The casual moviegoer is a thing of the past. That's a big problem for Hollywood
The casual moviegoer is a thing of the past. That's a big problem for Hollywood
Maybe I'm weird but never in my life have I just gone to a theater and hoped there was something interesting enough showing to draw me in just from a title or maybe a poster in the lobby. I just can't imagine pre-allocating my time and money to such a venture on a whim with little to no idea of what I might be getting in to.
It did happen back in the day when a lot of movie theaters were attached to a mall. I actually saw The Matrix that way, wandering through the mall with my girlfriend after dinner, and the poster looked interesting to both of us. Hadn't heard a thing about it. That was a cool experience.
Once theaters shifted to a destination unto themselves, you really don't see the 'wander into a movie' thing anymore.
I actually saw The Matrix that way, wandering through the mall with my girlfriend after dinner, and the poster looked interesting to both of us. Hadn’t heard a thing about it. That was a cool experience.
That must've been awesome
That movie blew my mind and it's one of the very few I paid to see multiple times in theaters. I think that one was four times.
It really was. After the first chase and the phone booth smash I was not sure what I was watching, but by the time Neo meets Trinity at the club I was hooked. And the scene in the skyscraper lobby had me picking my jaw up off the floor.
It's one of the few movies I actually have memories of going to see, like instead of just remembering the plot of the movie I remember the events leading up to it, where I ate dinner, looking at the poster and deciding to go inside and watch it, etc. And I remember my reactions. It was that intense, and certainly a lot of that came from not knowing WHAT to expect.
The only other movie theater experiences in my memory with that intensity are watching Saving Private Ryan the first time (obvious) and Return of the Jedi, because there was a Darth Vader at the theater and I was super psyched that me and my sister got our picture taken with him!
Saw it theatrically in 2020, when cinemas here put on a lot of older films since they needed something to show and nothing new was coming out. There were some teens there who had evidently never seen it before.
I first saw it on DVD using my computer. Not the ideal experience.
I'm really lucky, there's an independent theatre near my place. If I don't have plans, I'll see what's on as I trust them to choose good stuff. Seen a lot of really awesome movies I never would've caught otherwise and best of all, absolutely spoiler free.
Sure, some that were not my jam at all but overall, walking into a movie and knowing next to nothing about it can be exhilarating, the story can go anywhere and you have no idea what's up.
