The Death of the (Film) Theatre

A friend and I went to see The Bank Job last night. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Apart from a resolution that strayed into action-movie territory, I thought it was a great heist movie, presenting everything from build-up to aftermath. Recommended.

Unfortunately, my curse with theatre experiences has come back. I had a relatively long run of seven or eight nights where I enjoyed watching movies with no annoying whispers, chit-chat, interruptions. However, last night we had:

• Two or three separate groups of talkers
• Annoying laughter guy braying at the back of the theatre
• Clapping and "Yeah!"s at certain characters getting their comeuppance

I know I'm a film snob. I know that preferring to watch films without audience participation is a predilection that's fast moving me into the minority (if I haven't already). I know that many of my friends have made the switch to home theatre as their primary venue for seeing movies rather than the cinema.

And I know that I'll follow pretty soon.

This lack of cinema etiquette is but one voice in the chorus that is sounding the death knell of the theatre. The others (digital downloads, home theatre improvements, HDTV, etc.) all factor in too. The combination will, I believe, relegate theatre-going to watch films into as much of a niche pastime as theatre-going to watch live shows.

It's just a question of time. My prediction is 5 years.