When I started going to the cinema as a child in the 70s. it was quite typical to have a short film followed by maybe two or three commercials followed by trailers of forthcoming films....then the main feature. That's why they are called feature films after all, the main feature which comes *after* the other stuff. The household also had just one TV, 18" with a crappy picture and mono sound...and three channels available.
In those days the commercials were typically for Kia-Ora orange drink, which would be offered by a young woman between the trailers and the movie.....the Chinese restaurant around the corner, "After the film, why not enjoy a meal at The Great Wall Restaurant - Just around the corner from this cinema!" (it still is)....and maybe a commercial for new cars or a bank. The adverts gradually got bigger, especially when the independent cinema started taking Perl & Dean adverts. But back then, British adverts were witty and unique. Now the ads at the cinema and on TV are generic, dubbed ads that can be shown anywhere in the world.
The short film would be something that the cinema had available, often some 10-20 minute film about wildlife in some far flung part of the planet, or another culture in an equally distant place.
So I am well used to the feature beginning 30 minutes after the advertised time....BUT the caveat is that they used to tell you that so you could choose.
The USP for me with the cinema now is that the better ones have large, reclining seats, and hopefully big screens. Something like Oppenheimer or Dune really benefits from the big screen....and even my kick-ass 5.1 system with a couple of thousand Watts at it's disposal doesn't quite match the IMAX experience.
I've never been one to guzzle popcorn during a movie but the spousal units do. Doesn't seem to be a problem. But those bloody phone screens lighting up really distracts me. If you really need to take some vital call, go outside. Otherwise, if you are so addicted to your phone that you cannot sit for around two hours without gazing at it....you have a problem and need to seek some therapy. I am quite a heavy smart phone user but I can put the thing aside for two to three hours.
Cinema has lost some of it's USP because we no longer squint at 20" TVs at home with either a pan and scan (yuck yuck I could never understand why) or letterboxed movie and a mono speaker. Most people now have decently large screens with at least a surround sound bar (though I think they tend to be pretty poor they are better than what most people had 20 years ago). Something special can still get bums on seats....with Oppenheimer, Dune and Barbie all being special for different reasons. OF all those, I think Barbie would translate to home viewing the best because the visuals take a back seat to the (very clever) story. Oppenheimer and Dune are not only compelling stories but also have great visuals and sound.
Covid also resulted in changes. Cinemas closed completely for the better part of two years here and many more people subscribed to streaming services. Many have yet to be tempted back.
AS for regular TV, I am blessed to live in England with the BBC that runs no adverts. The commercial stations are limited reasonably sensibly in how frequent and how long the ad breaks can be. I remember when I did move to America for a time in the late 90s, I found broadcast television completely unwatchable because of the frequency and length of ads. But the streamers currently have the money to hire the best writers and screen the best stories.
Oppenheimer was an event, and it was well advertised....by which I mean the promotion was effective. It made people curious to watch the film. Going to the cinema does mean getting off your bum and generally driving somewhere, paying a fair amount per person and making an evening of it (or an afternoon at the weekend). It is a great experience that most of us don't have at home. But the difference between home TV and the cinema is less than it was not so long ago.
.
After seeing the film version at IMAX I’ll be looking forward to seeing it on the small screen in my home. It was a good film but the IMAX experience was not for me. The resolution and detail of the projected film though - wow.