If you want variety in movies, go see them in the theater, dammit!

I think @Deesky makes a good point.

 

well, she's right of course......the public doesnt want variety, they want the same ole thing.....i dont know if netflix is all that much different, if you dive deep into what they offer they have their share of similar type genres ....its just the good stuff is always available and doesnt close after a week cause of an empty theatre

 

I actually went to see Captain Marvel on opening weekend. First time in many, many years of going TO the movies

Reason being is that "Avengers End Game" comes out next month and I wanted to be up to date on the Marvel tie ins

My girlfriend and I went on Saturday evening, 6:30 Showtime.

This showing was at a Cineplex Theater at a mall.

We arrive, park and while walking up to get our tickets, noticed 4 County Deputy's cars....Three Deputy's standing outside, 3 more in the lobby

I'm thinking "this isn't good" but we went on to the ticket window and I about crapped my pants. Two tickets 28 dollars! You know, I'm not tight, but Jesus, that's crazy for a movie.

Bought 2 medium popcorns, 2 medium cola's...cost 25 dollars....unbelievable.

This is why I don't go more often.

There is no way you can convince me that this isn't way to much money for a movie....

 

Every time I go to the movies I'm reminded why I'd rather just stay home and watch on my TV in a controlled spaces. Maybe I'm just unlucky, but I'm always super annoyed by the people around me, talking, on phones, kicking chairs etc. etc.

 

In other words, you don't care...

 

I’d pay $50 not to see Rocky Horror in a theatre.

Every few months. my local theatre screens a classic movie on a Sunday afternoon. Even though the tickets are something like $15 per person, my wife and I have gone to see The Graduate, Saturday Night Fever, South Pacific, etc. There is no “community to interact with” at these screenings, however - I’ve never seen more than ten people total in the theatre for one of these special screenings - sometimes it’s been just us and one other older couple. When you can rent The Graduate on iTunes for $3.99, you have to be really devoted to the empty theatre experience to spend $30 before popcorn to see the same movie in the theatre.

 

IMO, you need to care enough about the in theater experience to learn how to save money while doing it. All the folks who complain about the cost have numerous ways to make it more economical with a little advance planning.
Movie ticket discounts-AARP, Costco, subscriptions such as AMC Stubs, matinees, etc.
Snacks-avoid popcorn! candy from local grocer or Walgreens or Dollar store.
Soda or water-smuggle in your own easy peasy
And try to find out if your local theater allows pre choice of seats online and has upgraded its seats. Big difference in experience enjoyment. Finally, too those who think the big cinema chains are going away-you could not be more wrong.

 

But what do you do about the (usually) disgustingly filthy theaters and the reality that movie 'etiquette' is a thing of the past as far as audience behavior is concerned? It's practically illogical to go to a theater, pay the exorbitant prices, and have to HOPE that the theater isnt a biological disaster area AND that the audience will put away their phones and shut the hell up! It occurs to me that the younger generations of moviegoers have very likely NEVER experienced what it's like to have a proper night at the movies. Too bad, it used to be glorious.

 

Fine for those who attend regularly.
But we see maybe one or sometimes two movies a year at a theater. Sometimes none.
It is usually an impulse thing, and only for a movie we REALLY want to see in the theater.
We live in farm country. We were in the big town for an afternoon and decided it would be nice to see Mary Poppins Returns. Went to the theater. Almost $25 for two tickets...and I qualify for the senior discount! Popcorn and soda are always a part of our movie experience, so that would be another $20 or more. We punted. Just not worth it. I'll wait for it to come on home video.

However, we did bite the bullet and went to see Gone With the Wind on the big screen for its 80th anniversary showing.

