Shun. No question.

I didn’t always feel this way. But then again, I used to have the typical teenaged lack of patience. That was a while ago. Lets go back in history…

I grew up in the UK in a small city in the Midlands, at a time when the movie theater (a.k.a. cinema, the “flicks”) was a converted theater. You know, ground level seating below a raised seating area, stage, large curtain. A full size theater. Hundreds of people.

The first movies my parents took me to see were Mary Poppins, Grand Prix and my first Bond film, You Only Live Twice (still my personal favorite!). As a teenager I went with my mates to see 2001: A Space Odyssey. We took the bus to town from the village where we lived. We missed part two and started at part three. Then, when the movie ended and restarted, we watched parts one and two. We were a little confused. Not as confused as we were about girls, but pretty confused.

Girls. Yes, this was the first change in our movie-going experience.

Girls, we discovered, were the reason that people made cinemas. Going to see a film (sorry, movie) was a socially acceptable reason to be with a young lady in a dark space. Wow.

Some things never change and therein lies the problem. But first a confession … I have not been to see a feature film in a cinema since … Titanic. 1997? Now before you get the wrong idea about my film preferences, I was dragged by my daughter who wanted to see it for the one millionth time. Of course I treasure the time I spend with her, I just don’t treasure her movie choices. Even today.

So, back to the problem. Kids. Cell Phones. Dirty seats. Sticky floors. Talking. Complaining. Spoilers.

So, what do I do instead? I have a projector at home and I watch DVDs displayed on the wall.

Wow, I hear you say, must be nice to be that rich! Me? Not really. The projector is an Epson PowerLite Home 10+ which cost me $1,100 in 2004. It was the first model where the bulbs don’t cost a small fortune to replace and they last about 3,000 viewing hours. It will fill a screen up to 300 inches. The specs are low compared to a more recent model, but this was when a big-screen TV cost twice as  much.

The screen? We use a wall. No screen. The wall is realtor beige and is textured, and over-the-air HD content looks great. Same for DVDs, which we play from a PC. No complaints.

Don’t I want to see the latest James Bond as soon as it comes out? I do, but I have patience now. I can also go to the restroom whenever I want and the popcorn is incredibly cheap.

This is the fun experience.