Might not be the most popular call, but streaming services.
A) movie tickets are absurdly expensive. Went for the first time in years last year and was shocked by the nearly $60 for an early morning session. Bonus though because the wifey and I were the only two at the screening (spider-verse 2).
B) physical formats can cost more than 3-4 streaming services per month for just a single movie, cd, vinyl etc. Sales are still worth keeping an eye out for.
C) streaming services promote choice. Your favourite movie isn’t on the service? Watch these similar themed movies. Like this song? Here’s work from similar artists.
D) the other high seas streaming service is very viable if you’re discriminated against by living in a particular region or country. Or you simply can’t or don’t want to pay.
There’s definite downsides such as service saturation, the curse of too much choice, or constant garbage with the odd diamond thrown in. But if you’re not too concerned with loyalty (and you shouldn’t be) or you sail the high seas then that’s not going to be a problem.
Counterpoint: I recently got a Blu-ray player and honestly it feels like it’d be much cheaper than streaming. Especially for someone who doesn’t actually watch that much.
It feels like you have to have multiple accounts nowadays because everything keeps changing what platform they are on, and pulling things from their platform for one reason or another.
Take for example: I wanted to watch the “new” Puss in Boots movie (it’s really good, would recommend). If I wanted to watch it on Netflix, it’d cost me £11 a month every time I wanted to see it and it’d be limited to 720p. However, buying the Blu-ray cost me £7, and I can watch it whenever I want.
Sure, if you watch multiple things a month, or latest releases, streaming might make sense. But it’s certainly worth looking into whether occasional physical purchases might end up cheaper in the long run.
I’m right there with you! I am sick and tired of what the steaming services have become. I started building my library of DVDs and Blurays and am never looking back.
During the pandemic I got a membership to the nearest cinema. It’s $10/mo for a screening you can cash in any time, and I guess there are some extra discounts on popcorn and whatever. If you don’t use it, it rolls over to the next month. Since on average, a movie I actually want to see on the big screen (most recently Dune 2) comes around every couple of months, it works out because I have 2 tickets by then and my wife and I have a little dinner/movie date.
You would choke on the prices here. A saver session is $33 per ticket before fees. If you’re a member it’s $32 before fees. Theses are sessions they put on when the majority are at work. A late night session is still $27.
Want gold class? $47 per ticket before fees.
These cinemas are fully automated with no floor staff with exceptions for food sales, and even then they just refill only (checkouts are self serve.) You can book online and pay a service fee or purchase in person from a kiosk device and guess what? Service fees. $6 per ticket online or in person.
I don’t actually know what the service fee is for.
Food is eye watering expensive to the point we bring our own. There’s no staff to say you can’t, but it’s buried in the fine print of the T&Cs.
Ouch that is insane! I did learn from friends that online ticket purchases here do involve a service fee which seems not right for something that’s completely automated, but my membership waives it so sometime I buy tickets for them and they pay me back.
Food is not worth it here also. I could buy dinner at a restaurant for less than the price of a couple of popcorn and drinks, and that’s what my wife and I wind up doing before a movie. Last time, we went to a restaurant near the cinema and I mentioned to the waitress we were seeing Dune next. She said “Oh, we have a points thing we do towards free tickets! Let me set you up.” So now we have even less incentive to do the popcorn thing.
Definitely a controversial take. Streaming didn’t destroy the cinema for no reason, though.
As for physical media, I think the industry has realized that they’re not winning back the average consumer and have started catering to the nerds, with most presses (in my exposure) including more than just the base movie that you can find on streaming: higher bitrate, extra content/audio tracks to encourage rewatching, and nice packaging are all things that physical producers have done to compete with the convenience and cost advantage of streaming. In my mind, the appeal of the two are so different anymore that I rarely compare the experience of one being better than the other.
Might not be the most popular call, but streaming services.
