True what you say, re: linear TV.
Some films are still worth watching on the big screen in a theater though!
Absolutely.
I’ll add my now-standard “for the good of the order” plea that those of us who still value good movies should make a conscious effort to see the good ones in the theater.
You and I can dim the lights, sit quietly, and watch a movie at home with full attention. But most people don’t watch movies that way, and the streamers know it. So they are now making movies for people who AREN’T paying attention.
The streamers want generic content for the generic global viewer, and they know most of those viewers are channel surfing, multi-tasking couch potatoes who look up from their phones from time to time if something dramatic enough to catch their attention happens in the movie.
This is nothing you don’t know, but the streamers aren’t making movies for us anymore. If a good movie sometimes slips through the content mill, it’s because there is still a saving remnant of insightful writers, well-trained directors, and actors who are serious about their craft who still want to do good work.
But more likely, the streamers’ good movies will be indies and foreign films that were made outside the big studio system and then picked up cheap for distribution. The streamers buy the rights, drop them into a film catalogue, and strip the creators of any backend revenue streams. Tnd The streamers are destroying the ecosystem that gives the indies a chance to make small films, find screens, and find an audience.
A lot of movies for me translates into 10 or 12 movies in theaters in a year. That’s more than most people see, but it’s far fewer than the average person saw back before television diverted so much of the audience. But if people like us don’t support the good movies when they’re made, they will becone even rarer than they are. It’s on us.
At this point, several of the usual suspects are likely to show uup and say they gave up on theaters because of bad viewer behavior. Frankly, I have NEVER encountered that in the six or seven years since I had my Road to Damascus moment, realized that I had a huge blindspot, and reengaged with movies as an active, selective ticket buyer. I just don’t go to idiot bait movies.
The idiots may be down at the other end of the hall behaving as idiots do, but I’m ten doors away in one of the smaller theaters, and the audience is quieter than a churchmouse. A lot of people need to broaden their horizons.
The Sundance Film Festival is coming up. It is sticking with a hybrid model, and a majority of it’s selections will be available online. Most don’t interest me, but several do. I expect to watch 4-6. If I like them, I will make a point of seeing them in the theater when they come around. And if they interest me enough to revisit again, I would rather buy a DVD or Blu-Ray than subscribe to a streamer.