I Give up on going to the movies

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by billdcat, Aug 30, 2004.

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  1. John Carsell

    John Carsell Forum Resident

    Location:
    Northwest Illinois
    Haven't attended a movie for over 6 months.

    I haven't given up on them entirely, 'cause there's still things coming out that the wife and I would like to see.

    I certainly doesn't get any cheaper, so a lot of times I'll sneak in my own snacks. With what they make in profits for food, hell the admission could be free and the owners would still make a handsome buck.
     
  2. -Ben

    -Ben Senior Member

    Location:
    Washington DC Area

    :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:


    Agree 100 %

    Back in the 70s and 80s I used to go to the movies almost daily. I had a "lifetime" pass to a repertoire theater (old classics and foreign films) that changed movies daily (showed 2 different films everyday). Then came video/cable and the repertoire theater folded in the early 90s and bye bye lifetime pass. I hate going to the movies now for all the reasons stated . I just watch TCM or rent an occasional video. For me...film art died in the 80s.
     
  3. Tony Plachy

    Tony Plachy Senior Member

    Location:
    Pleasantville, NY
    I wish I could some how make it possible for all of you to live here, 30 minutes outside of NYC and I have at least a dozen movie theaters within 30 minutes of me, most with stadium seating.

    Movies: I do not buy popcorn and soda at the movies, we usually go out to dinner before or after the show, who needs snacks. People in this area usually are not a problem with talking, if they are I tell the management, which takes care of it.

    Theater: I grew up in St. Louis and saw a few plays there and thought, what is the big deal. :confused: Then we moved to NY and I saw my first Broadway play - now I know what the big deal is. :) I have seen the greatest actors dong the greatest plays. Six of us saw the Producers 6 weeks before it swept the Tony's. We could have scalped the tickets for at least $500 a seat, but we saw it and it was great.

    Concerts: Here is one place where I agree. Rock concerts today are way too expensive for way too little. Buy the DVD.
     
  4. Sckott

    Sckott Hand Tighten Only.

    Location:
    South Plymouth, Ma
    I watched the v2 version of Back to The Future II last night and I couldn't help think that the sound on that DVD was better than most theatres I've been to.

    Also couldn't help but notice the couch was more comfy!
     
  5. aceman400

    aceman400 Power to the Metal

    Location:
    mn
    I think I've been to one movie this year (harry Potter for the wifes birthday). That's life with the wife and 16 month old. Honestly there hasn't been that much I've wanted to see. Most of the movies I like come out in December, but who wants to go see movies then? I'd rather spend the time with family.
     
  6. Doug Sclar

    Doug Sclar Forum Legend

    Location:
    The OC
    One of my gripes about going to the movies that have multiple screens is the leakage of sound from theater to theater.
     
  7. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    If we go to see a movie, we wait until the run is almost over and go late at night. That way, we get a good chance of almost no one else being in the audience except us. Typically, there are only three or four couples there with us.

    What else I hate is that the turn the sound up too loud. If you tell them to turn it down a bit they won't do it. Everyone is DEAF!
     
  8. Wufnpoof

    Wufnpoof Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Boston, MA
    I still enjoy the big-screen (or medium-screen, at least) experience, but I don't go as often as I'd like. I avoid the bigger chains here (Sony/Loews and AMC) when I can because I hate the commercials before the trailers (also, most of the big-release movies don't appeal much to me).

    I'm usually mildly annoyed by the trailers, either they give too much away, or they're misleading, or they're just badly done. The last time I was really bothered by the audience's behavior, I left the show and got a coupon to come back another time (which I did and it was fine). I don't mind paying the high price that most theaters charge now, but it's a shame that it doesn't seem to benefit the theater itself much. :( But some movies really do deserve a view in the theatre - I think they lose some of their magic when viewed alone on TV.
     
  9. d.r.cook

    d.r.cook Senior Member

    This thread looks like a runaway train. We see probably 4-5 movies a month in the theatres, and (though our home system I would rate above average) have difficulty watching DVDs regularly.

    We like watching movies at the movies.

