431–440 of 492 posts
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You can watch all these anytime on streaming - why do you need a cinema to see them?
There is a remarkably different experience between seeing Clint Eastwood 20 feet tall versus 25 inches tall
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Anecdotally, there are two in my town. One seems to go bankrupt every few years. I’ve been told (by somebody who would know) that the other basically survives thanks to the Rocky Horror Picture Show, the Room, and Troll 2. Everything else loses money according to that fellow.
The phenomenon of "The Room" being one of the most popular cult movies ever needs to be examined. I think the thing that makes "The Room" work is its raw authenticity. It totally, unashamedly owns its weirdness. Badly written novels and screenplays often have the feeling of watching a cheap puppet show where the author is clearly visible puppeteering all the other characters because they act unrealistically and in ac…
I am going to say something unkind, even though I am literally sitting next to a framed and signed Tommy Wiseau head shot and generally adore the guy. It is very obvious that the room springs largely from what appears to me to be some sort of brain damage.
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Every top comment on HN is someone with an unprofitable use case complaining that no one serves them. Change my mind.
There are theaters that are dedicated to playing older movies, and they apparently turn enough profit to subsist in some locations. I think that makes this a top comment on HN with a profitable use case complaining that there's not enough around. Also, I would watch the shit out of the Good the Bad and the Ugly in a theater. Same with original Star Wars (which I think happened during extra trilogy releases occasional…
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> Great. Now every movie theatre starts doing that. What happens to profit margins? Why would every movie theater need to do that? That seems like an absurd proposition. Do I really need to watch older movies in some newer giant theater designed with a special sounds system that the entire theater needs to be certified for if I'm watching a movie that wasn't scored to take advantage of it? > What happens to profit ma…
The OP is saying that movie theatres are economically unviable. GP said that the problem with the industry was that they limited themselves to showing latest releases. If a few can turn a profit by showing old timey films, that’s great for them and anyone who lives near them but hardly a solution to the sustainability of the movie industry as a whole.
As to whether the industry is actually doomed, it's far too early to call that, IMO. I literally asked my wife last night what she thought about movie theaters now, as I was trying to decide whether taking the kids to one this weekend was worth considering. We both sorta decided "not yet" (and my own personal experience working at a movie theater when I was younger does not make me think they're the cleanest of places).
Additionally, there's going to be slim pickings for good movies soon as I think the pipeline of stuff that was in production or delayed the release to now is used up, and the lack of much new production that happened for a year hits us for a year or so. Does that mean the industry is dead? Maybe if they can't hold on that long or find other revenue streams (and don't get a bailout), but I think it's a bit premature to be all that confident in any assessment.
Ok, here's my problem with the movie theatre industry. There's 100+ years of fantastic historical content and we're not doing anything with it. 99% of what's shown in theaters is new releases. I understand we don't want to "go stale" as a society and that movie producers also need to make a living, but the balance is just way off. I would pay good money to see "the good the bad and the ugly" with my kids in a couple…
Alamo Drafthouse does this kind of thing constantly. Not just showings of old movies (where "old" can mean anything from 80 to 5 years), but themed movie parties with props and costumes and special food and drinks. They'll do a theme for the month and curate a set of movies around it, showing a trailer for the collection before regular movies. They'll have the original directors or stars come in for screenings and th…
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There are theaters that are dedicated to playing older movies, and they apparently turn enough profit to subsist in some locations. I think that makes this a top comment on HN with a profitable use case complaining that there's not enough around. Also, I would watch the shit out of the Good the Bad and the Ugly in a theater. Same with original Star Wars (which I think happened during extra trilogy releases occasional…
Not all of these theaters are profitable. Many of them have special arrangements with municipal government (government secured loans or $1 rent) on the theory that these institutions serve some public good not unlike parks and playgrounds.
Theaters do that not just because they have arrangements with local governments, but because it's profitable. The way the theater industry works (or at least did when I worked in it at the entry level twenty years ago and had it explained to me) is that new releases have about 80% or more of their ticket sale cost go to the distributor/producer, and the rest the theater, and that percentage goes farther in the theater's favor every week after release (making movies that draw crowds for a long time much more lucrative). That's why concession purchases are so expensive, it's where they make a lion's share of the profit.
