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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

#291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When’s the last time your “list of great comedy movies” got a new entry, regardless of whether you saw the new entry in the cinema or even if it was a new film at the time you saw it?

Every couple of years? But I do think the frequency of straight up comedies being produced is dwindling, and aren't popular enough to go to a movie theatre for.

For me, comedies are so much a matter of personal taste that I’m generally not interested in seeing them in the theater unless it’s with a group of friends or I feel like I have reasonable expectations that I will like the movie a lot. They’re not really like superhero or action movies where I can be pretty good at guessing whether I’ll like the film.

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

#293

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The depressed/angry mood has been building for a couple decades or more, and getting more widespread. You can see this a lot in comedy. Comedy used to be mostly about humor, with occasional social commentary. Now it's largely about anger and shock value. "Comedians" are targeting the same brain patterns as social media. I think that's a reason that people like Jim Gaffigan find such a strong following. There's a good…

This has always been a thing, though: George Carlin, Richard Pryor, etc.

Which is why I stated "mostly."

Carlin, Pryor, Foxx, Bruce and others were rarities.

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

#294
post #273

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I rarely go to movie theaters because what is available on streaming is so much better, it's not a close call. Better seats, better sound (for me this means not being deafened), better food, better drinks, better price (and no dick moves to get a few more $), no parking issues, less annoying lights/sounds etc from other patrons. I also haven’t seen a theatre with a wood burner. It misses is the feeling of it being…

The real killer of the streaming for is that there is a pause button. I missed out a whole 5 minutes of Avengers Endgame thanks to my bladder.

The pause button is just one part of the "complete control" package the in-home experience is.

Missed a sentence? Rewind it. Watch some international movie? Turn on the subtitles. Enjoy some explosion scenes? Turn up the bass? Wanna relax with a drink and chat? Lower the volume. Watch a food scene and suddenly feel hungry? Put a pack of popcorn in the microwave.

I'd only go to theater for social events, not for the movie itself anymore. I'm way too spoiled by the freedom at home.

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

#295
Studios should create "backlot" theaters where you can come to the set, do Q&A/photos with actors/crew, and see the movie (or, similar to kickstarter, see the dailies/weeklies in progress) with regular screenings and events.

Charge a premium for it, minimal cost to operate, and fans would love it. Would revitalize the role of the actor while generating a unique revenue stream. If multiple studios did it, you could have a meta business around doing "backlot screening" tours.

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

#296
post #210

Through my work, I have access to Placer.ai, which allows me to track foot traffic to any retail location or chain via visitors' cellphone GPS. Here's AMC's nationwide foot traffic from January 2017 through July 4, 2021. https://i.imgur.com/s3H7EYj.png

Looks kinda similar to the google search trends https://imgur.com/a/bbTjUkf

Yep. That's because people use Google to get directions to the nearest theater.

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

#297
post #286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I rarely go to movie theaters because what is available on streaming is so much better, it's not a close call. Better seats, better sound (for me this means not being deafened), better food, better drinks, better price (and no dick moves to get a few more $), no parking issues, less annoying lights/sounds etc from other patrons. I also haven’t seen a theatre with a wood burner. It misses is the feeling of it being…

The open-mouthed chewing, soda slurping, and bag rustling is unbearable for me. It completely takes me out of the film, particularly during quiet scenes.

I once endured A Quiet Place (wonderful movie) while some teenaged kids behind us spent the movie loudly making out. Of all the movies to do that in!

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

#298

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Airplane was not strictly an original, it was a remake/spoof of Zero Hour from 1957 and more broadly spoofing the "disaster" film concept.

You could also argue it was spoofing the Airport films which were based on books.

There are a significant number of scenes in Airplane that are directly lifted from Zero Hour. I haven't checked recently, but I think it's almost a scene-for-scene remake in many respects.

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

#299

Through my work, I have access to Placer.ai, which allows me to track foot traffic to any retail location or chain via visitors' cellphone GPS. Here's AMC's nationwide foot traffic from January 2017 through July 4, 2021. https://i.imgur.com/s3H7EYj.png

For kicks can we see home depot and cabelas? If not no worries.

Sure. Here's Home Depot: https://i.imgur.com/bqoV3LI.png

Here's Cabela's: https://i.imgur.com/SLsba42.png

BTW, I should note that this is showing weekly visits (and the same is true for the AMC chart). Again, this is Jan 2017 through July 4, 2021.

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

#300

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a broader cultural issue for all sorts of art today, not a movie specific thing. The depressed/angry mood has been building for a couple decades or more, and getting more widespread. Even something intentionally over the top like Fast and Furious or Marvel has more "serious issue" stuff in many of the installments from the last 5 years than previously. It's easier in the news to see all the bad stuff that used…

It's so weird to have people say Marvel is getting "so serious" now, when the movies are all using stories from decades old comic series.

They use the old stories and then add walls of serious text and sadness and darkness that weren't there in the original comics.
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