The Death of Movie Theaters - Beyond the Black Void

[@hitscann1136]

There's a local theater in the town I live in that has, in recent years, changed their business model into playing cult films, b-movies, art films, foriegn films etc. and the theater is consistently full every time I go. Plus, the audience is usually comprised of people who care enough about what they're watching to not talk the entire time.

[@thomgizziz]

Hey guess what the audience everywhere is usually comprised of people who don't talk... you are buying into a narrative that doesn't exist and are so slow that you couldn't figure that out by yourself. The chances of your audience magically being the exception to the rule is so small it isn't even funny but you still bought into that nonsense.

[@mcdonols]

@@thomgizzizexcuse me

[@psynque]

​@@thomgizzizYou seem like a really miserable person.

[@michaelfr]

We had one in my area that screened actual film prints of older movies and cult classics. The audience ranged from quietly into it or having a good time and interacting depending on the film. Lots of fun. Then one night it was very clear that we were watching a blu-ray on a digital projector. They "upgraded." I think the guy that ran that program was pretty bummed. Those shows faded away shortly after.

[@sameaston9587]

​@@mcdonolsI won't have what he's having.

[@MortonGoldthwait]

Theaters are dying because people would rather watch Mike and Jay talk about movies than actually watching the movies.

[@pogglywoggly3292]

"RLM presents" is going to be the first studio credit before the majority of major tent-pole pictures in theaters. As soon as they buy Disney...

[@FriendZone75]

So, it's their fault. IT'S THEIR FAULT!

[@michaelaurban4120]

THIS

[@tweeeeeex]

I still sometimes hold off on watching Half in the Bag if it's a movie I'm interested in seeing myself first (Late Night with the Devil being a recent example), but I admit half of my reason for watching it is to compare notes with Mike and Jay afterwards 😂

[@hoeraufist]

​@@FriendZone75 They did kinda accidently cause the star wars sequels.

[@Bonejangles22]

“It’s so weird that Rich says he loves something.” - Mike Stoklasa, man who hasn’t felt a positive emotion since 1999

[@scott963]

*1979

[@dustinlawson5882]

what is this "positive emotion" you speak of?

[@real1mem3s]

He only feels positive emotions when elderly people get hurt

[@yupthisisandy]

Come on, that’s not true and you know it. He loves seeing elderly people in pain

[@drchowder4605]

he seemed to not hate picard season 3...and vampire assassin?

[@eobet]

Arcades died out in the 90s when everyone got “good enough” gaming hardware at home and now everyone has “good enough” home cinema equipment that the same is happening to movie theaters.

[@kneau]

Local headlines from 2023 and 2024 (paraphrased): Japanese arcade gives shopping mall second life.

[@thegodofalldragons]

@@kneau Japan's just built different. Not necessarily better or worse. But different.

[@hoobaguy]

Japan has different demographics that don't cause everything fun to close because of people shooting places and generally acting foolish in public.

[@Morris1581]

Is the DVD/Blu-ray selling increasing or decreasing since the year 2000? I would bet its decreasing.

[@zwan1886]

@@hoobaguy but "diversity is our strength" is what I've been told my entire life!

[@twackburn]

Mike missed an obvious analogy with graveyards. You used to have to drive all the way to the cemetary to mourn your loved ones, and only at certain times. But with cremations you can now mourn all day, every day from the comfort of your own living room.

[@Marinealver]

11:33 newspaper was back in 1992

[@marsfalcon9250]

In 1979, my little brother knocked Uncle Bill's urn off the mantle while trying to hit me with a sofa cushion. He only streamed out of his canister for 36 seconds tops. Limited run, blink and you missed it. OG home streamers like my lil bro and I take it as it comes and will adapt.

[@bobbyjones3351]

whenever they show older movies at the cinema it's always full, Newer movies are almost always too fake and essentially just the same movie over again and are too long. the food is too expensive here in the uk to take a family of four to a movie cost almost £100 which is money most people can't spare that much these days. Streaming companies should buy the cinema chains and allow entry to the theatre as part of the subscription, food prices should mirror supermarket prices bring back practical effects and stunts people hate how fake movies look run times over 2.5 hours should have fewer trailers in fact trailers at movies are antiquated with the way modern movies are marketed

[@AirLancer]

​@@bobbyjones3351 "whenever they show older movies at the cinema it's always full" Because it's a limited run at a specific theater. The overall audience demand is much lower, but it doesn't matter since there's only going to be a few showings anyway. Most of a movie theater's money come from concessions, not from selling tickets. Selling food at supermarket prices is a direct route to unprofitability. If it's really so important to not be hungry during the movie, why not just...eat before you go to the theater? "Streaming companies should buy the cinema chains and allow entry to the theatre as part of the subscription." Why on Earth would they do that? Competition in streaming is already tough as everyone tries to build up their own streaming service, slashing services while increasing prices. There's no way they'd then want to add the price and complexity of running physical movie theaters to that mess, a business model which already appears to be in danger of fading out. In any case, movie theater chains are ALREADY trying subscription models.

[@crazydvae]

oh my god youre right

[@sisco8225]

I worked for 12 years in a small movie theater, it had about 180-200 (maybe 300+ on weekends) customers a night. It had 2 screens and was built in the 1950s and had retained its past stylings inside and out. it was 4 showings a night, and vintage films on Sundays. It was my favorite job i ever had, maybe the best time of my life. Most of the staff were the same for that 12 years, the atmosphere was very relaxed, there were never any incidents beyond a few customer complaints and some medical issues during showings, but nothing major. Nothing will replace the feeling of a movie theater to me, especially working in a quiet small town one. I met my girlfriend there, i met most of my friends there. The staff were respected, we were all good friends. And then slowly people stopped coming, we saw the signs for a while and then one day we were all told it would be closing down. There was a local campaign to keep it open, but it fell short and it closed. People wanted it to be open, they just did not want to pay to see what was coming out, and i can't blame them. It makes me so sad.

[@Flint-Dibble-the-Don]

Dang it now I'm sad. Time is a very cruel buzzkill sometimes. I for one am not a fan of change but what you gonna do. I am lucky enough to have one of the countries last and kinda popular Drive In theaters near by. I should go more often.

[@DPMusicStudio]

Thank you for your beautiful comment. It was very touching.

[@TheTuttle99]

We've still got a couple small theatres just like that in my city in Canada. 1 screen, and they show mostly older movies but do some new releases, like Tarantino n stuff

[@KaiUchiha15]

I’m sorry

[@milksweet6038]

This is beautifully bittersweet. Someone should make a movie about it.

[@badATchaos]

As a former manager of a single screen mom-and-pop theater all I have to say is that Deluxe/Technicolor are such greedy assholes. If you want to get a film within the first four weeks that it's out you have to give up 90% of your ticket sales to the distributors. If you want a 50/50 split or better you have to wait like 2 months. It was always a major gamble on what to wait for and what to actually get right away. They also make these BS rules like; our movie is the only film that can be shown on any given screen. Meaning if we wanted to do an early and late show, we couldn't. You're forced to only play one movie for weeks! Once that got more common the business basically died. The biggest insult is that the theaters have to pay for movie posters. We're already giving them all the sales, and then they have the gall to ask theaters to pay for the movie's advertising too? Are you fucking kidding me?

[@fanaticist]

with jews you lose

[@elliefantyellow]

That is insane

[@Madmetalmaniac42069]

@@elliefantyellow Its also a relatively new issue. The old movie executives knew that this was a give and take relationship. Since the early 00s, the suits have slowly decided that, in each sector, price gauging was a wise business strategy. We're now seeing how that is working out. That being that it isn't, and its costing everyone majorly.

[@cthiessen11]

intellectual property is a scam

[@xotmatrix]

I helped run a twin in the mid-90s when this bullshit was starting. Our theater performed great thanks to dedicated, hard-working staff and smart programming to maximize the utility of our limited screens. Then the distributors started screwing everything up with their rules. Within ten years, the theater was dead and the community had nowhere to see movies. What a waste.

[@callum.jupp.]

spending over an hour watching a film ❌ spending over an hour watching jay and mike talk about films ✅

[@chrisrobertson2002]

Mike has been waiting decades to tell this story. It's amazing to hear from someone who saw the invention of the movie theater in 1896 and lived to see its end today. Old people have the best stories.

[@Marinealver]

11:33 that newspaper clipping was back in 1992

[@pogglywoggly3292]

Now im picturing Rich as a young scamp in a 50s usher's uniform. Being barked at by his abusive boss, Mike, for not sweeping far enough under the seats.

[@MagicalSkyWizard]

I didn’t know he was the same age as Joe Biden

[@nu1x]

Imagine being Shigeru Miyamoto.

[@originalname6349]

I think what would save movie theaters is more Nicole Kidman ads telling us why we go to movie theaters...while we are at the movie theaters.

[@eforhan]

My love affair with theaters started dying many years ago when they ran ads telling people not to pirate movies ... after we'd just paid to see a movie in that theater.

[@turtleanton6539]

​@@eforhanyeh😮

[@plotinusreadinggroup]

Right. Why don’t they get someone younger?

[@Blodhelm]

@@eforhan "You wouldn't steal a car..." but you will be forced to watch this commercial about something you obviously didn't do.

[@donnylurch4207]

Fucking the pain away feels reel, in a place like this.

[@jimsimonetti2929]

It used to be that you didn't want to go to the theaters in the first 2 weeks of a movie release cuz you knew it would be crowded and wouldn't get good seats. Now you have to see in those first couple weeks cuz it might be out of theaters by then.

[@PossumMagic99]

👏

[@javanese-engineer]

Relatable

[@devontufts1291]

Spoilers. If I don't watch it opening weekend I'm flooded with 10 articles of what the ending actually means..per day

[@devontufts1291]

@@Josh_728 oh I'm a lore whore and theory crafter. I enjoy reading connections that were missed and speculation into meaning. Gives more than just consuming the surface of a subject. But that doesn't prevent Twitter, discord and Facebook posts. Articles generated on content I haven't looked at.

[@sugarwolfxyt]

THIS

[@titos2x]

Matt Damon interviewed on Hot Ones a while back and made another good point why studios don't take risks anymore. And one of the biggest reasons is the sales of VHS/DVDs/Blu-ray died out. He pointed out that a studio could still recoup their investment even if it didn't do well in theaters because of the sales of tangible copies of the movie down the road.

[@GamerModz123]

Yeah because they charge absurd prices. The average cost for a hard copy is like 20, maybe 25 dollars. Digital copies are like 10% cheaper. Movies have like the worst value per dollar of any form of entertainment.

