Imagine, if you will, a world in which newly released films are delivered to your television set, rather than your local movie theater. There’d be no apathetic teen in a ticket booth to tell you “sorry, we don’t do student discounts on Saturday.” You could forget the seven dollar nachos; just make yourself a ham sandwich, and you know what? Add some extra cheese for free. You could do away with six dollar sodas from the concession stand; instead, pour yourself a glass of Kool-Aid, or, hey, it’s your house. Make it a tall glass of vodka. There would be no more sharing your armrest with hairy, obese men in tank-tops, who slowly ooze further into your personal space as the movie progresses. Instead, maybe you’d share a reclining couch with a hairy, obese, tank-topped significant other.
Well, this imaginary world could easily turn into reality. I just read a piece of news today that has left my mind effectively blown. Read this excerpt from Deadline.com:
Washington, D.C. — The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), saying it was “in the public interest” today approved a request by the Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. (MPAA) to permit recent movies to be sent directly to American households over secure high definition transmission lines from their cable or satellite providers prior to their release on DVD or Blu-ray.
So with new releases going straight to my television and the advent of the mini-fridge, the Xbox, the laptop, the iPhone, Netflix, and the bedpan, I now officially never have to leave my bedroom. If we aren’t careful, we are actually going to turn into the fat people in flying chairs from WALL-E.
Some people are seeing this as a dick move by production companies to avoid sharing profits with movie theaters. If this were to happen, many theaters would go under pretty quickly. Although I attempted it earlier, I really can’t picture America without the multiplex. It might be okay to avoid the theater for a movie like Date Night (which would be ironic) or some other rom-com, but seeing something like Avatar or Iron Man for the first time on anything other than a giant movie screen is borderline blasphemous. Also, how are middle schoolers supposed to make out in the back row of a theater if there aren’t any theaters for their moms to drop them off at? A whole facet of our social system may collapse!
Even with all of the cost cutting benefits of sidestepping the movie theater, I think overall it kind of…sucks. Going to the movies is a relatively easy way to have a “night out.” As little as I’m actually doing in a movie theater, it’s still nice to feel like I got out of the house and did something.
It does sound enticing, but I don’t think I’m in favor of the new home theater.
Would you rather skip the theater and watch the movie at home? Or do you think this overall bad news?
-Andrew
Source: Deadline
Well, this imaginary world could easily turn into reality. I just read a piece of news today that has left my mind effectively blown. Read this excerpt from Deadline.com:
Washington, D.C. — The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), saying it was “in the public interest” today approved a request by the Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. (MPAA) to permit recent movies to be sent directly to American households over secure high definition transmission lines from their cable or satellite providers prior to their release on DVD or Blu-ray.
So with new releases going straight to my television and the advent of the mini-fridge, the Xbox, the laptop, the iPhone, Netflix, and the bedpan, I now officially never have to leave my bedroom. If we aren’t careful, we are actually going to turn into the fat people in flying chairs from WALL-E.
Some people are seeing this as a dick move by production companies to avoid sharing profits with movie theaters. If this were to happen, many theaters would go under pretty quickly. Although I attempted it earlier, I really can’t picture America without the multiplex. It might be okay to avoid the theater for a movie like Date Night (which would be ironic) or some other rom-com, but seeing something like Avatar or Iron Man for the first time on anything other than a giant movie screen is borderline blasphemous. Also, how are middle schoolers supposed to make out in the back row of a theater if there aren’t any theaters for their moms to drop them off at? A whole facet of our social system may collapse!
Even with all of the cost cutting benefits of sidestepping the movie theater, I think overall it kind of…sucks. Going to the movies is a relatively easy way to have a “night out.” As little as I’m actually doing in a movie theater, it’s still nice to feel like I got out of the house and did something.
It does sound enticing, but I don’t think I’m in favor of the new home theater.
Would you rather skip the theater and watch the movie at home? Or do you think this overall bad news?
-Andrew
Source: Deadline
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