So, want to catch Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci together at their most menacing in years? Or watch the searing deconstruction of a marriage as enacted by Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson? Or a couple of papal performances by Jonathan Pryce and Anthony Hopkins? Or maybe a return to form for funnyman Eddie Murphy?
No prob. Their films, respectively, The Irishman, Marriage Story, The Two Popes (which starts streaming Dec. 20) and Dolemite Is My Name are as close as your couch. Provided, of course, that you are a Netflix subscriber.
Incidentally, the aforementioned flicks and their stars have all been nominated for Golden Globe Awards. Doubtless, most will also be up for Oscars when nominations are announced next month.
The times they are definitely a-changin.’ This situation would have been unthinkable years ago. Movies were made to be enjoyed among the masses on mega screens in mega theatres.
Then economics got in the way. Both for the filmmakers and audiences.
The filmmakers found financiers from Netflix, as well as streaming enterprises like Amazon Prime, Crave, Apple+ and Disney+ willing to pay massive sums to make movies for them.
As for audiences? Streaming has become bloody hard to resist. Especially when one can park the family in front of the tube, to stream for about six to 10 bucks a month, and watch all these flicks as well as dynamite TV series like The Crown, The Kominsky Method, Fleabag and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel — all, incidentally, Golden Globe nominees as well.
And it’s not just the hefty price of movie-theatre admission, either. There’s also the added enticement of far cheaper snacks at home, not to mention avoiding costs of transportation and downtown parking, ‘dynamic’ or otherwise. Plus, there’s the pause element, which allows for bladder breaks and will come in most handy for those taking in The Irishman at three-and-a-half hours.
Bottom line: We’re becoming a nation of slugs. We’re opting to remain in our sweats, leaving our mugs and coifs au naturel, and kick back at home, gazing at the tube, playing video games or staying glued to Instagram. Gone, apparently, are the days for many when folks loved to get fully adorned and go out on the town for a fun-filled soirée.
This new reality is not lost on movie-theatre owners. They are fighting back. And not just with 3D Imax and superior sound specs, but by turning theatres into swanky living rooms with booze and high-tech kiddie playlands.
This has been going on in parts of the U.S., Europe and Asia for several years. These super-theatres have also been popping up across Canada, including Cineplex Odeon and Guzzo venues around Montreal. And, clearly, the tactic is working, because they are now building bigger and brassier.
If you visited the Cineplex Cinemas Forum recently, you no doubt noticed that five of its 22 auditoriums are out of service and under construction. These five halls on the lower level of the theatre are being converted into VIP Cinemas, set to open in April and offering a “luxurious and fully licensed movie-going experience” for those 18 and over.
Cineplex also announced Thursday it would be opening, in late 2020, a Playdium entertainment complex in Quartier DIX30, next to the Cineplex Odeon Brossard Cinemas and VIP. It will keep families, before or after movies, amused with arcade games, 10-pin bowling, minigolf and mind-bending virtual reality as well as providing abundant munchies.
So the battle rages on to get bums on seats. There could be a movie here.
Source: Brownstein: Movie theatres are trying to win back a nation of slugs | Montreal Gazette