Theatres Should Embrace Movie Snobs Like Me
The Saturday Huddle is a weekly column that features opinion, analysis and reflections on Huddle stories, podcasts and business news in the region. Derek Montague is a Halifax-based reporter for Huddle. Mark Leger will return next week.
This past November, I did something I thought I would never do again: I contributed to the struggling movie theatre industry by handing over my money for an overpriced ticket and outrageously priced popcorn and drink.
Yes, for the first time since the fall of 2018 I went to see a movie in theatres. That’s because it’s been the first time in three years that I’ve seen a preview for a movie that both I, and a group of friends, might enjoy. That movie of course is Dune – still playing at Cineplex here in Halifax, and also in Saint John, Dieppe and Fredericton.,
I was surprised when I saw the previews for this visually stunning movie. In today’s cynical Hollywood machine that insists on recycling old horror franchises and stale superhero tales, Dune is an extreme outlier.
Making this epic novel into a movie is not a new idea, even if Director Denis Villeneuve’s 2021 vision is refreshing. Hollywood made one previous attempt to make this story work on the big screen when another Hollywood outlier- David Lynch – was tasked to direct in 1984.
Both before and after Lynch’s movie, many a director wanted studio funds to transform this novel into a film. Those attempts failed for two big reasons: the expense of recreating this fantasy world onto screen, and the impossibility of compacting the story to something under two hours.
It’s amazing Villeneuve was able to convince a risk-averse Hollywood machine to create Dune and finally allow a director to split it into separate movies.
I was so into the movie that I didn’t want to miss a detail. When thirsty, I asked the person sitting next to me to go get me a drink and I would fill them in later on what they missed. Surprisingly, this idea was rejected.
Given the fact that I have only gone to the movies once since 2018, you might think I’m not a film lover when the exact opposite is true. I’m in love with cinema as an art form.
I have been decried by friends and family as a “movie snob,” and I’m proud to say that is true. I have high standards for films because I believe film is best served when it is treated as high art, rather than mindless entertainment. I know this puts me in the minority, but I’m not ashamed of it.
When I criticize a movie for its lazy storytelling and stale plot, and other flaws, I’m often told that I simply must “turn the mind off,” while watching. To this day, this idea baffles me. A good film should jog the brain and cause one to become introspective. Yet many people advise me to do the opposite.
Needless to say, Hollywood and movie theatres alike don’t want my money. They believe most people want mindless entertainment.
Yet, in doing so, they, rather ironically, dissuade their most passionate patrons from spending money. How many other industries can you think of that does this on a regular basis?
Covid-19 has wreaked havoc on the theatre industry, they could use a wider customer base, yet theatres haven’t pivoted nearly enough.
The numbers are grim, even when they look sunny. According to an article from baystreet.ca, attendance at Cineplex rose a whopping 430 percent this past summer compared to 2020 (sunny!). Yet, that number wasn’t even enough to even earn a profit; with a reported loss of $33.6 million (grim!).
And the numbers will always look grim compared to the golden era of theatres, when an estimated 65 percent of people, during the 1930s, went to the movies at least once a week. As the world continuously gained more forms of entertainment, like video games and now, streaming services, the Hollywood machine failed to adapt. In return, they have simply raised prices on tickets and popcorn to a dwindling group of moviegoers.
I, like many other movie lovers, have turned to Netflix and Crave to get our daily need of cinema. And, unlike the theatre industry, they do a better job of giving us independent and foreign filmmakers.
Yet, there are times I see a movie I love on a small screen and wish it was playing in a giant theatre. Because places like Cineplex, despite its incredible flaws, have one major advantage: its equipment. When a movie is awe-inspiring you want to experience it on the best screen, and with the most incredible sound.
This is where the theatres could do something that even streaming services have failed to do: show people movies they’ve fallen in love with and will want to share with their friends and family. Show cult classics from over the decades.
Notice I specified “cult classics” instead of just classics. Because cult classics, as the name suggests, have a limited but DEVOTED fan base.
And here’s the kicker, when you love a cult classic, you want to share that experience with friends. You push that movie on other people. And if a theatre is offering to show a movie you hold near and dear to your heart – on the best screen and the best sound system – damn right you’re going, even if you’ve seen the movie a thousand times.
My favourite film of all time is Drive (2011). I can go on for thousands of words on why I think it’s one of the best things ever put to film. But just trust me, the film is amazing, especially when it comes to its cinematography and soundtrack.
I have seen this movie many times on Netflix. I also have it on Blu-ray. So, I wouldn’t bother attending a rescreening in theatres, right? Wrong. I would pay good money, lavish amounts of money, to FINALLY experience this movie the way it should be experienced.
And here’s where it becomes potentially profitable for theatres. Not only will I be going to see Drive, but I will also be taking friends, work colleagues, and acquaintances, with me, kicking a screaming if need be. When I love a movie, I must share it.
With a lot of cult films, a theatre can also promote the film with simple, but fun, marketing techniques. Showing a screening of The Warriors? Encourage patrons to do a group cosplay as their favourite street gang from the movie – The Baseball Furies, The Electric Eliminators, The Moonrunners, etc.
Showing Soylent Green? The theatre can cook up its own, authentic, version of soylent green and feed it to moviegoers!
But maybe I’m being too hard on Cineplex and other theatres. Maybe they are showing classics regularly and I simply haven’t noticed.
Well, it just so happens Cineplex’s website does have a classic section. And playing right now is a grand total of FOUR “classic” films – making Netflix’s pitiful classic movie section look like a national archive by comparison.
And boy, do they ever stretch the use of the term “classic.” Interested in extremely overrated and saturated Christmas movies? The theatre is showing Christmas Vacation and It’s A Wonderful Life. Because those two movies are never shown on TV in December, right?
Then there is the original Matrix from 1999 (You get a pass there Cineplex). And then there is the absolute insult to the term classic: Rocky IV The Director’s Cut.
Wow. I guess the nuance of two boxers who never learned how to defend themselves from massive blows to the head, duking it out as if the fight would win the cold war, was lost on audiences back in the day. Therefore the “ultimate” director’s cut was needed.
I rest my case. The theatre industry does not even pay attention to the potential value in reshowing movies that are timeless.
Some people might scoff at this idea. After all, how many people want to see an “old” movie? That’s the beauty of a classic; it doesn’t age, it doesn’t die, it’s there for all eternity. And, most importantly from an economic perspective, it can be rewatched many times over and still hold value.
Unlike the recycled, rebooted, junk that’s coming out of the Hollywood machine right now.
Feedback? E-mail Derek Montague: [email protected]
Banner image: Unsplash.