Poor quality theater experiences

[Blumlein 88]

I've seen my share of movies in theaters with poor experiences of one kind or another. I'll usually complain, and usually get a free ticket to another movie, but that isn't really enough after having made the trip and had a viewing experience ruined. Once I went and the movie was so dark as to be unwatchable. I complained, and was told, "oh yeah, that bulb is shot. We had the replacement arrive this afternoon and it will be right as rain tomorrow." Obviously I said, "maybe I should watch it tomorrow then instead of today." Took the manager a few seconds, but he caught on and comped me a ticket. I've had variations of just the worn out bulb several times over the years. Anyway here is an article and few things to watch out for. One I didn't know was leaving a 3D filter in front of a 2D projection and having a dim image.

Bad Projection Is Ruining the Movie Theater Experience

Multiplexes are failing at their most basic function: delivering a bright, sharp image.

www.vulture.com

 

[Dj7675]

My favorite was around after a large portion of the movie had been played, I was totally lost in the plot. After a few minutes of the audience looking around, the movie stopped and we were informed the incorrect reel was playing… movie stopped after a few minutes it all made sense again with the correct sequence.

 

[buz]

77" oled is so much better than theater, you can decide on booze, snacks and bathroom breaks. They really have no more reason to exist

Also no morons.

 

[FrantzM]

My favorite was around after a large portion of the movie had been played, I was totally lost in the plot. After a few minutes of the audience looking around, the movie stopped and we were informed the incorrect reel was playing… movie stopped after a few minutes it all made sense again with the correct sequence.

First Time I've heard that!!!



Peace.

 

[Trell]

I've been at a movie theatre a couple of times, perhaps, the last 15 years or so.

 

[MLaranjeiras]

For me, Cinema remains a must. IMAX THX is an amazing experience.

 

[Mr. Widget]

77" oled is so much better than theater, you can decide on booze, snacks and bathroom breaks. They really have no more reason to exist

Also no morons.

Hmm... I certainly appreciate the beautiful images created by OLED technology, but to me I still prefer a projected image. A projected image looks more like the cinema images I grew up with. I fully get that my 4K projector can't recreate the extremely high dynamic range that the better displays can, but I find that an acceptable trade off.

I've been at a movie theatre a couple of times, perhaps, the last 15 years or so.

Pre COVID I would go to theaters several times a month. Since the spring of 2020 I have gone a handful of times. I am not sure if I am just getting older or if the experience has changed, but I find it less and less compelling.

I still go to see otherwise unavailable films at BAM/PFA in Berkeley. Occasionally they host filmmakers and recently they revisited a handful of Cohen bothers films with Joel Cohen there to discuss his films.

 

[threni]

I'm much more a music person than a movie person; I could list a bunch of movies I think are great but I probably spend more time a week looking for new music to check out than I spend in a year looking for new movies. (I tried using letterboxd but it doesn't seem to be designed for getting recommendations, and some third-party recommendation sites which use your letterboxd info weren't much better). I live in the UK, near London, so it's essentially the third world; perhaps in the States, Europe etc there are clean, affordable, civilised places you can see a movie with like minded people who can STFU; where the picture is more or less in sync with the audio, and not sort of wobbling around, and where the general ambience isn't "prison meets daycare" but they don't seem to exist here. I'm not paying £20+ for that. Cinema is cancelled. I watch everything on my 40" tv or Chromebook.

 

[simbloke]

I'm much more a music person than a movie person; I could list a bunch of movies I think are great but I probably spend more time a week looking for new music to check out than I spend in a year looking for new movies. (I tried using letterboxd but it doesn't seem to be designed for getting recommendations, and some third-party recommendation sites which use your letterboxd info weren't much better). I live in the UK, near London, so it's essentially the third world; perhaps in the States, Europe etc there are clean, affordable, civilised places you can see a movie with like minded people who can STFU; where the picture is more or less in sync with the audio, and not sort of wobbling around, and where the general ambience isn't "prison meets daycare" but they don't seem to exist here. I'm not paying £20+ for that. Cinema is cancelled. I watch everything on my 40" tv or Chromebook.

In a completely different part of the UK, same experience. The nearest place, the only place, is little more than a shed. Except my shed has thicker walls. Can't remember there last time I went there, couple of years BC.

 

[pagan84]

Cinema nowadays = picture too dim, low contrast, boomy bass. And lame movies.
I bought an OLED in 2019 and never looked back.

