a better movie experience

Christy and i are becoming quite the movie buffs. We've been getting to go see several movies for free (Charlotte's Web and The Nativity Story) and electing to pay to see others. We also have our Blockbuster online membership. However, having the home theater setup that we do, and watching tons of movies at home via Blockbuster lately - i am really growing to dislike going to the movies. It's not the price of the popcorn or the kids in the front row or even the price of the tickets. It's the fact that i honestly get a better showing of the movie at home with my home theater that cost a total of maybe $1,500 to put together (not a small amount of money i know, but nothing massive either).

Our home theater setup

The movie we saw tonight had no sound through the first several trailers (including several i hadn't seen yet and wanted to). Then once the sound did come on, it dropped to stereo a couple of times in the movie, then jumped back into surround. There was also a massive green scratch down the middle of the picture for about 2 minutes straight at one point

Add to this the fact that they are still showing movies on film in our theaters, despite having higher-than-HD digital projectors that they show previews on. The film not only has the previously mentioned scratches and hair, but it jumps around. It is part of the nature of film. It never stays 100% in focus and it moves slightly from side-to-side and top-to-bottom occasionally. Digital projectors, while having their own issues (finite resolution and limited color pallet, etc) at least hold the picture steady and in focus through the whole showing.

Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks and Landmark Theaters, has a new company starting up that is trying to promote the simultaneous release of movies to theaters, pay-per-view, and DVD. At this point, i would SO be willing to shell out $25 or maybe even as much as $45 to have a high quality DVD of a new movie (no bonus content) that i could watch with friends at home (say...the upcoming Ratatouille or Transformers) rather than pay $15 to go see it in a theater with only Christy. If i know i am likely to own the movie eventually anyway, i have no problem doing that.

I'd even be willing to wait a few weeks. Make the first week theater, second week PPV, third week DVD. I'd be willing to bet it would actually cut back on all the piracy, too. People could just legally go buy a high-quality copy rather than wait a day for a bad quality camcorder rip to download (a practice i do not partake in or encourage, BTW).