Television / Movies
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I go to the movies once maybe every 2 years... if that. And it's only as like a family outing. I never just decide to go with friends.
I don't own a TV and haven't since I moved out on my own. I watch everything online commercial free.
I'm not alone. Everyone I know in my area... all my friends... they all live pretty much the same way. My brother has a TV but he only uses it for his XBox -- and his Netflix account that he gets through his XBox.
My family had a reunion recently (we live all over the country, and my sister lives abroad, so we very rarely get together) and for the most part it was 6 of us hanging out in a fairly confined hotel room in Arizona. We went to the Grand Canyon and other stuff, but there was a lot of down time where we were all just hanging out.
I think my parents turned on the TV once... like out of habit (they still watch regular TV). And the whole time it was on, all of us kids were kind of disgusted by how obnoxious it was. So we just kind of went away from it and hung out in another part of the room. It was only on for like 20 mins before my parents switched it off to come hang out with us.
I know this is weird. I know there is still a huge number of people who actually sit down and watch whatever is on the TV. I know there are millions of people who go out and pay $12 or whatever it costs to watch a bad movie in the theater. I know this. I just don't understand it.
What's the appeal? Can anyone explain it?
I don't own a TV and haven't since I moved out on my own. I watch everything online commercial free.
I'm not alone. Everyone I know in my area... all my friends... they all live pretty much the same way. My brother has a TV but he only uses it for his XBox -- and his Netflix account that he gets through his XBox.
My family had a reunion recently (we live all over the country, and my sister lives abroad, so we very rarely get together) and for the most part it was 6 of us hanging out in a fairly confined hotel room in Arizona. We went to the Grand Canyon and other stuff, but there was a lot of down time where we were all just hanging out.
I think my parents turned on the TV once... like out of habit (they still watch regular TV). And the whole time it was on, all of us kids were kind of disgusted by how obnoxious it was. So we just kind of went away from it and hung out in another part of the room. It was only on for like 20 mins before my parents switched it off to come hang out with us.
I know this is weird. I know there is still a huge number of people who actually sit down and watch whatever is on the TV. I know there are millions of people who go out and pay $12 or whatever it costs to watch a bad movie in the theater. I know this. I just don't understand it.
What's the appeal? Can anyone explain it?
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I don't watch TV or movies either, except for occasionally. Not because I don't enjoy it when I do, but because I would rather spend my time doing other things. Other people don't have other things they want to spend their time doing, or they just don't want to do anything.
Well, I agree with you about how obnoxious TV is. I think people just get desensitized to it. Plus it's pretty much designed to zombify you.
But I have recently found an appreciation for going to see movies in the theater ( if they are good movies ). It has only been recently that I go to the movies, since I am working all week right now, I have the money, and I usually having nothing to do on weekends.
I think some movies are just epic in the theater and some are only worth seeing if you see them in the theater. Plus you only have a few weeks to see a movie in theater before you've essentially lost the opportunity to ever see it in theater.
I think Godzilla 2014, The Amazing Spider Man 2, Lucy, and Guardians of the Galaxy, were all awesome in the theater, and definitely worth the money to see if you ask me.
Then again, I have also seen some movies this year that really let me down.
But I have recently found an appreciation for going to see movies in the theater ( if they are good movies ). It has only been recently that I go to the movies, since I am working all week right now, I have the money, and I usually having nothing to do on weekends.
I think some movies are just epic in the theater and some are only worth seeing if you see them in the theater. Plus you only have a few weeks to see a movie in theater before you've essentially lost the opportunity to ever see it in theater.
I think Godzilla 2014, The Amazing Spider Man 2, Lucy, and Guardians of the Galaxy, were all awesome in the theater, and definitely worth the money to see if you ask me.
Then again, I have also seen some movies this year that really let me down.
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Broadcast TV is like the worst thing ever. Networks run a new show for 2 episodes and then cancel it because it's not popular enough. Infomercials that just straight up insult your intelligence. "Reality" TV featuring actors without scripts. Trashy daytime TV like The Test where every other word is a ****ing censorship beep. News media that likes to sensationalize the stupidest things and try way too hard to be relevant. This is the type of TV that is designed to zombify you.