 

I wouldn't draw that assessment from what I wrote, especially if you take many of my previous comments into consideration. I just think the idea of sitting through 100 average to sub-par films at the theater in order to find one or two that I might authentically enjoy sounds like a total (and implausible) slog. That's not to mention the fact that the majority of us don't have the time to do such a thing. And I say this as someone whose favorite movies from the past few years have largely gone overlooked. As with music, I might just prefer a time where quality artistic films were easier to find, aesthetically groundbreaking, and culturally relevant in a more palpable and universal way. I have zero interest in a scenario where five people get in a room and each one has his own idea of what's "great" or "important," especially when it turns out two of those people are at home watching movies with the "motion smoothing" setting on, and two more are judging films based on personal ideologies.

 

I’m sorry your local theater doesn’t have employees or management that does there job properly. We don’t have that problem where I live. Also, I don’t think any “biological disaster” at the movies will cause any lasting problems. As I stated before, you can reduce the exorbitant pricing. And in the case of the audience, all areas are different and the talking and phones hasn’t caused any problems at any movie I’ve been too in about 5 years.

 

I honestly have no idea what your neighbors are like, but my wife, who has seen 129 films in the theater so far this year has not had that experience. She's seeing them primarily in downtown Chicago (the AMC River East 21) and in a poor minority neighborhood (the AMC Galewood 14.)

She's a member of AMC's Stubs A*List program which gets her into 3 films a week for $19.95 a month. This also gets her into additional movies on Tuesdays for $5. So she goes to the River East 21, which is otherwise one of the most expensive theaters in the city, for less than $2 a show. And the highest price at the Galewood is $7.27, with the "twilight" price of $5.03. The main theater I go to is the Cinemark Palace at the Plaza and their price is $5.73.

 

I know, been there a few times, myself.

Many moons ago...

 

Like your good self, I reckon the only way to see a film is Big Screen. However, I like an empty theatre. I don’t mix well with the herd and have Opinions if someone is slurping and munching and buggering about with mobiles. I’ll wait weeks to get an almost empty screening. Some people shouldn’t be allowed in cinemas.

 

No matter how much some folks here want to wax nostalgic about the movie theater experience, it's simply more convenient at home, and you have all the control. Home theater systems today stack up well to what one would experience in the theater. If I have a nice TV and speakers, why wouldn't I use them in an environment I like more anyways? As opposed to going to the theater and hoping the experience is good. Even if the experience is largely good, eventually people are going to do what they do best (annoy me!). It's just a matter of time.

 

She went to the Captain America "Fan Event" because she wanted to be with a whole bunch of people who also really wanted to see that particular film. But, in general, we both see the big, popular films on weekdays, and reserve the weekends for tiny arthouse and foreign language ones.

 

You have a 35 foot wide screen at home? I doubt it.

 

I see more than a hundred films in the theater every year, and over the last decade I have had only two bad experiences. Two out of a thousand. That's pretty good odds.

 

In the past few years, 9 out of 10 times I'm disappointed with the movie. The same goes with recent movies on DVD. I like our local Alamo Drafthouse but wish they would start showing some of the newer foreign films. American movies seem to be based on comic books or are remakes of foreign and/or older films.

 

The movie-going experience (plush seats, dine-in theaters, plenty of snack options) is great in that regard. It's the movies themselves that make it not worth the hassle.

 

Movies come to Tryon for 5 days, single showing per night (2 days for the artsy ones). On the rare occasion that there is something I'd like to see the chance that it will sync with a free Friday or Saturday, which are my only open evenings, is pretty slim.

 

oh, dammit janet.....its a blast!

 

Back in the seventies there was double bill features, seemed pretty cheap back then as well. Didn’t cost a arm and a leg.

 

Well, is it that difficult to look at a trailer, read a few reviews by people you feel have a taste similar to yours?

Has the internet been invented yet?

 

In a previous go round, I actually found a chart of historical movie ticket prices. I took that data and corrected it to compensate for inflation. And it turns out that the median movie ticket price has not actually risen.

It's like your grandfather complaining that a loaf of bread used to cost a dime? A dime in 1930 is $1.48 now according to the Constant Dollar Calculator at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and I can buy a loaf of sandwich bread at my local ALDI for less than a dollar. Bread is actually cheaper today.