Perhaps the most asked question of movie theater goers, we are always looking for ways to discuss why we thought the movie we just watched was good or why we just couldn’t stand reading the subtitles. In our connected world, we still want to be able to sit down and experience the human connection that comes with entertainment.
Of course, we don’t watch entertainment just for ourselves. In ancient Greece plays were put on for the masses. And, really, what’s the difference between that and the movie theater? At the end of the activity we want to be left with something that we can talk about the next day at the water cooler (although when that will happen again is beyond me). We want to be engaged with others.
For a movie review blog, the concept of wearables is…difficult. See, movies are typically a sit-down activity so no Apple Watch or similar device. Watching the movie with Google Glass would just be distracting, almost like Amazon Prime’s X-ray vision. Although niche, there are some possible ways to utilize wearables for Chris’ Movie Reviews.
VR Movies
I love the movie theater. I love the seats, the smell of popcorn, and just that feeling of being in a place that is so uniquely only about movies. We don’t get that same feeling when we watch a film on our iPhone or laptop. But developing technology could be useful in this situation. By now you’ve heard of VR, or Virtual Reality. Now it’s far from perfect but when I had a pair of VR goggles from Samsung (I don’t have an adapter for my new phone, unfortunately) I remember there was a movie theater option and you could watch a video as if you were actually in the theater. Of course, you’re missing the smell of popcorn, but it’s a step in the right direction.
Apps
Yes, here’s another idea for an app. In fact, I believe Letterboxd has beaten me to the punch here. A social app where you can share your movie reviews. Of course, this blog would have to grow quite some bit before that becomes feasible, and I’d have ot learn how to make an app. Still, there have been worse ideas.
A Different App?
Hang in there with me. You know QR codes? Those weird squares with smaller white and black squares?
Well just about every phone nowadays can scan them and bring up a page. In fact, some phones don’t even need a QR code and can just see something through the camera and place an overlay on it (like a Snapchat filter).
Now jump a few months ahead in time. Isolation is over and we get to go to the movies. Of course, all the studios just dumped everything because they need money. So you’re sitting there with 10 different options. You pull out your phone, hover over the poster of the movie…
And ratings appear.
I’m talking RottenTomatoes, IMDB, and of course, my very own rating. This can even be combined with an app where afterwards you get to rate the movie yourself and that information gets uploaded to change the rating to help everybody else out. How cool would that be? And think about if Google Glass had become widespread. I think I’d spend more time at the movies hovering over each of the posters than actually watching the movie.
Of course, these are all ideas. And with everything going on in the world, who even knows. But until we hear more, all we can do is hang in there, continue to listen to experts, and keep watching movies. As always, make sure you stay connected by following my Instagram Page (@ChrisMovieReviews), catch up on past reviews and new movie reviews on my YouTube (bit.ly/CMRYT), look at all the movies I’ve yet to review, and submit which movie you want me to review next!
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