[@penguano5514]

@@GamerModz123 that and it's also very easy to "acquire" movies online for free

[@kakizakichannel]

​@@GamerModz123I'd rather have a physical thing for $25 than an imaginary thing that can be revoked for $20

[@shoocharu]

I live in Denmark, and here more and more theaters, big and small, have started having special screenings of classic films. Everything from Nosferatu to Jurassic Park to Interstellar. Big classic films, small niche films. Every showing I've been to over the last few years have had filled seats all around.

[@thomgizziz]

Yeah Interstellar is a classic film... yeah those classic harry potter films and that classic barbie film. smh

[@anded8798]

I wish this was more common, I'd love to see some classic movies I missed on big screen. And now there are multiple generations of people that never even had an opportunity to see those great old movies in theater.

[@shoocharu]

@@thomgizziz it's a classic, decade old film that a lot of people love and want to see on the big screen. My point was to say that they have 100 year old films as well as 10 year old films. But I love your wonderful attitude!

[@eicha41624]

It would be nice to see that. There's a company in the US that does events like that, Fathom. They did for example a different Ghibli movie every month, in certain theaters. Also hi! Love your animations!

[@MrChomiq]

Same in Poland, big multiplexes (basically only thing that lasted) are now doing special limited screenings for classic movies, like Possession (Jay's favorite), Lynch's movies, Ghibli movies, etc. It used to be only Thursday but now it's Monday and Thursday. Watching Fire Walk With Me in a packed cinema was something. It's great for people that haven't seen the movies, as well as those that want to experience in again on big screen and maybe they didn't get a chance before. Then again, a movie ticket in Poland is $8 for a person and nowhere near the $25 in US. The only bad thing about this is that they are digital projections of Blu-ray's instead of the actual 35mm projections. But yeah, I don't think anyone outside of IMAX does film projection anymore (and in Poland you don't even have actual film projection available, in case of IMAX best you can get is 70mm digital laser or 2K xenon).

[@dustyfox6511]

I feel like a glazed over part of this is how tied the idea of movie theaters is tied to the death of malls. Cinemas served as a destination in the ecosystem of a mall. You would go with your friends to the movies, but the night would also be a venture of shopping and getting something to eat, all in a highly localized, convenient environment. Now that ecosystem is dying, more work is required to get the same experience and people are just going elsewhere.

[@Level1Hera]

Great point!

[@steveb9713]

Yep, streaming and Amazon, your local community is dead

[@TheDrunkMunk]

But cinemas are dying in countries like mine where "malls" are if little importance (and we don't call them malls, a mall is a fancy open air shopping street)

[@TheFireGiver]

That's only true for theaters in malls. I do agree though that one potential way to save then is to make it a unique night out instead of a 2 hour event that you can do for cheaper at home.

[@VolvosandHondas]

@@TheDrunkMunk yet here in thailand they are still big

[@samb495]

Ironically, going to the theatre and seeing it half empty makes this this more favorite time to go to movies.

[@Danial79]

The few times I’ve been to the cinema in the last year, there’s only been a handful of people in there. It’s been great.

[@SapphireDuke92]

Same. Less of a chance to see people checking their super bright phones every 5 minutes too.

[@NeonNijahn]

Get it while you can!

[@Scerttle]

fr. I saw Godzilla -1 earlier this year and there were maybe 5 people and it was such a lovely experience

[@Tony_3XL]

Only takes one person with their phone and or "smart" watch going off to ruin it.

[@richardhutnik]

Malls in decline have to also impacted end of movie theaters.

[@ButterCookie1984]

Good point

[@alanjefferson1127]

Used to be a day at the mall with the family always included a movie at the theater :(

[@grislyghost]

Remember taking a marketing class for movies at USC about 15 years ago, and many of these kinds of things were brought up. Their answers boiled down to, "we tried that already," or "we don't want to do that." They want people to just return to the theaters without any changes to their business model.

[@tylerryan713]

The sad truth is I would actually go to a theatre if it was more upscale and had a smaller amount of more comfortable seating. I mean like turn movie theatres into essentially dinner theatres and just make it a more expensive, quality experience. It's the only reason I might actually prefer it compared to streaming at home with a homemade meal that cost 1/5th of what a plate of nachos costs.

[@TheFurrLord]

@@tylerryan713 There's a few of those around Orlando that seem to do well actually, or something really close to it. Its like maybe 40 people to a theater and they have wait service to bring you food/booze.

[@NuttyElf]

​@@tylerryan713yeah idk what he was talking about when he said he wish they had the old crappy seats like wtf

[@hayberdasher8625]

​@@NuttyElf Mike didn't like the fart seats

[@mjtrace8391]

When I saw Furiosa the guy next to me decided to watch the NBA ECFs Game 1 Boston vs Ind on his phone. He went to a movie on opening night… and started watching a basketball game on his phone. He just ignored everyone around him that complained to him. That turd is the reason why i dont want to spend my money and time seeing a movie in the theaters anymore.

[@prberg2]

what a jerk! I guess I'm lucky that I never had anything like that happen to me

[@redlightmax]

I'm sorry that happened to you - but I never miss a game.🥁 [crickets] Is this thing on?

[@0bleach0]

Leave the film, get a refund, never look back.

[@snippids]

I had a similar experience, went to see furiosa on opening weekend with a group and it was just us and a couple in the whole theater. The couple both started scrolling tiktok about 10 minutes into the movie

[@phillipbailey2525]

I sat next to a group of teenagers when I went to watch the Eternals with some friends. They were on Snapchat at one point and I was so pissed off I just leant over and said “put your fucking phone away!!”. If I have to miserable watching that film so does everyone else 😂😅

[@hankyboy42594]

Jay looks like a saved by the bell extra and mike looks like a magician who started drinking before the kids birthday party.

[@pogcompagni]

So just how Mike is everyday?

[@pepepoopsonthefarright7531]

so mike is like the clown in uncle buck then

[@VengerDFW]

Can't start drinking when he never stopped...

[@crazychase98]

​@VengerDFW are you actually drinking if that's your sole reason to exist?

[@Chocfacebear]

His name was the Max and he was also a sbtb extra

[@theharvardyard2356]

Man, who could forget Oppenhower? One of my favorite blockbursters!

[@jukeboxfandango]

Oppenhauser*

[@CPRScottsdale]

Was looking for this comment 🤣🤣🤣 suprised more people didn't notice.

[@Zodroo_Tint]

And her job is probably pays very well.

[@GackFinder]

Rutgerhowitzer*

[@legatelaurie]

@@Zodroo_Tint I think she might have had a stroke in fairness, she was consistently messing up similar sounds

[@pancakecookiecrumbles]

i just realized why rich loves fury road. theres only 2 trees in the entire movie and theyre dead

[@ceeaymoore]

Instead of people walking around the forest for the entire film, it's people driving around the desert, a key difference, I assure you

[@verybored1261]

In Mad Max, the weirdos are the characters on screen. In the forest movies, the weirdo is the director.

[@gezenews]

Rich: Dont you know who I am Me: Yeah, guy eating rice. What's that? Rich: It's a good movie Me: I've never seen a good movie before. Does it have any trees? Rich: 2 trees Me: Well that's beautiful Rich: They're dead

[@luckyspurs]

Mike and Jay always talk about "shooting the rodeo". Rich hates shooting the woods movies.

[@Guysm1l3y]

And I didn't see a single chable.

[@vespertilio-ver]

Can't wait to cap off my weekend with the lighthearted entertainment of 2 elderly men telling me how horrible everything is now

[@fartclown4404]

I saw it and I clapped!

[@gotenks5633]

lol theyre middle aged, what elderly?! Jays in his prime!

[@playedout148]

​@@gotenks5633chronic anemia and low blood pressure have taken their toll on jay.

[@drjayteamk4531]

They're on their downard path. Closer to elderly and death than to being young. Average American male lives 73.5 years. Mike is 45. Which means he probably has more time on this earth behind him than before him. Especially him being a fatso, alcoholic

[@penguano5514]

Or its nerve damage from sleeping in ​an oxygen chamber @playedout148

[@yaboijimmy9978]

I bet Space Cop 2 could save theaters

[@Kidmochabear]

Yes! 🤣🤣

[@YourLordshipBalthazar]

I think you could be onto something

[@nicholasbrosseau3405]

I'll bet 20 cans of beefaroni that it couldn't

[@DemoDick1]

I’m seeing a 3D IMAX release for that one. Go big or go home.

[@Sammo212]

I am stupid enough to take that bet

[@BenjaminArnedo]

That ending with the montage of James Gun speaking of the upcoming DC movies and the news segments about closing cinemas is Brutal.

[@shiny460]

Went to see Furiosa on Friday. Only person in the theater. 3 people came in 10 mins late, sat directly behind me, and talked the entire time.

[@jaredbellow]

It's a guarantee, if there is even one other patron in the theater, they will talk and or text.

[@honestabe411]

Keep strapped

[@Gorbachoph]

I had a very similar situation at planet of the apes, 3 dudes talking, throwing food and making super loud monkey noises. After about 20-30min of this I stood up and approached them. Told them to stop or I’ll have you thrown out. After another 5min they all got up and left themselves.

[@atomicalien4]

​@honestabe411 i love how that's ur read of the situation 😂😂

[@Gorbachoph]

@@atomicalien4 Someone making noise? Dead

[@brettfromla4055]

Tarantino’s two movie theaters are a fun way to see classic films. He serves classic sodas, plays cartoons and trailers related to the feature, and has a strict no phone policy. The Vista is better than the New Beverly, IMO.

[@Idziemel1]

I just visited the Vista like two weeks ago (we watched Once Upon a Time in the West) and while it was a great experience, I was kind of shocked at how empty the matinee show was. If I had to guess, I’d say about 15% of the seats were filled. It’s an awesome place, but there was definitely a sense of sadness underlining it all - you could feel that the glory days are long gone.

[@1ncognitus]

As someone living in Japan,the movie theatre experience is very different here. People are quiet and attentive and even stay seated till the end credits finish rolling.

[@RoboKestrel]

@@1ncognitus Immigration will change that

[@BSJDynasty]

@@RoboKestrel Immigration in Japan? What are you smoking? Japan will would willingly die out before letting people immigrate

[@brettfromla4055]

@@Idziemel1 I saw Once Upon a Time in the West at the Vista, too. The evening crowd was a good size. What was amazing was the print of the movie; almost pristine.

[@connor48880]

As someone who works at a movie theater, let me just say that I have not been given a consistent schedule for the last 3 months and neither have any of my coworkers

[@gatorhoy0420]

As someone who used to work in movie theatres, I feel your pain. It takes special kind of power tripper to manage a theatre, and their staff are always at the bottom of the priority list. Does your theatre also have a special 3 people who do nothing, but also do no wrong?

