I'm sort of on the fence with this one. If a television show with 6 episodes was first released in theatres, we probably wouldn't consider it a movie with five sequels. But if a movie never goes to theatre and straight to Netflix, shouldn't they technically be considered movies? Are we counting whether something is a movie or TV movie by the way it was first release. Or by the intention during production?
shareThey're movies to me. It's no different than producing films for direct to video, or direct to pay per view like back in the day. A lot of Netflix movies actually get limited release in theaters in just a few cities so they can be up for awards. So that's real technical hair splitting, but a movie's a movie. I still don't think Blair Witch Project counts as a movie and that's one of the most successful "films" of all time.
shareWhy don't you consider The Blair Witch Project a movie?
shareYou're just saying that because you don't like TBWP. I don't like "Gone With the Wind" therefore it's not a movie!
share"But if a movie never goes to theatre and straight to Netflix, shouldn't they technically be considered movies?"
That makes no grammatical sense.
The term TV movie itself is outdated, it used to mean a TV company has made a movie, but with 10% of funding a real movie would get. Now that you have Amazon & Netflix who can afford to make full budget movies , the difference is mute.
""But if a movie never goes to theatre and straight to Netflix, shouldn't they technically be considered movies?"
That makes no grammatical sense."
If I make a two hour movie that goes straight to Netflix and only Netflix (some are released on both Netflix and theatre simultaneously) some could say that it's a TV movie. But if it's released on both simultaneously, would people consider it a movie because it went to theatre? CBS, FOX, USA Network have all financed television shows and movies. If, for example, CBS produces a two hour movie and it goes to theatre, it would be considered a movie even though a television network financed it. If I film six half hour episodes of something and I release it in theatre first, is it a TV series, are they short films with a continuous story. What if I release it on YouTube, does it then become a web series? This is why I'm on the fence about the entire thing.
I say they are movies
shareThey have the feel of TV movies to be honest.
shareThis is where I am. If it doesn't play in theaters, it's It's a TV movie.
shareThey feel like TV movies to me too but with better production. It just seems to fall short of Hollywood movies.
shareNot all movies are Hollywood nor are they all big budget. If Joe Schmo makes a movie out of a bunch of smart phone videos it’s a movie.
I guess I’d consider Netflix to be made for streaming movies. It’s all changing. Cinemas will soon be a thing of the past like Blockbuster and penny arcades.
It's sad that people don't want to go to the theatre anymore. Such sheltered lives we live.
shareWell, TV movies are movies too.
shareA TV show with 6 episodes being released in the theaters would cost you hundreds of dollars to see unless it was all one long showing
shareFilms and television are seperate artforms
shareThey’re B movies, nowhere near being A movies. Indeed, Netflix’ self-made content is pretty weak.
shareI've say of all the Netflix movies I've seen, less than 20% of them are good.
sharei would say that's mostly been true so far.
most netflix films have basically been on the level of what we used to get from direct-to-video fare back in the bricks & mortar rental days.
but, with the coens & jeremy saulnier working with them, we now have a scenario where genuinely worthy, potentially great films will not be available to most people in theatres, & netflix & other sites will be the primary way to see them, & i doubt this is a trend that is going to reverse itself.
i can't help but feel it's a bit of a shame, because i think here is something important in the shared theatre experience, at least to me, but ultimately this is something that's going to be driven by consumer preference, & the trend seems to be away from theatres & towards home viewing.
Direct-to-video is the category I'd put them in as well. There seem to be more and more of these and I've seen relatively few but I see them less as TV movies and more as straight to video movies since they don't face the same restrictions on content that TV movies often face. I'd consider this a grey are between Theatrical films and TV movies.
share