Tag: Movies

Experience VS Convenience

With the sad news that Cineworld is temporarily closing down all branches of its cinemas in the UK it has made me think and wonder why the cinema industry is suffering as much as it is. The obvious answer is Covid-19, with everything going on people naturally aren’t going to want to sit in a room with other people for hours for the sake of a movie and that is for sure understandable. But even if you take Covid out of the equation the cinema industry was something that was dwindling.

Convenience is something that your average movie enthusiast would take into account when considering whether to take a trip to the cinema or simply stay home and watch a movie from the sofa instead. It’s obvious when you think about it, why would somebody go out and spend more or less 3 times the amount of money when they can do the exact same thing in the comfort of their own home. The only real difference being is the movie as you have to wait a few months for any new releases. Providing you can avoid spoilers on social media that isn’t too much of a problem. Also, with the rise of Netflix and other content providers growing online it has offered even more competition to cinemas themselves, Netflix and Amazon prime have both started to produce movies that are exclusive to their sites, with newly released titles becoming available at the click of a button in the comfort of your own home it would seem silly to go out and have an evening at the cinema instead. So, with people often taking the easy option to get their movie fix that means cinemas themselves start to lose out on a considerable amount of business.

But the one thing that people miss out on when they don’t go to the cinema is the experience. In the past it was such a big thing for people to do and would arguably be considered one of the better nights out that somebody could have for a reasonable price. During the 40s and 50s cinema boomed and it wasn’t out of the ordinary for people to go and watch a movie every week. But slowly over the years the novelty of the cinematic experience has worn off for some people despite advancements in the industry. Different aspects to the cinematic experience have been added over the years such as 3D, IMAX and even 4DX recently have been added to offer another string to the bow of the cinematic experience. But even with those advancements in place this still didn’t lead to the masses flocking back to their nearest cinemas. But the experience of watching a blockbuster on the big screen is something that is special without people even realising. The best way to judge it is to see the reaction of a kid going to the cinema for the first time. They are mesmerised by the big screen and deafening noise. When you go to the cinema to watch a movie it’s not like you are just sat watching a movie, you become so engaged that you feel like you have become part of the movie. You are more of a fly on the wall within the movie rather than somebody sat watching it, and that sort of in-depth experience is something that you just don’t get sat at home on the sofa.

Cinema seems to be on a slight hiatus at the moment with Covid, but next year when movies begin to be released again people should look to the cinema as a form of escapism in these times of hardship. Being able to go somewhere different that isn’t your own home and delve into something interesting for a couple of hours could do wonders, not just for the cinema industry, but for people as well. Mental health is something that has come under serious stress for people when they can’t go out and live their normal lives. Cinema can be that few hours of peace for people in the darkest of times and that special ability that cinema has is not something that should be shunned.

Once again thank you to anyone reading,

Catch ya later!

Why horror movies suck!

Horror movies and their fans are something that has confused me for a while, mainly because of their passion for the genre that very rarely produces any quality cinematic pieces. Naturally this is not always the case as with any genre there are always the good with the bad, but my feeling is that the majority of the movies that fall within this genre suck! Obviously, a lot of the issues within cinema and reviewing it is that everyone has their own opinion, and somebody could have a polar opposite opinion without either of those people being wrong, but in my opinion horror movies are generally awful.

Admittedly I have not watched a lot of horror movies in my time, but I am instantly turned off to them and find myself not wanting to watch them for a few reasons. The main reason being is how poor the movies are themselves, the acting is typically poor and laughable, some of the worst performances that I have ever seen in cinema have come as a result of a horror flick. If some evil demon is following you and terrorising you, I would expect the main protagonist to at least seem worried about it. But most horror films fall short of the mark by a clear distant. An example of what I mean by this is Nicolas Cage in the Wicker man. Personally, I am normally a fan of Nicolas Cage but this film and his performance in it were both absolutely dreadful. Obviously, I am aware that not all performances in Horror movies are poor, there are also good ones, but they are rare, especially compared to the amount of bad performances.

Secondly the actual stories that come with horror movies are normally shocking, once again this is not always the case but typically horror movies are just simply awful story-wise. Obviously most films are over dramatized in order to create entertainment, but horror movies take that issue to a whole new level, whether it be the stupidity from the characters involved in the movie, or whether it’s just the total randomness of the events that occur in the movie itself. A lot of horror films seem so aimless as if they are just making up the story as they go along. In the Tall Grass is a good example, it is often hard to follow as you never know where they are taking the film, it is also hard to concentrate on any kind of story and content when they’re constantly trying to shove jump scares down your throat, often horror movies seem to be focused on trying to scare the watcher rather than entertain with cinema, but I guess that is a subjective opinion and that is the great bit about cinema as it is all subjective. My point being is that it is hard to try and take viewers through a story or narrative whilst you are trying to scare them, especially when mostly these jump scares aren’t natural they are purely fabricated at random times during a movie just to try and catch you off guard even if it does not make sense to have a jump scare in the movie at that time.

Obviously, certain horror movies are considered classics and they aren’t something that I am trying to hack down. But the genre is easily the most hit and miss in the world of cinema, horror movies tend to have a 5% chance of being great and when the director, producers, writers and actors get it right then they can make a really edgy, intense and interesting movie, but often horror movies do fall short of that mark and often feel misguided. This is why most horror movies are considered poor movies amongst reviewers. According to Statista.com Horror falls 6th in the list of genres for box office earnings so even the number of people that go and see these movies shows the standard of movie, obviously these stats cant just be taken at face value as typically people under the age of 18 cannot go and view the movie and this accounts for a massive amount of tickets, but none the less it is clear these movies fall short.

Anyways, thanks for reading my nonsense, as always, I expect people to disagree and that’s cool too.

Adios