[@onojioboardwalk9748]

Both of these guys mike and jay are fools - And they WANTED fakeversity, Well they GOT their nightmare instead of GOOD, MOVIES. Bunch of hypocrites that they are with blinders on. +

[@xuvial1391]

​@@gatorhoy0420 Well theater staff being treated badly won't be a problem anymore, because theaters are closing down.

[@obscure.reference]

if it’s unacceptable to you then stop accepting it

[@onojioboardwalk9748]

.. Maybe your movies that go into there should stop SUCKING and then people will stop hating YOUR workplace, And hollywood. Not that mike or jay understands that anymore. +

[@706will]

I haven't been to a movie theater since 2012. Why would I want to overpay, have idiots kicking my seat, talking, looking at their phones and loudly eating food 360 degrees around me, when I can watch from the comfort of my own living room... with the subtitles turned on too, since sound editors forgot how to do their jobs around a decade ago as well.

[@Wierdcrap]

I actually saw it’s because of actors having a mics now and most just talk at a low volume instead of loudly when it had to be caught on the boom mic. They just talk normal or whisper and when increasing the volume there’s only so much they can do to not make it sound shit

[@Lordoftheswollen]

It's not too bad now. The last movie I went to only had two people in the theatre.

[@bobkerr2755]

​@@WierdcrapI noticed this in 1999 in the first Matrix movie. Everyone's whispering 90% of their dialogue so you crank up the volume to hear what they're saying only to have a nuke go off in your ear full blast 4 seconds later. So now I just turn on the subtitles and leave the volume down.

[@grgrygan]

They kind of talked around the single biggest factor affecting theaters. No one’s going to the movies when grocery bills are hitting $200+. The price increases due to interest rate changes over the last several years have eliminated luxury spending on things like movie tickets. Until prices fall or wages increase, theaters are going to stay empty.

[@tabletcruncher]

That also comes into the competition discussion. Entertainment is still an important part of peoples lives, and you can always find cheaper alternatives. The increase popularity in jigsaw puzzles during COVID showed this.

[@thewittyusername]

I think you meant to say price gouging and profiteering instead of interest rate changes.

[@Tocroach22]

Yes, and also corporate price gouging. A bunch of corporate retail and restaurant chains announced they were lowering prices specifically because their sales are down, meaning the only reason they raised their prices to begin with is because corporate imperative for constant, year over year profit growth will always be more important than customer wellbeing. Also, many mid-tier operations (such as regional chains) are run by investment firms who are even less interested in slashing prices because it’s cheaper for them to run a business into the ground by milking it for every dollar and then filing for bankruptcy. It’s high interest rates on the one end and corporate greed on the other, across virtually every industry

[@dubvuchyea502]

That and it feels like every movie that comes out now is pretty much the same shitty one as the next. Safe, gross, corporate schlock

[@ens0246]

£14 or £15 for a ticket that might be for a film that sucks. Seems safer to bet on sports these days. There's one theatre near me that does £5 tickets but obviously it's the lowest quality screens in the area.

[@Sam-lm8gi]

Mike made a good point that should be unpacked further: There's virtually no waiting time between a movie's initial release in theaters and its release on home video/streaming. I swear, in the 90s there was like a six month minimum waiting period for a movie's home video release. If they went back to that, I think the incentive to watch films in the theater would be much greater, and movies would make more money at the box office.

[@BussinandDiscussin]

Disney has to literally rescue the movie industry and proclaim they will never put a movie on PVOD or Disney+. This will allow everyone else to follow.

[@handler8838]

Is not tht simple. They blew their marketing budget on the theater ads and they need to release it while its fresh in peoples minds because in 6 months whos gonna give a F. They would need a whole new round of advertising

[@rhindlethered]

@@BussinandDiscussin Never is asking too much. But there needs to be a good gap. I say a year.

[@rhindlethered]

@@handler8838 They used to budget for home video releases. No reason they can't do the same for home video/streaming.

[@thomasbohl6924]

If I want to watch a movie and I learn that I have missed the viewing window AND they actively keep it off me for the sole reason because they can, I will pirate it.

[@georgelucas2571]

The only way to prevent the death of movie theaters is to rerelease the Phantom Menace again! I’m sure people will like it this time!

[@medalion1390]

"Here we go again... _again"_

[@jeremy____5747]

There has never been a Phantom Menace movie. Someday perhaps.

[@georgelucas2571]

@@jeremy____5747 “Hopefully it’ll work”

[@gotebasaki1111]

I just watched it in the cinema a few weeks ago here in Tokyo. They had a single showing everyday, for 4 days and they all sold out

[@pogglywoggly3292]

"Do it you cowards" - Mike Who?

[@IcarusTyler]

Alright, I figured this out. A single person at the movie theatre has the chance to ruin it for everybody by taking out their phone at MAX BRIGHTNESS, distracting everyone. It needs just one, this wasn't the case pre-smartphone. Such a situation is untenable. Every single screening I have seen in the last years involved some heated discussion with somebody who refused to put their phone away

[@lukesuess9295]

Mike is adorable for doing all the statistical research and then proceeding to present it on crumpled printer paper.

[@QwertyCaesar]

This comment made me realize that Mike might be autistic.

[@pogglywoggly3292]

Little girl: Look, grandpa Mike! We got you a tablet for your birthday! So you don't have to write on paper no more! Mike: Aww, that's very sweet of you. But I write things on paper just like you do in school. I know the ancient tradition of writing with a pen or pencil will be gone one day. Maybe even by the time you are older. But I'll still carry this honorable and respectable "art form" for as long as I'm able. Little girl: OK, grandpa Mike. We just thought it would be nice if you could... um, you have something where you could also use the internet to research and take notes at the same time! Instead of writing, "Die Rich Evans" over and over on all the papers in your office...

[@tmsplltrs]

Also, as an example of people’s interest having changed, showing a 15-year-old vine

[@chasethecolors]

Look lmao, electronic devices are distracting. If all you need is a list, no reason to whip your phone out and see all the missed texts and alerts 😂 there’s a purity to the good old paper printout 🤣

[@GlaDos321]

I live in Osaka, Japan. Our movie theaters are still doing very well, on occassion when I see foreign films like American films, they are always very full. Perhaps movie theaters failing in America is a sign of changes in American culture.

[@haruko_harukara]

Same, i live in México and people love go to the movie theater, is a USA thing

[@allegedcommenter]

It’s not all across the US either. In my state, I haven’t heard of any closures, and I’ve never seen the rude behavior that RLM always talk about.

[@mr.misanthrope1991]

Japanese people are INSANELY respectfully in every aspect of their lives. Theatres are doing fine there I’m sure.

[@KetsubanSolo]

I mean I heard Japan is still all-in on NFTs, so give 'em time

[@jeremy____5747]

That tallies with all my most-enjoyable theater experiences being Japanese movies (Godzilla -1, Boy and the Heron, Suzume Closes Up). 2023 was just Japan absolutely eating American studios' lunch, "Yeah we're going to make movies for a fifth of the price of what you do and they will be better and more competent in every way."

[@AlecRuhmann]

I really hope this becomes a more frequent format on this channel. Would love to hear Mike and Jay talk about more general movie and entertainment related topics like this!

[@johndavis3999]

1:28 oh wow. I'm from Columbia, I used to go to that theatre all the time. Spotlight Cinemas, tickets cost $2.50. Going to the movies is a big thing for my family, but we're poor so we'd often go there to see the movies that just left the big chains. Seeing you guys bring that up really got me; I'm literally tearing up right now

[@Vanity0666]

You know what's really funny? The theaters/chains shutting down are exclusively playing new films. My local $4 theater that has been playing whatever movies they have locked up in their storage closet since the 70s is still doing gangbusters. If theaters hired film selectors like their own personal criterion collection to show to the community they operate within, they would probably be doing just fine. Doubly so if they offered a subscription service like a monthly all-you-can-watch where they're only playing older and out of date films and cartoons for younger audiences to rebuild their status as third places. In fact, many of the theaters that became chains used to offer that service back in the day.

[@HellecticMojo]

makes complete sense that a theater imitating stream service is doing the best.

[@narniaphuket]

they still have to pay a license to screen...sounds like they aren't

[@cacophonousantiquarian8803]

I would totally watch Yojimbo at the theater.

[@stephenthomas1492]

Indeed. Movies of the past were great. The new selection is ghastly.

[@HellecticMojo]

@@stephenthomas1492 that's just survivorship bias. Best of the Worst alone proves that past movies are mostly garbage

[@computedsheep]

thank god a new upload. i just got a 37 pound bag of chocolate pretzels. now i dont have to eat them alone in the dark.

[@TheGameCapsule]

I know you're being serious

[@GuyDude-hk8uy]

holy fuck, I had forgotten of the existence of chocolate pretzels! THANK YOU I NEED TO GET SOME. Sadly they tend to be quite expensive over here in the UK compared to the US; we consider that sort of thing a "snack" or "treat" rather than, presumably, a healthy, balanced part of an actual meal as it no doubt is over the pond, I suppose that's why. You know, like how rice and other staple foods are cheap - you yanks need your pretzels, candy bars, sugar-frosted deep-fried burgers dipped in bacon grease and skittles etc.

[@jtom416]

​@@GuyDude-hk8uy it'll probably cost too much. But Reese's has a good chocolate covered pretzel

[@TheRealRodent]

When you say 37 pound... you mean £37 or 37lbs? If it was £37 I'd hazard a guess you bought it in a movie theatre, and probably contains half a pretzel and some listeria.

[@diibadaa9502]

Now you are alone in the black void

[@exclamationmarkXO]

FYI, major studios often use their monopoly status to strong arm movie theatres in showing exclusively their films. Studios like Disney impose the amount of screens/showings they want for their movies and if theatres aren’t willing or able to match that, the studios simply don’t allow them to show these films which are, in fact, most theatres’ cash cows. It’s no coincidence that indie films don’t get shown much outside of festivals; they’re forced out of the market by the big guys. Addressing the issues brought up by Mike can’t be done without tackling the anti-competitive practices of big studios and distributors. As always, great video guys. Peace.

[@jaymum23]

Yet another reason why capitalism is dog shit and leads to monopolies and fascism.

[@adamlouis3725]

then its still the cinema guys fault for capitulating to bullies. if every cinema house said no, disney would be fucked. but of course the penny pinching misers that seem to run every kinoplex on the planet cant say no to short term profit

[@SelfDestructionBroadcast]

Also adding on Mike's How To Save Theaters, flooding theaters with indie films will not do much. The reason comic book movies and such dominate releases is because theaters know that the average person probably likes those things. Start dedicating 10 screens in a theater to stuff shown at Cannes' or Sundance? Now theaters are banking on a significant number of the general population to suddenly become VERY INTERESTED in seeing mumblecore moopies. The same problem still exists, but instead of The Flash and The Marvels, it's with Snack Shack and Dinner in America.