Older movies are likely much less costly to get and run, and could also possibly be offered to patrons for cheaper admittance. Concessions, of course, cost as they always do, and they still make that money. I suspect in a lot of cases, theaters might turn a better profit offering tickets at half price for older movies, making more money per ticket and for concession sales for each admittance, as long as they can fill the seats.
Things like that are what appeared to be going on in my area prior to the pandemic, where they would do a cult film series and have the 7 PM and 9 PM showings on Thursdays devoted to the cult film of the week (not sure if they ran one or two screens for it, possibly depended on attendance and how good the other movies where doing on the 14 screens it has).
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There are theaters that are dedicated to playing older movies, and they apparently turn enough profit to subsist in some locations. I think that makes this a top comment on HN with a profitable use case complaining that there's not enough around. Also, I would watch the shit out of the Good the Bad and the Ugly in a theater. Same with original Star Wars (which I think happened during extra trilogy releases occasional…
You can watch all these anytime on streaming - why do you need a cinema to see them?
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> There are theaters that are dedicated to playing older movies, and they apparently turn enough profit to subsist in some locations. I think that makes this a top comment on HN with a profitable use case complaining that there's not enough around. Great. Now every movie theatre starts doing that. What happens to profit margins?
> Great. Now every movie theatre starts doing that. What happens to profit margins? Why would every movie theater need to do that? That seems like an absurd proposition. Do I really need to watch older movies in some newer giant theater designed with a special sounds system that the entire theater needs to be certified for if I'm watching a movie that wasn't scored to take advantage of it? > What happens to profit ma…
How do you sustain 20 theatres in a super expensive mall that charges insane rents while sending 75% of the gross back to the studio? It’s not going to happen without big movies that appeal to a broad audience that is compatible with mall foot traffic.
Ok, here's my problem with the movie theatre industry. There's 100+ years of fantastic historical content and we're not doing anything with it. 99% of what's shown in theaters is new releases. I understand we don't want to "go stale" as a society and that movie producers also need to make a living, but the balance is just way off. I would pay good money to see "the good the bad and the ugly" with my kids in a couple…
The River Oaks Theatre played so many different movies they had to publish a monthly calendar because it was often a new movie every night. In fact they had a bar in the same parking lot (Marfreless) that was movie nerd hangout downstairs and make out spot upstairs.
Fast forward to today and most of those theatres are gone. The nameless theatre in a strip mall on Gessner is gone as is the Landmark Greenway, The Alabama Theatre was turned into a Bookstop and is now a Trader Joe's. The Bellaire Theatre was squeezed to death by Whole Foods dominating their parking lot. Even a recent entrant with Angelika downtown which became the Sundance theatre ended up flipping to an AMC. The one to last the longest, River Oaks Theatre was shuttered after Covid 19 put them a year behind on rent and their landlord refused to renew the lease without an agreement to pay the back rent.
River Oaks had already sold to Landmark just to survive and Landmark let the lease lapse which tells you all you need to know about the margins they were operating under. It just isn't profitable enough to sustain a theatre any more. Marfreless is still alive and well.
People have a surplus of choices and immediate, online gratification available 24/7. No need to plan with friends, arrange a baby sitter or slog through traffic to sit in a theatre. Although I agree that many movies are undoubtedly best viewed on a big screen with a good soundsystem, it appears we're in the minority and there just aren't enough of us to keep places profitable.
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Not all of these theaters are profitable. Many of them have special arrangements with municipal government (government secured loans or $1 rent) on the theory that these institutions serve some public good not unlike parks and playgrounds.
While I did specify theaters sort of like I expected a whole theater complex to be devoted to it, the more common example (at least around me) is for theaters to devote a portion of some theaters (as in "screens", the "theater" terminology is long past the point of being savable as referring to one distinct thing) to running specialty programs. For example, a weekly horror series where a couple showings a couple nigh…
I suspect as the streaming services continue to expand, we’ll see more limited access to back catalogs.