Watching films through rose tinted glasses

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Film

Going to the cinema is amazing. I love it. Fair enough these days it’s getting more and more expensive to see a film at the cinema. Buying popcorn or ice cream or drinks is almost completely out of the question for me because it’s so ridiculously expensive. And yes, sometimes you’re stuck next to that person who insists on chewing their popcorn with their mouth open and slurping their drink so loudly you can’t hear the film. But no matter what price tickets are and what crazies you end up sitting next to, I don’t think I’d ever not go to the cinema to see any sort of film.

I think watching the film casts some sort of magical spell over me. So many times I’ve been to the cinema and fallen in love with the film I’ve seen. Yet months later and I see the exact same film on TV I’m stunned to think that I actually enjoyed what I saw! What happens in the time between seeing the film on the big screen to seeing it on the small screen? Does my brain, likes and dislikes change that much? Or is it just the experience of cinema?

Take for example the Paranormal Activity films. Watching those in the cinema is great. It’s the audience’s reactions I love. Their ridiculous over the top gasps and screams. I spend most of my time laughing at them. Enjoyable experience! Watching it at home on your own? Not nearly the same experience. There’s just me sitting on the sofa wondering how two little girls can be so damn fearless.

Then there’s the likes of Clash of the Titans and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. I enjoyed both in the cinema. Clash probably slightly less than Transformers. But they were fun to watch. Silly fun. The kind of films that are better on the small screen. But all a little time and a smaller screen offered me was the truth of the films and seeing their many flaws! Add Battle Los Angeles to that list too. Dear lord, I was so bored watching that when it popped up on Sky Movies this year. I just had to switch off!

So I’ve come to the conclusion that going to the cinema casts some sort of spell over me. The big screen. Pitch black environment. Massive sound. All of that added together somehow makes me forget a film’s obvious flaws. Guess that’s why they call it the magic of cinema. And it totally works on me.

6 Comments

  1. A great film is a great film no matter how or where you watch it, but I completely agree there’s nothing quite like the cinema experience!

    • If only going to the cinema could be a more enjoyable experience if other people obeyed cinema etiquette!

  2. The theatre experience is certainly part of it in a lot of cases… and with cases like Clash and Transformers, I think a large part of it is the “spectacle” factor. The redeeming value of those films is the large-scale special effects, and those always play out better on the big screen.

    • And the cinema going public love a good spectacle.

      I guess a second viewing in your own home also provides you the opportunity to revisit and probably judge the film on its actual merits.

  3. Love this, Jaina! Totally get where you’re coming from. There’s just something about getting that “movie experience” in the cinema. When a couple friends and I saw The Woman in Black, it was incredibly fun because in a packed theater, one girl kept screaming just prior something bad happening. Made for a very funny time, and a really good one too.

    You have a good point in there too – watching movies at home can really bring out their flaws, especially if you watch alone. You don’t have anyone else’s reactions to draw off of, and you’re left to your own thoughts, opinion, and observations from the film. I really think it’s one of the best ways to determine your own opinion on a film, and even more, an accurate one.

    Then again, seeing it in the cinema . . . so much fun. I’m blissfully under its spell too 😀

    • Seeing films in the cinema is fun! Even though thinking about it, you’re in a room full of strangers who could possibly be fairly obnoxious and yet, the film just settles everyone down and everyone’s sharing one experience.

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