Cinema lovers = vinyl lovers = weirdos (in my opinion of course)

 

[MLaranjeiras]

In a completely different part of the UK, same experience. The nearest place, the only place, is little more than a shed. Except my shed has thicker walls. Can't remember there last time I went there, couple of years BC.

Here in Brazil, street cinemas are dead. Good rooms on shopping malls. Really imersive experience on IMAX screen/THX sound. 15 minutes walking from my home. Once I always watch moview like Batman, Avatar and Top Gun first on cinema and is hard to find a good movie/soundtrack like DTS HD Master audio or Atmos on streaming services, I try to give a reason for the money spent on a dedicated 11.1 room buying Blu-ray discs to watch the movies that I wached previously on cinema.

 

[threni]

Can't remember there last time I went there, couple of years BC.

Damn man, that's over 2000 years! Even I've been more recently than that!

 

[Andysu]

do not like cinemas , substandard atmos cinemas sound too deafening and lacking bass local one odeon bh2 screenn 10 isense atmos .
odeon is rubbish , ads are playing at sort of loudness that is off putting . trailers go up a few dB more and deafening unsafe atmos trailer and then more sodden ads of skymovies , sigh . cinema isn't cinema its allowed itself to become home cinema , cheap home cinema media and all it can show is rubbish . what no Laserdisc or VHS , maybe unless you hire the cinema with special needs , after all its just a video projector system same as the home and yes it is . video is video . has same roll bars on the screen that camera camera phone can see

anyway atmos makes me swear out loud its seriously off putting

odeon bh2 dB deafening dBA range off putting i had to wear earplugs for nearly 3 hrs ! the ads , trailers deafening atmos trailer more deafening ads and movie total nearly 3hrs of deafening cinema

annoying odeon pre show so boring it makes me sleep , it's like watching digital 4k hypnosis paint drying on the screen . most boring music i ever heard in 36 years at cinema . what ever happened to proper non-sync music of the 35/70mm days ?

nicole shoving bs down my ears into my eyes . digital cinema is woke . " make movies better " that's a laugh again can't stop swearing at that atmos trailer and then more ads stuffed into the eyes down the ear canal at dB unsafe levels ' sure this is well over 85dBA otherwise wouldn't have to cover my ears or wear earplugs

^ way to show film is long since those days of real showmanship do not exist anymore . the more people shy away from cinemas . i doubt they last another ten years

my home THX cinema i maintain 85dBA peak , dBC i allow to 100 105dBC but its always variable in mix , just as real world is always the same and real world bass does not press against our bodies even in a car , unless slamming on the breaks , jolt forwards feeling the seat-belt against us , otherwise be wearing windshield

i even mentioned someone it gets very loud - not fire extinguisher on the wall

is that all the bass odeon bh2 atmos can do for £16.99 i think i want my money back . for 79p at the closed down abc across the road from bh2 , earthquake 70mm sensurround had far bigger bass sub bass for 10min earthquake that pressed against my body . this disney marvel , eternals , load of rubbish

that's it i had enough of this woke eternals , isense atmos bass that lacks bass . (walking out ) i miss the proper JBL/THX of Empire Leicester Square and High Wycombe

i dared myself walk out on batman beings at local closed down odoen 2005 , spl on opening was i'm sure peaking 100dBA? i grim bared it . but odeon bh2 atmos , i had enough of it and not bothered going back since 2021 and before then , few no year ago i 2018

 

[Mr. Widget]

Cinema nowadays = picture too dim, low contrast, boomy bass. And lame movies.
I bought an OLED in 2019 and never looked back.

Cinema lovers = vinyl lovers = weirdos (in my opinion of course)

That might be a bit overly harsh, but I can see the nostalgia parallel.

One criticism I have of most light emissive displays including OLED is that except in rare cases a view of a landscape scene does not have a similar look to looking out the window of a similar scene. The display will typically have better outline detail and overall definition than what we see with our naked eye. To me a the image of a well shot film being projected subjectively looks more natural.