[@IstasPumaNevada]

@@adamlouis3725 Or they can't say no to staying in business. Would you be the first one to stick your neck out? To risk tanking the place you managed, losing not only your job but the jobs of everyone there? You can't blame theaters for being held hostage by monopolies/oligopolies that could put them out of business. Monopolies are one of the biggest reasons regulations are necessary, and perhaps that's the case here.

[@bened22]

​@@adamlouis3725 Wow, I'm just baffled by your reversal of blame here. So the little guys fighting for their survival are the problem but the big guys punching down and bullying are okay? What a strange world view...

[@thebenalvarez]

Sat through 20+ minutes of trailers prior to Garfield. Then, sat through Garfield.

[@gzz8551]

Why would you do that!?

[@pogglywoggly3292]

At least you were entertained for 20 minutes.

[@vanillabatcave5677]

Garfield wasn't THAT bad, but the 1985 halloween special is where it's at.

[@pogglywoggly3292]

@vanillabatcave5677 Mine will always be the camping special, Garfield in the Rough. Thar little tent with John's legs sticking out was engraved (not ingrained) into my brain when I was a child. That and the ridiculously catchy Garfield and Friends theme song.

[@vanillabatcave5677]

@@pogglywoggly3292 Man why is Garfield so cool? It's just awesome.

[@Rasmos]

I watched this while working a shift at a dead theater. I’m a manager of a few, I go to different locations as I’m needed. I do this because there’s no justification in keeping staff at one theater. It costs too much. We can go entire days with less than 100 customers. This year has been the most telling. The writing is on the wall, this industry has less than ten years remaining.

[@Rasmos]

Prices for my theater are 8.50 a ticket for adults, 7.00 for children, seniors, and military. 9.00 for a massive bucket of popcorn. Low pricing / good value will not save theaters. Trust me. It’s a public interest thing, not so much to do with economics.

[@bleack8701]

Do you play old movies? That would help

[@All4Tanuki]

Fewer. You get fewer than a hundred customers

[@Rasmos]

@all4tanuki, my point was understood, nerd. thought grammar nazis were long gone.

[@Rasmos]

@@bleack8701 Funny enough, we're running a Studio Ghibli fest all year round with classic anime movies that are doing terribly. We just ran the entire Twilight series and had a total of 40 customers. We're going to be running the Lord of the Rings franchise later on. It will also fail to bring people in.

[@Mrreebo]

I've worked at movie theaters for the last 10 years of my life. If I'm on site, we are trying to shut down any and all misbehaver in the auditoriums. The sad truth is most employees don't give a shit about movies, so they don't give a shit about the experience of our customers. Things have taken a huge turn for the worse since Covid and it has become impossible to stop problems without having a guy stationed in all theaters at all times. It's so bad that I don't even go to watch things anymore. I put up with the bullshit as much as I could but nearly every single movie of the 129 I saw last year had someone talking, someone on their phone, people coming in late and causing scenes, people laughing inappropriatly or wheezing or coughing or making rude remarks or eating their snuck in food way too fucking loudly. At this point I stay after a shift and play whatever I want with 0 interference. A shared experience like movies is not sustainable when everybody has lost all respect for each other.

[@Gorbachoph]

But what’s the solution? How do we get the cat back in the bag? How do we get everyone to work together?

[@person800]

We live in a society

[@damiantirado9616]

@@Gorbachophthere isn’t

[@Peeps7468]

@@Gorbachophfor a while, the $20+ tickets weeded out most of the people who weren’t really interested in seeing the movie. Having the giant comfy seats that reduces audience numbers from 400 down to 40 seems to help too. But when I pointed this out to a family friend, they got weirdly hostile and accused me of being elitist. I don’t want to be elitist… I just want to be able to enjoy my movie going experience without loud rude people ruining it.

[@Doubleohstevo]

@@Gorbachoph You cant. And we all know why.

[@amysbirdhouse2512]

If all Hollywood movies are going to be 2.5+ hours, I’m 100% going to watch them on streaming so I can pause it and go to the damn bathroom.

[@BenHeckHacks]

That plus a half hour of ads, trailers and Nicole Kidman and you're at 3 hours plus the drive!

[@RockoEstalon]

I think the biggest issue, at least in my case, it's doing a 2 hours trip (there and back) to watch a 2.5+ hours movie. Like, I don't have any issues watching a long movie, at least 4 of my favourites are almost 3 hours long, but losing almost 8 hours just to watch a 2 hour movie is a lot.

[@dr6559]

They need to start being back intermissions if they insist on being that long. And they can fuck off for a half hour of ads for films every damn time before the film starts.

[@jmanakajosh9354]

When movies are to long like this they loose the "complementary good" aspect. I can't go for a round of drinks and then a film if it's 3 hours. And to drive more than 30 minutes is crazy.

[@codygreene9067]

I was going to comment something similar. Dune Part 2 is almost three hours long and as good as that movie was I highly appreciated being able to enjoy it in small bites.

[@Lunne89]

You know what keeps cinema theaters alive to me? You are. This very channel. I go see a movie in cinema so that I can watch your video on said movie as soon as possible. Your youtube video production, total budget: 25 cents, has been practically the only thing keeping cinema movie theatres active in my life.

[@ciarandodrill3562]

Mike looks like he's about to pull out a pipe that works off bubbles

[@senselessbabbledotcom]

Look up what Lucas and Spielberg had to say about the future of the movies back in 2013. Here is a snip from a NYT article about their comments... "EARLIER this month, at a symposium at the University of Southern California film school, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg predicted the collapse of most megabudget movies, and with it the end of Hollywood as it now exists. This sounds like bad news for popcorn sellers. But Mr. Lucas and Mr. Spielberg had intriguing ideas about what might come next. Mr. Lucas predicted that blockbusters would eventually become big-ticket events, like ballgames and Broadway plays, and that the rest of the movie business would migrate to online video - a trend that’s already begun to happen."

[@enviritas9498]

Wasn't the movie industry already on the verge of imploding before the original Star Wars came out?

[@TheAdmirableAdmiral]

We are seeing state actors slowly taking over the big budget productions. The CCP or Russian Federation produce their own big budget propaganda movies, the CCP has had Jackie Chan doing the prop circuit now for 10 years. In USA we have Blackrock controlling companies like Disney and slowly more studios will fall in line. Soon only state actors will be the only ones making big budget movies. The good news is the indie scene is as strong as its ever been and the technology in the indie scene will still last a good 10 years before they will need to update and replace their equipment.

[@theojenner1902]

What did mr Spielberg predict?

[@senselessbabbledotcom]

@@theojenner1902 His take was more along the lines of VR.

[@enviritas9498]

@@senselessbabbledotcom Yeah, just like how some games are becoming more and more cinematic, movies will probably need to become far more immersive than the passive experience that they have traditionally been. Maybe films might start to adopt more of a visual novel style with branching paths and viewer choice like that Black Mirror one.

[@Black_Rabbit_84]

I think Jay nailed it with movies being devalued. Not just on a financial basis, but the whole movie-going experience has been devalued. People in cinemas are animals. When I saw Dune: Part 2, there were at least 3 kids playing Minecraft on their iPads with the sound on, someone who's phone was constantly ringing and getting notifications, someone watching Tiktok, a guy who laughed hysterically when nothing funny was happening on screen, and a bunch of other people who were just chatting like they were in a cafe. I paid $25.00 for this experience. When I was younger it was a (literally) unspoken rule, that when you went into a cinema and the movie started playing, you shut the hell up. I think movie theatres are dying, but I think its a social issue rather than an issue with the studios or the movies themselves.

[@Shinkajo]

That's incredible. I've never seen anything like that in like over 20 years of going to the cinema in Europe. Granted that i don't go that often but still. The stories i hear about the people in US theaters are just unbelievable. I don't understand that kind of behavior.

[@kyneticfilms]

Goddamn, where do you live? Dumpsterville?

[@werty4740]

The last time I went to a movie theater was 15 years ago, and my experience was the exact same shit... I´ve been avoiding going to the cinema like the pest, precisely because I like movies :(

[@iratepirate3896]

It's the racial thing.

[@barahng]

>When I saw Dune: Part 2, there were at least 3 kids playing Minecraft on their iPads with the sound on, someone who's phone was constantly ringing and getting notifications, someone watching Tiktok, a guy who laughed hysterically when nothing funny was happening on screen, and a bunch of other people who were just chatting like they were in a cafe. Technology has destroyed attention spans. In the 90s a movie was enough to hold even a child's attention because they weren't bombarded with data inputs every minute of their waking life. Now even many adults cannot sit and just watch a movie for 2 hours.

[@collinstiernagle3553]

There's a college theater near my hometown that plays massive marathons. Like if a new fast and furious movies comes out they'll play the entire franchise in order and finish with the new movie. They would charge quite a bit for a ticket and encourage the audience to bring in blankets, pillows, tents, and sprawl out throughout the theater on the floor. It's very fun spending an entire day at the theater.

[@brothir]

What about food?

[@arthurbrugge2457]

​@@brothirStash it in your stash.

[@Arassar]

Even if everybody in the theater is being perfectly civil, watching 20 minutes of ads before the picture starts is INFURIATING.

[@inhumanmusic1411]

Followed by another 20 minutes of previews at full volume...

[@mechadeka]

Why are you showing up 20 minutes early?

[@taylormadescores]

20 minutes before the scheduled start time then 30 minutes after to the point you forgot what you came to see.

[@rhindlethered]

I show up at the theater *at showtime*. Getting my ticket printed (I need the hard copy), going in, getting popcorn and maybe a soda (if there's a good collectible cup) and getting to my seat burns up most of that stupid ad and preview time. It's not like years ago, when you needed to get in to get a good seat. I already have my seat, so I can miss all of that nonsense.

[@theengine]

​@@mechadekaDune 2 started 24 minutes after showtime for me

[@ColetheAero]

Mike casually dropping that Plinkett is dead 8 minutes into an hour video is so wonderful.

[@LookToWindward]

What is dead can always be… reborn

[@charlestonjew7587]

@@LookToWindward "Noone's ever really gone"

[@Gorptastic]

“Somehow Mr. Pickett returned”

[@the_fat_ghost]

Arcades and Newspapers. People used to go to arcades to play video games. The home market entirely changed the structure and design principles of video games. It wasn’t just the advancement of computing and rendering technology - they evolved as distribution and means consumption changed. Newspapers underwent huge changes with the advent and popularization of radio. They started to focus on more in-depth analysis and investigative reporting. Then it saw decline when television became mainstream. The most profound decline and change came with the rise of the internet, social media, and news aggregators. Journalism has drastically transformed and with it our relationship with journalism has changed. Home media -first with television broadcasts, but then more significantly with VHS, DVD, and DVR changed movies and our relationship with them. However, streaming and the decline of theaters will cause movies to dramatically change - just as competition and distribution changes completely altered video games and journalism. This isn’t a “nobody reads books anymore” observation- just that movies aren’t the first or last entertainment media to transform or decline.

