Where are the biggest box office movies (not) streaming?
Looking at this list of 2011 top 100 movies available (and not available) for streaming I’m struck by how much moviegoing is an impulse buy. There are many movies on this list I wanted to see when they were out theatrically, but few of them seem essential anymore and even fewer will get my rental dollars. Between time, the cost and hassle of hiring a babysitter, and the crummy conditions of NY cinemas, I just couldn’t get to them but now that they are beginning to become available I’m much more interested in what’s playing theatrically now, what is dominating the cultural conversation than most of these.
Is it time for the studios to grow a pair and release their films day and date home video and theatrical? Would it be so bad if all the crappy cinemas in the country were forced to compete on the experience they offer rather than the exclusivity of the content? I don’t think I would stop going to movies but I know that Hollywood would definitely steal a lot more of my entertainment budget if that were the case. Instead, they keep delaying their movies further and further, making them less relevant to the national/global conversation and this less valuable to the majority of potential moviegoers.
