Home Theater vs Movie Theater

I've never been one to promote the rivalry between the two as I think they both have their place. HD Beat ran its own "Why Home Theaters Rock" feature which is an interesting read. It's an interesting comparison to this list found on Cinemefusion which makes the mistake of not being content to simply promote movie theater but has to add that Home Theater sucks which won't win over much of the movie loving population. HD Beat plays on some of the reasons for Movie Theater rocking but applies it to HT.

Well, all this rocking has me dizzy. Here is my own play on these lists because it's probably best not to choose sides. You can enjoy both equally.

1/ The sound of Music

My Home Theater is simply an extension of the sound system I've had for decades. I've always loved movies but I once loved music more. Although music isn't the socially defining force in my life it used to be, I still love to listen to music and that means no video. I bet it's common that many of you can trace audio components back through the years. Recalling where you got it, what it replaced and what long gone components you've sold to finance the new one. For me, Home Theater was just what hi-fi morphed into. If there was no Home Theater I'd still have a sound system. Video and multi-channel audio is just an extra feature in my music system.

Strike this one up to Home Theater

2/ Coming Attractions / Hype

I used to love trailers. But too many have crossed the line, giving away too many significant plot details and spoiling the movie. I think it's called the Island with Ewan McGregor is an example. I haven't even seen the movie. I don't have to as I already saw the trailer which gave it away.

What Cinefusion calls "Catch the Hype" in reason #7 is just plain sick. I can live without marketing of movies and product tie-ins. Commercials that aren’t trailers before movies are an annoyance that garners nothing but my hostility. McDonalds ads, car commercials etc are a reason I have half a mind to completely boycott theaters.

Chalk this one up to Home Theater again

3/ Big Sound

Although I appreciate the sound system of the local Cineplex, sometimes they can be well tuned. I still like the sound at home better. If I find the voices are a bit muted I can turn up the center, if I'm not getting enough rumble I can turn up my subs. This might not be so common if the local theater is the benchmark for acoustic performance often I find the center way too loud, but maybe that's because I like to sit very close to the screen.

This one's 50/50

4/ Big Picture

Normally I would say hands down this is a huge advantage of the movie theater. But sometimes the Movies have a problem with brightness in the images. They often look like they need a new light bulb in the projectors. It's annoying when a scene takes place in darkness and images are lost in murky shadows. But fortunately this doesn't happen that often. The local Galaxy theater chain where I usually go consistently gives me good images quality. You can't beat the HUGE screen at the theater when you're sitting in the middle of the first 1/3 of the theater. But at home my 50" display is always rock solid with uniform brightness with every feature. But still, this one has to go to the Movie Theater but if my local Cineplex had the old bulb problem more often I'd have to give it another 50/50.

Movie Theater

5/ Social Factor / Lone Factor

This is one of the most controversial reasons for the theater. Some people like to watch movies in a crowd, some like it at home alone. I like both. When the crowd doesn't consist of commentary from Bob the expert-in-all-things sitting behind me, I like to watch in a crowd. But I also love to watch a movie alone at home.

But home and alone are two separate concepts, I do no, cannot go home to be alone. My Home Theater anytime my kid is not at daycare is kiddie theater. So, even if my kid was capable of being quiet and perfectly still for 2 hours (yeah right) I'd still have to be mindful of the kind of material I'm screening. I may get to watch a movie in peace in my Home Theater sometime in about 2010 when my child is old enough that maybe he'll have friends and sleep over at their house from time to time. The HT fan/parent is a contingent I rarely hear from in the online press. When my wife and I get the kid to bed and settled on a weeknight, sitting on the couch at home causes more sleepiness than yearning for a good movie. I can barely get through an episode of 24 without nodding off most weeknights forget about a movie. It's only special occasions when my HT really gets to rock out and facilitate a good movie.

Movie Theater wins here.

Getting out of the house

This one probably falls under social/lone factor so it's where I'll stop. I don't know if I'm the only HT fan that feels this way but sometimes it's nice to just get out of the house. My wife and I used to like to go to movies together but nowadays we forego the movies. Leaving the wife and kid at home and go to a movie alone is a great way for me to spend some time. I get better immersion at the theater. There is no telephone, no wife, no kids, no pager with impending server issues (that goes along with having a wife in IT who carries the pager, not me) that I get to hear all about.

Well, that's my list of thoughts on HT vs MT. I like 'em both, think they both have their place. Probably if I didn't have a young child living in my house I would have less reason to go out to the theater. But then it might become part of a night out for my wife and I again like it used to be before the baby.