[@luiginastro8831]

Well said

[@ThorneyGryffon]

People would still go to arcades. But the games became terrible and the arcade experience was taken over by posers. Dave and busters still has plenty of games and they stay busy. There are huge arcades that do lots of business. And even Chucky cheese made money off games until the games became crappy and older. You need a niche market to stay niche. Once you corporatized it and they have to make money for stock holders and it's a chain with no feeling and just pushing this or that for profit. Think back to the golden days of theaters and how movie night was an event.

[@SuperDuperHappyTime]

Ah yes, Newspapers. Where I can read about what happened yesterday, today!

[@Gametester110-qf8vs]

Arcades went away when Home consoles got so powerful, gamers didn't need to visit the Arcade anymore.

[@LocalMultiplex]

@@ThorneyGryffon I think that's the point of what he's saying. There are still big arcades out there, but they aren't common and are limited to chains like Dave & Busters. The same thing is happening to theatres. The multiplexes are shrinking and individual theaters are going out of businesses. The big chains will figure it out and we'll probably just see a few premium format theaters here and there. I went to a Drive-In last weekend. Those still exist too, but there's less than 10% of what there was.

[@GonzoCiosain]

I distinctly remember watching the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy at the cheap theaters when they first came out. Even on those rattling, dusty speakers and worn-out screen, still the best movie-going experience I've ever had. I'm lucky enough to be near a few "art house" type theaters and will probably go see "Furiosa" at the theater, but yeah, the main deterrent to people going back to theaters is the cost.

[@janelleg597]

Modern movies are not worth it. They are terrible. People will pay a LOT for good art and great stories

[@williamlynch5535]

Here in Vietnam we have indoor coffee shops with conference-size projection screens. They play subtitled movies from a laptop with an HDMI cable-- old movies, international movies, Hollywood blockbusters, anything that's been out of theaters long enough to pirate. You don't have to buy a ticket, just an overpriced cup of coffee and maybe some food. The experience is very classy. You're in a dark, quiet, air-conditioned room with maybe ten other people. A well-dressed waiter serves you grown-up food at a grown-up table while you lounge in your fancy chair. Most people don't even check the screentimes. They just come in and watch whatever's playing, which is usually better than the new releases in theaters. American chains should try this model. Replace the theaters with cinema-themed restaurants/bars/coffee shops where the owner shows whatever suits his clientele.

[@mausklick1635]

That sounds really cool.

[@williamlynch5535]

@@ClunFunDun Yeah some of them are better than others. The one I describe above was in Da Nang, the city everybody wants to live in right now. The ones in HCMC aren't as good. Someone told me once that it's a Hong Kong thing. I'm gonna have some kung fu coffee if I visit there.

[@tehsavage]

You got any recommendations of Cafes in Hanoi like this?

[@spacemanspud7073]

I think this is legally dubious. In Vietnam, where a coffee shop is oceans away from U.S. jurisdiction and Hollywood lawyers, you can probably get away with it. But, I think there are laws in place in the U.S. where you have pay a licence if your playing a movie to a crowd of certain size.

[@SnakeHoundMachine]

@@spacemanspud7073 exactly. legally we cannot do something like this, at this time.

[@therealdestructicus]

The opening also reminded me how trash local news is. Not like anyone watches that anymore.

[@ShahbazBokhari]

This is such a Jay take I read it to the sound of his voice.

[@skorpion7132]

The news is basically: -Death in eastern side of the world -man brought gun to school and shot 10 people -city xyz flooded -random message about failing politics -criminal set free for... reasons but didn't last 1 day before falling to old habits -tensions rise between {insert 2 unpronounceable names} Yeah, the news is trash because its the same damn negatively spiral day in day out.

[@arianshahrokh1439]

Except the olds

[@tonypine3434]

Enough people do, unfortunately.

[@Expo-]

I only see it at doctors appointments lol. I legit think passive viewing at airports, doctors, etc counts for a large number of “viewers”. And then probably the state of Florida because of the olds

[@StephenChristopher07]

i was half expecting this to just be an hour of clips of movie theaters closing

[@thomgizziz]

You are trying to be clever and you just aren't.

[@tavisbalkin4564]

Theaters are dying because people don't want to pay $18 to sit behind a group of kids playing with their phones, lighting up the room for two hours.

[@mariogiresi6792]

That’s one of the main reasons I stopped going. This cellphone nonsense has to stop.

[@anubusx]

I agee. I have watched someone in front of stream the film I was watching in the cinema on their phone.

[@markaven5249]

They were probably Streaming HBO Max.

[@joh2434]

This is why I go in the morning/afternoon on a weekday when the schools aren't out, glad I work shifts and can do that.

[@tavisbalkin4564]

@@daemoneliphas3849 I'm a millennial and guess what? Nobody of any age wants to watch you scroll around on your phone like a braindead asshole during a movie.

[@uendarkarplips7263]

I grew up without air conditioning. Going to the mall to watch a blockbuster in the freezing cold with popcorn is burned into my brain. I miss that

[@jaredbellow]

I've lived in a lot of apartments with no air conditioning and all it makes you a lot more open to whatever is playing soon and is pretty long.

[@TheJadedJames]

You miss not having AC?

[@jaredbellow]

@@TheJadedJames No, even the ac at my current place is not great. I bought a portable.

[@JoshDoVids]

This is probably one of the most important videos you guys have made in years, not to sound pretentious. There's just a lot to chew on, more so than a lot of your content. It's a shame this will probably get less views than your other stuff. But I just wanted to say I appreciate the effort to still contribute meaningful things to the conversation even after all these years.

[@elasmojones]

I can't even be bothered to pirate the movies they make these days. I'm happy avoiding the movie theaters.

[@numinous2506]

Same

[@plasmasnake4774]

Y’all should check out Dune 2, Challengers, Hundreds of Beavers, Furiosa, Love Lies Bleeding, all great movies that came out this year!

[@cwhit2575]

Yea......furiosa. so good. Never seen post apocalyptic vehicle action. ​@plasmasnake4774

[@RIPFerrus]

​@@plasmasnake4774 I will not be bothered watching a movie about Kristin Stewart being a sweaty, borderline emaciated lesbian obsessing over another, more violent lesbian. Probably going to watch Furiosa when it hits streaming.

[@EstMaRRtin]

I use 99.9% kodi for movies on my home theatre..nothing to see on big screen. This year only Deadpool😮😂

[@Mike-wr7om]

In classic, golden age Hollywood (30s through early 60s), they were constantly making sequels, but they didn't call them sequels. Think about all the Cagney and Bogart gangster movies. They are basically remaking the same formulaic movie with the same actors that have proved successful, but they are changing up the names of characters and the plot just enough to make an "original" movie. Same thing with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movies, Bing Crosby and Bob Hope movies, Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy movies, etc. Also, think of John Ford's so-called Calvary Trilogy. The three movies (Fort Apache, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, Rio Grande) are technically not sequels, but they have many of the same actors, the same setting, and similar plot elements such that they are lumped together as a trilogy. The point is that Hollywood has always capitalized on audience familiarity with a winning formula by repeating it over again until it stops making money.

[@Zodroo_Tint]

Yep, it was always and industry what made products but one thing they (probably) never did, they never remade classics in lesser quality.

[@Mike-wr7om]

@@Zodroo_Tint John Wayne's El Dorado was a remake of the earlier (and much better) Rio Bravo. 1942's Sahara was a remake of 1934's The Lost Patrol but set in WWII rather than WWI. A Star is Born, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Love Affair (remade as An Affair to Remember), Gunga Din (remade as Sergeants 3), Brewster's Millions, The Buccaneer, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Farmer Takes a Wife, Gaslight, High Sierra (remade as I Died a Thousand Times), The Jazz Singer, and My Man Godfrey are just a few examples of the many remakes of Golden-era films made during the Golden Era, not to mention the films that were so similar to each other that they might as well have been remakes (many westerns and musicals fall into this category). I firmly believe that movies were much better in classic Hollywood, and I believe the state of the craft was much better then too. However, storytellers have been retelling familiar stories through all of human history, going back to ancient times, when the same myths were repeated over and over, altered slightly with each telling, to the Middle Ages when the Arthurian Legends and tales of other famous knights (Roland, etc.) were retold over a span of centuries. In fact, every culture has a collection of folk stories that are told generation after generation and alter slightly in the telling. There's nothing wrong with retelling familiar stories and adapting them with each telling. As long as the remakes are good, I have no problem with remakes. But, as you point out, the remakes nowadays tend to not be very good, and that is the problem, not the fact that they are remaking movies or making sequels.

[@rogerk6180]

​@@Mike-wr7om in the end is every movie a remake of one shakespear play or another..

[@PandemicIndex]

I went to see Dune 2 in an empty theater and it was literally $40 for a ticket, a soda, and popcorn. It’s simply too expensive just to see a movie anymore.

[@2782Jack]

and the only thing stopping me from watching it for free online is my goodwill, it's hard to justify throwing away that much money just in the hope they notice and make a sequel that doesn't flop

[@scottieman2]

I'll take that over annoying a theater fill of morons.

[@perry92964]

i got the dvd for 16.95 and had a beer and a cigar while watching it......and i can watch it as many times as i want for nothing

[@metarenegade]

Lisan Al-NoMoney

[@scottieman2]

I'll take empty theaters.

[@TheMicroMotion]

holy shit an hour discussion on the state of the box office this is just what i needed right now

[@carotare5261]

What I want from a theater is basically exactly what Alamo Drafthouse does (except without the full menu ordering/serving during the movie). Extremely strict phone policy with active ushers that kick you out immediately. Drafthouse also does lots of showing of classic movies (cult movies, sing-a-longs, costume parties, etc.) so it gives people a chance to see movies in way that feels "special" or rare. I'd even be interested in movie theaters offering a subscription and being members only, and if you're a shit in the audience your membership is revoked immediately. If you curb people's deplorable and distracting behavior, and bring back classics and cult movies, you'd get me back in a theater. otherwise im waiting for it so i can watch it at home.

[@tomahzo]

100% this! Niche cinemas operated by people who care. The scale is much smaller but the experience is much more worth-while! I think this whole industry crisis might bring out some really positive effects for the people who actually care about film as a medium and cinemas as an experience!

