This is just survivorship bias. Nobody remembers the bad movies from the 80s but there sure were a lot of them. Think of all the movies you pass by in the thrift store. They’re trash. We still get good movies today. Think of Everything Everywhere All At Once, or Oppenheimer, as examples that will define this era in film.
I haven’t been to a movie theater since 2009. What makes them so special nowadays? I’ve been tempted to go but it’s hard to beat my setup at home.
Nothing makes them special. The picture quality is worse than my setup at home (I have a 65" HDR OLED TV.) You’re sitting with like 100 people in a large room, half of whom are caughing nonstop and probably have covid. The food is disgusting and overpriced. The price of tickets are ridiculous now. The audio is WAY too loud. Like seriously, way too fucking loud. I had to cover my ears during the previews last time I went. Pretty sure the volume was legit hearing damage level. I see no good reason to go to a theater ever. They’re trash.
The only benefit the theater has over my living room (5.1 setup) is the dolby atmos or whatever setup. But you can’t even appreciate it because they blast the volume at ear drum shattering levels.