Why The Wholesome Art of Going to The Movies Shouldn't Die

How good is cinema popcorn?

You can smell it popping from a mile away, as the sound of tickets printing hums in the background. There’s something quite beautiful about that experience, as staff tell you to “enjoy your movie” (and you sometimes say it back, ‘cos socially awkward).

You get into the theatre, adrenaline rushing, and despite all your intentions, the popcorn is gone before the ads are up. In between the chomps, you still manage to push an “I WANNA SEE THAT” through Every. Single. Trailer.

There’s no denying streaming has fast become our go-to for watching stuff. But how good is going to the cinema?

We took to Instagram to ask why it’s still such a joyous experience for so many of us:

Here’s the thing – there have been fears streaming will kill cinemas for years now. COVID-related woes didn’t do the industry much good either, with wariness from people to attend alongside the virus and cinema closures.

But, it appears most Australians are spending more time in the cinema than they did ten years ago. And, something pretty massive happened last year thanks to a friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man.

Spider-Man: No Way Home broke box-office records, skyrocketing to the sixth highest-grossing movie of all time, while also becoming the fourth biggest hit in Australian cinema history.

This was despite the rapid rise of Omicron, so it brought some hope when compared to the near-empty cinemas in 2020 and parts of 2021. It proved beyond doubt audiences will race to the theatre for certain films.

Some people even reckon Tom Holland is single-handedly to thank for the recovery of cinema (we buy it, but this is largely unconfirmed).

Although not entirely game-changing, and streaming still largely reigning supreme, this is a pretty sweet thing.

Going to the movies is so much more than just a novelty. According to a study from University College London, it’s actually good for your wellbeing and has heaps of positive impacts on our brain function, social connection, and creativity to name a few. We love that for us and for science!

Plus, as beautifully demonstrated in our Insta responses, lots of us love the movies for a bit of a distraction-free escape where there’s nothing to do except eat snacks and immerse ourselves.

It makes you wonder why it takes a big-name Marvel movie to make us flock to the flicks when there are heaps of wonderful things about the joy of going to the movies, and so many wonderful independent films being made.

I guess that'll be a bit of a test next week when The Batman hits Aussie cinemas.

In the meantime, why not suss out your local cinema session times and start thinking about your choc-top flavour. Go chase your Main Character™ dreams and boost your wellbeing while you’re at it, bestie!

Hey… Did ya know we offer Student Edge members cheap tickets at Hoyts cinemas? And that we have movie tickets going out left, right and center as competition prizes on the reg? Just sayin’.