[@RobertoVillegas-vincent404]

So those do exist in the art house form. Mainly the full menu part is to sort of add to the idea of it being an experience or something you go out to. Ultimately, for theaters to survive in this industry it’s showing that they may need to target the premium market in terms of things. The problem is that doesn’t work everywhere and is sometimes out of people’s price range (even without the full menu), so we’ll probably see this story for a while longer as local news outlets need something to report on a slow day.

[@brainsplease1]

EXACTLY. I'm all in

[@manjr]

Alamo rules. I see more movies at the Alamo 90 minutes away than at the multiplexes in my town.

[@brandononbrand]

what are the ticket prices at Alamo?... and how much would a subscription service cost? AMC A-list is $25 a month for 3 movies per week (any format)

[@bonzodog67lizardking15]

Initially, every studio in Hollywood rejected "Raiders of the Lost Ark" because the budget was too low for a production of such scale. If Hollywood would unleash new talent with horror movie budgets, but complete creative freedom, you might see a turnaround in Hollywood. Another consideration is earlier sequels decades ago were of a much higher quality than the ones produced today.

[@Rodney17302]

The Taylor Swift tour movie was a huge hit because it gave her fans a chance to see her perform live without paying $500 or more. Her shows were selling out even at those ludicrous prices, so that movie made a lot of sense. A lot of parents couldn't afford those tickets, so they jumped at the opportunity to pay $12-$18 for tickets .

[@XenosFFBE]

That is genius! Imagine if all sold out concerts did this!

[@Molotov_Milkshake]

@@XenosFFBE imagine if people listened to smaller musicians so that they could actually have careers. It makes no sense to me that Taylor Swift tickets cost a fortune when she's a damn billionaire. She doesn't even need support from her fans at this point :\ She makes vast amounts of money just from Spotify streams etc. Popular music is such an abomination and the antithesis of art.

[@edwardlopresti7266]

⁠​⁠@@Molotov_Milkshake Unfortunately a lot of the money isn’t even going to her. It’s the ticket selling companies manufacturing scarcity to gauge the prices because the more they get people to pay the bigger the cut they get. Art is the last thing on their minds.

[@Molotov_Milkshake]

@@edwardlopresti7266 true enough. I can't understand why people don't see that and go support some great local artists instead. I am extremely passionate about music and supporting the musicians I like, but I'd never pay $500 for a ticket to see them. It's crazy how people are so fanatical about a musician who 1) doesn't even need their support and 2) has such generic slop music. Like I'm a serious music person, but these Taylor Swift fans are more like cultists.

[@Rattslinger]

A bunch of tween and teen girls singing, dancing, and having fun in a safe place, oh no, the horror.

[@johnnythewalrus]

I'll be honest, our local theater had a period of time after covid where it only showed old movies from the 80s and 90s (Back to the Future 1, 2 and 3, Nightmare on Elm Street, Jurassic Park, etc) and that's the only thing that had me going to the theater for the past 10 years or so. If they still did it, I'd still be going.

[@jaredbellow]

I saw a ton of those. They were only five bucks too and it was always a surprise what was on. I went to see Poltergeist and then found out the unrated Nightmare on Elm Street was on too. What a day at the movies. Nightmare on Elm Street probably was the most people I saw in a theater in 2020 for any movie besides Tenet.

[@LAHFaust]

It's a genius move because it gets both the older crowd who remember seeing the movie in theaters as well as the crowd who grew up with these classics and have childhood memories of them and want that experience. My local theater had Saving Private Ryan on Memorial Day and it was completely packed with 20-30s.

[@thewittyusername]

A lot of theatres in my city (Portland, OR) have done and still do this. They are seem to be doing pretty well too.

[@LUNITUNZBackup]

They so still do that (idk about your local theater of course) That's 95% of Fantom Events' output is nostalgia showings. That said, idk if a theater can really sustain itself on Fantom Events showings.

[@MikeMarlowe-ym3zy]

Dude same I got to see T2 in 3D! I was born in 2000 so obviously could never have done that if they didn’t reshape it due to COVID. So freaking cool! I hope I get to see the old Batman movies in theater-I read that the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man movies were doing a rotation in theaters recently but it didn’t come near me unfortunately

[@chubbs2067]

It’s pretty clear that people are one of the biggest problems. I go to like 3-4 movies a year and I cannot remember the last time some idiot hasn’t affected my experience. Whether it’s talking, texting, eating, crinkling food wrappers, or whatever… it always happens.

[@thomgizziz]

eating, crinkling food wrappers... literally things that the movie theater sells... are you delusional? WTF is wrong with your head?

[@KetsubanSolo]

Yeah nowadays I only willingly go to indie or foreign films, where the audiences are small and/or much more respectful of the material

[@jacksonjacob7791]

It's odd seeing the footage of theaters in the US where people are clapping and making noise. I live in Canada and people generally keep quiet during a movie unless something funny happens.

[@carstarsarstenstesenn]

The last two things being something that theaters encourage (with overpriced food no less) so yeah of course theaters are dying with streaming services thriving and the hit that was covid

[@TNT93o]

One of the perks of going to my local Alamo Drafthouse vs Cinemark. Alamo has the "No Talking , One warning and you're Out" def helps. Last few Cinemark screenings I've been too have had kids being too loud and crack jokes.​@@KetsubanSolo

[@thrombolin]

Create micro-theaters similar to Korean karaoke rooms. Rent the room for the duration of the number of movies. Modify the rooms to accommodate vaping, alcohol, whatever. Make each room themed. Bill as a luxury experience with friends and family

[@brickbrickerston7099]

That isn't that much more different than just watching a movie at home

[@thrombolin]

@@brickbrickerston7099 exactly

[@someguywithawi-ficonnectio931]

Thats a good idea honestly, i could totally see it working

[@ChrisHuppey]

We already have those private rooms. People will still try to do the nasty in them, despite knowing there is CCTVs

[@KetsubanSolo]

​@@ChrisHuppey I mean if they bought a private room for themselves, is it really a problem???

[@FeistyLemur]

There's a clip I saw once where Liam Gallagher is making himself tea and just starts bitching about how he used to have an assistant to make the perfect cup of tea for him before Napster happens, and now he has to do it himself because no one pays for music anymore. The market does not support the kind of waste that has to be taking place for a film to cost 150 million dollars to make, and if Godzilla Minus One can have that quality level for 15 million dollars the industry is just going to have to readjust. Bob Iger is gonna have to make his own tea.

[@jaythomas468]

Well, I think it’s VERY ANALOGOUS to what’s happening in the big-budget AAA video game space: there’s TOO MUCH MONEY flowing into these enterprises from third-parties (angel investors, VCs, etc) which is UNNECESSARILY BLOATING the COST and the EXPECTATIONS for the return-on-investment (essentially, there seems to be this INCREDIBLY FLAWED LOGIC with these executives that seem to think for every $1 they put in, they’ll get $3 to $10 back).

[@gabagoul67]

@@jaythomas468 bro why ARE YOU YELLING

[@ElwoodPDowd1970]

Or get along with only one shower in his office, perhaps?

[@jaythomas468]

@@gabagoul67 Only a zoomer would think that “emphatic dictation” is somehow YELLING in a nonverbal form of communication.

[@KenoshiAkai]

@@jaythomas468 I'm Gen X and all caps is considered yelling in text. Calm down, Beavis.

[@alexanderweaver586]

its funny to hear RLM say that movie theaters are dying for years but its another thing to realize "I won't be able to go to a movie theater anymore". That's what getting old feels like

[@kgjung2310]

No, you will, but it will be far more niche and expensive (probably).

[@Talking_Ed]

@@kgjung2310 At this point it's gonna be less expensive to get a projector at home lmao

[@0Synergy]

@@Talking_Ed Honestly I think my OLED monitor looks better than an IMAX screen better PPI and the black levels are better, its not 50 feet away and the motion clarity is insanely good. and for audio I have a decent set of planar headphones, and my chair is comfier and I can eat whatever I want while I watch. The whole point of a movie theatre was that was the best way to watch a movie but it doesn't feel that way anymore.

[@Talking_Ed]

@@0Synergy Yeah but you're still watching a digitized version of an analog product, watching it analog is just different. It's like listening to vinyls.

[@0Synergy]

@@Talking_Ed Bruh for one vinyls objectively have lower sound quality than a studio recording.flac, the screens movies use are digital there are no analog displays, and beyond all of that most movies aren't film anymore.

[@scott963]

I live 5 minutes away from my local movie theater. It's always been a nice place. When a new movie presents, they make tickets $6 a person. I went to the new mad max movie on opening night, and like 5 people were there. I still like it, but i'm sad because i know one day it'll close.

[@swirvinbirds1971]

Good lord... My brother and I went to a Regal Cinema recently and it cost $45 for 2 tickets and another $40 for 2 cokes and 2 popcorns...

[@KingPrintmaker]

@@swirvinbirds1971yeah the prices got crazy

[@georgezee5173]

Same here. I live in a very populated area in London where we have two cinemas with tickest at £7 only, which is cheap being London (those same two cinemas used to sell them at £9 nine years ago, before Brexit). Even with the nice price those cinemas are EMPTY every time I go, and I have gone 10 times during the past three months (half of those times it was for classic movies they were playing, movies with a fandom). The only movie that there was more than 20 people in the screening room was on Dune Part 2, and still it was no more than 40 people in a 400-seat screening room. In some of those other movies it was just 4 or 5 of us. Super sad. Cinemas are going to disappear in less than 10 years, and that breaks my heart to no end.

[@Fribee83]

There was a time I'd go to the movies 2-3 times a week in the early 2010s because the prices were like $8. Got burnt out on wasting time and money on trash because "The trailer looked good" so I switched to just seeing movies I heard were good once a month but then the tickets skyrocketed so I got comfortable watching things at home and only going to a theater once or twice a year. I hate to say it but even $6 tickets can't convince me to return to the theaters that requires scheduling my day around when I can just stay in and wait.

[@whiskerstars]

@@Fribee83dude 2008 I was working at a theater and saw so many free movies but that was such a bad year for movies, legion, cop out, repo men, the wolf man, movies I completely erased from my memories till I see them pop up on tubi

[@d.1.a_mayby18]

It does not help that the writing has become abysmal and many of the people that work in the industry like actors and directors are out of touch with reality and crappy people.

[@chicken1696]

word.

[@moonknight2865]

That’s literally always been the case, the internet has just made it more obvious. Stop being so obtuse.

[@kneau]

Circle back to their remarks about the strike.

[@cardboard2night]

Yeah, to pay to watch someone play out an ai-generated text... doesn't sit right with me :/

[@d.1.a_mayby18]

@@cardboard2night AI Generated text would be better than the middle school drivel we are being told is "good". The blaming of one.... The blaming of two.... The blaming of maaaannnnny.... Yep, I stole that last bit.

