The blockbuster ‘Oppenheimer‘ hit the theaters a few months ago, keeping us glued to our cinema seats for a solid 3 hours. Martin Scorsese’s new film ‘Killers of the Flower Moon,’ featuring stars like Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Lily Gladstone and Jesse Plemons, clocks in at a whopping 3.5 hours. This has caused some debate – are movies getting a bit too long? Do long movies need intermissions in cinemas again?
The director of hit films such as Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, and The Wolf of Wall Street didn’t want to hear any of it. “You can sit in front of the TV and watch something for five hours,” he mentioned, alluding to viewers’ binge-watching habits.
Now, I’m the last person to claim that I’ve never spent hours glued to the TV screen. Whether it’s with a good video game or an addictive series, my behind is practically engraved into the couch. However, a crucial difference is that games and series do have a pause button.
Don’t get me wrong, I am still pleased that cinemas stopped including intermissions a few years ago (at least where I’m from). For films of one and a half to two hours, it’s absolutely unnecessary. It needlessly disrupts the film’s flow and only serves the advertisers. And maybe unfortunate individuals with a bladder infection, or those who have the runs.
But for films of three hours or longer, a fifteen-minute is quite beneficial. It’s almost 2024, but to my dismay, my beer bottle still doesn’t refill itself. I also find myself ordering an excessively large bucket of popcorn beforehand, fearing I’ll run out and I’ll have to watch the remainder of the film without a snack. No way I’ll let that happen. Not on my watch.
While watching a movie in the cinema, I often make mental notes. After the film, I MUST discuss these moments with my companion. What did he/she think of them? Do you know how challenging it is to remember all those moments during a 3-hour+ film? My brain can’t handle that anymore, unfortunately. Give us a quarter of an hour in between to briefly discuss the highlights and our expectations for the remainder of the movie.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with a fifteen-minute break during a long film. Unlike on television, Mr. Scorsese, we can’t pause a movie in the cinema when we please. Bladders need to be emptied from time to time, and so do our digestive systems. Those magnificent films, because that’s precisely what they are, shine even more brightly when enjoyed with a refreshing beverage and a fresh batch of popcorn at hand.
