Yet another story about people staying home to watch DVDs, play video games, etc. instead of going to the movies. This captures the overall thrust of the article:
With box-office attendance sliding, so far, for the third consecutive year, many in the industry are starting to ask whether the slump is just part of a cyclical swing driven mostly by a crop of weak movies or whether it reflects a much bigger change in the way Americans look to be entertained - a change that will pose serious new challenges to Hollywood.
Studios have made more on DVD sales and licensing products than on theatrical releases for some time. Now, technologies like TiVo and video-on-demand are keeping even more people at home, as are advanced home entertainment centers, with their high-definition television images on large flat screens and multichannel sound systems.
This is fine as far as it goes, but it leaves out something important. Here's why I don't go to movies more often:
The sad thing is that watching a movie in a theater with a large group of people can be a great experience. We saw "Casablanca" last winter in the theater, and I enjoyed it more than I have in the past watching it on TV. Of course, that was at a film festival, and was a much different experience than your typical blockbuster where you're likely sandwiched between Bubba and his 64 oz. drink on one side, a restless 9-year old on the other and Julie the Cruise Director ("Omigod!") on her cell phone behind you. Ugh.
Posted by Jason at May 27, 2005 02:25 PM