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Barry Diller: The movie business as before is finished and will never come back

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Re: Barry Diller: The movie business as before is finished and will never come back

#61
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a cinema guy, go to cinema about once a week. But to be honest, nobody misses movies like Godzilla vs. Kong. I think one of the worst movies ever.

Now now, let’s not be too hasty to make that determination until we’ve seen what fast & furious 9 has to offer

Hopefully a new Riddick.

Re: Barry Diller: The movie business as before is finished and will never come back

#62

I love how he ends the article by saying, “I’m gonna produce plays on Broadway”

My understanding is that musicals have the exact problem of being way too commerical and basically adaptations of already, mediocre, work. The difference is that the indie scene is even smaller due to the relative costs of creating musicals.

Re: Barry Diller: The movie business as before is finished and will never come back

#63
post #4

”I used to be in the movie business where you made something really because you cared about it," he said, noting that popular reception mattered more than anything else. What arrogance.

Also its such horse shit. Surprised someone like him said something like that. Nothing much has come from this "l'art pour l'art" approach, because as it turns out you need to make money from films to keep the industry running, first and foremost. When you have a large industry, ideally locally concentrated, you also have a large talent pool of the best of the best actors, directors, writers etc. Sometimes this then…

> Sometimes this then results in art, but usually not.

In other words, nothing much comes from it.

Re: Barry Diller: The movie business as before is finished and will never come back

#64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depends on your home setup, a big screen and some big speakers go a long way

I agree. No sticky floor, no person behind me that decided to take off their giant winter coat when the movie started (instead of previews), no people ruining my immersion because they have to pull out their pocket PC to address their attention deficit, no large groups of people clapping at every character reveal during a film or audibly cheering on the protagonists, no untrusted heavily farted-in seating, no reduced…

I have somewhat mixed feelings about the Alamo Drafthouse type of experience. On the rare occasions I go to a movie theater it's because I want the big immersive experience. If I want food and beer while I watch a film I can do that at home.

Re: Barry Diller: The movie business as before is finished and will never come back

#65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I won't mourn movie theatres (though I hope places emulate the likes of Alamo Drafthouse and do dinner, drinks and let us make an evening out of watching a movie), but I do worry about things like movie financing. It feels the industry has split in two, either making super-expensive superhero blockbusters or super cheap indie films. I'm informed by my cinemaphile friend that exactly this phenomenon has been much re…

What would have been considered a mid budget film?

Being John Malkovich had a budget of $13 million in 1999 - I'm guessing that's mid-range.

Re: Barry Diller: The movie business as before is finished and will never come back

#66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. No sticky floor, no person behind me that decided to take off their giant winter coat when the movie started (instead of previews), no people ruining my immersion because they have to pull out their pocket PC to address their attention deficit, no large groups of people clapping at every character reveal during a film or audibly cheering on the protagonists, no untrusted heavily farted-in seating, no reduced…

Not having to listen to people eat like pigs during the movie while I'm trying to enjoy being immersed in the audio of the movie (while some guy nearby very loudly assaults a giant bucket of popcorn over the next two hours). Because if they didn't consume two thousand calories during the movie, they might starve, seeing as the US has no other available food options. The only way a movie theater experience can be cons…

I feel like the easier solution is to contain the seating so the noise doesn’t leave the viewers booth. Instead of just a bunch of empty chairs in an auditorium. Then people can be inconsiderate all they want.

Re: Barry Diller: The movie business as before is finished and will never come back

#67
We're arguably repeating history, where 100 years ago film was the upstart (but rapidly growing) business and vaudeville was the established incumbent. Film offered far more creative possibilities and were dramatically more immersive than the entertainment it replaced.

Today the film industry is the incumbent - profits have peaked, and the upstart video game business has already eclipsed it. Once again, video games have far more creative possibilities and are dramatically more immersive than the films they're replacing.

Re: Barry Diller: The movie business as before is finished and will never come back

#68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I won't mourn movie theatres (though I hope places emulate the likes of Alamo Drafthouse and do dinner, drinks and let us make an evening out of watching a movie), but I do worry about things like movie financing. It feels the industry has split in two, either making super-expensive superhero blockbusters or super cheap indie films. I'm informed by my cinemaphile friend that exactly this phenomenon has been much re…

What would have been considered a mid budget film?

Probably many movies you can think of from the 90s/00s that were not blockbusters, especially romcoms.

Re: Barry Diller: The movie business as before is finished and will never come back

#69
post #13

The actual quote (with my emphasis added): > "The movie business *as before* is finished and will never come back." And I think that's correct. Superhero blockbusters taking over all box office receipts was one thing, but now those blockbusters are becoming deeply tied to streaming services like Disney+ that's bringing content into people's homes and away from movie theatres. I won't mourn movie theatres (though I ho…

> I won't mourn movie theatres (though I hope places emulate the likes of Alamo Drafthouse and do dinner, drinks and let us make an evening out of watching a movie), but I do worry about things like movie financing. It feels the industry has split in two, either making super-expensive superhero blockbusters or super cheap indie films. I'm informed by my cinemaphile friend that exactly this phenomenon has been much re…

The good news is that an indie film on zero budget from the 90s was much more technologically limited than it is today, so access to fancy cameras matters less than it did then, and it lets talent shine more.

Re: Barry Diller: The movie business as before is finished and will never come back

#70

It's unfortunate, but I think he's probably right. Some movies are just better in theater. The experience of watching Mad Max: Fury Road in theater vs at home is a night and day difference.

Depends on your home setup, a big screen and some big speakers go a long way

Living in an expensive area like Vancouver, a home theater might not be an option. Most of my friends rent a room in a sharehouse where they're not allowed to have guests, or where the TV is a communal area. Others live in basement suites with noise rules and can watch TV by themselves but not with friends. The theatre is much better for watching a movie with a group, unless you're very wealthy.
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