“While, yes, the cinema is the best way to experience a new film, a movie that goes straight to streaming doesn’t make it any less of a movie,” says “Streaming” columnist NICK OVERALL.

PERHAPS the most famous film director of all time has taken aim at streaming.

In a controversial interview with “The New York Times”, Steven Spielberg criticised the way platforms such as Netflix, Disney Plus and HBO Max (Binge in Australia) aren’t giving films theatrical releases.

“The pandemic created an opportunity for platforms to raise their subscriptions to record-breaking levels and also throw some of my best filmmaker friends under the bus as their movies were unceremoniously not given theatrical releases,” Spielberg said.

“I think older audiences were relieved that they didn’t have to step on sticky popcorn. But I really believe those same older audiences, once they get into the theatre, the magic of being in a social situation with a bunch of strangers is a tonic.”

The three-time Oscar winner is not the first filmmaker to bemoan the loss of the cinema experience to streaming.

Director of “The Dark Knight”’ and “Interstellar”, Christopher Nolan last year chewed out HBO Max, saying the company was treating filmmakers poorly by not giving movies a run in the cinema.

“Wonder Woman” director Patty Jenkins has continuously opined that movies that go straight to streaming “don’t feel like real films” and that the model “doesn’t work for establishing legendary greatness”

Hell, Martin Scorsese even wrote and published a whole essay on why streaming devalues the art of cinema.

It’s clear that many filmmakers see streaming as a threat to their medium and there’s some good reason for that.

The streaming revolution has created a new way for people to digest their entertainment. For many families, a night out at the movies has now turned into a night at home on Disney Plus.

Spielberg’s concerns are justified. While there’s an allure to the ease of putting on a new flick at home, many would agree it’ll never beat the experience of seeing it on the big screen.

But there is an important flipside to this argument.

Thanks to streaming, Spielberg’s unrivalled filmography is more accessible today than it’s ever been, especially for a new generation.

Incredible films such as “Schindler’s List”, “Jaws”, “Saving Private Ryan”, “E.T.”, “Jurassic Park” are everywhere in the streaming world.

No matter what service someone is subscribed to, odds are they’ll have access to at least one of these legendary movies.

Just last week I got to tick “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” off my to-watch list and was awed by the film that’s just shy of 50-years-old. I can only imagine what it would have been like in the cinema, but I’m just glad I got to have the experience at all.

Binge even features a documentary on the famed filmmaker himself. The eponymously titled “Spielberg” tracks life and career of the ideas that made him a household name.

“I don’t know anybody that wouldn’t like their movies to be shown on a big screen,” said Spielberg.

“I don’t know anyone that would say: ‘No, I’d rather it be shown on an iPad or in a living room’.”

While there’s some truth here, streaming gave people the chance to enjoy films during a time when they weren’t allowed to go out and see a movie, let alone other people.

The release of long-anticipated movies at home offered a small sense of normalcy in an increasingly strange world.

Streaming, paired with the pandemic, created a new model of choice for the consumer. What we’re likely to see going forward is the release of new films in the cinema and streaming at the same time.

While, yes, the cinema is the best way to experience a new film, a movie that goes straight to streaming doesn’t make it any less of a movie.

Amidst the stress and sadness of lockdown, a good film offered many people a chance to escape, if only for a few hours. If that isn’t the magic of movies at work, then what is?