Neil Calloway argues that despite the strides made by streaming services, cinema is still a cut above…
It’s become such a cliché that you probably sigh every time you hear it, but received wisdom is that nowadays the best TV is at least as good as, if not better than, films. First HBO, and now Netflix raised the bar, made the script the king, made us all binge watchers of high end TV and turned us into people who walked out of films saying “it was good, but it could have gone into more depth.” We’re more impressed by who a show runner is than a movie’s director now.
I’m exaggerating, of course, but broadly speaking, for serious, adult drama, you go to TV, whereas the cinema is for franchises aimed at the under 30s. Still, there’s something about film that just won’t go away.
Despite, or perhaps because of the fact that TV is immediate and available – you can stream shows whenever you want, wherever you want – there is still something about going to the cinema. Yes, countless people have complained about noise from the audience during A Quiet Place – watching Victoria and Abdul last year I threatened someone with violence if they didn’t shut up – I don’t normally have to do that with Judi Dench films when I’m at home. Given a choice – a popcorn-sticky floor, an inconvenient start time, an annoying audience – and the comfort of my own home, when I want, most of the time, with a film I really want to see, I’d pick the cinema.
Partly it’s because of timing – I’m not waiting months for a home entertainment release when a film I want to see is out, and the internet will be awash with spoilers before I get the chance to watch it, and part of it is because films are made for the big screen. I don’t want to watch them on my second hand TV, with the glare from the window reflecting off it. Going to the cinema is an experience; one of the few communal experiences left that doesn’t cost a fortune.
I like Netflix, but I can’t help but feel that Steven Spielberg has a point when he says content made for streaming services shouldn’t qualify for Oscars when all they get is a token cinema release. I can see why Cannes was so reluctant to allow Netflix stuff to be shown at the festival – Netflix did the honourable thing and pulled out – if you’re a film festival, show films. Netflix is the thin end of the wedge. Soon they’ll have been showing badly shot mobile phone clips.
I like Netflix, but ultimately, because you have low expectations when you’re watching something at home, it often flatters to deceive; you’re not judging it on the standards of film, you’re comparing it to an enjoyable documentary you stumbled across on the TV one evening. A trip to the cinema comes with history, expectation; you hold a film you see in the cinema to a higher standard. You demand to be entertained. Streaming is great, but the cinema is the best.
A version of this article was originally posted in April 2018.
Neil Calloway is a pub quiz extraordinaire and Top Gun obsessive.
Originally published June 2, 2018. Updated June 28, 2019.