[@taysou47291]

Finally hearing why Mr Plinkett officially went away gives a weird closure. That’s what got me to this channel in the beginning

[@kiloyardstare]

Wait... What was the official excuse?

[@RadBadTad]

@@kiloyardstare Copyright strikes I believe.

[@Level1Hera]

⁠the copyright strikes back is the better entry in the series

[@thepickles8833]

@@kiloyardstare Copyright strikes and KZbin's ever narrowing tolerance for certain words and topics.

[@TheKraken5360]

Those original videos were hysterical.

[@fatalkookie]

- Quality of blockbusters going down the drain - Prices in Theaters reaching record high numbers (snacks and beverages too) - Streaming services - coupled with big screens and sounds systems at home - Ease of internet and piracy - Tik-tok, KZbin, Instagram and gaming - providing us with different options for entertainment - Inflation and cost of living These are only few of the reasons why theaters are dying. It is a sad thing to see (even with all the noise and unpleasantness that viewings can provide us with). Communities and third places are vanishing as we speak.

[@christophermarabella5683]

There has been alot of great quality films like Furiosa that is struggling though

[@thomgizziz]

Easy Piracy has been a thing for well over a decade... you are acting like it is new.

[@thomgizziz]

@@christophermarabella5683 Yeah that wasn't a great quality film, everybody says it is worse than fury road and fury road is somehow rated lower and fury road is widely accepted to be worse than mad max and mad max is somehow rated the same as furiosa... it doesn't add up.

[@christophermarabella5683]

@@thomgizziz Furiosa got great reviews and a good cinemascore

[@Kreusnik]

​@@christophermarabella5683 That means shit in todays world. It's like saying twitter gave it a good score. The core problem is still woke culture infecting everything, producing propaganda instead of good movies for about 20 years now. It's the same problem videogames have, the same problem comics face and the same problem anime/maga will face in the future if nothing changes the actual zeitgeist. Is the same shite everywhere you look and not recognizing it because you are called names isnt going to change shit. Mike and Jay could grow a pair sometimes instead of always being indirect, sometimes, in their videos. Insulting everyones IQ that has the valor to try and say that the King is naked.

[@TheGeekandI]

I ran a theater back when “The Lost World” Trailer was released. THX came out and installed 20 new speakers and three strobe light bars. This simulated the thunder and lightning in the trailer. Folks loved it. When the movie came out, they had uninstalled it and people demanded refunds.

[@MarkHWillson]

Lol, fun anecdote!

[@rubilouise6316]

That was essentially a prototype of the the type of things 4DX venues do. They have lights that'll flicker when there's lighting and whatnot, alongside the moving chairs. I don't like those screenings but in my area (Puerto Rico), those venues are very popular, probably the most popular cause they feel like a roller-coaster, so for younger audiences with short-attention spans, they work wonderfully.

[@GackFinder]

Huh, never knew Lost In Dinosaur World had a theatrical release.

[@callmetony4399]

Something that put the modern release window in perspective was Godzilla Minus 1. The 7 month wait for it to come to video and digital felt like an eternity but not even a few year ago that would have been the norm if not quicker then average.

[@MrAdamFC]

Got a solution here, If they combined Garfield and Furiosa together and named the movie Furryosa: Hates Mondays saga. It might not have flopped, In fact. It would've been a crowd pleasure. You'd have the high-octane action and violence of Garfield mixed with the Witty dialogue and family -friendliness of mad max. which would've probably made some people happy. But yet again Hollywood won't take my ideas. Like combining Mario with 50 shades of grey.

[@huyphan7825]

"You'd have the high-octane action and violence of Garfield..." That is the kind of movie that would inflict a trauma even a War Boy would shudder at.

[@Thewingkongexchange]

I've seen both films this last week. A loud, insanity-driven odyssey of pain and anguish... also 'Furiosa'.

[@MrAdamFC]

@@Thewingkongexchange 🤣

[@Death_Classic]

50 Shades Of Mario: Hazy Maze Cave

[@buda3d2007]

You'd have perverts at conventions trying to get it on 😅

[@thedandyp]

While I appreciate these low-key, heartfelt, honest videos, when are we going to finally get back to what made this channel great; themed quizzes?

[@AirsickDolphin]

Is the the new half in the quiz-bag?

[@pauloricardo-wn6ps]

TNG-themed quizzes*

[@slicknicdwyer]

What?? Are you forgetting about what videos _actually_ made this channel famous? You know, the ones where Mike plays that character with the funny voice? I am of course talking about The Grabowskis

[@KetsubanSolo]

Seeing that old James Gunn vid juxtaposed with theaters closing + all of the released movies he mentions bombing is cracking me up

[@charlottecorday8494]

I'm sure he LOVED the Flash

[@PaddyMcMe]

Had a similar experience to Mike but with The Lion King. I saw it in theatres and LOVED it and pretty quickly the video store started advertising it coming to Video later that year. I wanted it SO badly that I asked my parents to buy it for me outright when it released. I couldn't BEGIN to tell you how excited I was for it. Once I got it, for about a year every single school day I would wake up at 6am and watch my video of The Lion King then quickly get ready and go to school. After a few months I found I was able to recite the entire film script, word for word, along with remembering the visuals too and the songs and soundtrack for the scenes. So when I'd get bored at elementary school I would just start 'reciting' and 'watching' the entire film in my head.

[@andygoody2599]

US v Paramount showed that owning the production and distribution of media counted as a monopoly. It's high time we save theaters and force Disney and Amazon and HBO to choose to either create media or stream it, not both.

[@bryancomer1984]

On the topic of Mr plinkett becoming a mythical tale of bygone era, I wouldn't have believed it if you said 10 years ago that I wouldn't care that plinkett was 'dead' I would have killed myself with sadness and rage. Mike, Jay, Rich, RLM in general, you guys hold a pretty great deal of reverence to many of us that are not quite as senile as Mike shamelessly having viewers find a plinkett quote. Your content has shifted and changed several times and I honestly have NEVER doubted your ability to make anything funny to me, I'm not alone with this, you guys are phenomenal, I am being fully genuine here, you don't have to be an auteur to be important, you are an enigmatic entity that is simultaneously out of touch and completely cutting edge, don't stop doing what you guys do until you just don't want to anymore, from plinkett, to review to half in the bag to nerd crew, it's clear that you know your strengths and I love you guys for it, maybe this is unnecessarily nice or flowery, love you guys, keep doing what you do

[@lostielizzie]

Beautiful comment, somehow the light insults make this even more sweet.

[@hitscann1136]

Amen!

[@kasmith3405]

No! My boys are hack frauds. How dare you say nice things about them [sniffs and wipes eyes].

[@hughmahn484]

So I guess movie theaters can at long last join the taxi companies and stores like blockbuster for proving that "We're not wrong, the customer is wrong and can't go anywhere anyways" isn't a good business strategy.

[@NickyMetropolis1313]

Would love to hear you expand on that. Interesting point my dude

[@vcrbetamax]

@@NickyMetropolis1313double plus good, comrade.

[@PalaceDude]

@@vcrbetamax Extra mighty fine, partner.

[@emhu2594]

Last time I went to the theater, there were 35 minutes of literal commercials, not even trailers, in addition to all to all the ones they played before the start time.

[@hughmahn484]

@@NickyMetropolis1313 These businesses get away with enriching themselves through wildly unpopular policies because either their the only game in town or all their competitors copy them, the moment an alternative pops up they get abandoned en mass.

[@KevRyanCG]

What does my head in is that I pay about 20 dollars CAD for a ticket, and then the concessions are about 20 dollars too, and when I show up on-time there's at least a half hour of adverts and then trailers, with the theater having the nerve to call this a pre-show. And of course it's not the same for every film so you can't just show up late and try skip the adverts. Like I waited a good half hour there for Furiosa, a movie that's already 2 and a half hours long, yet I turned up late for Boy and The Heron and missed the start of it. The theaters themselves are trying everything to spoil the overall experience.

[@jeil5676]

Not to mention the deafening sound system, the AC turned up full notch while you're wearing summer attire, and having to share a single armrest with people next to you. I would probably only go to a drive in theatre now if drive in 5 is still open.

[@lutherheggs451]

So what your saying is its almost like the theater doesn't really make shit on the actual movie and gets maybe 20% of the ticket sales, so to actually make money that say makes the building function, pays employees to actually work things in the building etc. they charge money for concessions. Weird how that works. its almost like the theater wants to make money or something.

[@DR.LingeringFrey]

@@lutherheggs451You are obviously correct. If huge numbers of people have lots of money to waste on an inferior experience (in many people’s opinion, obviously not all) of a form of media that is decreasingly popular (like going to a bookstore to buy a physical book), then the business model is fine!

[@KevRyanCG]

@@lutherheggs451 I stopped reading this after ''so what you're saying'

[@Gamerkat10]

hot damn... it's 12$ for me. Do you live in LA or something?

[@stevegordon9179]

I hope Mike remembers his radical idea from 2018, in the Justice League commentary track. He predicted 30min long zero story superhero fight scenes in theaters. Rich said we would have it in 7 years. We are now less than a year from that deadline. C'mon guys let's make it happen. As long as Mike gets credit for it.

[@Jidarious]

Do John Wick movies count?

[@jeremy____5747]

The third Hobbit movie has a forty minute continuous battle scene. It *tries* to have it serve the story but doesn't really succeed.

[@Vanity0666]

What if they made The Raid 3

[@c1ph3rpunk]

The no 1 movie in theaters next year will be Ass, 90 minutes of just ass.

[@jakemilkbassist]

The fight scene in They live were he try’s to get him to put on the glasses is just over 20 minutes

[@vinnieladders3470]

After watching The Rise of Skywalker I realized the industry cared so little for the audience that I couldn't give them any of my time and money. I'd imagine there are others who feel the same.

[@wilm2109]

All the super hero crap and big franchises killed it for me in the late 2000's. They aren't movies anymore, just giant advertisements for infantile audiences to shill at. Scorsese was right about movies today, they have become theme parks or as RLM put it once, cineplexes for Disney/Marvel trash.

[@jamesplowman9221]

The late 2000's? Iron Man launched the superhero craze and it came out in 2008.

[@wearelive503]

If you think that was bad, I’de raise you Dune 2 😂 garbage ass film

[@keeleon]

I have ticket stubs from the first showing on opening night for every Star Wars movie I was alive to see in theaters. I've only ever seen Rise of Skywalker once on a cam.

[@Somone_final_final_v2]

​@@wearelive503did you like 1 or did you get forces to watch 2 lol

[@wwCs49]

Most normal/civilized film fans don’t want to put up with the film being ruined by human garbage every single time

[@HammerHeart3229]

That's the thing, movie cinemas need butts in the seats to stay in business but I love going to the cinema when there's next to nobody in there, at least that way there's less chance of the movie being ruined by some butt-hole!