    Suggestions: don't compare everything to Citizen Kane, Eight-and-a-half and the last Felinni movie you saw on DVD--it's a formula for terminal crankiness. Yes, having "standards" is a good thing, but cherry-picking from a hundred years of film-making history is no way to make fair comparisons.

    Give Holly(fill in your favorite derisive pun here) a break. It's like beating up on the media and child molesters--everybody's favorite hobby. Hollywood's always been made up of a bunch of business people hiring real artists (and others) to risk millions on near-whims with no recourse once you "jump". the market drives the supply. they deserve a lot of crap for making crap, but that's hardly all that gets made.

    The Exhibitors: I think maybe 1 out of every 5 to 7 times we go to the movies, there is some minor problem w/noise. Short of camping out ushers in the asiles, it's hard to completely eliminate. I've noticed a distinct drop in cell phone activity over the past year or so. We usually skip the snacks, but I've noticed more chains making the effort to keep fresh popcorn. They're margins are razor thin, but I don't think the studios are all licensed to print profits either. (Checked Disney's performance lately?)

    Herewith, a few movies we've seen in the theatres lately (all mainstream, in a city that doesn't get many small movies except for a film series twice a year):

    hero=chinese, 2 yrs old, made 18-million, first wknd; generally, well-reviewed. tarintino loves it (and got it released here) for what that's worth. I'll see it this wknd.

    bourne supremacy- quite good, a lot of what James Bond movies used to be, but with a more engaging and "realistic" storyline.

    shrek-great fun, summer movie. not dumbed down for the sake of it.

    open water- somewhat dissapointing, but i'll give them credit for a different approach. better than blair witch, anyway.

    dodgeball- quite funny throwaway. ben stiller's almost always good.

    fairenheit 911-something think about, though making no pretense of fairness; entertaining.

    kill bill, v2-excellent modern movie-making; visually dynamic, good storytelling.

    mean girls- funny, well-written. Not Jane Austin level, but interesting story based on the "reality" of today's high school culture.

    garden state- quite good; being favorably compared to the graduate, though it's not fair since the grad has 40 yrs of accumulated cultural gravatas and nostalgia appeal. funny, poingant--zach braf is no slouch wrtier/actor or director, based on this debut.

    harry potter/prisoner- best of the lot, though i didn't care for the earlier ones, this one is good moviemaking on a grand scale.

    spiderman 2- what a summer blockbuster is supposed to be, big entertainment with some real heart and soul. I'll put it up against the best of its type most days.

    before sunset: very nice on a small scale. one of the best-reviewed movies of the year. it's really "my dinner with andre" set in paris.

    collateral: i liked this a lot. some drama, comedy--a wierd kind of buddy movie w/the buddies being very involuntarily thrown together. i'm not a big curise fan (and i can think of no less than a half-doz who'd be better suited for the role) but he pulls off the bad guy part nicely.

    manchurian candidate/the village: not good on either count; the village was just a bar trick writ large, while the manchurian candidate never came close to rivaling the original.

    so, yeah, "cocooning" at home w/a good DVD can be fun, but nothing like something decent, good or great on the real big screen.

    doug
     
  10. RDK

    RDK Active Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Doug: good post!
     
  11. Tony Plachy

    Tony Plachy Senior Member

    Location:
    Pleasantville, NY
  12. Cheepnik

    Cheepnik Overfed long-haired leaping gnome

    Food is the only place they make any real money. Theaters get to keep no more than 5 percent of their box-office receipts for the first several weeks a movie is in release. The rest goes to the distributor and the studio. With such a lopsided arrangement, the movie itself is often a loss leader for the theater. The theater chain owners might be getting rich, but having known a few theater managers, I can promise you that nobody working in an actual theater is making much of anything. But don't let that stop you from sneaking food in.
     
  13. Mike B

    Mike B Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York City
    I'm sorry, CitizenDan, but customers shouldn't be guilted into paying obscene prices because the business is arranged poorly.
     
