Dune and The Batman each delayed for a year

That’s more a specific casualty of the pandemic. All live performance venues are suffering. Movie theatres, though, also face real competition from the combination of ever-cheaper home theatre set-ups and streaming services.

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I vaguely heard about that one, but now I’ll have to check it out. Thanks!

I’ve got a soft spot for it. Production design is a little weird and the budget lack shows from time to time, but it definitely is truer to the book than Lynch’s. The longer run time helps immensely to cover the full story.

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Good point although I would expect there to be some spillover. Streaming services don’t just provide movies and TV, there is also all of the live concerts and comedy shows that can be watched from the couch versus the price of a live show, putting on pants, standing in line.

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This kinda works for me seeing as I just finished re-reading (well, listening to) the first 3 Dune books.

One year is probably the perfect amount of waiting time for me to forget enough detail to make the cinematic story that much more exciting.

Also a good time for me to buy this beautiful hardcover for my brother’s bookshelf before the hype builds again.


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I agree with the basic premise. My screen’s smaller, and my sound system cobbled together (but pretty good nonetheless), but I’m not very picky.

I’d argue though that there are some movies with truly epic scenes that need to be on ridiculously sized screens (looking at you IMAX). It really is an entirely different experience.

Whether that will change with improving VR tech is my question.

I like Batman, but couldn’t be bothered to see it in the theater. If this version of Dune is actually one that they don’t F up, then I may actually go multiple times. (assuming that we’re not in a state of perpetual pandemic),

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I got my screen on deep discounted sale, and I bought the sound system used off a local (work) marketplace for a steal. Turns out, the sound really did make the biggest difference.

In general I agree with you. There are probably a handful of movies each year that are SPECTACLES and are enjoyable on super huge screens. I’ve gone to nearly every Marvel movie, though I generally wait a few weeks until the crowds die down. I was a Marvel comic reader as a child, so this is my jam and my nostalgia. But overall, I think there are few movies that reach that threshold and we’ll see wholesale movement in the next decade to releasing most films via streaming services, and most movie chains dying out with only the Imax’s and a few notable exceptions and independent chains remaining. I view Alamo’s rise as a blip in this process, a last gasp of desperation to entice people in with nicer seats and food services, but ultimately it will fail, too. The financials just aren’t there for this any more.

Of course, I’m not a market analyst, so what do I know. I’ve only ever been right about one thing, the shift from CD sales to streaming music, and anyone could have guessed that.

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Postponing Dune seems like a missed opportunity.

I clearly remember descriptions from the book of the precautions taken by stillsuits around the mouth and nose in order to avoid loss of moisture by the wearer(nose just got nasal plugs, mouth was more closely tied to the processing bits of the suit).

How could a PPE merchandizing event and concession-stand prices not be something they would be excited about?

“A man’s body is his own; his exhaled aerosols belong to the tribe.”

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It’s unfortunate but(at least at the less dedicated chain type places); I’ve felt compelled to knock a few marks off the experience of their (superior to my) equipment just because of the people I had to share it with.

Maybe their projector has black levels straight out of a traitor’s heart because it costs more than a car; but when there are a half-dozen brightly lit cellphone screens in my field of view the entire time that just doesn’t help as much. Ditto for the no-doubt-impressive audio system that has people talking over it the entire time and maybe a screaming baby.

I’ve seen a few things that definitely benefitted from the local science museum’s proper IMAX setup(the giant curved screen and organ-pulping sound system, not just the branding sticker they’ve started handing out); but for a lot of purposes my distinctly tepid setup(it’s not even really a home theater, just my insatiable need for desktop space when computing) gets considerable extra points for a controlled audience.

I hear nice things about theaters where the audience is held in check if necessary; but that ain’t my local megaplex.

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