 

[Andysu]

last time i was at a real cinema even thou Empire Leicester Square was slowly being raped by digital then slaughtered by liemax september 2013 when empire cinemas and ceo sold out to liemax for fake liemax and the Empire was gutted into two halves for £11m and ends up with sound leakage ? and often show same movie one in liemax the other screen that was behind the other in same once premiere size auditorium , showing atmos ? how confusing and liemax ticket prices are steep where other is a fraction less but , empire cinemas ruined their own flagship

star trek into darkness , dolby cinema atmos , THX may 2013

saw it twice , once at front row A23 and centre and next show middle circle AA23

last time there , logical emotional feels , its all gone now , liemax with lacking bass . THX way better uses THX baffle wall . the audience is feeling bass !

the neon colour lighting system a colour for ever mood . the THX laser show during 89 to early 90's as the laser system broken down but that was something i not seen at any other cinema , expect for Empire 1

i miss those Empire 1 rocker seats A23 . this THX cinema was reason to get out and travel to high class THX for the day , now london is THX-less with a liemax . if want a larger screen image , just sit close to the screen there how simple is that then huh ?

THX leaflet " from this chair to yours " handed to me from ilker , projectionist at Empire Leicester Square , feb 14th 1992 when seeing Star Trek 6 in 70mm Dolby Stereo SR SS THX .

 

[pagan84]

That might be a bit overly harsh, but I can see the nostalgia parallel.

One criticism I have of most light emissive displays including OLED is that except in rare cases a view of a landscape scene does not have a similar look to looking out the window of a similar scene. The display will typically have better outline detail and overall definition than what we see with our naked eye. To me a the image of a well shot film being projected subjectively looks more natural.

Nostalgia - yes, but also ritual over substance.

A few remarks.
Footage captured with HDR digital cameras may look unnatural to human brain as the dynamic range of those cameras is much higher than range of human eye (we can't see details in bright and dark places at the same time).
Please set the TV to cinema mode, it usually gives that warm 'analogue' colours and dims the picture, IMO perfectly imitates the cinema experience.
4k scans and releases of old 35mm 'analogue' movies usually look BEAUTIFUL, don't know if it is because of 10bit colour, HDR, better codecs or better mastering.
The fact is I can see the gradually progress since the DVD, better detail retrieval, better colours (and resolution, but that's obvious).

https://caps-a-holic.com/ - for people who want to compare releases and new/old scans

 

[Mr. Widget]

A few remarks...

I don't disagree with any of your comments... I might nit pic on the cinema mode though. We sell and install lots of displays and typically none of the settings are "correct". Sonys tend to be the best out of the box but even they require a little love to dial them in.

And I don't disagree with the ritual aspect, but then popcorn is also part of the ritual... and you know what, it is fun.

Lastly there is size. I have an 8' 16:9 screen (110" diagonal) and sit about 12' away. This starts to feel cinematic, but a slightly larger room and a larger screen would be preferable.

FWIW: Direct view LED displays will become the norm in commercial cinemas soon... assuming the business model holds and cinemas are not all shuttered. Direct view LED will give you everything an OLED gives you, but in IMAX scale.

 

[Inner Space]

... assuming the business model holds and cinemas are not all shuttered.

My friends and colleagues in Hollywood seem to share a conviction that the pre-pandemic model isn't coming back. They see mass attendance surviving only where the crowd adds an X-factor - which is jump-scare horror and laugh-out-loud comedy. Tom Cruise did the biz a favor by holding out for theatrical release for Maverick, which was a jump start, but attendance is still soft, so expect plenty of horror and comedy in the near future.

 

[Blumlein 88]

My friends and colleagues in Hollywood seem to share a conviction that the pre-pandemic model isn't coming back. They see mass attendance surviving only where the crowd adds an X-factor - which is jump-scare horror and laugh-out-loud comedy. Tom Cruise did the biz a favor by holding out for theatrical release for Maverick, which was a jump start, but attendance is still soft, so expect plenty of horror and comedy in the near future.

Bad news for me. I don't care for horror with rare exceptions. I do like comedy, but find it the most hit or miss genre in film.

 

[Andysu]

CIC/UCI tower park , last saw the cinemeccanica victoria 5 35mm , april 2012 , titanic 3d screen 6 ( threw 3d glasses away ) ( rest is very detailed tech story so i won't share that) ,afterwards asked be shown around by young kiddie projectionist sort like when i worked at the site 1989/90 , changed hands since to empire cinemas , changed again maybe doomed cineworld will soon

the projectors few of them around on ground floor as the site had x6 new boothless screens put on the roof

the vic 5 looked same last i saw it 1990 , maintained and kept clean ,