Looking back at 2018, I realize that I did not go to the movie theater as often as I did in years past. As someone who loves film, going to the theater was a way for me to watch films that I could not watch anywhere else.
Was this year just a bad year for movies coming out? Or is it something else? Seeing that streaming services like Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon have created film studios of their own, is the brick and mortar movie theatre finally on its last legs?
I was looking at my Netflix feed to see what new movies have come. To my surprise, I saw a movie titled "Roma" as a Netflix exclusive. Written and directed by Academy Award winner Alfonso Cuaron, "Roma" is also a front-runner for the upcoming film awards.
What made this movie jump out to me was the Netflix Original stamp on the front of the advertisement. After viewing the film, I am convinced it was the best film I have seen this year and should be the film to take home the "Best Picture" award at many ceremonies. It seems like Netflix now joins Amazon for having Oscar-worthy films come out of their own media machine.
This leaves the movie theatres with quite a dilemma. While streaming services have been making their own content for years now, critically acclaimed films were still only in the realm of the movie theatre, where you had to purchase a movie ticket in order to see the best films of the year.
Now, streaming services have the means and capital to entice big-name actors and directors to work with them at their studios.
It would not surprise me if Netflix has plans in the future to make their own movie theaters that screen their movies and shows on a big screen. They certainly have enough original content by now to do so.
In the last few years, Netflix has really stepped up its game when it comes to giving customers original content. Traditional movie theatres will have to think of something fast in order to keep up with the changing cinematic landscape. If not, they will become as ancient and outdated as the Blockbuster rental franchise.
