Comments on: Fixing broken windows

By: Paul H.

Paul H. — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 01:52:41 +0000

Hey John, I live in China and I've seen all your movies on pirated DVD. Recently I've noticed mainland movies getting authentic DVD releases at the same as the theatrical release. And the DVD is much cheaper than a ticket to see it on the big screen. They even seem to be cracking down harder on pirated versions of Chinese movies. However, most Hollywood movies are still pirated here before reaching the big screens. The authorities occasionally do crack downs in big cities like Beijing and Shanghai, although they seldom make efforts in any of the other cities. It is a losing battle with the pirates, and it seems like the North American studios haven't even entered the battle yet. They're taking a serious whooping.

BTW, your website is also blocked in China. I have to fire up the old proxy to gain access.

By: Tom

Tom — Sun, 01 Jan 2006 21:58:58 +0000

Andreas Climent perfect! I HATE HATE HATE watching movies with other people! Plus I want to watch it how and when I want. ME ME ME! DVD DVD DVD [ the irony being that I'm not the selfish one; releasing it in the cinemas first and giving the consumer no choice IS] !

I never knew Lucas said that. Wow. Oh and PAUSES GLORIOUS PAUSES so I can go for a pee and get a drink! Why do the movie distributors make us sit in cramped, freezing(!) rooms with full bladders and dry mouths? Why? All I ever wanted to do was watch a movie or two. :*(

Where's my extras? Why the trailers?! Big pictures? They're called projectors and surround sound. Plus watching it on the PC monitor or big screen TV is fine. Just fine. I'm not going for an "experience". I'm a movie buff for smeg sake! I'm trying to watch a movie! I don't care about "cinema experiences"! I care about the quality of the film and watching it in the comfort of my own home. Oh I want my DVD! Give it to me! I'll never go to one of those overpriced (Â£7-9 for ONE viewing?!) places again. I'm Freezing. Needing to Pee!?! For SEVEN TO NINE POUNDS?! NO! I say NO! Give me DVD! DVD!

pramos yes we should be able to d/l legally.

Great topic. I love this site.

(P.S. I HATE watching movies with other people.(!)

By: Tom

Tom — Sun, 01 Jan 2006 21:37:57 +0000

I wish all movies were brought out on DVD/the internet (legally) on the same day. Maybe even BEFORE they’re released in the cinemas. I say this as a film fan. Not somebody who watches the occasional film, but as somebody who watches films everyday. I should have the right to see the film the way I want to see it. As I love DVDs I want to see them on DVD and not have to wait. I hate, with a passion, that 1) they aren’t released at the same time as they are in the cinemas and 2) that films take so long to come out in the UK(!). :@

By: RIchard

RIchard — Wed, 28 Dec 2005 16:31:03 +0000

The film in question is called Bubble, which I also believe is getting released on Cable TV that same day as well.

By: Colin Woodward

Colin Woodward — Wed, 28 Dec 2005 02:46:55 +0000

I used to love visiting the cinema, but now it takes a cattle prod, a rubber glove, and a tub of vaseline to force me to go. Not as an enticement you must understand but as a threat. There are many reasons why I detest it now. The obvious ones being that I just don’t want to deal with the anti-social behaviour of the great unwashed anymore. Their constant banter, their tuneless cellphones, and their feeble homemade director’s commentary just rubs on my already frayed nerves. I spend more time mentally chainsawing their heads than watching the film. And (because I just had to have that one extra beer before the three hours of Memoirs of a Geisha)having to scramble past people to get to the loos is an Olympic event that I don’t want to deal with. Finally there is the cost. Here in New York a movie for two will snatch from my tight death-like grip a nice $21. Well, I could buy it on DVD for that much, and watch it when and how I want to. As home theatres grow in screen size, and the sound comes from as many speakers as you dare, cinemas are going to find it harder and harder to corral people with their overpriced tasteless popcorn and bucket sized coke.

By: Stephen Gallagher

Stephen Gallagher — Tue, 27 Dec 2005 22:30:07 +0000

Between piracy and bittorrent it’s pretty well inevitable that near-simultaneous releasing is going to happen one way or another… the only real choice facing the studios is whether they take control and make money out of it, or watch while others do.

By: Rene Garcia

Rene Garcia — Tue, 27 Dec 2005 16:31:19 +0000

Oh man, I'm all over simultaneous releases! I'm fairly misanthropic, so I really can't stand the inconsiderate moviegoers I'm forced to watch new releases with. It'll be nice to watch a new movie in the comfort of my own home and eliminate the chances of spoilers because of waiting for the DVD months later.

By: FunkyPink

FunkyPink — Tue, 27 Dec 2005 06:00:13 +0000

My local cinema is already dying because of the multiscreen cinemas we've had appear over the last 10 years. We have 3 cinemas at the moment which for a small city, is way too much. I can't find a screen with any atmosphere going on unless it's Star Wars/Harry Potter opening night!

