Posts by Jose Miller17

Well, it’s right there on page 1... basically: you're doomed. 😁

Well, she couldn't care less about what's going on in some random place like... America...🙂 😬

Just to be clear, we’re talking about a "rescue mission for American cinemas" in general, not just the ones in Washington, D.C. ...rustyscout31, why don't you take them up on the offer? Send an email to the HFSA and let them organize a screening in a small town somewhere since the timing is perfect...

Oh, please. Stop being shy and just tell them where to shove it. They’ve got 48 in China anyway. 😁😁😁

steelstag4 said:Nah, enlighten us then.

Exactly! Let's hear some noise from the back of the crowd!!

northerncrane4 said:You guys are all getting worked up arguing, but this whole thing was just a stunt so some filmmakers hungry for clout could get a few soundbites in the papers and on TV.

Fair point, but I’d rather see their tax dollars produce something actually useful than waste them on garbage...
Damn, I'm a genius this morning. 😬

quietdriver3 said:harder problems = more complex special effects.

🤣 🤣 and if only poor Caine had actually realized this 👍 ...
it reminds me of Homer watching Scott Williams save someone on TV: 'Listen to that music, he's evil.'...😁
....
though I think you're all missing the point about why Caine made that comment to get attention... if he really wanted the spotlight, he would have said: 'I think modern movies are a hundred times better than the old crap I used to star in.' Now *that* would have gotten him some real attention (and probably a meeting with a psychiatrist). 😁😁

quietdriver3 goldeneeagle2 said:The film industry hasn't gotten any worse than it already was. This whole decline everyone keeps whining about probably started on day one. I’d bet anything that even back when people were watching the Lumiere brothers' The Arrival of a Train, there were folks turning their heads and complaining that the cinematography looked like absolute garbage. 😁 😁

😁😁
The fact is, movies are just commercial products now. They're targeting teenagers, so you get that predictable, cookie-cutter content. You can see it the second you walk into any AMC theater.
Movie perceptions are rarely about the truth. Every generation thinks they're the ones witnessing the end of cinema, acting like everything else was just a prelude to the decline. 😲So, this has been dragging on for decades now... Has this generation finally realized that "The End" is actually going to be the title of the next sequel coming out in Fall 2007? 😁😁

Oh, please...

nimblemarlin17 said:Exactly, you nailed it. 🙂 I’m grabbing my gun and then I’m gonna 🙂

Don't bother, because Borg hasn't given you the green light yet. 😬

robybaggio said:The government should only step in if there aren't any alternatives, and we have plenty since private theaters are doing just fine. Comparing an opera house to a movie theater is apples and oranges; the opera produces its own shows, which isn't how movies work. Too much money is being dumped into mediocre American films, basically paying to keep theaters afloat that nobody even visits anyway.

Sorry, but this is pure nonsense. I’m honestly hoping you’re just playing dumb because I can’t believe what you're typing here. "The state should subsidize if there's no alternative"—so your plan is to let everything sell out first, and once all the competition is dead and gone (leaving us with nothing but a private AMC Theatres), *then* we start the subsidies? Great idea. We'll just buy all those venues back later at triple the price.

Brenda Lee50 said:For a major hub like Chicago, it’s an absolute disgrace that all non-core productions are crammed into one single hall out in the suburbs. Period. Now we have to look at the audience. Is the issue the system or the people? One feeds the other in a loop. Capitalism is designed to sell cheap distractions—get people into the cinema to relax so they don't stress about how things actually are. Democracy is just a kakistocracy, where corrupt leaders rule over a clueless majority. The system works because it suits everyone...

