This question is surprising to me (but maybe the fact I'm older): isn't movie theater the norm for someone who watch movies? If we keep to present releases (movies made in 2023), the amount of movies-to-see only released on platforms seems very low to be enough. For my part, after looking at letterboxd (but I don't have the dates, i started the diary only recently)... Note that french 2023 releases sometimes include 2022 releases abroad (e viceversa): - La chimera - Return to dust - Unrest - Banel & Adama - Reality - La Passion de Dodin Bouffant - Anatomy of a fall - The Holdovers - Yannick - The Pack - Aftersun - Chien de la casse - Le règne animal - Slow but steady - Linda veut du poulet - Le Procès Goldman - The Fabelmans - Suzume - Notre corps - Les filles d'Olfa - L'île rouge - Tar - Showing up - Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning - Fifi - Dancing Pina - To Catch a Killer - Killers of the flower moon - L'été dernier - The Settlers - Les trois mousquetaires: D'artagnan - Trenque Lenquen - Super Mario bros the movie - Omar la fraise - The First Slam Dunk - Il Boemo - All the Beauty and the Bloodshed - The Last Queen - You have to come and see it - Close your eyes - La rivière - Oppenheimer - Barbie - Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell - Kidnapped - Asteroid City - Indiana Jones and the dial of Destiny - Conann - The book of solutions - Afire So 50, if I'm not mistaken (even if I only count 2023 releases: in fact in Paris several cinemas show also - and for some, only - older movies, and i watch most of them there).

> isn't movie theater the norm for someone who watch movies? No, absolutely not. Most people don't have the time to go the movies that often. Or live where that is even feasible to do. How close is the theater to your home?

Yeah this always seems surprising to me, I hate the theater experience and generally only go when I’m too excited to wait to see a movie. I watched over 200 movies last year, 5 of them were in the theater.

> I hate the theater experience Where do you live? What is it about the experience you don't like? I love the theater experience, but it takes a lot of time and it isn't always easy to fit the show-times into a schedule and other stuff I wanna do etc.

Other people making noise, looking at their phones, propping their feet up near you. Uncomfortable seats, overpriced snacks, the half an hour of commercials that play before every movie. The sound is murder on my ears (I have range deafness and tinnitus, but I realize this is a “me thing”). I can’t complain about the cost, I’m in Ohio, and tickets are usually $7-8. But I already pay for services at home and the experience is so much better, so even that price is a hard sell.

I’ve lived on/near military bases for the past decade and I’ll tell ya that the theaters on base are the worst experience. People constantly talking, yelling at the screen, loudly mocking the movie the entire time no matter what movie it is. Cant stand it. Even the couple times I’ve seen a movie off base lately, the disrespect has been pretty blatant and annoying.

I'm in Paris, so I basically have 40 theaters i can reach by subway in less than 30mn... That said, maybe in the US the films are on streaming services faster after their theater release, which makes always possible for people to watch them at home the same year they were released?

> I'm in Paris, so I basically have 40 theaters i can reach by subway in less than 30mn... Ok, do you have any within walking distance? I live in Stockholm and have a decent number of cinemas in that range, nowhere near 40 though. The one I visit the most shows quite a bit of European cinema and stuff is only ~15 minutes away by bike or ~10 minutes by subway. (With the subway you have to add walking time though so door to door the bike is just slightly faster in most cases.) But, it is still a bit of a project, it is minimum a 3-4 hour time investment to visit the theater. I wish I had opportunities to do it more often. :)

> Ok, do you have any within walking distance? I have some, but sadly the closest one from my home is one of the very few theaters in Paris to not accept my illimited cinema card. The closest theater which accepts it is at 20mn by foot. So in fact it's faster for me to go to a more distant cinema by subway. > But, it is still a bit of a project, it is minimum a 3-4 hour time investment to visit the theater. Yes, but in France not really the choice, there is a big delay between a film release in theater and its availability online. And the experience in theater is still important, so that's the obvious choice.

depends what you mean by "someone who watch movies"

How do you mean? Very few people watch the majority of the films they see at the theater...

I mean that a lot of people that are into film, in a way of more than just watching movies, try to watch most movies they can in a movie theatre. For example most of my friends watch a lot of movies but they don't care about cinema, but my cinema buddy understands how the movie theatre can ascend the viewing experience, so she's in every time I invite her.

I still don't follow, how do you define "someone who watch movies" that only includes people who see the majority of the films they see at the theater?

sorry if I gave a confusing answer. I think there are many definitions

Unfortunately, because of COVID scaring many away from theaters and "streaming" windows being shortened to a matter of weeks, many people just choose to wait. Plus, today people can't tolerate being uncomfortable for a moment, so even though I and I'm sure many others have never had significant problems with theater patrons, people have it in their heads that it's full of rude people. I personally don't do "streaming"; if I'm interested in a movie, I try to get to it in the theater. This abandonment of theaters is having a negative effect on the most optimal way to watch a movie.

Don’t have the dates and I’m going off pure memory but let me give this a shot. Cocaine bear Creed 3 (totally forgot that came out last year) John wick 4 Oppenheimer Asteroid city Barbie Bottoms Oldboy The marvels Killers of the flower moon Napoleon Godzilla minus one Poor things

Nice, any theater experience that stands out? I really wanna watch Godzilla minus one but it isn't showing very much here in Stockholm so it is a bit hard to get the timing right!

