Theaters prepare as movie-goers slowly return to theaters to experience the magic in person once again. PHOTO CREDIT: vox.com
For a period of five months at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, movie theaters shut their doors and switched off their projectors in accordance with CDC guidelines.
With the film industry being forced to delay their multi-million dollar productions and push scheduled blockbusters into later 2020 and 2021, movie theaters waited for the go-ahead to return. Movie theaters began opening again in a near nationwide state in late August 2021 and my first experience back in the theaters was the Thursday night premiere of Josh Boone’s “The New Mutants” on Aug. 27, 2020.
Upon purchasing tickets with a friend, we discovered that we were the only two people in the theater, which was a pretty good experience for the first time back in nearly six months. The near-emptiness of theaters became a trademark of my trips to the theaters until summer 2021.
As a self-proclaimed film critic, I initially distanced myself from theaters for a few months, except for some bigger releases that were not available on home media. The start of the HBO Max day and date release schedule made staying at home to watch new releases much more feasible in early 2021.
Starting in the summer, I began to start going back to the theater on a weekly basis. Since starting my regular routine up again, the theater experience proves to be unlike anything that could be had at home.
After watching films at home for well over a year, I was happy to spend some free time in the theater once again. The guidelines of mask requirements and spaced seating made the full theater aspect of the moviegoing experience nearly obsolete for a while.
Even with the guidelines in place, it reminded me that I never went to screenings that were all that crowded to begin with.
Despite the constant changing regulations, going back to movie theaters brought me back to a place to become entranced in storytelling for a few hours.
One of my first memorable experiences back at the theaters was watching “A Quiet Place Part II” in IMAX because it was one of the rare “quiet” films where a fairly crowded auditorium remained silent due to the tension the film was building.
While it may sound like a cliche, when the lights go down and the music begins to build inside of a theater, it makes people more likely to pay attention than if they were streaming it at home.
Another aspect of the moviegoing experience that has changed in my experience is that cell phone use and talking during films has gone down drastically since the beginning of the pandemic.
With sequels to popular blockbusters being right around the corner, one of the most memorable theater-going experiences I had over the summer was watching the original “Top Gun” for the first time in a theater. Watching this film with my father brought back memories for him from watching the film in the past to realizing just how many hit songs came out of the soundtrack in 1986.
Whether watching films at home or in the theater, writing reviews of films is a part of why I enjoy watching films. Whether it’s good or bad or your opinion differs, it is good to discuss the film with someone at the end of the day.
As the future of mainstream movie theaters has been considered to be uncertain over the past year-and-a-half, I hope everyone stays safe no matter where they stand on the moviegoing experience.