Actually I do enjoy NOVA on PBS because it's always well-made, thought-provoking, and commercial-free.
Cable TV is much better as some networks hire talented writers and directors and make an effort to produce shows that actually have substance. Most recently I thoroughly enjoyed the Fargo miniseries, which actually had the Coen brothers involved(who created the original movie). The writing was great with some subtle dark humor mixed in with the rather grim story. My favorite TV show ever is Deadwood. It just has the right blend of comedy and drama and badassery, not to mention great dialogue, an amazing set, and interesting characters, that it never gets old to me.
But anyway I have a feeling I don't understand your question. Surely you're not asking why people enjoy TV and movies?
Actually I do enjoy NOVA on PBS because it's always well-made, thought-provoking, and commercial-free.
Cable TV is much better as some networks hire talented writers and directors and make an effort to produce shows that actually have substance. Most recently I thoroughly enjoyed the Fargo miniseries, which actually had the Coen brothers involved(who created the original movie). The writing was great with some subtle dark humor mixed in with the rather grim story. My favorite TV show ever is Deadwood. It just has the right blend of comedy and drama and badassery, not to mention great dialogue, an amazing set, and interesting characters, that it never gets old to me.
But anyway I have a feeling I don't understand your question. Surely you're not asking why people enjoy TV and movies?
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| I think some movies are just epic in the theater and some are only worth seeing if you see them in the theater. Plus you only have a few weeks to see a movie in theater before you've essentially lost the opportunity to ever see it in theater. |
| I love the theater as a playback device; I don't understand why I'm constrained to use it to watch whatever crap Hollywood has shat out during the past month. |
Where's the broken part? That things cost money? You may very well be right. :)
The broken part is that theaters show exclusively new releases. I think I made that pretty clear.
A lot of smaller venues host special screenings of cult classics, stuff like The Room, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, stuff like that. Taking one of your examples, didn't they show special screenings of the original Star Wars movies to help hype the new ones? I've also gone to a few of those RiffTrax live simulcast events (Manos: Hands of Fate was my favorite). The last one I went to was RiffTrax doing Sharknado, but otherwise I don't go to the movies either.
If they don't play something you like, then don't go. But that's the tradeoff. Theaters need some big draw to justify the expense of playing a film. Movie makers generate the 'big draw' through their advertising. Maybe you could coordinate with a local venue to screen something like Dr. Strangelove (that would be really fun, actually) but you would either have to pay the venue out of pocket, or convince the place that it would be a worthwhile event because it would draw people and increase visibility of the venue.
If they don't play something you like, then don't go. But that's the tradeoff. Theaters need some big draw to justify the expense of playing a film. Movie makers generate the 'big draw' through their advertising. Maybe you could coordinate with a local venue to screen something like Dr. Strangelove (that would be really fun, actually) but you would either have to pay the venue out of pocket, or convince the place that it would be a worthwhile event because it would draw people and increase visibility of the venue.
| A lot of smaller venues host special screenings of cult classics, stuff like The Room, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, stuff like that. Taking one of your examples, didn't they show special screenings of the original Star Wars movies to help hype the new ones? I've also gone to a few of those RiffTrax live simulcast events (Manos: Hands of Fate was my favorite). The last one I went to was RiffTrax doing Sharknado, but otherwise I don't go to the movies either. |
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| htirwin wrote: |
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| I think some movies are just epic in the theater |
I have yet to see any move that left more of an impact on me when I saw it in the theater than when I saw it at home. Quite frankly... a bigger screen and louder speakers doesn't do much for me. I sit pretty close to my monitor, so it takes up a good portion of my field of view. And my speakers+woofer are pretty decent.
| and some are only worth seeing if you see them in the theater. |
That's kind of a testament to how bad movies are. If the only selling point for the movie is that it was shown on a big screen, then it's a bad movie.
