cinema petit

there's an iFilm article about Brad Bird - sorry, Oscar winner Brad Bird (Ratatouille, The Incredibles, The Iron Giant) - bemoaning the death of the cinema experience in a 2005 Pixar lecture. it mentions how he "hopes the theatrical experience won't completely go away", and he is placing the blame on that on the onset of technology that includes iPods and on-demand movie downloads. i could say that this same wave of progress of the last 10 years allowed him to create the wonderful movies he is credited with, no?

Bird yearns for the days of his youth, where people used to line up and see the show, but now "... we have made it so that on opening day you can see a film on a big screen, or on a crappy screen, or a screen that is a bootleg on your computer [inches] big. To me it’s diminishing the show experience."

i agree with Bird for the most part, but i also agree that on-demand technology is very much a given. there's no way to stop that monster. the difference now is how you choose to watch your films. a big reason why people insist on downloading and watching on crappy screens (even though that crappy screen costs $400) is a revolution against the business model - movies and music - and why downloading has been a hot button issue for this new century. they'd rather choose songs they want rather than a full album that's 90% unlistenable. they'd rather download some movie (either waiting a few days after opening) than pay $12 in the theater (that's New York prices, and i am not traveling to the sticks just to save $4).

i have my own principles on the issue. i still prefer a big screen over a small one, and i would prefer to watch in the comforts of my home rather than go outside (the exceptions being, the movie is an event in itself and i don't mind paying $12). then again, there's a bunch of good movies that came out over the last few years, and i can't afford to be in the moviehouse every week (speak for yourself, Mr. Millionaire Bird), hence, i have a huge backlog of uhm, appropriated media. but getting to watch those, long after the box office receipts have been tallied, is still a joy that i liken to watching it for the first time on the big screen. i have gotten rid of that impulse where you MUST NEED to watch it ahead of everybody else. the blogosphere has pretty much taken care of spoilers.

and it rankles me as well, if i am in the cinema, to have the experience ruined for me. i appreciate going to a state of the art theater and be held in awe for two hours. that means manners and appropriate behavior. though i am not sure if it was appropriate in that one time where Time Bandit and i smuggled Dallas Mutant Texas Crispy Wings in to watch The Guru, but i can say that was an enjoyable experience.

going back to technology, despite what Jobs is smoking and pushing, i still am not convinced that i should buy an iPod Touch to watch my movies. i have no time to convert all movies to Apple's proprietary format, and then strain my eyes for the next couple of hours. it would help, sure, because of my commute. which is why short of opening my laptop on the subway (a sure no-no), i am kind of considering this alternative.

i am okay with buying tickets online (its the only way to guarantee seats these days), but that's for the few movies i make time for. i still prefer to watch in my sorry excuse for a home theater. sure, i'll get a big-ass HDTV down the road, and that still bolsters my principles of enjoying the cinema experience wherever, and in whatever form it makes you happy.


3.5 inch screens? bleeeh.