The cinema is truly a cornerstone of American culture. More important than providing a source of fun entertainment or a classy taste of art, going out to the movies is a great way to spend time with others.
From the nail-biting suspense of watching a thriller with a tightknit group of friends, to “ahhing” at a bombastic action movie with our families, to gushing over a corny rom-com with a significant other, going to the movie theater affords us a surefire way of spending quality time with those we care about most. That is why it hurt so much to lose the theater during the pandemic.
Fortunately, as the COVID-19 pandemic winds down and the American public becomes vaccinated, we are having our beloved cinemas, and all that comes with them, returned to us.
Although many Americans continue to remain hesitant, the future of the cinema still looks bright. On March 31, the mega-budget CGI monster slugfest, “Godzilla vs. Kong,” released in theaters and earned over $420 million at the box office. More than just an outstanding economic success, the film proved to studios that if they release films, audiences will go to see them. After all, there is no point in producing a movie if it will not earn any profits.
Also taking a stand for the return to the cinema is one of the most successful and beloved movie studios, Marvel. In a recent trailer for Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the studio not only showcased its upcoming films, but also implored audiences to return to theaters. Marvel carried this out by having the late Stan Lee speak about the importance of being with those we care about, showing video clips of remarkable in-theater reactions to Marvel movies, and ending the trailer with the large white text “See you at the movies.” With such an influential and cherished studio confidently leading the way, more are bound to follow and resurrect the cinema.
Besides studios being encouraged to solely create new movies, they also will be incentivized to release big-name blockbusters that they have been strategically holding on to. Examples of completed, yet unreleased films include the highly anticipated new installment in the James Bond franchise, “No Time to Die”; Wes Anderson’s artsy yet broadly appealing “The French Dispatch”; and the novella-adapted, sci-fi thriller “Dune.” However unfortunate being forced to see these movies later than sooner is, these films will be made all the better by having the full cinema experience.
Although using a streaming app and enjoying a movie on a personal device is still great and enjoyable, nothing quite compares to the silver screen. In addition to the aforementioned social aspects, there are more factors that make this statement true.
As showcased in the Marvel Phase 4 trailer, collectively watching and reacting to movies as an audience improves the viewing experience tenfold. There is a certain magic to laughing, gasping, crying, and cheering with complete strangers that only the cinema can provide.
Going to the theater also provides a more cinematic experience in general. When it comes to movies, bigger is better, and viewing from a large, high-quality silver screen is much better than the lesser quality and smaller size of a personal device. In addition to the visual aspect, a greatly underappreciated factor of the cinematic experience is audio quality. There is a world of difference between personal earbuds and professional-grade speakers at movie theaters. Punches feel weightier, dialogue is clearer, explosions are more visceral, and the music is more expressive.
Bringing everything back to a more local level, I recently went out to a local theater to see the action-comedy film “Nobody.” To put it bluntly, the movie theater was in a desolate state. Aside from the theater lacking customers, it also was short-staffed. There were no ticket clerks, janitors, or ushers. The one concessions worker who was there also took the role of ticket clerk, selling both tickets and treats. Her manager took the role of janitor and was maintaining the theater. As for the lack of ushers, one could walk into a theater without having purchased a ticket.
At this cinema I saw only three other movie-goers, all of whom were in my theater. However bare-bones the cinema was, seeing the film in an actual theater was no less of a welcome experience, which I hope to enjoy again as we move forward into the future.
List of notable movies being released in theaters:
June 25 — “Fast and Furious 9”
July 2 — “The Forever Purge”
July 9 — “Black Widow”
July 16 — “Space Jam: A New Legacy”
July 23 — “Hotel Transylvania: Transformania”
July 30 — “The Green Knight”
July 30 — “Jungle Cruise”
August 6 — “The Suicide Squad”
August 20 — “Paw Patrol: The Movie”
August 20 — “The Protégé”