| I think Godzilla 2014, The Amazing Spider Man 2, Lucy, and Guardians of the Galaxy, were all awesome in the theater, and definitely worth the money to see if you ask me. |
The first two are hollywood remake barf. Spiderman I find particularly offensive, as they decided to reboot it like a year after the original trilogy finished. It's like they were deliberately trying to insult my intelligence.
| Some asshole hollywood executive wrote: |
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| Oh, people liked Spiderman? Let's do it again! But this time, let's make the hero more of a hipster asshole douchebag. It'll be great! |
I never heard of Lucy or Guardians of the Galaxy before -- but don't be surprised.... remember I don't watch TV =P.
The only movie I saw recently in a theater was Wolf of Wall Street. And while I definitely enjoyed the movie... the theater did not improve the experience for me. In fact I probably would have enjoyed it more on a couch with my family, as it would have given me more of an opportunity to interact with them throughout the movie.
| knn9 wrote: |
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| Actually I do enjoy NOVA on PBS because it's always well-made, thought-provoking, and commercial-free. |
I haven't seen Nova in years. I tried to watch the reboot of Cosmos and got most way through the first episode, but it felt like they were dumbing things down too much. I actually got more enjoyment out of watching Dr. Tyson's lectures on youtube.
| Cable TV is much better as some networks hire talented writers and directors and make an effort to produce shows that actually have substance. |
My brother often quips that "television is both the worst that its ever been, and the best its ever been". The good shows are great, but the bad shows are terrible.
Honestly, I'm not all that impressed with most 'good' shows. The only one that really gripped me was Breaking Bad... but that's already old now. There were other shows in the past that I really liked... like the Battlestar Galactica reboot, Arrested Development (excluding the horrible Netflix season), and the first 6 seasons of the new Dr. Who.
Though my brother keeps telling me I should give Game of Thrones a watch. I tried watching it, but got sooooo bored halfway through the first ep that I had to shut it off.
My favorite 'new show' right now is DBZA ... which isn't even a TV show, but a youtube series.
| But anyway I have a feeling I don't understand your question. Surely you're not asking why people enjoy TV and movies? |
I kind of am. I really don't see the appeal to spending hundreds of dollars a year to go out to theaters. I don't see the appeal to sitting in front of a television to watch bad shows that are interrupted with 30% commercials.
It just seems like there are better things to do with your life. Am I alone? Am I the only one that sees how horrible this all is?
I mean... I get the occasional break to veg out and watch a stupid show every once in a while. But the average American watches about 35 hours of TV a week. That's insane. I just don't understand it.
( http://www.nielsen.com/content/corporate/us/en/insights/reports/2013/a-look-across-media-the-cross-platform-report-q3-2013.html )
| helios wrote: |
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| Exactly. The model of movie theaters as a whole is broken in that it works like live TV for absolutely no reason. A theater with a selection of all-time classics that it cycles through makes a lot of sense to me. |
There's a theater that sort of does that near where I live. I went to watch Labyrinth there with a couple of friends a few years ago. But they do other things too, like live performances and act as a local venue for bands.
Most of the sciency stuff that used to be in NOVA is now in Morgan Freeman's Through the Wormhole - you should check that out.
Ahh yes, NOVA Science is what I really meant to say. Is it not airing anymore or something?
| The first two are hollywood remake barf. Spiderman I find particularly offensive, as they decided to reboot it like a year after the original trilogy finished. It's like they were deliberately trying to insult my intelligence. |
You didn't see it on the big screen in 3D like I did. I am not really a big spiderman fan. I think this was one of those movies that is only worth watching in the theater.
Godzilla was good in large part due to the fact that it was Godzilla this time, unlike the last Hollywood Godzilla movie. And there has never been a big budget Godzilla movie, featuring the actual Godzilla, since the original in black and white. Then again, there were some bad points. Really the only thing great about it was Godzilla, but he was awesome enough on the big screen to make it well worth watching IMO.
| Quite frankly... a bigger screen and louder speakers doesn't do much for me. I sit pretty close to my monitor, so it takes up a good portion of my field of view. And my speakers+woofer are pretty decent. |
That doesn't sound anywhere near comparable to watching a movie in the theater. Then again, it depends on the movie.
