'Beneath You'
A place to talk about movies--old and new, good and bad, high art and high cheese. It's the place to place your kittens on the award winners, gossip about upcoming fims and discuss DVD releases and extras. Spoiler policy: White font all plot-related discussion until a movie's been in wide release two weeks, and keep the major HSQ in white font until two weeks after the video/DVD release.
But I also see that DVD sales are dropping to single digit growth for the first time in forever
Is that all types of DVDs, or just DVDs of movies? The only reason I ask is because I could see if people were buying full season or series runs of DVDs, then they might be investing more time in less product, so to speak. I also wonder how big a phenom Netflix (and its imitators) has become in terms of impacting sales.
Lots of articles are bemoaning the drop in cinema ticket purchases, and blaming DVDs is at the top of the list of reasons.
The phenomena is worldwide, by the way.
My own take is that in recently there have been a few anomaly movies -- especially Lord of the Rings and Passion of the Christ -- that made the past few years bigger than they normally would have been.
There was some survey a few weeks back (that I linked to) that said that a large % of movie viewers say they don't see as many movies in the theaters these days because the quality of movies isn't as great.
Also, I wonder how many people tend to wait for the DVDs because they have fancy home entertainment systems with wide screens....
And piracy -- I forgot piracy.
My own take is that in recently there have been a few anomaly movies -- especially Lord of the Rings and Passion of the Christ -- that made the past few years bigger than they normally would have been.
This sounds very plausible. If the industry is sitting around betting on regular exception events, well, not that safe.
they don't see as many movies in the theaters these days because the quality of movies isn't as great.
Also, I wonder how many people tend to wait for the DVDs because they have fancy home entertainment systems with wide screens....
Which makes me think - why do I see movies in the theatre? Because a) I NEED TO SEE IT NOW (which is akin to your first point) or b) it needs to be seen on the big screen.
My TV's not that big (27", I think), and I have no fancy sound system. But even if I had one of the big jobbie dos, I wouldn't wait to see a big visual movie on it -- I'd just enjoy watching it on it again more.
a large % of movie viewers say they don't see as many movies in the theaters these days because the quality of movies isn't as great.
I don't think movies qua movies are necessarily any worse -- there seems to have always been a lot of forgettable dreck. But the price of movie tickets keeps going up, while wages are pretty stable, and working three or four hours to earn the money to see a crappy movie is a different proposition than working one hour or 45 minutes to see one. Less value for your time.
Or maybe it's that TV has gotten better, while movies are pretty much on a level plane, which tilts the balance toward staying hoime and watching TV.
Which makes me think - why do I see movies in the theatre?
I do it for the social experience, either for the groupthink blockbuster or as a venue for going out with a friend. On some occasions I do it for the movie alone, because I know I want to see it and I just can't wait, but that isn't terribly common.
I know that the fact that DVDs come out 3-6 months after theatrical release, rather than 1-2 years after, makes a difference in my theatre-viewing.
I also suspect that the amount of information available about movies -- gossip, buzz, the plethora of reviews and advance screenings -- are such that my ability to know whether I'll like a movie are not is pinpoint-accurate. (Hence the surprise at disliking Batman. ) Better ability to predict means going to fewer movies overall, and my geenral tendency is "if there's only a 60% chance I'll like it, wait for video." Which, see point #2.
Hey, aren't you supposed to be paying me large sums of money to rid you of troublesome alien souls?
Here's a twenty....
Is the total of viewers down, or is the distributions shifting to transmitted movies, pretty long after the release date?
My theory is that movies need to stop sucking.
I wonder how many people tend to wait for the DVDs because they have fancy home entertainment systems with wide screens....
DVD's are coming out a lot faster too. My guess is that 3-4 months after the movie dwindles at the theater it is available to rent. (I also hate paying $8 to see a movie knowing that the same amount of money can allow me to rent 2-3 movies at the same price.)
On a completely different topic, has anyone seen Me & You & Everyone We Know? I'm supposed to see it tonight. It looks like it might be very good, but might also be irritatingly precious.
ita's way of choosing movies to see is ours. If it doesn't need to be seen on the big screen or RIGHT NOW! then we wait for DVD. We have plasma TV's and a good sound system. This, versus forking over $40 - $50 for the 4 of us to go to the movies for PG 13 and below or we have to get a sitter (much more difficult on the boat!) and end up paying as much or more for the two of us to see an R rated movie. It's a weighty decision many times. If the prices were lower we might be tempted to see more movies at the theater.