" LCD model available for around $5000. I think these TV sets are just going to keep getting larger and more affordable as the cost is adjusted for scale of production. One limiting factor: making sure the TV is small enough to carry through doorways! Like Pravin, I have been visiting the theater less and less as well. I just don't have quite as much enthusiasm for the newest movies as I did for some big hits 10-20 years ago and earlier. I would like to see the new Mission: Impossible installment, but would prefer to see it in a film-based IMAX theater. That would involve a 350 mile drive from Lawton to Austin to see it in the Bob Bullock IMAX Theater, in the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum north of downtown Austin. If Cinemark had kept its 15/70 gear intact in their Tulsa and Dallas locations I probably would have already made the drive this weekend. Oh well. Good luck with that "digital" thing. Disruptive audience behavior continues to be a big problem in movie theaters, with compulsive cell phone use being the leading factor. Not enough theater chains have adopted bans on cell phone use. I'm surprised cellular phone manufacturers have not noticed the need to do something about this problem. I wouldn't sweat it if someone texting on a phone was doing so on a screen that wasn't so bright. Why not develop some sort of "visual stealth" mode where the screen is only bright enough for the phone user to see it? This could be accomplished through a combination of low contrast, dark color "theme" changes and a type of lenticular screen "privacy filter" attachment that radically reduces the viewing angle and light spread coming from the phone. I guess we'll see it only if Apple decides to tackle the problem. Then it will spread to other hand sets.  |  IP: Logged Justin Hamaker Film God Posts: 2253 From: Lakeport, CA USA Registered: Jan 2004 posted 12-18-2011 03:21 PM                        I am finding myself increasing less interested in watching movies in theatres. It used to be that I would watch virtually every movie my theatre played and would travel to see a handful of movies my theatre would never get - I would average about 125-150 movies a year. Fast forward to today and it's common that I have only watched 1 or 2 movies playing at my theatre - and often I have not watched anything. This can partly be blamed on how late KDM's unlock the movies, but it's also the result of generally poor quality movies. I find it difficult to justify spending 2 hours to preview a movie that will be a waste of those 2 hours. I also blame the number of hours I spend at work. As much as I enjoy watching movies, I not interested in spending another couple hours at work. The one thing that helps rejuvenate my interest in watching movies at the theatre is when I watch a very good movie at home and wish I had watched it on the big screen. The most recent example was the Swedish version of "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo". Even on my 50" plasma with BluRay, I found myself wanting to watch this in a movie theatre. While I understand the argument that some movies are meant to be seen on the theatre screen more than others, I believe a good movie should always be watched in the immersive environment of a movie theatre with a big screen and surround sound.  |  IP: Logged

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