Far be it from me to agree with Michael Bay, but ... I am, in fact, agreeing with the director whose ouevre has tended toward such nuanced, contemplative fare as “Transformers.”

The kinds of films we each like doesn’t matter. What we agree on is this: it’s a bad idea to allow new movies to be available on Video on Demand at home a mere two months after they first hit the multiplex.

In the past, the time lag has been about 130 days from opening to VOD availability — and it’s about the same for DVD availability.
The two-month-turnaround notion is being promoted by movie studios. They are searching for ways to make up for the revenue they’ve been losing as DVD sales have declined.

The problem is, the move is bound to have a negative impact on movie theaters. Cinemas are already trying to battle the public’s increasing tendency to stay home and watch DVDs. And some theaters are already under the financial gun, having paid big bucks to add 3-D or digital equipment as a way of luring people out of their houses.

Bay is among a group of film folks — including James Cameron and Peter Jackson — who are protesting. They’ve signed an open letter, saying the two-month VOD plan could could “irrevocably harm” the film industry and lead to more theater closings.

We’ll soon see. Starting Thursday, DirecTV is making fresh-from-the-multiplex movies available for $30. The first in line isn’t exactly a classic — it’s  “Just Go with It,” the Adam Sandler-Jennifer Aniston comedy — but it’ll be interesting to see how it fares.

You could be cynical and say the filmmakers have their own financial self-interest at heart when they say they want their movies longer in theaters. Their motivation may be suspect, but their ultimate point is still valid.

Me, I love going to the movie theater. I love settling in as the lights go down. I love seeing everything on a screen so big that the whole movie feels like an experience that’s enveloping me. Seeing a film in a theater transports me in a way that watching it on VOD or DVD at home simply cannot. It feels like the difference between, oh, seeing a video of Paris and actually being in Paris.

How about you? Do you prefer watching movies at home or at the theater? Would you be more likely to skip the theater if you knew a movie would be available at home two months after its release?