Are Movie Theatres Ruining Movies? Edward Norton Seems To Think So!

Like many of you, I’ve enjoyed going to the movies since I was a kid. After I saw E.T. on the big screen, I was hooked for life. Yeah, there are lots of other options for watching movies at home these days, but I still love going to the movie theaters to watch them as often as I can.

Over the years, there have been a lot of awesome technological advancements when it comes to the theatrical movie viewing experience. But, are movie theaters ruining the movies that we go to see? Edward Norton seems to think so. In a recent interview with the Daily Beast, Norton says the decline of cinema boils down to poorly run theaters that project films dimly with bad sound.

“It’s the theater chains that are destroying the theatrical experience. Period, full-stop. No one else. A lot of filmmakers and cinematographers that I know that have really started to look into this say that more than 60 percent of American theaters are running their projector at almost half the luminosity that they’re required by contract to run it at. They are delivering crappy sound and a dim picture, and no one is calling them on it….If [theaters] were delivering what they’re supposed to be delivering, people would be going.”

While I have had a few bad movie theatre experiences in my life, I can’t say that I agree with him. Most of my theatrical experiences have been great! I see movies at several different theater chains such as AMC, Regal, Arclight. Those are my top three, and I rarely have any issues in regards to the movie viewing experience at them.

For me, I feel like the theatrical experience has been getting better over the years, not worse. Especially with IMAX, Dolby, and the other premium theatrical experiences. My movie theater movie viewing experience probably isn’t the same as everyone else’s, though. I’m sure there are people that have had bad experiences. Norton obviously has!

There are a lot of other reasons why movie theatre attendance is down, I think a lot of that has to do with all the at-home streaming options that people have today. But, I don’t think movie theaters are to blame. I’m happy with what they’ve been delivering! Norton goes on to praise Netflix for what they are doing in the industry and respectfully calls out Steven Spielberg’s stance on them, saying:

“If I disagreed with anybody, with great respect, it was Spielberg. Netflix invested more in Roma theatrically than any boutique label at any studio would have by a factor of five. They put a Spanish-language black-and-white film all over the world in theaters. Hundreds of theaters, not just a few; as many as Sony Pictures Classics would have done. They put more money behind it, in a theatrical context, than anybody would have. You can’t tell me there’s a whole lot of people making black-and-white Spanish-language films and putting that investment behind them.”

What do you all think of this? Do you think that theatres are ruining the moviegoing experience? If so, share your experiences with us. If not, let us know why you think fewer people are going to the theaters to watch movies. Do you think that most people would even notice if the screen was dimmer than it was supposed to be?

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