Some of the newer, fancy movie theatres with comfortable reclining chairs and great sound systems are indeed a nice way to watch movies, except the part where other people are around. Film viewing is not a good team sport, with the possible exception of comedies where the live laughter can enhance the experience (although still easily ruined by people who yell back at the actors).

Well thank God for the pandemic, then. There was a point in time where the theaters had reopened but the majority of people were still afraid to go. Was perfect, 98% of the time we’d have the theater to ourselves. Never a crowd. Those days are gone in my town though. Dune IMAX was packed!

Home TVs have gotten bigger, and higher resolution. Theaters are still better, but they're not as much better as they used to be.

That's actually the whole point.

In the 80s you had one small stereo CRT TV.. now you may have a 8k wall with 12.1 thx++ sound system.

Yet I bet 10$ a movie theater is still different.

It's not the technical merit, it's going somewhere else, public place, size of the room.. ambiance.

Also, you can buy a damned fine projector for <$3000 if you have a room you can house it in (about price of high end laptop with a better amortization schedule). Throw distances are easily doable for a 12’ span. Shorter throws are getting more common. You can buy a paint system to put a permanent, pro-quality screen up for a fraction of the cost of a roll-up screen (couple hundred plus ur time). Get yourself a receiver and 6 speakers (including mandatory sub) and you’ll be sitting pretty with a 10’+ screen at home. Paint your walls, ceiling of the room black and you’ll have 90% of what you get at the theater minus the people and overpriced food.

tvs have gotten a lot better, but every time I go to the movies, I'm reminded of how wide the gap is. for one thing, it's not just about the picture.

And are very cheap as well (relative to how expensive they used to be)