Don't get me wrong, I consider myself a complete film nut, but I don't much enjoy going to major cinema chains. As a member of BAFTA, I am privileged enough to be able to watch releases in the reverential environment of 195 Piccadilly or at other previews.
Failing that, I wait until my local arthouse cinema, the Rex in Berkhamsted (restored art deco, red velvet armchairs, footstools, and so on) shows it. Any titles left over, I watch on DVD during the BAFTA voting season over the Christmas holidays each year.
It's not quite the same, but with a 52-inch plasma screen, surround-sound system and classier wine on tap, it's an excellent substitute.
I don't like big cinemas for one reason: people. People breathing, talking, coughing and, most of all, eating.
What is it about going to the cinema that compels people to chomp their way through vats of hydrogenated fat, sugar and salt?
However, I must be a bit weird, because cinema attendances are up 14.5% in the first half of 2009 compared to 2008, which was itself a good year. This pattern is replicated in the record TV viewing we've seen in the first half of 2009 and increasing TV subscriptions.
When times are dreary, entertainment and escapism are crucial and those modest treats escape cutbacks.
So, cinema attendances are very healthy, but the average Briton still only goes to the cinema about three times a year. I believe there's an opportunity for even more growth for film through platform neutrality.
Of course, films eventually make loads of money out of DVD sales and pay-per-view TV showings, but the delay in those windows removes some of the sizzle and the must-see appeal.
There must be plenty of people like me who want to see a film around its release date and who would happily cough up just as much as a cinema visit in order to watch new films via their format of choice: DVD, online download, on-demand or broadcast.
I appreciate that distributors might object, fearing that films made available at the same time as the theatrical release could cannibalise admissions and depress their hotdog sales.
But I believe the upside would be very higher than any downside. Avid cinema-goers like the whole experience and are likely to still go. The film industry could have its popcorn and eat it.
Tess Alps is chief executive of Thinkbox
tess.alps@haymarket.com