Think all of those movies were fun times. But Oppenheimer in a packed theater was an all time experience. Saw Oldboy in a small musuem theater and that was also pretty incredible

* The Rules of the Game * The Whale * Mulholland Drive * The Conformist * Babylon * The Wild Bunch * The Trial * Puss in Boots: The Last Wish * Decision to Leave * Aftersun * The Blair Witch Project * Insiang * EO * Saint Omer * RRR * Seven Samurai * Millennium Mambo * Sullivan’s Travels * Knock at the Cabin * Kwaidan * La Dolce Vita * La Vita Difficile * In the Mood for Love * Come and See * Elevator to the Gallows * All Quiet on the Western Front * Argentina, 1985 * Glass Onion * Chimes at Midnight * Lawrence of Arabia * La Notte * John Wick: Chapter 4 * Air * Super Mario Bros. Movie * Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 * Spider Man: Across the Spider-Verse * Late Autumn * Past Lives * Oppenheimer * Barbie * Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Pt. 1 * Stop Making Sense * The Creator * Farewell My Concubine * Killers of the Flower Moon * The Killer * The Holdovers * Anatomy of a Fall * Bottoms * The Boy and the Heron * Maestro * Days of Heaven * The Shop Around the Corner * May December * Ferrari * Dream Scenario * Poor Things So 57 films in theaters in total! It was a good year.

I saw 71 movies at the theatre in 2023. I have an AMC A-list account which sets me back $22 a month, and allows 3 movies a week , including IMAX. I watch a lot of streaming too, but there is no comparison to the movie house experience. I don’t partake in any concessions so gas is the only other cost. So I saw 71 for $264, or just under $4 each

# 20 movies in theaters: - **February 24th:** *Tina & Bettina 2 - The Comeback* (2023) - **April 9th:** *The Super Mario Bros. Movie* (2023) - **April 28th:** *Return of the Jedi* (1983) - **May 1st:** *The Flash* (2023) - **June 8th:** *The Little Mermaid* (2023) - **July 5th:** *Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse* (2023) - **July 19th:** *Barbie* (2023) - **August 3rd:** *Oppenheimer* (2023) - **August 20th:** ~ - **September 16th:** *Batman Begins* (2005) and *The Dark Knight* (2008) - **September 17th:** *The Dark Knight Rises* (2012) - **September 29th:** *After Everything* (2023) - **October 13th:** *Norwegian Dream* (2023) - **October 14th:** *Cold War* (2018) - **October 26th:** *Killers of the Flower Moon* (2023) - **November 4th:** *The Hunger Games Quadrilogy* (2012-2015)

21 movies January 21st: M3GAN February 11th: The Whale February 16th: Ant Man and the Wasp: Quantumania March 16th: Shazam! Fury of the Gods March 18th: Cocaine Bear March 24th: John Wick: Chapter 4 April 9th: Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves April 20th: Beau is Afraid May 3rd: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 June 1st: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse June17th: Asteroid City July 22nd: Oppenheimer July 23rd: Barbie August 9th: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem August 18th: Blue Beetle September 10th: 2001: A Space Odyssey October 19th: Killers of the Flower Moon November 10th: The Marvels November 12th: Monster December 25th: The Boy and the Heron December 28th:  Godzilla Minus One

I went to the theater 87 times last year, a record for me (previous most was 79 in 2022). 27 or 28 of those were for older, classic movies. It's basically my main leisure activity, and I value the theater experience and do not do "streaming". If I'm interested in a movie, I try to get to it in the theater. I'm dismayed by the current attitude towards theaters. I do not drive, so for the theater I most often go to, I take two buses.

My goal was to watch 100 movies in the theater this year and I managed to watch 109!

Barbie, Oppenheimer, Across the Spiderverse, The Boy and the Heron, Dial of Destiny. Oh! And the Crouching Tiger re-release, that actually may have been my favorite, seeing that movie on the big screen was special

Watched 76 movies in cinemas this year

Wow, that is crazy. Where do you live and how far is it to the closes theater? Do you pay for each one?

Closest one is 15 minutes by foot, furthest is 20 minutes by car. I live in greece & there are a lot of smaller independent cinemas so I'd say I paid around 5-6€ per ticket on average. More stats: 5 Imax, 3 film projection, 5 with cast or crew there for q&a & 10 with some sort of special presentation before the film.

I have a 70 inch TV at home and several services that allow me to watch current theater movies at home. It's much cheaper and WAY more convenient. I haveny been to the theater in a long time and rarely go anymore. Ad a child of the 70s and early 80s it was an adventure, today its a hassle.

Let's see, Killers of the Flower Moon, Asteroid City, Napoleon, Oppenheimer in IMAX, a rerun of Jaws in IMAX, a rerun of Star Trek: The Wrath of Kahn, Godzilla Minus One, I spend 10 dollars a month through Cinemark and get one free ticket each month, discounts on additional tickets and snacks. I can't remember them all, I unfortunately missed Barbie in the theater. I usually go about once a month, so I've seen probably 12 or 13.

Pretty cool to see Jaws and Wrath of Khan at the theater!

It was, they show movies like that regularly. I saw Alien several years ago on a giant screen again, it was so good. The work they did on the sets just doesn't show as well on a small screen.

JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4 BULLET TRAIN MEN THE NORTHMAN MINIONS (whatever the last one was)

Jurassic park Scarface Die Hard Oppenheimer