I went to the movie theater seven times in 2020, four times before the virus shut everything down and three after theaters reopened, albeit under pandemic protocols. During the shutdown, the movie industry delayed release of its biggest movies indefinitely and is only now, reopening the new release pipeline.
I will always prefer going to the show, as they say in Chicago. Sitting on the couch to watch a movie just doesn’t have the same impact.
In 2019, I saw 23 movies at the theater. I rated Ad Astra the lowest and Joker the highest.
Of the seven movies I went to in 2020, the World War I action movie, 1917, was the best and Tenet the worst, simply because it tried to be original while blatantly copying themes and visuals from previous movies about alternate realities.
So far this year, I’ve seen nine movies at the movie theater. My first-half of 2021 movie list includes (on a 1-4 scale, 4 is highest):
- The Marksman (2.5)
- News of the World (3.0)
- Nobody (2.5)
- Wrath of Man (2.5)
- Nomadland (2.0)
- Coming 2 America (3.0)
- Those Who Wish Me Dead (2.5)
- The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard (0.5)
- Black Widow (3.5)
Most of these productions were released simultaneously for home viewing on one subscription service or another. Gone are the days when there was a six-month delay before a big movie showed up on cable. For marginal movies or narrow-appeal indies, that is probably a good thing.
Still, sitting in a darkened theater munching popcorn while watching stories unfold on a giant screen beats the couch at home by a long shot. For one thing, movies at the theater do not dribble out over three seasons of ten episodes. Go to the movie theater and watch the complete story, from beginning to middle to end, in two hours. There are some stories that work over multiple episodes and I have even stayed with some to the end. For my entertainment dollar, most are better told in two hours on the big screen.