Sod the DVD/cinema release windows... DVD's will be obsolete soon anyway when all this blue-ray stuff shows up with the PS3 and people have to restart their film collections! I'm a firm believer that figuring out how to go digital is the way forward. Then people can convert their movies to whatever format they want and watch it on a projector or a laptop, or some flash movie glases that someone invents.

Heck, I would have already impulse bought an entire film collection given the chance at the right price!

By: Batutta

Batutta — Tue, 27 Dec 2005 05:01:59 +0000

Movie theatres have to lower ticket prices or they will suffer the same fate as the music industry. The high prices of CD’s coincided with the rise of high-speed internet and downloadable music. When faced with the decision between paying 17 bucks for a CD that has maybe one or two songs worth owning, and a free, but illegal download, well, to the consumer, that’s a no brainer. It wasn’t until itunes and the 99 cent download came along that a model came along that made sense. Now, between paying 30 bucks (2 tickets, popcorn and drinks) to go out to see a movie in the theatre, or paying 4.99 to rent the DVD a few months later with a lot less hassle (parking, rude audiences), and the decision is just as obvious. Sure, you can’t deny the community aspect of seeing a movie with a crowd, but with the big plasma screens and sound systems, people can have just as good an experience with a group of friends and family. The only solution in the short term is to lower prices. In the long term, I think movie theatres are doomed. The new generation is used to having their entetainment available to them at their fingertips. The idea of going out to a theater to have something played for them is old school.

By: grapeshot

grapeshot — Mon, 26 Dec 2005 18:00:15 +0000

Itâ€™s encouraging to me that the movie studios are at least exploring ways to change their business model. Iâ€™ve watched the music industry shoot themselves in the foot by treating their customers with nothing but contempt.

I donâ€™t have an opinion on whether or not it would be of benefit for the major Hollywood theatrical releases to also coincide with the DVD releases. Personally, I enjoy seeing movies in a theater, and have rarely found the giga-plex audiences to be annoying. Despite my giant-screen TV, and my surround-sound system, and the convenience of pausing the story while I fix a sandwich, for me, none of that replaces the magic of seeing a movie at a theater.

On the other hand, I have found that the movies of the past few years have definitely gotten dumber. I used to be a frequent movie-goer. In 2001 I went to 21 movies. Since then, Iâ€™ve only gone to about 3 movies a year, and of those that Iâ€™ve seen, most of them have been distinctly underwhelming. Every weekend I eagerly scan the reviews and check my local listings hoping that something interesting will be opening, only to discover one unappealing choice after another. When I finally do catch the major theatrical releases on HBO or Showtime, what Iâ€™ve seen has only confirmed my initial decision to skip seeing them. I never thought the day would come when I could say this, but there are more compelling stories told on television than there are in the movies. (Mind you, few of them have better production values, but thatâ€™s another rant for another day.)

Whatâ€™s singularly annoying is what I call the â€œComicCon-izationâ€? of movies. Thatâ€™s where the studios find some cult property (be it comic books, or video games, or some long dead television show), with presumably a pre-built audience, and proceeds to hype the hell out of it. I understand that Hollywood is trying to harness themselves to the pocketbooks of the fanboys, and I donâ€™t necessarily think thereâ€™s anything wrong with that. It obviously can be a successful strategy. But whatâ€™s very clear to me is that in the past few years, Hollywood has been underserving a significant portion of their entire potential audience. Not everyone in the US has the mental outlook of a 13 year-old boy. Unfortunately, that underserved audience is quickly getting out of the habit of going to movies altogether, and finding other sources of entertainment. It is probably already too late for them to be lured back into theaters.

I do agree with you that the simultaneous release of DVDs with the release of a movie will only help the small, independent features. For me to see one of these movies involves a 2-hour drive. That is, if it even comes to my state. Although I may still not wish to spend 20+ bucks on a DVD of a â€œquirkyâ€? movie with dubious credentials, I would certainly be willing to rent it on Netflix. (Iâ€™m fairly certain that such movies will not make it to my local â€œbricks and mortarâ€? video outlet.) Better yet would be if for around the same cost as a movie theater ticket, I could download it via the internet and watch it on my large-screen TV. (Or watch it on my portable video player in lieu of the awful in-flight movie during my business trips.)

By: Stephen Gallagher

Stephen Gallagher — Mon, 26 Dec 2005 11:27:52 +0000

I love a big screen. I love to watch a movie in the dark and be engulfed by the picture and sound. I remember seeing the restored Spartacus at London's National Film Theatre and the entire experience lingers in the memory like a big Broadway show.

They just opened a new multiplex in my town and last week my daughter went along to a screening of The Family Stone, saying she'd scout the theatre and report back. It's one of those Warner Vue cinemas and I don't know what they're like around your way, but around here they're state-of-the-art technically with comfortable seating and amazing sightlines.

Her advice to me: don't bother. She's your average teenager and she came away saying that the experience was ruined by the audience, which included an entire row of people swapping their phones back and forth so they could watch each others' movie clips. The staff apologised as my daughter and her friend were leaving, but they were no more than kids themselves. The offenders were all middle-aged (ie, to my kid, 25 or over).

I mean, The Family Stone??