[@dannyboy5008]

Went to see godzilla minus one and I had to deal with a group of pre-teens laughing and talking in the back for the whole movie. Other than seeing a film right away there's really no reason to go to a theater.

[@BuckNaked2k]

Well said.

[@GabrielAKAFinn]

Why, if only you wouldn't put up with them ruining everything else, too

[@StelViri]

@@GabrielAKAFinn I'm sure you're a very highly motivated and incredibly involved 'activist' in your community

[@EarthenDam]

Small side note, I am hesitant to go to a theater because that is a high concentration of catalytic converter thefts are there.

[@ShockinglyLiterate]

It's k. I had mine stolen on the street directly in front of my apartment. At least at the theater I could've been entertained while it happened!

[@megacide84]

I'm now suddenly reminded of that episode of 'Aqua Teen Hunger Force' where Carl and Meatwad go to the movie theater and Carl ropes Meatwad into helping him steal catalytic converters from the parked cars.

[@ShaquilleOatmeal730]

​@@ShockinglyLiterate"you could at least wine and dine me before i get f#@ked!" -Eric Cartman.

[@Bloodshack89]

I used to be a manager at a second-run theater in a big city near Los Angeles. Most often our customers were students or families trying to see a movie for cheap. Others were homeless people wanting air conditioning for a couple bucks. But WOO-BOY did we get some crazy ass people. I got into my first fistfight on the job at that place. Good times.

[@mroctober3657]

More innocent times in many respects.

[@richarddevenezia8186]

Let's us know.... Who did you fight? Make it good!

[@hullinstruments]

​@@richarddevenezia8186 yeah. And why? Sounds like a fun story

[@GangsterFrankensteinComputer]

commenting just to get notifications

[@frankmiller4550]

I hope you won. Getting your ass kicked by a customer would be awful.

[@welcometochristown]

But where else can I pay $20 for $3 worth of popcorn

[@oplawlz]

Frankly all this other stuff is fluff imo. Movies just got too expensive for the experience they provide.

[@gezenews]

@@oplawlz Lol you mean inflation went up and minor luxuries are now out of reach for the average person. I can go to the movies for $5 if I don't eat popcorn.

[@oplawlz]

@@gezenews that's not the average experience, especially if you want to see in imax. Also, why bother going to the movies if you don't get concessions?

[@TheFireGiver]

More like 20 cents worth

[@gezenews]

@@oplawlz Ok then don't say the price is the problem. The price is rising right alongside inflation. If you can't afford to pay the inflated rate, congrats. You're just poor now. If everyone can't pay it, then no "movie theatres" aren't dying. The whole fucking economy is.

[@illuminatedGaming33]

Alot of people have GIANT, 4K OLED Tv's and a surround system to go along with their comfy couch. Access to a close bathroom, their kitchen and a fridge full of cold beer they can share with a group of actual friends....and not have to pay for any tickets. Let alone for a group of 6 people...also access to a pause button.

[@vagamer522]

fuck not only OLED, but also Mini-LED tvs too. In short home watching has evolved while Theaters haven't unless you consider IMAX. Though hopefully we get TV's or projectors to match IMAX resolution.

[@GabrielAKAFinn]

Lets be real there. They're watching movies on their phones.

[@ACERPT]

I’m part of a group of volunteers who opened up a non-profit video store in Austin, Texas last year. We’re steadily growing, and frequently have screenings in our microcinema (niche, cult, and/or local movies, with other film-related events). We’re not going to turn the tides against streaming any time soon, but I thought it might give a warm, hopeful feeling to physical media lovers who watch theater after theater close down. We’re still out here, y’all!

[@npsimons]

"Be Kind Rewind" vibes

[@EwokChris]

I took a trip to see my friend and visited Portland, Oregon for the first time. They had a really awesome non-profit video store there that also had their own microcinema and it looked so cool. We really need more of those stores to return, I miss browsing movies like that back in the old days of Blockbuster and Hollywood Video.

[@roychen5235]

That's basically just what Jay said. Movies won't die. They'll just become more niche like live theatre and vinyl.

[@eeep4968]

What's the name of the non-profit video store. Would love to drive down to Austin to visit.😊

[@ricardogalvan1031]

What's the name of the place? I'll check it out the next time I'm in Austin

[@transmascswag]

You mean that monopolized production studios betting the farm on endless sequels, (soft) reboots, and prequels making money forever didn't pan out?

[@RockoEstalon]

It's ironic that the introduction or massification of the "comic book movie" made movie making stagnate. Now both the american movie and comic book industry mirror each other: Giant behemots banking on nostalgia, constantly rebooting, not allowing any creative voiced that change the statu quo too much and paying shit to the real talents. Wouldn't be surprised if just how manga today hilariously outsells super hero comics, some other player starts outselling Hollywood.

[@dr6559]

Not entirely true. They’re starting to adapt basically every video game ever to film. I’m sure it won’t happen again.

[@transmascswag]

@@dr6559 I forgot to put "established IP slop" into my original comment.

[@RockoEstalon]

@@transmascswag Videogame are following the same dangerous trends, the last decade we had A LOT of remakes or "remasters". Even fucking Last of Us 2 which is not even 10 years old got a remaster.

[@eightcoins4401]

@@RockoEstalon Bethesda pioneered this with Skyrim too

[@ericwannemacher8286]

Ironically, I'm watching this on the big screen. So who's dead now? Wait, am I dead?

[@gomme1298]

Yes.

[@katehikes1645]

you need to let go

[@einhornisaman2973]

Do you have unfinished business?

[@real1mem3s]

They say heaven is just a giant movie theater where you watch Half in the Bag episodes on repeat and Hell is where you watch 10 hour Rich laugh compilations in a small dark room in repeat forever and ever.

[@RegularCupOfJoe]

... what if... you're alive, but... we're not?

[@PopeJDP]

"Maybe Long Legs" Proceeds to show the most Jay movie trailer of all time.

[@Nesque]

What I seriously don't get with theaters are : Why are you not giving ticket discounts when you have literally 1% of the theater booked? It blows my mind that booking a seat in an empty theater costs as much as booking a full one, surely they'd get more people watching later into a movies "lifespan" if it was cheaper as the audience began to dwindle.

[@douggaudiosi14]

Genius idea. They are going to show the film anyways and they can get snack and drink sales.

[@ChookChutney909]

My thought has always been offering discounts for parties of 4+. I feel like groups are more likely to then also buy the large popcorn and drinks for the astronomical prices they charge because they can split it and only one or two of them really need to want popcorn to convince everyone else to get it. One thing I will say though is that the bean counters typically know their stuff, and these types of things have probably been tried and ultimately did not work.

[@anonymousandy4941]

Large groups of people not financially invested in the experience of movie-watching? Im sure that'll go great for the rest of the audience. ​@@ChookChutney909

[@iam9991000]

What you're describing is known as dynamic pricing. There's two sides of the coin, yes it will get cheaper when there's no business, but it will get up to 30 bucks or higher if you have that monster hit.

[@rogerk6180]

The distribution company gets a fixed amount of money from each ticket. There is only so much wiggle room for ticket pricing for theatres. 1 or 2 dollar discounts on a 15 dollar ticket isn't going to pull a lot of extra people and bigger discounts won't leave any money for them at all. And people seeking out these discount tickets aren't gonna spend loads of money on candy and stuff either so they can't make up the difference there either. I'm pretty sure this will have been tested somewhere by some theatres. If it made financial sense it would be a widespread business model already.

[@L0-R3Z]

Movie theaters, here in Japan, are still quite popular. The movie-goers are all polite. And the floors are spotlessly clean.

[@Wingcake1]

I went to the hotel gra ery theatre everyone was.real quiet even to eat snacks but did laugh at the jokes they enjoyed both anime and american films like dune, the experience was quite ingeresting.

[@redlightmax]

​@@Wingcake1 "...the experience was quite ingeresting." Wait, "ingeresting"? Cool it with the anti-Japanese remarks.

[@Hvantmiki]

only downside is that it is rude to walk out when the credits starts and you have to sit through the whole thing in complete silence.

[@ジュリアン-v5t]

Because Japan is a ethnically homogenous society. In America and increasingly Europe they force the blight of un assimilating groups onto us and destroy the safety and well being. Notice in the video clips how many were yelling in Spanish? They come illegally, steal our resources, and only make things worse. Japan very safe, hopefully they learn from west's mistake and not let in outsider invaders.

[@Wingcake1]

​@@redlightmax i misspelled interesting lol

[@Mrkonjichris]

2 ideas I like: - Invest in ushers that can protect the theatre experience, similar to a live theatre. They aren't afraid to tell people to shut up or turn off their phones. It would help keep people who ruin the experience out. - Certainly extend the time between theatrical and streaming release. Exclusivity will help great movies draw audiences and punishes bad movies since they can't afford to put that much money into a poorly performing run

[@GangsterFrankensteinComputer]

I used to work in a cinema in the UK. One of my duties was checking in on screenings, largely to check for people recording. One time a female member of staff caught a disabled man masturbating to Regression, (2015), during a daytime screening.

[@MadMike1]

Another idea: Make intermissions a thing again Giving folks like 15-20 minutes to stretch and go to the washroom without missing anything important would be amazing. Plus you can refill on your snacks and drinks which means more money for the theaters. It's an incredibly easy fix.

[@JohnClark-tt2bl]

​@@MadMike1I would have killed for an intermission during the LOTR movies. My bladder really took one for the team during those.

[@waverazor]

hiring usher sounds expensive

[@kyleellis1825]

Set up actual tables so you can do dinner and a movie at one place. Ad a laundromat for extra business and whil people ar waithing, they watch a movie.

[@coolguy-qu2su]

It’s so nice to listen to them just talk about current stuff. You only really get bits and pieces in half in the bag

[@MikeOrtego]

The biggest problem with only releasing 3 or 4 big theater releases a year is no one can make a living off of doing that nor can they pay for a giant building when you're only opening it 3 or 4 times a year.

[@aidan3902]

Why would you ever want to ditch unions.

[@TheKraken5360]

Yeah, theaters have a big problem. There's no easy answer to this. A lot of them are probably screwed. In the end, we're probably going to end up with a greatly decreased number of theaters. They'll be more niche, and largely serve as a mechanism by which big movies are officially unveiled before being quickly sent to streaming.

[@greenoftreeblackofblue6625]

​@@aidan3902you're not listening that's not what he means. Watch the Episode they bring up this movie theater plan with Dinner in America.

[@MikeOrtego]

@@aidan3902 I didn't say anything about unions.