News that the Tower Cinemas in King Street will reopen after closing in 2018 is most welcome. Australia's seventh largest city should have a cinema.
Although Novocastrians travelling to the reopened cinema are just as likely to ask their friends about parking as what is showing on the big screen.
Five Star Cinemas plan to reopen the site by Christmas, intending to refurbishing the foyer, concession stand and cinemas while keeping the retro carpets and curtains.
Surely the chairs will be scrapped as part of this renewal.
They were well beyond their use-by date when the complex closed. Whenever you swapped bum cheeks the resultant noise raised the suspicion of nearby patrons.
The announcement came in the same week that CinemaCon 2024 was underway at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. CinemaCon attracts film exhibitors from around the globe to wax optimistically about the future of cinema and the excitement of the movie-going experience.
There was plenty of chatter focused upon overall box office slump.
Film analytics firm Gower Street expect global box office receipts to reach $32 billion in 2024, which is significantly down from the $40 billion-plus figures achieved pre-COVID.
The bright spot for box office receipts is in premium large screen formats, particularly IMAX, which are increasingly popular in dominating the box office receipts.
Oppenheimer and Barbie were huge earner for IMAX. In the USA, IMAX screens accounted for 30 per cent of Oppenheimer's box office revenue despite being just 1 per cent of screens.
Dune accounted for 22 per cent of the global box office on IMAX despite IMAX accounting for less than 1 per cent of all screens Dune was shown on.
Australia has only two IMAX screens. Darling Harbour's was the second highest-grossing screen for the company between 2011 and 2015.
The new screen, 29 by 23.8 metres, is the fourth largest in the world.
A general admission ticket to Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire at Sydney's IMAX cost $43 at the weekend.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga hits the IMAX next month and I intend seeing it just as George Miller intended.
It can be tough to justify regularly going to the cinema at a cost of $43. At CinemaCon, when the carnival barkers were talking up the cinema experience, they referred to the wonderment of being surrounded by strangers who may laugh or cry together.
They tended to gloss over those strangers who chew loudly with an open gob, sniff continuously, pick their nose or feet, talk loudly, cough and cough and cough, or scroll through Tiktok on mobile phones.
I can do without that experience, but I am an enthusiast for a truly gigantic screen and thunderous surround sound.
When you go to a movie, it needs to be better than watching it at home on a big tele. The experience must be better. No snaking queues for popcorn that has been sitting in a machine all day.
Not being fleeced unreasonably for a watered-down soft drink, even though price gouging is now Australia's most popular pastime. Seating must be comfortable and quiet.
Those who use cell phones should be gently tasered.
Air-con must work properly, and there needs to be a renewed focus on the overall consumer experience.
That experience is a commodity to be marketed and sold like any other. It is no joy going to soulless multiplexes with cavernous halls devoid of character or charm and riddled with unidentifiable odours.
Gone are ushers with their discreet flashlights and kindly smiles, replaced by young, cheap workers who care little for the art of cinema and even less for the patrons they serve.
Worst of all impacting experience is the decline of the movie itself, as studios churn out soulless blockbusters designed to appeal to the lowest common denominator enabled by committee-driven mediocrity and focus-group-tested drivel.
Too often the experience is bombarded by mindless sequels, reboots, and superhero franchises, each more devoid of substance than the last.
What was once a bastion of creativity and imagination has too often been reduced to a soulless, corporate-driven shell of its former self. But you should still see Godzilla x Kong.
See you at Tower Cinemas Newcastle for Boxing Day's new releases. I'll be by myself up the back doing the shooshing.
