3

Live Orchestra Accompaniment

There's always a chance that the thing that doesn't appeal to you about seeing a movie is the fact you're just seeing a movie, and that's how the poors entertain themselves. You're a fan of doing whatever the fuck it is rich people do for fun. That means taking classy trips to the, ahem, cinema. Well hold on to your monocle, because some people are bringing high society to the movies!

The Asian Dub Foundation, a group of musicians who probably don't do a lot of Taylor Swift covers, had the inspiration to present the score to the movie THX-1138, which sounds just OK until you fold in the much cooler aspect of how they presented it: live during a screening of the film. While you want to do this with movies that have little to no dialogue, as a blaring trumpet doesn't mesh well with Wes Anderson bon mots, it adds a very intense new dimension to the film. That's art and shit right there.

Silent films like The Passion Of Joan of Arc have also had live scoring by 24-piece orchestras, proving that you can breathe new life into a movie even if it is almost 100 years old. And events like The Harry Potter Film Concert Series do the same thing with more modern films. If you still don't get why this should be a thing, tell me you wouldn't get pumped hearing the Star Wars theme live when the logo goes floating off into the distance.

2

Screens That Actually Surpass What We Have In Our Living Rooms

Part of the challenge for theaters is they're competing with home setups that are legitimately better. Some folks pour five figures into TVs that seem to have more resolution than real life, somehow. For example, home TVs can have better contrast, since projections can't show true black very well (it's actually not possible to project blackness onto a surface, if you think about it). That's why some theaters are upgrading to LED screens, so you get the same clarity your rich friends get on their glorious setup -- only, you know, gigantic-movie-screen-size.

Or, if you need a more immersive experience, there's Barco Escape. The Barco Escape screen is 270 degrees of panoramic movie, with a screen to the left and right of the main screen, plunking you in the middle. Because when Iron Man is shooting some lasers at an alien in front of you, you deserve to see Hulk taking a dump on an entire race of extraterrestrials on the right.

ScreenX is offering the same experience. Black Panther was one of the first major North American films released in the format. However, it's been mostly used in Korea up to this point. There are currently only three North American theaters that offer ScreenX, but if it expands, you could absolutely look forward to watching the Howard The Duck reboot in glorious 270-degree 3D.

1

Focusing On Awesome Things That Just Can't Be Done At Home

The traditional defense for the theater experience thus far as been just that: the experience. You can watch all seven Police Academy movies at home, but it's not the same as that big screen, with the smell of popcorn in the air and the murmur of inconsiderate monsters who think it's OK to talk through previews even though that's the second-best part. The theater experience is awesome, and now it's more experience than you've ever experienced.

For example, with Onscreen.com, you get to vote on the movie you and a group of friends, or just a random group of whoever, want to see. If enough people vote to see it, a screening takes place. You finally get your chance to see Highlander 2: The Quickening on the big screen. Life is good!

A number of theaters are also putting the effort into making virtual reality more than just YouTube videos of old people falling out of chairs. AMC is working with a company called Dreamscape to create multi-person, full-room virtual reality experiences that align with movies as a kind of parallel entertainment experience. So if you're going to see Jurassic World 2, then the VR experience might be you immersed in a world wherein you're hounded by people demanding to know why they keep sending children to these islands full of dinosaurs when it never, ever works out. Also you probably shoot stuff or whatever.

Now if they can find a way to deliver that immersive experience while also immersing my real body in a hot tub, they may finally have brought the magic back to cinema.

Forget about the microwave, have you tried making your own popcorn at home in a popcorn popper?

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For more, check out 5 Gimmicks That Will Soon Make Movie Theaters A Living Hell and 6 Reasons Why Drive-In Theaters Are Never Coming Back.

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