It sounds a little like trying to appreciate the scale of a battle ship by holding a tiny model of one really close to your face.
I never heard of Lucy or Guardians of the Galaxy before -- but don't be surprised.... remember I don't watch TV =P. |
Both have very dumb premises, but still pretty awesome for what they were.
Lucy was awesome mainly because of the part where they made a very impressive high budget synopsis of the universe from modern times, all the way back to the big bang ( of course it's not scientific, but it was an awesome visualization ).
One of the laugh out loud, dumb parts people complain about, is actually this part. Where she "goes" back in time all the way to the big bang. But it's obvious she is not time traveling. She is running a reverse simulation of the universe. And as outlandish the premiss is, there are some deep though provoking philosophical questions hidden in there that most people are too dumb to see.
Guardians of the Galaxy was pretty comical. Not sure exactly why it's a good movie, but it somehow stands out as one of the movies I enjoyed recently.
The only movie I saw recently in a theater was Wolf of Wall Street. And while I definitely enjoyed the movie... the theater did not improve the experience for me. In fact I probably would have enjoyed it more on a couch with my family, as it would have given me more of an opportunity to interact with them throughout the movie. |
See, this is the type of movie that seeing in the theater is pointless. Besides that, I though the movie was terrible. I watched it thinking it was a serious movie, but it was just an obnoxious bunch of outlandish debauchery.
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I imagine the main reason is that a theater will make more money playing the month's hyped up movie rather than a classic. There are classic movie theaters out there though. The one near me is playing Jaws, Dog Day Afternoon, and The Big Lebowski this week.
But yeah, tv is crap and I don't know why anyone uses it. Especially with things like NetFlix and Amazon Prime, these days I don't understand why people get cable at all. Not to mention that thing where most everything can be downloaded anyway.
The last movie I saw at a theater was Gravity, and I think that there was a level of immersion that I would not have been able to get at my house.
But yeah, tv is crap and I don't know why anyone uses it. Especially with things like NetFlix and Amazon Prime, these days I don't understand why people get cable at all. Not to mention that thing where most everything can be downloaded anyway.
The last movie I saw at a theater was Gravity, and I think that there was a level of immersion that I would not have been able to get at my house.
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| htirwin wrote: |
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| You didn't see it on the big screen in 3D like I did |
I didn't see it at all. Like I said, I was insulted that it was even pitched to me.
If big screen and 3D are the only selling points for a movie... then it's a bad movie. Any movie can be in 3D on a big screen.
| htirwin wrote: |
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| It sounds a little like trying to appreciate the scale of a battle ship by holding a tiny model of one really close to your face. |
The difference is a battle ship is a tangible object that you can literally interact with. Movies are a projected image.
When it comes to projected images... what really matters is resolution. I have little doubt that the video in a theater has a better resolution than my computer monitor... but that is offset by the fact that I am sitting much farther away from it. In the end, they both take up a comparable portion of my field of vision, so the difference isn't noticeable enough to change the experience for me.
A better analogy would be... Take a photo of something with a 5 megapixel camera. Then take the same photo with a 10 megapixel camera. Print the 10 mp photo on a larger piece of paper than the 5 mp, but put it further in the distance. Then try to look for differences in quality in the two images.
Though you make a point with the 3D. I actually have never seen a 3D movie before (at least not since it was the crappy red/blue glasses thing), so maybe that's what I'm missing.
| Besides that, I though the movie was terrible. I watched it thinking it was a serious movie, but it was just an obnoxious bunch of outlandish debauchery. |
I'm not surprised you didn't like it. It was a Dark Comedy rich with social commentary. Dark Comedy is one of those weird genres where a lot of people either don't get it, or simply don't find it funny. You apparently didn't find it funny. I was in hysterics throughout most of it.