  14. Cheepnik

    Cheepnik Overfed long-haired leaping gnome

    I like that philosophy; I'll keep it in mind the next time I make a CD-R copy of an album instead of buying it. :D

    Nobody's being guilted into doing anything. But sneaking food into a theater is pretty lame, IMHO. If a $3 bag of popcorn is that much of a strain, eat before you leave the house.
     
  15. d.r.cook

    d.r.cook Senior Member

    WELL, thanks for the positive feedback, and it's not that I don't see (and to some degree, agree with) a lot of what preceded it, but to just write off going out to the movies because they're not all classics just doesn't make a lot of sense.

    the cheap movies ($2-2.50 admission) is an interesting business model--herd 'em in at rock bottom prices, then charge even higher prices for snacks! Be interesting to know the percentage of people buying snacks at the cheap movies vs. the regular theaters.
     
  16. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    When I go to any movie anymore, I just expect that it will be dumbed-down for the average teenager, have lots of violence, and very little meaningful dialog.
     
  17. Tony Plachy

    Tony Plachy Senior Member

    Location:
    Pleasantville, NY
    Grant, Just off of the top of my head: 21 grams, In the Bedroom, Master and Commander, the Gangs of New York, The Girl With the Pearl Earing, Dirty Pretty Thing, House of Sand and Wind. Dumbed down :confused:
     
  18. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    Hey, I just said I expect those things. I am always pleasently surprised when I don't find those things!
     
  19. Mark

    Mark I Am Gort, Hear Me Roar Staff

    I gave up a long time ago. I can honestly say that there is no movie out there, and there have been only a handful in recent years, that would make me go to the movies. I might check out "Ray" and "Ocean's 12" around the holidays, but that's about it. Too expensive for the lack of quality product, but I guess I can say that about a lot of things these days. And, pet peeve time, why the hell can't people shut up in public places like movies and concerts!! You want to chat, go out in the lobby, or better yet, stay home.
     
  20. b&w

    b&w Forum Resident

    Actually I am in complete agreement...
     
  21. b&w

    b&w Forum Resident

    Well that makes a lot of sense if you focus strictly on the movie as film . However, the problem is like many have posted is that all the ancillary things you have to endue to actually watch that movie in a theater high prices for 'snacks", noisy fellow movie goers, inconsiderate movie goers, bad visual presentation, bad audio presentation, non ushers to react to problems, smaller overall screens, sound leakage from other theaters, uncomfortable stadium seating, cursory review information, etc etc. all contribute to people getting turned off to wanting to actually go to a theater to see a movie. I luckily don't have many of those issues with the movies I go to see in a theater, so I still enjoy the theater aspect. Mainly in my opinion because you simply cant come close to the screen size or resolution of a first run theater with a good print.
     
  22. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    ...so how did you come to this conclusion?
     
  23. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    Uh, did you guys see the word "expect" in my post?
     
  24. RDK

    RDK Active Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    I don't know how it is around the rest of the country, but here in L.A., the visual presentation in movie theaters is better than ever. There are more larger, stadium seating theaters built (replacing the smaller screens of the last decade or two), with better (THX, DD, etc.) sound, digital projection, etc. A few select theaters are offering better quality food (even "adult" drinks!) and there's a trend to restrict kids (even accompanied by their parents) from R-rated films. None of these improvements, of course, can address rude human behavior (talking, cell phones, etc.) but it's a start.

    I don't care how swell your home theater system is, you can't capture (for good or bad) the same communal movie viewing experience in your living room. As with most things, my recommendation is: if you aren't enjoying the experience then stop doing it.
     
  25. Roland Stone

    Roland Stone Offending Member

    I assume Grant came to this conclusion as I did: experience. I drive by our local cineplex, wondering how many of the six films showing will be intended for someone who is not a teenager or younger, and it's distressing how juvenile the choices are most of the time. ALIEN VS. PREDATOR?

    I think it speaks to how low our expectations are when mediocrities like A BEAUTIFUL MIND or cartoons like THE MATRIX are considered excellent or important films. Yes, those two films are better than 90% of the dreck out there, but that says more about the dreck than the two acclaimed films.
     
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