Solid point👍 ...but the thing about a kakistocracy is that guys like nimblemarlin17 won't even read your post, just like he didn't read the petition mentioned in this thread. They still feel the need to chime in and talk nonsense when they haven't got a clue what's actually going on...

nimblemarlin17 said:She’s got this incredibly idiotic idea that city hall should be running movie theaters. Since nothing that isn't turning a profit can survive these days, she thinks we should keep them open just out of pure nostalgia, even though nobody actually goes to them—which is the whole reason they're closing in the first place. You still have to cover things like directing, film rights, and payroll, which comes from ticket sales and ads. Now they're claiming the lack of AMC Theatres is why there are no ads left, even though those ads were in the old theaters too. Honestly, sometimes I feel like I'm debating people on this forum who never leave their houses and have zero clue how the real world works. Is the city really supposed to subsidize theaters that can't even pay their own staff? 👏 👏 👏

You clearly didn't read her post where she explains why it's not an "idiotic opinion." Why shouldn't the government subsidize something that serves the public interest? Why do you even pay taxes? (Though I doubt you care enough to find out.)
What about FC Barcelona? Should we just sell off every cultural landmark that isn't "commercial" then?

Anthony Davis6 said:I'm totally with you, but the "raw material" we have to work with these days is pretty weak compared to those blessed 90s. You can go to a blockbuster and half the crowd feels like they're just empty shells... but fine, let's try another theater. Maybe I'll get lucky and catch my favorite movie alone in an AMC Theatres 😍

I agree the quality is lacking, but honestly, nobody’s even trying to shape it... it’s just been tossed to the curb, which explains why the crowds feel so hollow. :-)
But you're right about the atmosphere. I went to see a Miyazaki film at a local indie spot and was basically alone—well, after five minutes, two people wandered in, but those five minutes felt like an eternity 😍 😁 ) ...
..
Seriously though, what is wrong with people? How can you even stand those fascist types at the door checking your bags...👎

Anthony Davis6 said:I’m at a solid 5. I miss all those old theaters too, but I think it’s more of an emotional thing—both for people like him and me—where everything just feels better than it used to be. Honestly, I doubt many people would actually show up for whatever programs those halls would run. It isn't realistic to expect the city to fund venues that nobody visits. I think the issue lies more with the consumers than with "rotten capitalism." Those theaters would just sit there empty. We should have kept them, sure, but we also needed to find ways to make them viable. I don't mean they should be renting space to Jehovah's Witnesses or anything like that, but they need to turn a profit to survive. At the end of the day, this is all just a symptom of a chronic lack of culture in the city—not in terms of supply, though we could improve that, but in terms of demand. Basically, young people just aren't interested in anything unless it's a blockbuster movie, a massive rave, or some Big Brother reality trash on TV... you could go on forever. But hey, that's just life in America. 😬

The point is, they don't have to be profitable like AMC Theatres... that's the whole idea. Besides, saying nobody would go anyway is just being a defeatist. You could say that about any form of culture. The goal of a theater like that, and its related institutions, isn't just to provide seats, but to actually bring people in. The relationship shouldn't be one-sided; the theater needs to work on building its own audience.

Zachary Thompson2 said:Does the "give me more cinemas" movement actually make sense in a city that’s about to have three multiplexes with over 20 screens total? I honestly don't get why people in cities with zero options are complaining.

Give Chicago one more theater... man, I don't get it either.😕 But since the "manifesto" mentions the whole US, someone apparently remembered we actually need this extra stuff too...

Movies can be more than just stories... they're an experience. I mean, what else is emotion if not how you feel it? A lot happens to these characters in such a short span of time, yet they navigate everything with this surreal ease.
That’s actually what got to me—that sting from Pedro Almodóvar at the end when he dropped the "the dead don't cry" line. It really hit home. I was so incredibly sad about it (worried) that I actually tried to hide it. ;-)

nimblemarlin17 said:Look, I get it, but hardly anyone is on your side here.

Didn't you just claim they were only there for the "customers"?
...
Besides, how can you say you "get it" and then immediately disagree? What exactly are you pushing back against in what Maria Peterson said in her last two posts?

nimblemarlin17 said:🙄

So you're one of those people who thinks they paused because they actually care about your health 👍

Maria Peterson hit the nail on the head... it all comes down to freedom of choice. If you aren't feeling the ads at AMC Theatres, just go somewhere else. It's also on the City of Washington, D.C. to act like a responsible landlord and actually care about the public good instead of just selling everything off to line their own pockets. Not to mention how things look in other cities—it's like they don't even have a local cinema scene there...