Movie Theaters are so Analog - 8/28/2008

Why must the movie industry be so terribly old-fashioned?  I understand the need for their presence, in that their location within most malls stimulates the economy and they provide a lot of jobs for highschool students, but let's face it....the world is changing, and the movie industry needs to catch up.  More and more people, and by people I mean everyone EYE know that's under the age of 50, are using their computers to download films.  Now, some may claim that this is illegal, but who cares about copyright laws when practicality is at stake!  The convenience of getting movies on your computer and then burning them to a dvd and watching them on your big-screen flat-panel hdtv is so obviously attractive that I'm honestly quite baffled that more people in the movie business don't see the potential here for making a shit load of money.  

At ten dollars a ticket, gas-prices bordering on ridiculous, and don't even get me STARTED on concession stand prices.....is it any wonder that less and less people are going to the movies nowadays?  There are VERY FEW theaters where the experience of watching a film with an audience is still exhilarating....and these theaters, such as the Enzian or the Alamo Drafthouse, have something going for them that others do not.  They're classy and...most importantly, FUN!  You can order dinner and drinks there, the setting with upscale and the atmosphere is inviting.  Oh, and babies aren't allowed in after a certain time.  How very LOGICAL!  Also, the tickets are just as expensive as any other theater, only the clientèle is about a hundred times better. 

In any event, there's an easy way to get people back in the regular ol' theaters.....and that's by bringing the theaters to THEM!  Simply have movies that are opening in theaters available to download to your HDTV at the same time.  You could pause the film at any time, but you could only watch it once...and you'd have to pay double the price of a movie ticket for the luxury of watching it on your couch.  But so what?  The ability to watch theatrical releases from the comfort of your own home would be irresistible to the vast populace, regardless of the price.  And this is actually within the realm of possibility, now that most movies are filmed digitally...meaning they'd transfer to your TV set without a loss of quality.

So whattya say, Hollywood?  You can still have theaters and all the gayness they entail, just GIVE US THE OPTION of choosing which way we want to enjoy your product.  If you don't, we'll continue downloading them for free anyway so really, you're only hurting yourselves.  Idiots!