I’m finally ready for the future of film – even though I thought I wasn’t

The Oscars once turned its nose up at Netflix, but a wasted movie pass proved to me recently that we shouldn’t try to fight the tide of modernity

Oscars nods for Netflix productions are growing in number each year (Getty)

Six months ago, I signed up for an unlimited movie pass at a cinema, allowing me to watch as many films as I could devour.

It costs $25 (£19). A steal, I thought. If I watched 10 movies a month that would be $2.50 per flick. Total bargain.

Reader, I’ve watched four. It’s cost me about $40 per movie. I’ve made a huge mistake and I’m locked in for another six months. I love movies; I just hate movie theatres.

It’s the reason that one aspect of this week’s Oscar nominations was so encouraging for me. Because while there was controversy over the lack of diversity across the board, the foothold Netflix gained with Roma was strengthened this year with nods for Marriage Story, The Irishman and The Two Popes.

When it comes to cinema purism, I’m with Scorsese and co. Most movies are best watched in silence, in one sitting, on a big screen, with no distractions, great sound and a crisp picture.

But the modern movie-going experience is not like this. A generation hooked on smartphones means you can barely go a couple of minutes before an iPhone glow illuminates someone’s face as they check their Instagram stories. Others graze like cattle with their troughs of carbs and fat, fearful that two hours without sustenance could deplete their ample frames, while incessant chatter permeates like cricket chirps through a field of long grass.

The picture quality, at best, will be adequate, although 20 minutes from the end of Ad Astra a single ceiling light turned on, slicing through the accumulated atmosphere. The choice was whether to miss five or so minutes to find an employee, or endure the disruption until the end.

By comparison, a large OLED TV, sound bar and pause button are positively heavenly.

The rise of streaming originals is also welcome as a means of discovery. I had no interest in Marriage Story. A middle class woe-is-me, tried-and-tested storyline simply didn’t appeal. Certainly not enough that I’d take a half-mile walking detour to sit through 30 minutes of ads and trailers to sample.

But at home I promised my girlfriend I’d give it 15 minutes. If we didn’t like it, we’d turn it off and put on Jeopardy. The 15-minute mark passed without comment, we were both engrossed and have watched it twice now.

A streaming release doesn’t quite have the clout of a cinema release for me as a journalist, even if it’s just on an unconscious level. Digital is a great leveller, for good or ill. A Twitter storm fills space on my computer screen in the same way as a Pulitzer Prize-winning web article, and the $140m project The Irishman occupies the same space and format in my Netflix queue as Office reruns and low-budget straight-to-TV crime documentaries. It’s difficult to resist categorising them in the same mental space because of that.

But given the viewing figures, expect to see the Hollywood set and the media continue to wrestle with what constitutes cinema, and the trade-offs that people are willing or forced to make in the pursuit of art. Netflix isn’t going anywhere any time soon – and my wasted movie pass is testament to the fact that even if we don’t think we’re fully ready for the cultural shift, we probably are.

Yours,

Dave Maclean

US features editor