Weekend moviegoers who get to their seats a bit early at Chicago's Music Box Theatre in normal times know the delicious lagniappe that awaits. On the left side of the movie screen, house organist Dennis Scott delights on a refurbished 1929 Kimball and Co. organ. No charge for the ambience, thank you very much. It’s all part of the vibe.
These days, people watch movies on their iPhones, their tablets and laptops, and of course in the cozy confines of their living rooms — nestled in couches underneath warm quilts, a spot of wine within reach. Before the pandemic, Chicagoans still went to the Music Box, the Davis, the Logan and a slew of megaplexes that dot the city. Even in pre-COVID days, however, the siren call of the couch and a movie on Netflix had become increasingly irresistible.
Will that siren call win out, even after the pandemic? Maybe. Like other movie lovers, we’re trying to wrap our heads around Warner Bros. Pictures’ decision to stream all of its releases in 2021 on Warner-owned HBO Max at the same time they play in theaters. After a month, streaming will stop, though movies will cycle back into HBO Max and other streaming vehicles once interest in a given release at theaters drops.
MOVIE STOCKS PLUNGE
Knowing that COVID-19 likely will force reduced capacity at movie houses through much or all of 2021, the studio took a bottom-line approach toward getting through another pandemic-challenged year. But Toby Emmerich, the studio’s chairman, was vague about whether the hybrid model would become the company’s new norm once the health crisis was over. “We have to see what happens,” Emmerich told The New York Times. “We’re not predicting much of anything beyond next year.”
Understandably, the decision sent a shudder through owners of megaplex chains and movie houses, and especially during holiday breaks when moviegoing is tradition. What else is open Christmas night than the local theater?
The worry is that how we watch movies now, at home, could become the new template for releases, both at Warner and the other major studios. Stock at AMC Entertainment, the world’s largest cinema chain, dropped 16% the day of Warner’s announcement. Cinemark stock fell 22%.
Movie fans have reason to worry.
FOR NOW, STOCK UP THE POPCORN
Until the pandemic eases, it’s safer to keep microwave popcorn stocked and watch your favorite flicks at home. During the pandemic, you can even support cinema icons like the Music Box by renting their releases online.
But with vaccine distribution underway, Chicagoans and the rest of the country can imagine what post-pandemic movie viewing will look like. Will it include a wholesale shift in movie-watching from theater to living room, on a scale that threatens the future of cinemas?
We hope not.
There’s no substitute for watching a movie inside a cavernous room packed with people bursting into laughter in unison when Jim Carrey’s face contorts, or gasping collectively when the great white clamps its jaws around Quint’s torso. The scent of theater popcorn, the previews, even the sticky floor — it’s all part of that movie house dynamic you can’t replicate at home. (OK, if you’ve got kids, you’ve probably got sticky floors.)
DINNER AND A MOVIE
It’s true, megaplex chains have spent millions to make the movie experience a bit more homey — recliners that almost become beds, a selection of decent wine and craft beer you can enjoy while watching. They saw the lure of HBO, Netflix and myriad others, and reacted. AMC Dine-In Block 37 offers a full menu of salads, burgers and desserts from a comfy chair with a table tray and servers. The only downside? If the patron next to you orders fish sticks.
But the thing about moviegoing is this — it gets you out. Out of the house and with people eager to collectively revel in Streep or marvel at Eastwood. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that being sequestered in our homes wears away at our sense of community. That includes dining together, swaying to live music together, and yes, watching movies together.
So don’t give in to the couch. We know it’s a siren song, and its pull is powerful. The pause button is a wonderful thing; the kitchen and a fridge full of leftovers are just a few feet away; and your dog, cat or guinea pig can hop on your lap as you settle into movie night.
But you can’t re-create in your living room the Music Box’s pleated red screen curtain, the ceiling painted to look like a starry night sky, or Dennis Scott. You can’t replicate movie theater popcorn with a few pumps of warm butter and shaker salt. Fountain soda is much tastier at the movies. And that wide wondrous screen? All of that, we hope, is more than enough to keep the movie theater experience alive and thriving.
