Make the most of movies
Although downloading movies from the internet is convenient and cheap, I still refuse to do it. I don't understand why people like to watch movies at home - the cinema is specially designed for that purpose.
Watching movies should be a special experience. Some movies, especially action and adventure films, only really work in a cinema, where you can fully appreciate the special effects. If you choose to watch them at home on a small computer screen, you'll miss out on a lot of the director's efforts.
Watching at the cinema also means you have an audience around you. No matter whether it's a comedy or a thriller, this means you have someone to laugh or scream with. It's a matter of ambiance. It adds to the overall experience, and can't be imitated at home.
Downloading is simply inferior to watching movies at the cinema.
Nakita Tang, Kit Sam Lam Bing Yim Secondary School
From the Editor
Thank you for your interesting letter, Nakita. When filmmaking was still a relatively new art, going to the cinema was a big deal - people dressed up, and the cinemas themselves were often lavishly decorated. The technology was new, there was no television, and people were amazed that these moving, walking people were on a screen, not a stage.
The cinema was a place to be seen, to forget the hardships you were suffering (especially during the world wars), to treat yourself to something special.
But today we take movies for granted. So many are produced every year, and they're so accessible that we're not worried if we miss one when it's at the cinema.
But when we watch them at home, especially on a laptop screen, we miss out. We don't benefit from the visual effects or the sound mixing.
While the benefits of home viewing are undeniable - it's more convenient, we can watch movies whenever we want - the cinema is still a magical place. Instead of staying in with the curtains closed, you could invite your friends out for a truly memorable occasion and make a cinema trip an event worth dressing up for.
Karly, Deputy Editor
