How Three Days In Las Vegas Supercharged My Love For Cinema

I get to write about movies for a living. That is both odd and wonderful. It's something I don't take for granted. Even my worst day doing this is so much better than my best day working customer service. That, to me, is "the dream." But there are things I look forward to in this odd line of work that are awesome well beyond my day-to-day. Specifically, getting to cover big events such as San Diego Comic-Con and Star Wars Celebration, among others. These are truly remarkable experiences I wouldn't trade for the world. Last week, I had the pleasure of crossing a big one off of my bucket list: CinemaCon.

Those who don't obsess over the movie industry would be forgiven for not even knowing what CinemaCon is. It's an industry trade show and a gathering of theater owners in Las Vegas where all of the major studios show off what they have coming down the pipeline for said theater owners. Members of the press attend to share with the world what the studios are showing off, and I have always wanted to be one of those people. /Film finally granted my odd little wish by sending me to CinemaCon this year and, dear reader, it was everything I dreamed it could be. More than that, it ignited my love of cinema in a way I haven't felt in quite some time.

From seeing a full stunning 13 minutes of "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes" (perhaps my most anticipated movie of the year), to watching the folks from CrunchyRoll talk about anime as a serious cinematic concern, it was everything I love about movies. Not just sitting down and watching a movie, but getting excited about movies and obsessing over them. Hyping them up. Learning about something new. Grinning from ear to ear because one strikes a chord with you. Marveling at the possibility of what something might be months before the moviegoing masses will learn what it truly is. That's CinemaCon.

I am well aware that my bragging about going to a convention that the general public cannot attend runs the risk of sounding elitist in some way. I assure you, that is not my intention. I often describe myself as a popcorn-eating rube. I value movies as entertainment, plain and simple. I love my blockbuster movies. I love horror movies. I love obsessing over franchises. I am not an arthouse snob. I hardly ever even review movies. I am a guy who loves to watch movies and found himself in the odd position of making it his job. CinemaCon was a reminder to me that my love for movies has not dwindled one bit despite the fact that my career is tied so heavily to it.

Beyond the admittedly amazing bits of footage I saw, which included five full minutes of "Gladiator 2" and even the first trailer for the long-awaited "John Wick" spin-off "Ballerina," there was just so much love on display for the cinematic experience. We're talking about movies in the traditional sense — not something that gets dumped on Netflix and forgotten about mere weeks later, but movies that are made to be enjoyed communally, in a theater. I value that experience more than just about anything else, and the pandemic made it feel like we all might lose it altogether. This convention made me feel like cinema is alive, well, and in some ways straight-up thriving. It was downright energizing.

I watched the National Association of Theater Owners (NATO) highlight small theaters from around the country, stuff that at times made me literally tear up. There are more exhibitors out there than just AMC and Regal, and CinemaCon doesn't forget that. Heck, I don't even watch anime, but watching the Crunchyroll presentation made me feel big feelings because people that love anime are having their day in the sun. It was all love. It was all about preserving this community, even if it was also kind of just one big sales pitch.

This is a unique convention. Most of this footage is not released online (at least not right away), save for a few trailers like "Joker: Folie a Deux" this year, and it's not like a comic con or a film festival. You can't just buy a badge. Someone has to send you. So for years, I had no way of getting into this event because I was never assigned to cover it. Some film journalists want to go to Sundance. I wanted to go to CinemaCon ever since I learned about it. Obsessing about an event for that long runs the risk of providing disappointment once one actually experiences the thing they had been obsessing over. Thankfully, this delivered precisely the experience I had built up in my mind.

CinemaCon is a bit of a conundrum. It's a convention aimed at people in the industry, particularly theater owners. It's studios making big shows to help ensure that theaters get behind their movies. Something so blatantly commercial shouldn't bring forth such rosy feelings. And yet, these studios putting their best feet forward, people waxing poetic about the theatrical experience, and the special, exclusive nature of it all — it all adds up to something wholly unique that reminds me why it is I fight so hard to do what I do. To spend my days talking about movies on the internet for a living. Put simply, I love it.

I spoke more about my experience at CinemaCon on today's episode of the /Film Daily podcast, which you can listen to below:

You can subscribe to /Film Daily on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts, and send your feedback, questions, comments, concerns, and mailbag topics to us at bpearson@slashfilm.com. Please leave your name and general geographic location in case we mention your e-mail on the air.