Is anybody else a bit surprised by the pessimism surrounding seeing movies in theaters?
I’m not surprised to see people shit on AMC specifically, given some of the moves they’ve made with acquiring smaller theaters and hiking prices. But, I’m also seeing a lot of people hating on the very idea of seeing a movie outside the comfort of their home.
I guess I love movies more than most. Enough to go to the movies and see three movies back-to-back-to-back in an evening. I mean, over the course of 2025 I saw over two dozen movies and only two or three of them were a bad experience (loud/distracting audience members, poor seating or outdated audio / visual infrastructure). The vast majority of the time, my experience was much better than watching it on my 60" TV screen at home. I can honestly say that my most tranquil and relaxed moments of last year were when I was free from all distractions and enjoying a cinematic moment with a crowd of other people.
I guess it’s just sad to see streaming services get rewarded for pumping out a ton of slop. While creative and unique movies only sell a few tickets on opening weekend. The people that fund movies definitely have to be noticing those trends, which I’m sure is why we’re seeing fewer and fewer interesting movies each year. We ultimately end up with endless sequels, live-action-remakes of successful animated movies/video games, and endless waves of things we’ve already seen before.
What a shitty time to live in: We live our lives with less money than our Grandparents. We see a constant stream of sad, frustrating, or disheartening news 24/7. Then, we try to take a second to relax and step away from the madness. But, many of our beloved hobbies are in a nosedive so it’s hard to truly get away from it all:
Video games are crashing with crazy numbers of studios shutting down or laying people off. We have to lean on Indie games, and a few hit games to keep the medium bearable. Not to mention AI is making gaming far too expensive.
Great movies are getting way less attention, and instead we’re getting Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 because it’ll sell tickets to the kids.
And it gets continuously harder to watch good TV without being subscribed to a dozen different subscription services. No wonder people are sailing the seas like it’s the 1700s.
Long story short: Anybody else frustrated right now?
I go to the theater a few times a month, and the amount of bad experiences I’ve had throughout my entire lifetime can be counted on one hand. I enjoy it better than my own home setup, for the same reasons you mentioned.
Sometimes I wonder if people here are over-exaggerating how bad theaters are, or am I just one of tbe lucky ones?
Is anybody else a bit surprised by the pessimism surrounding seeing movies in theaters?
I’m not surprised to see people shit on AMC specifically, given some of the moves they’ve made with acquiring smaller theaters and hiking prices. But, I’m also seeing a lot of people hating on the very idea of seeing a movie outside the comfort of their home.
I guess I love movies more than most. Enough to go to the movies and see three movies back-to-back-to-back in an evening. I mean, over the course of 2025 I saw over two dozen movies and only two or three of them were a bad experience (loud/distracting audience members, poor seating or outdated audio / visual infrastructure). The vast majority of the time, my experience was much better than watching it on my 60" TV screen at home. I can honestly say that my most tranquil and relaxed moments of last year were when I was free from all distractions and enjoying a cinematic moment with a crowd of other people.
I guess it’s just sad to see streaming services get rewarded for pumping out a ton of slop. While creative and unique movies only sell a few tickets on opening weekend. The people that fund movies definitely have to be noticing those trends, which I’m sure is why we’re seeing fewer and fewer interesting movies each year. We ultimately end up with endless sequels, live-action-remakes of successful animated movies/video games, and endless waves of things we’ve already seen before.
What a shitty time to live in: We live our lives with less money than our Grandparents. We see a constant stream of sad, frustrating, or disheartening news 24/7. Then, we try to take a second to relax and step away from the madness. But, many of our beloved hobbies are in a nosedive so it’s hard to truly get away from it all:
Long story short: Anybody else frustrated right now?
Thanks for coming to my TED talk.
Same here, man.
I go to the theater a few times a month, and the amount of bad experiences I’ve had throughout my entire lifetime can be counted on one hand. I enjoy it better than my own home setup, for the same reasons you mentioned.
Sometimes I wonder if people here are over-exaggerating how bad theaters are, or am I just one of tbe lucky ones?
THANK YOU! I was starting to feel crazy 😵💫