Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Hollywood Enters Oscars Weekend in Existential Crisis

theculturenewspaper.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

261–270 of 565 posts

Re: Hollywood Enters Oscars Weekend in Existential Crisis

#261

Post by frmersdog »

delichon wrote: post #70

The little dinosaurs are ignoring the great big elephants in the room: gaming. The article doesn't mention it. The market for video games in 2024 was around $225B, compared to movies at around $33B. Hollywood has worked very hard not to realize that their industry has become niche and have succeeded. My last week may be an indicator. I've watched zero TV or movies but have spent about 40 hours helping a small colony…

They're trying to avoid thinking (or at least talking) about it because they don't control it. They're hoping that the next downturn (which will almost certainly include a partial collapse of the game industry as we know it) will present an opportunity to scoop up incumbents. At that point, they'll be open about their relationship to, and ambitions, for gaming. Until then, the most you'll hear is A24 stuff, Kojima stuff, and tut-tutting about Ubisoft (almost certainly their first target).

Re: Hollywood Enters Oscars Weekend in Existential Crisis

#262

Post by 1shooner »

deadbabe wrote: post #195
g947o wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If they exist. None exists the in 15 mile radius of where I live.

In the millennial suburbs some people have converted their garages into small indie move theaters with good sound systems and people from around the neighborhood show up to watch obscure movies together and eat barbecued food.

Is this actually a broad trend, or more just your personal experience? There is very little that could get me to move back to the suburbs, but this kind of thing is compelling.

Re: Hollywood Enters Oscars Weekend in Existential Crisis

#263

Post by ndesaulniers »

telesilla wrote: post #136
delichon wrote: post #70

The little dinosaurs are ignoring the great big elephants in the room: gaming. The article doesn't mention it. The market for video games in 2024 was around $225B, compared to movies at around $33B. Hollywood has worked very hard not to realize that their industry has become niche and have succeeded. My last week may be an indicator. I've watched zero TV or movies but have spent about 40 hours helping a small colony…

I don't game at all but watch at least one movie a day as my relaxing time: criterion collection, mubi etc. I go to an indie cinema about once a month, often to see older movies as much as new ones. The cinema is rarely full but they have a good café and affordable subscriptions and I'm guessing some municipal funding, they won't ever run out of films to show. Though the day A24 goes out of business will be my sad da…

When you buy movie tickets, you go see the movie.

When I purchase a game, I generally don't have time to play it.

We are not the same.

This may be why gaming is a few multiples larger an industry than film.

Re: Hollywood Enters Oscars Weekend in Existential Crisis

#264

Post by jmugan »

socalgal2 wrote: post #230

If Sinners and One Battle After Another are up for movie of the year then it's no wonder no one is going. One is a fun but ultimately forgettable horror action movie. The other is a movie that just based on its major theme would attract less then half the country and even in those remaining is a very polarizing movie. It's up for best picture because to preach, not because it's actually good.

I just didn't think that either of them were very good. Sinners was okay, and One Battle After Another was just kind of silly, I think regardless of your political views.

Re: Hollywood Enters Oscars Weekend in Existential Crisis

#265

Post by robcohen »

longislandguido wrote: post #238
wat10000 wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why can’t I have it both ways? If all of those things are true, then the conclusion is that theaters can’t operate in a way that wins my business. That would be unfortunate, but it’s not contradictory. It also seems to be that pretty much true, as I see a movie in a theater maybe once a year.

Extending this logic, Netflix should be able to lower prices to $1.99 if they stopped paying staff $800k/year... After all, they move 1s and 0s at the end of the day. No screens or customer-facing capital equipment to maintain outside of DCs.

Actually, yes, I do think that netflix could do their job much cheaper. I use putflix, which uses put.io for $0.99 per month. Better quality streaming than netflix, no forced ads, and they can make it work for $1. Maybe it's the model where my monthly subscription pays for their entire catalog that's broken. Maybe it should just be a la carte licensing.

