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Obi-Wan Kenobi: Has The 'Movie' In Cinema Terms Been Completely Superseded?

skinny

skinny

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I am very interested in your thoughts on the transition from cinema slash TV to whatever it is we're experiencing via the Disney channel. I'm watching a new "series"which is thrilling me as much as a truly great movie did in 1983. There have been a lot of reachouts in terms of Star Wars fans making cool shit, but this is really the only one that has juiced up my mojo for proper since Return of The Jedi. It is Carrie Fisher in this show. I don't think the casting alone can account for the authenticity. There's a new hope.

I think stream is finally better than 'the movies', and I really want to see this on a cinematic level - in a theatre with bass boost ON. Are we going to see community TV at the movies any time soon? I'm not sure I'm making myself clear as I'm currently pretty spiced up, but I'm obviously very late to the party. My question is, are we now past vocabulary like "television"? "Movie"? What I'm viewing is now the ultimate blend of both.
 
In the olden days, serials used to be shown at cinemas. What you would call a tv-series now.
 
No Movies mentioned in the latest Star Wars do.

Only Telly
 
I think one difference we are seeing, is that as a streaming service doesn't need to fill a 24 hour period like a regular tv-station, they can focus on quality over quantity. So we are seeing tv-shows with more money for production values, writing and casting than we otherwise would.
 
Cost of taking a family of four to the cinema in the region of £33-40 plus extortionate priced for snacks and drinks. For this you get one viewing and a high chance of idiots with mobile phones ruining your enjoyment.

Cost of streaming it//HD+download/Blu-ray on your widescreen tv in comfort of own home with cheap multi-pack drinks and snacks? Maybe half that or less.
 
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Paul_Exeter said:
Cost of taking a family of four to the cinema in the region of £33-40 plus extortionate proposes for snacks and drinks. For this you get one viewing and a high chance of idiots with mobile phones ruining your enjoyment.

Cost of streaming it//HD+download/Blu-ray on your widescreen tv in comfort of own home with cheap multi-pack drinks and snacks? Maybe half that or less.
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Yep, it's why I very rarely watch a film in a cinema these days.
Last time I did was when I went with a friend to watch Blade Runner 2049. Not many people were there.
 
All of those reasons why people don't go are part of my question.

I envisage a complete change in the premise. Can the viewing houses revive the large screen experience by offering viewings of streaming content to membership subscribers at no added cost? Bring your phone and a USB, download the content as you watch for later home viewing. Classic film evenings for fans.

I realise the physical infrastructural upkeep and current copyright law precludes the whole idea, but current is dead anyway. Perhaps some of the billions the Disneys and Hulus drag in could be used to fund some trials? I'm no marketeer. I just feel there ought to be an affordable way to see great serialled content large. An event experience.

OTOH, digital product as it is developed might not be designed for the biggest screens.

I'm starting to talk myself out of it. I'm no marketeer.

RM, you're a cinephile. Any thoughts?
 
I pretty much only go to see films at the cinema when Mark Kermode says they are great and specially benefit from the increased screen size and superior sound system.

Blade Runner 2049 and Dunkirk off the top of my head.

Would have gone to see Dune too, but we were in solid plague territory then.
 
Given the costs of a trip to the cinema...even when the Coalettes were younger we would only go to a local independent cinema as otherwise the cost was, if not prohibitive, quite eye-watering. The cost difference between this independent and the Odeon half a mile up the road, was such that for the cost of the Odeon, we could see a film at the independent cinema, buy everyone a noodle supper and still have a cheaper evening out.

I like the occasional trip to a cinema, but it seems to me that the cinema industry is their own worst enemy, responding to falling footfalls by raising prices, which is a spiral of death in business terms. That they continue to rob patrons blind for food is astonishing given that it's become a cliche.

I'll be surprised if I ever bother again (at least to a major chain), as generally inside 12 months, I can stream the movie at home, in 4K, with surround sound. In truth, most streaming subscriptions are, per month, less than the cost of a ticket.
 
I go to the cinema every so often, increasingly I'm tempted to see classics at repertory theatres. I've not even seen a trailer for Kenobi as the constant sewage outlet dumping Star Wars content into the digital ether is exhausting. A film board I post on as had a universal negative reaction to Kenobi - everything from script, blocking, effects, performances, cinematography, direction etc Many people have cited how cheap it looks. Not seen it so can't comment. I quite liked the Madalorian but gave up bored early on in series two and the multiple set ups for spin offs in the latter half of the season put me off trying again. No interest in the Boba Fett nonsense, Ashoka or the one about the boring guy from Rogue One.

The massive success of the most recent Spiderman (1.9b without China), the success of Dt Strange 2 and The Batman and also the unexpected big success of Top Gun Maverick are testament to the fact that the theatrical model isn't dead. JW: Dominion will likely do very well too: 1bn+ , maybe 1.5bn+ this summer. People are increasingly only going for spectacle and mostly for known IP - think the MCU has done inordinate damage in this regard. I don't know if filmgoers can be de-programmed as it were but I hope so.

@Yithian Dune is definitely worth a viewing in a theatre if you get the chance. I saw it a second time (in IMAX that time) it's the first time I've seen a film twice in theatre for a decade or so.
 
I think right now the only thing drawing most people to the cinema is the big spectacle films, like what Marvel does. Lound sound and big explosions.
If it is a more subtle crime drama, people might just stream it.
I don't see putting stuff you can watch at home into a cinema as a good business model.
A local cinema is serving food during films and having karaoke films. That seems better for bringing back a crowd.
 
Do you have a spare 5 hours and 20 minutes ?

Disney plus will put all six episodes of Obi Won in theaters as a movie..

Disney plus claims Obi Won on a world wide basis has drawn more viewers than any other Disney Plus series.
 
Mostly, as mentioned by others we stream stuff on purely economic grounds. Two months sub to Sky Movies equals one evening at the flicks. However, we do go to the cinema maybe half a dozen times a year, mostly to the Everyman. It's pricier, but it's very comfortable - sofas and legroom - and two of those times will be to see livestreamed concerts or opera which in person at the theatre / concert hall would cost twice as much for half the comfort. The other two will be big movies, but we make a night of it.

We do have a multiplex walking distance away too, and will occasionally drop in there if we've got a free weekday afternoon.
 
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