The more I read your posts, the more I'm convinced we look for different things in movies. And I think I'm starting to understand the appeal here. It sounds like it's less about the movie for you and more about the visual sensations. I guess I can understand that.
I agree with all of this. (I actually typed a 2100 character response, but I clicked cancel instead of submit, so I will include the important stuff)
TV these days is just horrible. Reality TV is just making us dumber and dumber. Example: There is this clique of girls in my school that wear about 2 pounds of makeup. I approached one and asked them why they look like a cartoon character. Their response: "This is how adult women dress. I saw it on Bad Girls Club. Whether you like it or not, this is women."
And news isn't even news anymore. It is all just opinion. Say USA finally pulls out of Afghanistan and whoever else were involved with in the Middle East.
News Channel A: Obama is doing a great job with this country. If it wasn't for his reelection, we would be stuck in this mess for another decade.
News Channel B: Wow, George Bush was a genius with all the CounterTerrorist stuff. He may have started it, but it is because of him it is finished.
Why can't they just say, "As of yesterday, America is now finished with the Middle East and at peace. The last of US Soldiers will be flying in on September whatever, 2014"?
TV these days is just horrible. Reality TV is just making us dumber and dumber. Example: There is this clique of girls in my school that wear about 2 pounds of makeup. I approached one and asked them why they look like a cartoon character. Their response: "This is how adult women dress. I saw it on Bad Girls Club. Whether you like it or not, this is women."
And news isn't even news anymore. It is all just opinion. Say USA finally pulls out of Afghanistan and whoever else were involved with in the Middle East.
News Channel A: Obama is doing a great job with this country. If it wasn't for his reelection, we would be stuck in this mess for another decade.
News Channel B: Wow, George Bush was a genius with all the CounterTerrorist stuff. He may have started it, but it is because of him it is finished.
Why can't they just say, "As of yesterday, America is now finished with the Middle East and at peace. The last of US Soldiers will be flying in on September whatever, 2014"?
| As of yesterday, America is now finished with the Middle East and at peace. |
lol @ middle east at peace.
Disch wrote
I know right haha just the first thing that came to mind.
Also, I saw Godzilla. Thought it was really good, although there should have been more Bryan Cranston. I don't like how the best actor in the movie <SPOILER ALERT> dies in the first half hour </SPOILER ALERT>
I see movies in theaters maybe 3 - 4 times a year. I am not a fan of spending 10 dollars to see a movie when I could rent it for $2 in a couple months.
| lol @ middle east at peace. |
I know right haha just the first thing that came to mind.
Also, I saw Godzilla. Thought it was really good, although there should have been more Bryan Cranston. I don't like how the best actor in the movie <SPOILER ALERT> dies in the first half hour </SPOILER ALERT>
I see movies in theaters maybe 3 - 4 times a year. I am not a fan of spending 10 dollars to see a movie when I could rent it for $2 in a couple months.
| The more I read your posts, the more I'm convinced we look for different things in movies. And I think I'm starting to understand the appeal here. It sounds like it's less about the movie for you and more about the visual sensations. I guess I can understand that. |
Just when I go to the movie theater, but they have to be fairly good movies besides the special effects. I absolutely hate most of Michael Bay's movies. If it's a bad movie, it doesn't matter how good the special effects are, but if it's a decent movie, with some really impressive visuals, then it's worth seeing in the theater, but maybe not at home. If it's a good movie without any cool visuals, then you might as well see it at home.
I actually went through about a 5 year period without seeing any movies in theater. The first movie I saw in theater since then was the Hobbit in 3D, and I was kind of blown away with the dragon. It's more than just a story, there is a lot of really cool art in those types of movies, and you can appreciate that even without the story. A lot of work and money goes into attempting to bring a character like Godzilla to life.
| The difference is a battle ship is a tangible object that you can literally interact with. Movies are a projected image |
I think it's more comfortable to view a large image from far away, than a small image close up.
And I think your brain can tell the difference between something small that is closer and something large that is farther away, image or not, enough that you cannot replicate the perceived scale simply by being closer to it.
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