Ip Man (5 Stars)

After watching "Ip Man 4" in the cinema earlier this week I decided to rewatch the first three Ip Man films. I have them all on Blu-ray – of course! – so I can watch them as often as I like in the comfort of my own home. I pity the people who lived in times when they had to go to the cinema to see films. It was only slightly better when television was invented and people could watch films, because the selection was random and limited. Maybe not completely random. I lived in those dark days, and I knew that I could watch horror films on Friday evening and "Ben Hur" at Easter. Hallelujah!

Then it became possible to buy films on videotapes. The first VCRs (Video Cassette Recorders) were made available to the public in 1971, but the prices were so high that they didn't become commonplace until the late 1970's. Prices were still high. I remember that in the mid 1980's video rental stores in Germany also offered overnight rental of VCRs for their customers who couldn't afford to buy one. I didn't own a VCR until 1997. Crazy! It took me that long to catch up.

Then came DVDs... and Blu-rays... and the state of the art is now the 4K UHD disc, which hasn't become popular for various reasons. It's getting ever easier to watch films of your choice in high definition at home.

But lately there's been a backwards step in the film industry. It's something a lot of lazy viewers use, people who aren't real film fans. This is the advent of streaming services. Netflix was the first large company to offer films online via the Internet. This makes things more convenient, because no physical storage space is needed for your films. For instance, I have five large bookcases to store my film collection in the cellar. Not everyone has that much space.

In theory, watching films online is a good idea. In practise, Netflix is an abysmal failure. Ideally, a streaming service should offer a full catalogue of every film ever made, specialising in older films that were previously unavailable to buy. Unfortunately, Netflix sticks to newer films that are already available to buy on disc. What makes things worse is that other companies have been formed as competition to Netflix: Amazon Video, Hulu, Disney Plus and many smaller companies. The problem is that the companies compete with one another by gaining the exclusive rights to films, forcing people to subscribe to them. Every new streaming service that's founded makes the market worse. Every new streaming service makes it less likely that Blu-rays will become obsolete.

The best film experience is still the oldest: watching a film in the cinema. Unfortunately, it's no longer possible, at least not where I live. Today all the cinemas in Stuttgart were ordered to close indefinitely to combat the Coronavirus.

Message on the website of the Innenstadtkinos (Metropol, EM, Gloria, Cinema).

Message on the website of the Arthaus-Kinos (Delphi, Atelier am Bollwerk).

Message on the website of UFA-Palast Stuttgart.

Message on the website of Cinemaxx Stuttgart.

The order to close Stuttgart's cinemas was made in the early evening. Films were already running at the time. I hope that the people sitting in the cinemas were at least allowed to watch the rest of their films. The decision to close cinemas (and all other places where events are held) was made by the city council of Stuttgart, so it's still possible to watch films in other surrounding towns, but probably not for much longer.

There are tough days ahead of us. The Coronavirus (more correctly named Covid-19) can't be contained, as the British government has correctly announced. It can only be delayed. Some people will die, but most will survive. So far it's not believed that anyone has a natural immunity, so we can expect the whole world to be infected. Optimists place the death rate at 1%, pessimists say 10%, but the true value is probably in the middle. I'm assuming 5%. That's not too bad. It means everyone has a 19 out of 20 chance of surviving the virus, which is good gambling odds. That's not much consolation for the 385 million people who will die this year, but those who survive will be stronger. That's the lesson we've learnt from evolution.

What we can expect from the future is exciting new films. There will even be films about the Coronavirus. I hope that my readers will be there to watch them. If I'm still alive, I'll be writing about them. Until then, don't panic. Follow the instructions of your government and keep reading my blog. Your survival chances are good. In fact, they're very good if you live in a country with a good healthcare system.

Success Rate:  - 0.1

	Order from Amazon.com
	Order from Amazon.co.uk
	Order from Amazon.de