"The only reason why we ask other people how their weekend was is so we can tell them about our own weekend" –Chuck Palahniuk
In the age of streaming
services and applications, it is indeed a wonder why quite a lot of people
would still prefer to watch movies in the theater. Despite the plethora of
on-demand options conveniently at your disposal, a trip to the cinema is always
worth the effort and not just out of sheer novelty either.
Indeed, in this time and
age where streaming services seem like the more practical and feasible option
to get our slice of entertainment, cinemas should have been rendered obsolete—a
thing of the past. And yet here we are, peppered weekly with Ayala Malls Movie schedules, Movies in Greenbelt and even current movies in Makati being
advertised in applications and newspapers. Instead of dying out, it seems like
the theaters and the cinemas are thriving and they are ever as robust despite
having a significant price hike on movie tickets. Why? Well, just because there
are some experiences that you can only ever get within the walls of your local
cinema.
Sure, there might be a
myriad of ways to watch films without setting foot inside a movie theater (most
of them legal, mind you) and the novelty of watching movies in theaters might
never beat a Netflix subscription, the fact remains that the cinema or the
theater has not lost its magic. Indeed, there are only a handful of ways
wherein a makeshift home theater can emulate the kind of experience you have in
movies, and that is a good enough reason to watch cinemas. Given that there are
also a handful of bad experiences that might deter you from stepping in a cinema
ever again, there are still compelling reasons why it is still worth watching
movies in cinemas. Here are just some of them:
Avoid spoilers and be part of the conversation
Let us be realistic here
and attest to the fact that spoilers are always present whenever a blockbuster
movie opens. With social media being the constant and consistent medium of
communication among many individuals, people would soon get word of what
happens in a particular film before even seeing it. More importantly, as social
media is a tool that allows users to communicate their thoughts to a broader
audience, some netizens would inadvertently read these spoilers regardless of
how meticulous they have screened their posts. Incidentally, if you opted to
wait for a particular movie to air only on the streaming service then hearing
spoilers is inevitable. If you wish to be in-the-know of the latest films
without reading them through spoilers, then consume movies in a timely fashion.
This process means you have to see them in theaters. Here are some of the ways you can avoid spoilers.
Movie Food
Granted that you can
munch on movie snacks in your kitchen or even on your sofa while you are
watching a movie, nothing quite compares to snacking on a tub of popcorn while
anticipating your film. There is an absolute joy in loading up your movie
snacks, beverages and maybe even some candy when you are at a movie theater
that cannot be emulated by your home entertainment room. There are some people
whose primary motivation for watching movies is getting to eat their favorite
movie snacks. That, in itself, is pretty convincing.
Your home theater is good (but not that good)
Regardless of how much
you spent on your home entertainment system or whether you have a 90-inch 3D TV
with surround sound speakers, all of that would still not compare to the kind
of experience you will get at a movie theater. As said above, there are just
some cinema experiences that you cannot replicate no matter how hard you try.
Certain scenes are made to be viewed in theater or viewed best in them. Scenes
such as the ones in Gravity or that particular scene wherein Dwayne Johnson
makes a jump in Skyscraper is seen best in a large screen. And let us face it;
you really could not fit that kind of television screen in your homes. So, you
might as well watch movies the way they are meant to be viewed: in theaters.
Support movies that you love
The
movie industry is a business, and of course, it needs to make enough profit for
future movie ventures. In this regard, only movies that do well will get
sequels or get similarly made. After all, films are made based on what does
well at the box office. In this regard, you can cast your vote with dollars and
let them know that the movies you watched are the movies you like. If a film
does not do well, then you will never see another iteration of it sometime soon
regardless of how much you love it. Support the types of movies you love, and
maybe you will see more of the same get made.
