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I get it, stadium seating is the norm in movie theaters these days and they’ve been so for a couple of decades now.
I also get that they were around at the birth of cinema as many treated going to the movies like going to the theater, to a vaudeville show, to concerts. These old auditoriums were things of staggering beauty, you got dressed up to go to them, and they reinforced the sense that the moving picture was a magical, church-like experience. I’ve been to more than my fair share, and I can attest to how wonderful they are.
But for the first twenty-five years of my life, I went to the movies and sat on a seat that folded down, barely qualified as comfortable, and was anchored to a gently sloping floor that a great big movie screen hovered over like a window to the heavens. The projector began to hum. Curtains swept open. And I had to look up at the screen, my mouth hanging open like Salvatore Di Vita in CINEMA PARADISO (1988).
This was what going to the movies felt like to me. It still does in my imagination. Which means sitting in an auditorium today, on a plush chair, looking straight on at an image has only ever felt like watching television at home to me.
Recently, I discovered a small cinema near where I live here in Australia. It’s located inside a century-old community hall and is called Mount Vic Flicks. The curtains are scarlet red and sweep open. The chairs aren’t anchored to the floor, but they’re located below the height of the screen. Everyone who buys a ticket has to look up at it, their mouths sometimes hanging open. It’s paradise to me.
Tell me, how much do you hate stadium seating in movie theaters?
You can also try to convince me I’m wrong, which I’m here for, too.
I'm with you, Cole. When I'm lower than the screen, I know what I'm looking at. IMAX seating is even more problematic for me because I don't know if I should be looking up or down. It's very distracting.
I don’t hate it but surely I prefer the classic movie theaters. Anyway, I must confess that my dream, if I ever grow tired of writing, is to open a movie theater focused on classics and invisible independent movies from all over the world.
Yes, I've always wanted to open a cinema, too. I don't know if you've read about it, but Quentin Tarantino bought my favorite revival theater in Los Angeles a decade or so ago to save it. It's called the New Beverly and it exclusively shows movies on film. It's a glorious little shithole I love so much - and it doesn't have stadium seating.
I love stadium seating. I don't have to deal with tall people blocking the view but I understand what you mean in regards to the old style movie seats. Although I think nowadays because movies are longer I would prefer comfort.
Movies were actually pretty commonly longer in the silent and classic cinema era. Silent films regularly clocked in at over three hours. Epics pushed them to the three and sometimes even 3.5 hour mark in the fifties and sixties, too. You bring up a good point, because I'd much rather endure LAWRENCE OF ARABIA or THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY or DOCTOR ZHIVAGO in a comfier seat. I just don't see why I can't do that on a gently sloping floor - looking up.
Going to the movies is like going to a concert for me these days it's very rare when I do it, especially since Prince died and Sonic Youth broke up. I like watching movies in the comfort of my own home so I can turn on CC or rewind a cool scene. That being said they need to fix streaming compensation for everyone involved. These tech companies are taking advantage.
I'm with you, Cole. When I'm lower than the screen, I know what I'm looking at. IMAX seating is even more problematic for me because I don't know if I should be looking up or down. It's very distracting.
Don't get me started on IMAX.
I can assure that those seats in the theaters aren’t at Citi Field, or any stadium I know of, lol.
Ha! Fair point.
I like the seating at Alamo Drafthouse better then the stadium seating.
I don’t hate it but surely I prefer the classic movie theaters. Anyway, I must confess that my dream, if I ever grow tired of writing, is to open a movie theater focused on classics and invisible independent movies from all over the world.
Yes, I've always wanted to open a cinema, too. I don't know if you've read about it, but Quentin Tarantino bought my favorite revival theater in Los Angeles a decade or so ago to save it. It's called the New Beverly and it exclusively shows movies on film. It's a glorious little shithole I love so much - and it doesn't have stadium seating.
I didn’t know and it sounds great!
Here's a story about the New Beverly Cinema: https://deadline.com/2014/09/quentin-tarantino-new-beverly-cinema-takes-over-theater-830233/
Tarantino did it again a couple years ago, this time buying the Vista in LA. Each theater has its own personality and he has each programmed to match that. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/quentin-tarantino-buys-vista-theatre-sunset-hollywood-1234977694/
Thanks!
I love stadium seating. I don't have to deal with tall people blocking the view but I understand what you mean in regards to the old style movie seats. Although I think nowadays because movies are longer I would prefer comfort.
Movies were actually pretty commonly longer in the silent and classic cinema era. Silent films regularly clocked in at over three hours. Epics pushed them to the three and sometimes even 3.5 hour mark in the fifties and sixties, too. You bring up a good point, because I'd much rather endure LAWRENCE OF ARABIA or THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY or DOCTOR ZHIVAGO in a comfier seat. I just don't see why I can't do that on a gently sloping floor - looking up.
Going to the movies is like going to a concert for me these days it's very rare when I do it, especially since Prince died and Sonic Youth broke up. I like watching movies in the comfort of my own home so I can turn on CC or rewind a cool scene. That being said they need to fix streaming compensation for everyone involved. These tech companies are taking advantage.