Theater movies suck

Friday, August 3, 2007 by Dave Winer.

I played hookie to see The Simpsons movie, and boy did it suck. It's probably not the fault of the people who made the movie, because I'm so spoiled with my high-def home theater, and powerful sound system. When I go watch a movie in a theater, the screen seems so far away, so small, and their technology is so poor.  

For example, the movie was too big to fit on the screen, about 20 percent of the picture, 10 percent on either side, was actually projected on the drapes. 

And the sound was muddy and tinny and soft.  

A movie would have to be pretty incredible to hold my attention in that environment. 

The movie industry needs to take a look at this. I suppose I'm in the minority, but I won't be for long. The prices on home entertainment equipment are dropping all the time, and word of mouth must be spreading. For $2K you can create an environment at home that's hugely better than the one in the theaters. Next year it'll probably be $1K.