i love the big screen. i worked at 2 neighborhood movie theaters in the summers at the end of H.S. and start of college. i watched so many movies there, because i didn't have to pay. we'd screen new arrivals after hours. i probably watched two movies a week when i wasn't working at a theater.

at some point in my late 20s, i went to some house gathering and saw this guy had rigged up a digital projector. the tech was relatively new, but i made a note to figure that shit out. throw distances, a/v receivers, wiring speakers, etc.

for years, i had been downloading movies and burning them to CD-Rs and later DVD-Rs, to watch them on the larger household screens, but the digital HDMI projector was the real missing link that made me realize how it could all do dovetail into a single, cohesive digital setup.

about 15 years ago, when i got my first OK paying job with like medical and dental benefits, I got my first projector. some refurb'd economy unit i found for $300. took about 2 years for the bulb to fry out. but in that window i accumulated all the other components, the WD shitty streaming box, some old speakers that just needed rewiring and electrical tape, an A/V receiver to connect it all to. blammo, suddenly im watching True Detective Season 1 from my own couch on a display that measures 10' horizontally.

the technology has dramatically improved in a decade. laser projection is bright, quiet, cool temp, and long lasting. i used to watch shit at 720p and now im at 4K-UHD. my old speakers and receiver are still rocking it, its just been media library upgrading, stream hardware, and visual upgrades really.

now im using jellyfin with servarr automation and streaming to an nvidia shield. it's all tucked away so it doesn't even look like i have a way to watch media until i turn shit on with a remote.

i watch a ton of movies and i haven't been to a theater since there was a summer storm like that knocked out power, so i mostly went for the A/C. that was like 8 years ago? the prices are dumb, the seats are just OK, theres a bunch of shitty commercials, and only a Rockefeller can afford the concessions. also, who wants to drive there & back & deal with parking.

Risking long Covid just to watch forgettable slop.

Theaters are great

It's pretty simple, more people figured out over time that movie theaters everywhere are empty, which ironically had the result of filling up some theaters

Until James Cameron finds a way to pump Avatar films directly into my visual cortex I will settle for the theater

the consoomers are healing

Not Gen Z, but the last 4 times I went to a movie theater, the experience was interrupted by noisy teenagers coming in halfway through the movie, someone's cell phone going off and them shuffling past a dozen people to get out to the lobby, etc. Haven't been back in months because it just doesn't ever seem worth it to be surrounded by so many other humans who aren't friends/family and who have no real social incentive to shut up. Maybe that isn't their experience or they don't care as much.

The place I'm in has a 'community room' thing though that is just always open and has a giant TV, some sofas, and comfy chairs that I've been thinking of just figuring out how to stream from Jellyfin down to that area and posting flyers up to do regular movie screenings.

how much of that is from repeated viewings of The Minecraft Movie?

Further proof GenZ is off its fucking rocker

I almost went to see the new chainsaw man movie, but I didn't have anyone to see it with, and I didn't really want to go by myself. Moviegoing has always been associated with dating for me, but alone I find it hard to justify the ticket price when I am just as satisfied to watch a bad recording of a movie. 😁