Either way, until the industry lets me pay directly to the org that literally made the movie, I'll just pirate.

I do want to pay the artists that make the films. I think the most viable way to do this is via cryptocurrency associated with social media accounts, and then validate ownership by having owners post a magic validation link. This way I can send artists money and it's on them to go get it if they want it.

Re: Hollywood Enters Oscars Weekend in Existential Crisis

#267

Post by aaronbrethorst »

alwa wrote: post #170
tyjen wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The last movie we attended people were incredibly disruptive throughout the film, to the point that it was difficult to focus on the film. Some people enjoy screaming, laughing, and talking as part of the experience, but it's apparently been normalized beyond my tolerance threshold. Add in the cost and overall movie quality decrease of Hollywood productions, and it's difficult to justify. Presently, we watch foreign…

The last time I chose to watch a movie in a theater instead of the comfort of my home, I went for the raucous audience aspect of the experience.

Out of curiosity was it a movie where you’re expected to throw toast?

Re: Hollywood Enters Oscars Weekend in Existential Crisis

#268

Post by psherman »

czhu12 wrote: post #174
Jtsummers wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where is that? Tickets here are only $7-10 each (except maybe some IMAX or similar showings) and two drinks and popcorn would be $15-25 for two people (size dependent). This is in Colorado. EDIT: I was going off of memory, but matinee/child/senior pricing is apparently $9.75 at the theater I usually go to, evening is $13.25 (I never go in the evening, had forgotten what that price was). They have a two drink and popc…

I thought tickets had more standard pricing across markets. For a standard ticket here in SF -- (I know we're comparing probably the highest end to the lowset end here) -- its $22. For IMAX its about $30, at your standard AMC. Indie theatres are not cheaper and are often more expensive. 7 dollar tickets I haven't seen since elementary school

Go on a Tuesday or Wednesday and tickets are 50% off at AMC (and maybe other theaters). While still not cheap, that gets you down to $16.49 for an imax showing at the metreon AMC and $9.49 for a standard screen.

Re: Hollywood Enters Oscars Weekend in Existential Crisis

#269

Post by aaronbrethorst »

tombert wrote: post #242
longislandguido wrote: post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Years ago I was in one of those old kitschy theatres. The seat was wet. I prayed it wasn't urine.

When my wife and I first started dating, we went to one of those cheap second-run theaters. I liked that theater because it was super cheap (like seriously $1.50 for a ticket because it showed out of date movies). One time when she and I were watching The Purge, I hear this kind of squishy noise from right behind me. I turn around, and a guy is getting a handjob. I motion to my wife that we need to move a few seats o…

You don’t happen to live in exurban Denver do you?

Re: Hollywood Enters Oscars Weekend in Existential Crisis

#270

Post by pipes »

tombert wrote: post #241
longislandguido wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most if not all the ticket price goes directly into the studio's pockets. So the theatres stay alive by selling concessions. I'd wager everyone here complaining about prices would also wax poetic about how theatres don't "pay a living wage" to the kids scooping popcorn and would immediately drive home in their $100k Rivians or Teslas so they can give a one star review on Yelp or complain on Reddit about the bathrooms…

The reasoning doesn't particularly matter to me, honestly. Whether or not it they need to charge a second mortgage to cover the cost of the theater isn't really my problem; these are for-profit companies, I don't need to do them any favor. Popcorn cost basically nothing to make at home, especially if you buy the raw kernels and pop them yourself, and I can rent a 4k version of a movie for like three dollars on Amazon…

Everyone I know with an Espresso machine still goes to coffee shops. Beer is cheaper from a super market but everyone I know prefers pubs. For some reason this does not hold with cinemas. I way prefer the escapism of the cinema to sitting in my house surrounded by my usual ambient domestic Todo list. Sure I have a very good oled, amazing surround sound, but I'd take the cinema every time. But I can't due to kids.

However, I'm the outlier, none of my friends prefer the cinema. No idea why.

Post reply on HN