Sometimes there are instances in life you just have to be there to appreciate.
 

Try to remember the first time you saw one of your favorite performers onstage. Do you recall how electrifying it felt to be one with the crowd and join in on the cheers, chants, and screams? The same can be applied to enjoying movies.
As what we thought would be an event isolated in Wuhan, a place many of us never even heard of before, became a global pandemic, most theaters found themselves shutting their doors to the public for the first time ever. Moviegoers had nowhere to go. Sure, some may argue that with the advent of streaming, there was no longer any need to go out. But the home viewing experience just isn’t the same.

The beauty of watching films in public theaters is finding yourself lost on the big screen, no phones ringing, no door bells demanding for attention, no distractions, just a dark room in which all that exists is what happens on the big screen. 

No TV, no matter how big, can ever replicate the visual wonder of watching a film in the public theater. Have you ever tried watching old movies like James Dean’s Rebel Without a Cause that made use of CinemaScope technology on the small screen? If you’ll notice, most of it is stretched and squashed to fit the screen, diminishing the movie viewing experience. The same applies to the sound as most theaters are designed to enhance our experience of sound. This is why you can feel the vibrations as cars speed away in scenes or just get swept away whenever onscreen explosions occur. Theater rooms are also soundproofed to keep you from hearing any commotions outside and stay focused on whatever’s happening onscreen.

Watching a movie in a theater also provides a social experience that watching at home just can’t provide. Imagine the scent of all the freshly popped popcorn from the snack bar paired with either pork sliders or hotdogs as you line up for snacks to enjoy while watching. When watching a comedy film, the whole room can drown in a sea of infectious laughter. Remember also all the screams and gasps that made all the twists and turns in a horror film even more terrifying. When out watching with friends and family, you can also expect a thorough discussion of what you all collectively experienced from the film you just sat through. Compare it with streaming, which leaves you waiting if other people you want to discuss it with have streamed whatever it is—a concert, a film, and short animation feature—you wish you dissect with them.
Clearly, there are many things watching from home just cannot offer you when enjoying a movie. 

Cinemalaya runs until Aug.13 this month at the Philippine International Convention Center. It should certainly provide an ample viewing experience as everything that its 19th edition has made available and accesible to the movie viewer this year. 

Following the theme “ilumiNasyon,” 10 full-length feature movies and 10 short films will be screened, each with its own unique plot to take us through ordeals, exploits, experiences, and adventures of our choice. 
Cinemalaya will also be hosting other unique screenings to allow us to explore experimental filmmaking and animated films. There will also be talkbacks with film directors and other events relevant to local film making and appreciation, giving viewers a chance to learn even more about the movies they choose to watch. 

www.culturalcenter.gov.ph | Cinemalaya website (www.cinemalaya.org).