There's Almost No Need To Go To The Movies When You're Streaming

OneEyedDiva

OneEyedDiva

SF VIP
Location
New Jersey
Unless, as my son says, you just want the experience. He and my youngest grandson have been going to the movies when the latter comes up with something he wants to see. They do the entire movie "thing"...with expensive theater snacks and all. Most recently they saw Amateur and Novocaine. Released 3 and 4 months ago, respectively, both are streaming now. Amateur is on Disney/Hulu and Novocaine is on Paramount+. I have both services and have added them to my watchlists.

My son, Honorary Daughter (HD) and I went to see Sinners, mainly because of the (much deserved) hype about the film. But it's streaming now too... on HBO for subscribers and for rent on other platforms. The last movie I saw before that was The Little Mermaid (2023 live version) when HD took me because she knows I love mermaids. Any movie I see in the theater going forward would have to wow me with the cast and with special effects I feel must be viewed on the big screen.

Do you go to the movies or wait to stream?
 

The last time I went to a movie theatre was maybe three decades ago.
And since this time I also don't like new movies anymore. There are so many old movies on YouTube which are worth watching, that I don't need new ones. Would also never pay for streaming.
 

Feelslikefar said:
I enjoy going to the classic movies at the theater.
Something about seeing them on the big screen and the new sound systems.

Wife and I will be attending 'The Sound of Music', showing here in September.

At least with these types of movies you know you'll get your monies worth.
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Yes, movies like this would be great to see on the big screen. Too many newer movies rely on special effects while neglecting a good script - I find such movies boring.
 
Think the movie theatres are going to be something of the past... they tore the one down here a few months ago... The price f them now... and all... I think more and more people are wainting for it to get to streaming... Think the last movie me, and the bride were to, was 23 years ago watching the Kracken's Christmas... LoL
 
I agree...IMO good movies are few and far between and it's so nice to sit in my recliner in my pj's and search for the good ones that are available with streaming.
 
I love movies, absolutely love them, but to see them all at anytime they are available, you have to sign up for every streaming service, which can be expensive enough to pay theater prices for the ones you really want to see. Alternatively, expensive enough to just buy the movies you want to see and put them in your personal library of DVDs.

I buy one streaming service at a time, milk it for all that interests me for a month, and then switch to another service, where I do the same. But I leave a few months between services where I revisit my private stock.

I do like the theater experience, but not during busy days or busy times. I prefer it when I have the theater to myself or share it with no more than 5 other people. I go for the earliest showing on Wednesday or Thursday because it's the least crowded. Tuesday is a very cheap day here. They call it Tight Wad Tuesday, and there are more people there than Wednesday or Thursday, but I'll pay the higher price for the quieter experience.

I could buy 5 streaming services and keep them all the time. My sister and her husband do that. But there isn't enough there to keep me interested enough to pay a hundred or more dollars a month. That's a lot of theater tickets, unless you have a family of five.
 
I havenā€™t been in a movie theater since Out of Africa came to an old neighborhood movie palace in the mid 80s.

Nothing against it but I wouldnā€™t go by myself and there are other places that I would rather go on a rare outing with family and friends.

I grew up in a rural area so the only movies we ever attended were in the school auditorium, fifty cents for a double feature as a fund raiser for one group or another.

The first movie that I saw in a theater was Swiss Family Robinson as a Christmas treat with my older sister and brother.

The theater was the main attraction to this little country bumpkin. šŸ˜‰šŸ¤­šŸ˜‚

It hasnā€™t changed much over the years.
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Aunt Bea said:
The first movie that I saw in a theater was Swiss Family Robinson as a Christmas treat with my older sister and brother.

The theater was the main attraction to this little country bumpkin. šŸ˜‰šŸ¤­šŸ˜‚

It hasnā€™t changed much over the years.
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That's the most ornate theater lobby I've ever seen. There are a couple in Chicago, but not that grand.
 
Aunt Bea said:
I grew up in a rural area so the only movies we ever attended were in the school auditorium, fifty cents for a double feature as a fund raiser for one group or another.
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When I wintered on my boat in the isolated community of Petersburg, Alaska, they showed a movie every Saturday night at the high school. I never went although I think I should have, even though I'd already seen most of the movies. I don't know if it was in an auditorium. I don't know if the high school had an auditorium. These tiny communities get creative in ways that can pull people together. The bars were probably the busiest places to get together, but I didn't go to those under any circumstances.
 
We still like going out to movies. Although it's getting harder and harder to find one worth going for. We did watch a race car movie a couple of weeks ago that you needed to be in a theater to get the full effects. (I can't for the life of me remember the name. Had Brad Pitt in it) I would not watch that on streaming after the theater visit.
It's sad to see the decline of the movie theaters. It was a nice experience, smelling the popcorn as soon as you walked in, the multi screens, the audience. All going away now.
 
I enjoyed going to a theater, and matinees were a good price, plus I liked the fact it got me out of the house, and was on a big screen. I cared nothing about buying snacks and drinks, so it was a minimal amount of money for 2 hours of entertainment. There aren't a lot of places I enjoy going alone, but I was always okay with going to a theater alone. My favorite theater closed awhile back, and I haven't looked for another one.

So I just buy used movies. It makes me no difference if they're older - like 5 years or so - if I haven't seen them, they're still new to me.
 
Aunt Bea's post reminded me of when I was around 8 years old...my grandmother worked in Dallas so I got to spend a few days with her and on one of those days we took a streetcar ride to the 'magnificent' Majestic theater in down town Dallas and saw the movie Grapes of Wrath....the theater, movie and streetcar ride have always stayed with this country bumpkin too.
 
Aunt Bea said:
It was designed by Thomas W. Lamb, he designed approx. 300 theaters including a couple in Chicago.

Category:Thomas W. Lamb buildings - Wikipedia
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I followed your link AB and Lamb also designed the fancy theater in my hometown. I remember it had sweeping white marble staircases 1 on each side of the lobby. It was beautiful ;a few years ago it was completely cleaned and restored and now it's a popular venue for not just movies but for live performances and theater. Weddings too.

49c7fc72bbe92a7fd9ec94ff8f58c344.jpg
 
I agree, @OneEyedDiva, but then i'm not one for large groups of strangers. The last movie i saw in theater was the JJ Abrams reboot of Star Trek in 2009. Daughter treated, and we went to a slow time matinee. It seemed fitting as my then 5 yr old sons and i had seen the first Star Trek movie in 1979 in theater.

But in general i much prefer watching movies at home.
 
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Oh, and DD has Amazon Prime membership, so we get their basic no extra charge fare as part of that. And renting a movie from them is usually $3.99 so about the same as DVD from a video store.
 
JustDave said:
I buy one streaming service at a time, milk it for all that interests me for a month, and then switch to another service, where I do the same. But I leave a few months between services where I revisit my private stock.
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That's exactly what I do. It takes over a year for one of those services to get enough new things to interest me for a month.

YouTube is simply wonderful to me. I've discovered music I didn't know I liked, travel videos, and hundreds of movies. I prefer movies made before 1950 and YouTube seems to have them all. I watch one pre-1950 movie every Sunday along with members of an online forum. We've watched 135 movies together and found them all on YouTube.

The last movie I watched at a theatre was in 2014, Guardians of the Galaxy with my family. I do miss the fun of watching a comedy and laughing along with a big group or everyone jumping and screaming together at a horror movie like Jaws.
 

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