A&E

The Summer 2021 film season could signal a reawakening for moviegoing itself

Image

Earlier this month, LA’s ArcLight and Cinerama Dome theaters closed down for good. The movie-going communities of Twitter and Facebook reverberated with shock and disbelief that such cinematic institutions could be felled by the COVID-19 shutdown, but at the same time, those self-proclaimed film geeks shrugged in resignation: That’s the world we live in now. COVID-19 is just the latest thing set to destroy moviegoing as we’ve known it, right behind high-definition televisions, streaming services, studio consolidation and 20-screen multiplexes programmed with just five films. Moviegoing was headed downhill long before the pandemic slammed its foot on the gas.

Now, vaccines are beginning to arrest the spread of the virus, and as a result, movie theaters are slowly reopening across the Las Vegas Valley. (As of this writing, at least a dozen local theaters—including Century’s casino screens, North Las Vegas’ Maya Cinemas and AMC Town Square—are already open.) Within a month or so, we should have a pretty complete idea of which theaters are returning and which ones are going the way of the ArcLight and Cinedome. And if we can—if enough of us are inoculated that we can sit in an enclosed space for two hours with some degree of confidence—we should turn off our TVs and return to those theaters, rescuing moviegoing one more time.

If the past year has impressed anything upon me, it’s that I spend too much time at home looking at screens. As great as TV is now—and make no mistake, the storytelling and visual appeal of shows like The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, I May Destroy You and Stranger Things are every bit as strong as their cinematic counterparts—watching it is altogether different than the experience of moviegoing, where distractions are removed (if you follow the rules of the house and put your damn phone away), and plot twists, character moments and visual wows can be communally shared. If you cheer on the Avengers and no one else hears it, doesn’t it mean that Thanos has already won?

This summer movie season is something of an inflection point. Studios like Disney and Warner Brothers are playing hardball with the national chains, trying to whittle down theatrical release windows so films can jump to their streaming services faster—or they’re bypassing that window entirely, releasing films on Disney+ and HBO Max the same day they debut in theaters. (Warner intends to release its entire 2021 slate this way; Disney is being somewhat more cautious.)

But even though the option is available to me, I can’t imagine watching In The Heights or Black Widow without the presence of an audience. As it is, I regret having watched Wonder Woman 1984 and Soul that way; the former felt somewhat airless and flat without a crowd to cheer it on, and the dreamy landscapes of the latter needed a screen much larger than even the widest TV.

Movies aren’t movies because they’re two hours long and expensive to make. They’re movies because they aspire to the biggest screen—and the biggest roomful of people—they can get.

So, for your consideration, here’s the class of Summer 2021. There’s a strong chance some release dates might slip and slide as we play whack-a-mole with COVID-19 outbreaks, and an equally valid chance that some of these films could debut only on Disney+, HBO Max, Hulu, Netflix or Prime Video. (Some of these are already there, but I hold out hope for theatrical releases after the fact. And while we’re here, if any theater chains are listening, it’d be fun to watch full seasons of The Mandalorian on one of your 20 screens.) But if theaters can reopen and stay open, there will be must-see movies on their screens. Will you be there?

Click HERE to subscribe for free to the Weekly Fix, the digital edition of Las Vegas Weekly! Stay up to date with the latest on Las Vegas concerts, shows, restaurants, bars and more, sent directly to your inbox!

Tags: Featured, Film
Share
Photo of Geoff Carter

Geoff Carter

Experts in paleoanthropology believe that Geoff Carter began his career in journalism sometime in the early Grunge period, when he ...

Get more Geoff Carter
Top of Story