I have led a good life with a lot of interesting experiences and privileges. Similarly, very challenging at times. One of those challenges has always been quieting my mind. I suffered from insomnia for over 20 years, even losing employment over it. It was simply impossible for me to silence the seemingly many thoughts going through my head all the time. The same thing that makes me great at what I do professionally makes it very hard to relax and find joy in most things.
Quite frankly, it’s very hard for me to find pleasure in most experiences. I realized this about a year ago and have focused on activities that specifically clear my mind of thought, which is a rare achievement. It’s also a first world privilege and problem to have of course (among being frequently challenged by more normal problems) but I do want to sing the praises of one of my oldest hobbies today.
See, the things that quiet my mind are all enveloping. Airsoft for instance. It can be looked at as a dumb kid’s sport, but when I play, the adrenaline, strategic thought, and mastery of equipment means I am fully immersed into it in a way that almost nothing else does. Skiing and driving sports cars are two similar favorites of mine.
But all of these are hobbies that can only be done every now and then. I’ve lamented over the last year, especially as someone who doesn’t drink, that I never really had an activity that I could do on demand from the comfort of my home that relaxes me…although I have known what I needed.
See, way back in 2006, I bought my first digital projector. This was even before HDMI. I set it up in my room I shared with a few Vanderbilt classmates and it shot a dim 120” image onto my wall. Its resolution was remarkable at the time at 720p. But the world it unlocked was magical.
I found I could entirely escape into movies. It was such a unique ability that when I moved into my first apartment after college, I made the 2nd bedroom a small dedicated theater.
I went to work for a week, painting, running wires in the walls, setting up the projector and screen, and wiring a bunch of cables together into my first Marantz receiver.
I was hooked. HDTV had just become a thing and I watched lots of fantastic tv, DVDs, and played a lot of Xbox 360 mesmerized by a bright, beautiful picture and Dolby Digital (or if I got lucky DTS) surround sound.
It was great when dating as well as to have friends over to watch big games or play Rock Band. When I moved to my next house in Franklin, TN, I put an even bigger screen in its huge bonus room. I even bought the very first HD DVD player, a format that died and was replaced by Blu Ray a few years later. But those first moments of watching a movie in HD for the very first time and indelibly moving.
I later moved back into an apartment in the city and lost my theater. That was until 2014 when I moved into a very unique abode in San Francisco. I again set up a beautiful projector on a unique screen that was about 2mm of steel hanging from the ceiling. I even got real reclining theater seats.
I lived there for 2 years and watched 131 movies according to my journal.
I eventually moved to a place with more sun and lost my theater again. I know this sounds preposterous but it’s been something I’ve dearly missed as it’s the only at home experience I have ever found that gives me real joy and peace.
But let me try to explain why…
If you have never truly experience a home theater, you owe it to yourself to find one and give it a try. There is nothing quite like relaxing while surrounded by sound looking at a picture more beautiful than those in an actual movie theater, all from the comfort and privacy of your home.
It need not be expensive, nor were my setups particularly expensive beyond it was what I decide to put my free cash flow toward. The most difficult part these days would be finding a space you can dedicate to it.
But I am so happy to say I have finally invested in a new theater setup for the first time in almost a decade…and I’ve found joy again.
See, technology has come a long way in ten years. We now have things like 4k TVs, HDR, Dolby Atmos, and even better copies of movies that incorporate IMAX enhancements.
What I have now is a room with a very large OLED TV and 5.1.4 surround sound. That is to say I have 5 standard channels and 4 height channels of sound, which now give movies 3 dimensions of sound around you. Amazingly, the price of equipment has gone down over time meaning the investment necessary to do such a thing can be very affordable.
Most importantly, when you buy high end AV equipment, you see how broken streaming is for demanding use cases like this. See, streaming simply cannot compare to the quality you get from a physical disc. Streaming inherently uses a lot of compression and reduces the amount of data sent by 75-90% compared to a 4k Ultra HD Blu Ray and it shows. While the difference in video is less noticeable, sound on a theater setup is atrocious when streaming compared to a disc. Hollywood Directors have been clamoring for years that physical media not die as it provides the best experience of their films and I cannot possibly recommend a good 4k Blu Ray player if you value your movie experience.
But the other advances are mind blowing. Today, I watched Up by Pixar, one of my all time favorites. Let me say that I have never seen a picture on a tv or projected image that looked this good. Up uses a special High Dynamic Range technology called Dolby Vision that includes more data for the pictures in colors and image detail. Let me tell you, it works. I am normally moved to tears by the opening sequence of Up, but in this case, the beauty of the picture and the crisp sound emanating from 9 speakers moved me like very little can.
I’ve sat transfixed many times in the last week in my theater calm and happy for the first time in a very long time, enjoying the latest advances in moviegoing technology. Having seen it before, the opening scene of Arrival with Max Richter’s On the Nature of Daylight harmoniously accompanying some truly incredible moments in film takes on a new meaning.
See, I appreciate what may be called “films.” I’m picky about what I watch. Inception, Dune, Arrival, Blade Runner, Wall-E, The Prestige…the list is long but limited. I pick movies that make me think and feel and experiencing that in a theater is so wildly, remarkably different than on a laptop screen that I can barely even say it’s the same movie.
I am so incredibly grateful that life has brought me to this moment where I have something that brings me so much joy only a few feet away available any time of day. I know what it is may be odd, but storytelling is as old as time and I have always enjoyed the art of cinema. Now I get to enjoy it as close to as it was intended.
If you enjoy movies, do yourself a favor and try a home theater experience. It has always been the best investment I’ve ever made.