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Jim - I think it has to do mostly with saying 'yeah I want to see that' after seeing the ad. I don't get that feeling 5 months later at the local Movie Hut. I think: 'oh yeah, I kinda remember that, what else is there?'.

This seems kinda like refrigerator syndrome. Look in jam-packed fridge with all your favorite foods...but nothing appeals. Maybe a diary is in order? Dear Diary, I *really* want to see _Syriana_. Then you will remember to rent it 6 weeks later

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The rest of your argument boils down to 'I like theatres, why don't you?', which is fine, but I don't really care for them. I can appreciate that you and others do, but I don't.

I'm not sure I was trying to make an argument for you to be like me. Bunny help you! More, I was just trying to lay the basis for the 105MM logical assault to follow

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we plan lunch before/after with some care

I don't like 'planning' on movies. I want them around when the whim strikes me. To me they're ephemeral sparkly things that come and go in and out of our lives. I want them to rotate about my life. I've got other things that need planning, like how to get in good quality skiing when the snow flies, or cutting the grass or painting the house, or mountain biking or going out to dinner with my wife (you know with conversations and everything!). I don't want to plan on a movie and neither I nor my wife have enough hours to rearrange to meet somebody else's schedule. I think a lot of people fit that mold who don't get to talk about the new releases at work because they don't have time to see them. Who has conversations about movies that just came out on DVD? (LOTR/Trek/Starwars fans I'm NOT talking about you! )

Thanks. I can say that I have never camped out on a sidewalk in *any* sort of costume waiting to be the first in line for tickets to a sequelized movie.

That being said, I can say that a few years back I drove non-stop from Seattle to SFO to see Ian McKellen on stage (at the Geary, IIRC) then got in the old GTI and drove back to Seattle that night (slept in the car). It did not occur to me to demand that Sir Ian should appear simultaneously in Seattle.

I don't exactly equate movies with live theater, but, when I take the time to go to the movies --into that dark (hopefully quiet) hall -- I give myself over to the artists (for better or worse) for the duration of their artistic work. I don't readily remember walking out on a movie (perhaps I've chosen well!) but I am sure that day could come.

Anyhow, when I go to the movies, there is no doorbell, microwave, wireless Internet, pause button or Empeg BBS to distract from the movie that fills my eyeglasses. Under even the best of circumstances, this is not an experience that can be duplicated in my home, so I don't feel any need to demand that the movie studios deliver it to my home on the same day that they deliver it to theaters.

Funny, I often tend to think of myself as a poster child for instant gratification, but I guess you could give me a run for that title.

I watched "Motorcycle Diaries" at home from DVD on Sunday evening. I enjoyed it, but, boy-oh-boy, I wish I had gotten my shit together to see it in a proper theater.

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Anyway, I'm not saying in the least that theatres should go away. I like going when the stars align and me, my wife and my friends all have time to go (and it's raining and there's no BBQ to be had).

I just want to see more new movies. I think they should make that easy for me. I think they will make more money that way than even with DVD.

When any other product comes out I can get it via vendors a,b,c,d,e,f....why not movies?

Let me say, in a very friendly way, that I *really* hope you don't get what you want. At least until I am dead.

In my mind, if what you desire comes to pass, one result will be a further decline in the customer base for movie theaters. Rich folks with 72-inch TVs will be quite content to watch the day-one SA DVD release of movies at home while maybe a few crummy super-blockbuster sequels play on the 3 remaining screens in poor neighborhoods in major US cities.

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Edit: Regarding comedy - I love a great live comedy and Broadway shows. I like real people in front of me, in the moment. It's better than any movie. But it's also a relatively rare occurence.

The further along I get, the more I have come to think that the magic is *all* about rare occurences.

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I laughed my ass off at The Producers and at Spamalot. I even liked 'Moving Out', and I'm not really all that into dance, but those people were amazing athletes. I just don't get the same feeling about a movie theatre.

I think I have seen "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" three or four times, but never has it seemed even as remotely funny as it was as a first-run feature in a theater in Cleveland Circle with a remarkably pretty woman laughing in the next seat.

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ps: The popcorn comment made it seem like it's about the money, it's not. It's about the hassle.

For me, it's about the money. Buying 8-dollar popcorn isn't much hassle. If you're rich!

Anyhow (sing Carly Simon "An-ti-ci-pa-tion") I hope you continue to have to wait 5 or 6 weeks!