A) movie tickets are absurdly expensive. Went for the first time in years last year and was shocked by the nearly $60 for an early morning session. Bonus though because the wifey and I were the only two at the screening (spider-verse 2). B) physical formats can cost more than 3-4 streaming services per month for just a single movie, cd, vinyl etc. Sales are still worth keeping an eye out for. C) streaming services promote choice. Your favourite movie isn’t on the service? Watch these similar themed movies. Like this song? Here’s work from similar artists. D) the other high seas streaming service is very viable if you’re discriminated against by living in a particular region or country. Or you simply can’t or don’t want to pay.
There’s definite downsides such as service saturation, the curse of too much choice, or constant garbage with the odd diamond thrown in. But if you’re not too concerned with loyalty (and you shouldn’t be) or you sail the high seas then that’s not going to be a problem.
Counterpoint: I recently got a Blu-ray player and honestly it feels like it’d be much cheaper than streaming. Especially for someone who doesn’t actually watch that much.
It feels like you have to have multiple accounts nowadays because everything keeps changing what platform they are on, and pulling things from their platform for one reason or another.
Take for example: I wanted to watch the “new” Puss in Boots movie (it’s really good, would recommend). If I wanted to watch it on Netflix, it’d cost me £11 a month every time I wanted to see it and it’d be limited to 720p. However, buying the Blu-ray cost me £7, and I can watch it whenever I want.
Sure, if you watch multiple things a month, or latest releases, streaming might make sense. But it’s certainly worth looking into whether occasional physical purchases might end up cheaper in the long run.
I’m right there with you! I am sick and tired of what the steaming services have become. I started building my library of DVDs and Blurays and am never looking back.
Check your local library, some have dvds and Blu-ray disks available to borrow.
I personally find tickets worth it. on the right day at the right time I’ll pay $12 for two tickets. then I think like $20-30 for popcorn and drinks
but I also dont go to every single movie, only the ones I’m really excited about
During the pandemic I got a membership to the nearest cinema. It’s $10/mo for a screening you can cash in any time, and I guess there are some extra discounts on popcorn and whatever. If you don’t use it, it rolls over to the next month. Since on average, a movie I actually want to see on the big screen (most recently Dune 2) comes around every couple of months, it works out because I have 2 tickets by then and my wife and I have a little dinner/movie date.
You would choke on the prices here. A saver session is $33 per ticket before fees. If you’re a member it’s $32 before fees. Theses are sessions they put on when the majority are at work. A late night session is still $27.
Want gold class? $47 per ticket before fees.
These cinemas are fully automated with no floor staff with exceptions for food sales, and even then they just refill only (checkouts are self serve.) You can book online and pay a service fee or purchase in person from a kiosk device and guess what? Service fees. $6 per ticket online or in person.
I don’t actually know what the service fee is for.
Food is eye watering expensive to the point we bring our own. There’s no staff to say you can’t, but it’s buried in the fine print of the T&Cs.
Ouch that is insane! I did learn from friends that online ticket purchases here do involve a service fee which seems not right for something that’s completely automated, but my membership waives it so sometime I buy tickets for them and they pay me back.
Food is not worth it here also. I could buy dinner at a restaurant for less than the price of a couple of popcorn and drinks, and that’s what my wife and I wind up doing before a movie. Last time, we went to a restaurant near the cinema and I mentioned to the waitress we were seeing Dune next. She said “Oh, we have a points thing we do towards free tickets! Let me set you up.” So now we have even less incentive to do the popcorn thing.
Hit up your local thrift stores for used DVDs/Blurays, rip to computer/NAS and install Jellyfin.
I’ve been NAS-curious for a while. May I ask what your NAS rig is like?
I got a server mount chassis that would hold a normal PC motherboard and 5 bay HDD and threw as much storage at it I could afford and set up a ZRAID5.
Thank you
Definitely a controversial take. Streaming didn’t destroy the cinema for no reason, though.
As for physical media, I think the industry has realized that they’re not winning back the average consumer and have started catering to the nerds, with most presses (in my exposure) including more than just the base movie that you can find on streaming: higher bitrate, extra content/audio tracks to encourage rewatching, and nice packaging are all things that physical producers have done to compete with the convenience and cost advantage of streaming. In my mind, the appeal of the two are so different anymore that I rarely compare the experience of one being better than the other.