Going to the movies just isn't the same

adkimery said:
Theaters have to do something to generate a profit (and selling tickets isn't it). If you don't like the prices don't buy it (not like there's a two tub of cola minimum or anything) and if you can't go 2hrs w/o it make sure your wife has a big purse. :)


-A
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That's exactly what we do on occasion. It's sad that it has come to that though. If they kept the prices reasonable I bet theater attendance wouldn't be where it's at today.

BTW, when you take your kids to a matinée it is usually around lunch time so that leaves you with little choice.
 
I can understand hating it when the ads encroach on a movie's listed start time. But beyond that, what's the big deal? You pay for cable or satellite TV and still have to watch commercials. Or skip them on your DVR. Or leave the room. The last of which you could do at the theater.

The commercials at movie theaters are just like ads anywhere else -- most of them are awful. And seeing an awful spot projected that huge is just that much more irritating. Although still better than the slides for real estate agents I used to have to watch.

Besides, some ads are great and I love watching them on the big screen. Here's my all-time favorite: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-WtWH6_0kQ

What I hate more than the ads (which I've admitted to sometimes liking) is the "behind the scenes" stuff they run before. I can endure a 30- or 60-second ad I hate. If I have to sit through five minutes of BTS footage from "Sisterhood of the Skanky Pants II - The Deflowering," well, that's another story. Especially when it's the third time I've sat through it. Wait, what did I say earlier about leaving the theater? Man, I'm lazy.
 
Luis Caffesse said:
It's always possible that commercials averted another price hike.
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Averted? Here in canada I paid like 13.50 to watch ironman, sit through 5 mins of local crappy commercials, 10 mins of regular high budget ads, and at least 2 adversting the theatre I was already in before the real trailers began.

Theatres are selling ad space and raising prices if anything.
 
Large TV, Netflix, Ben and Jerry's maybe a couple Beers.... who needs theaters anymore? I take my kids to see the really big ones, but it's not even the same as when I was a kid. (70's) Back then the theater was something special, like the holodeck you were taken to another world. Now ... well call me cynical but now I just see a big screen in a room full of brainwashed hogs stuffing their slavering mouths with crap. Yeah I know, more of a personal problem but there is a certain psycho-sociological element to seeing a movie with strangers... a bonding. Commercials erode way at that element, reminding us we're all just end users being conditioned by the corporate machine.
 
ecking said:
Theatres are selling ad space and raising prices if anything.
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Right.
My point was perhaps if they weren't selling ad space then prices would have gone up even more.

It may be annoying - but honeslty I don't think theater chains are just 'greedy.'
I mean, they might be - but it's moot because they're at a point where most are just trying to keep their business going.

Do you think most people would rather pay the price of admission and watch some ads, or have no ads and double the price of admission?
Yes, I know - most people would want prices to stay where they are AND have no ads.

I also wouldn't mind a Mercedes for the price of my used Civic.
:)
 
Luis Caffesse said:
I also wouldn't mind a Mercedes for the price of my used Civic.
:)
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Yes, but popcorn is still popcorn and pop is still pop. I can get it much cheaper at the corner store and the product is actually better to boot. At the theater it's like paying for the Mercedes and getting the Civic.

I do get what you mean though and I now understand why concession prices are so high. It's still keeping me away from the theater though.

Money is money. It's far too expensive for the average family to go to the movies these days.

Mike
 
Michael Anthony Horrigan said:
Yes, but popcorn is still popcorn and pop is still pop. I can get it much cheaper at the corner store and the product is actually better to boot. At the theater it's like paying for the Mercedes and getting the Civic.
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I guess so - if you were to go into the theater just to buy your popcorn.
Then again, I wouldn't pay $10 to go to the corner store and watch a movie on their TV mounted up in the corner either.
:)

It's all an issue of perception I guess - in the end it's the same as charging 3 times as much for the tickets and 'normal' prices for the food and drinks. But seeing as all the profit the theater makes off food and drinks stays with them (unlike money made from ticket sales of which a large percentage goes back to the studio) it actually makes more sense for them financially to increase food and drink prices.

Of course there is only so far you can raise those... and I think we can all agree they're pushing their luck as it is right now.
So they need to find new ways to bring in revenue.... hence the commercials.

It's still keeping me away from the theater though.
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You, me and a whole lot of other people....
Which in turn just makes their situation worse, and makes the need for additional revenue even more important....which will drive even more people away from the theater...etc etc etc

Which is one of the major reasons why theaters are going the way of the dinosaur in my opinion.
Unless they can reinvent the experience like some local chains have it seems like their days are numbered.

Money is money. It's far too expensive for the average family to go to the movies these days.
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Definitely no argument there.
I think that's something we can all agree on.
 
Luis Caffesse said:
I guess so - if you were to go into the theater just to buy your popcorn.
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Part and parcel as far as I'm concerned. I'm not looking for dinner, just a snack and a tasty beverage while enjoying the view.

:)

It looks like we both agree on things for the most part. I see it declining more and more every day. I also see the addition of Home Theater as a huge blow to the industry. The ads for "Go Big" mean very little to me when I can go in my basement and watch movies in HD on a 120" screen.

When you are sitting 12 to 15 feet back it's still BIG.

Most movies these days are worth waiting for home release.
 
Luis Caffesse said:
Right.
My point was perhaps if they weren't selling ad space then prices would have gone up even more.

It may be annoying - but honeslty I don't think theater chains are just 'greedy.'
I mean, they might be - but it's moot because they're at a point where most are just trying to keep their business going.

Do you think most people would rather pay the price of admission and watch some ads, or have no ads and double the price of admission?
Yes, I know - most people would want prices to stay where they are AND have no ads.

I also wouldn't mind a Mercedes for the price of my used Civic.
:)
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Fair enough, but the whole experience has definetly cheapened the "spectacle".
 
I don't mind the slides prior to the show, but once the lights dim... that's another story.

Three trailers - maybe five and then the movie. Unless the policy trailer was shot by Brian DePalma or John Carpenter, I don't want to see some schlocky 1993 computer animation about the snack bar or using too much toilet paper and washing my hands afterward.

The exhibitors really only make money from concessions and that's fine. I can work around that if I'm feeling stodgy. The commercials make me want to run a big-ass swashbuckler's knife through their screen like Errol Flynn. I'll cut your screen!!!

Commercials are straight-up bullshit.

e
 
Luis Caffesse said:
Totally agree.
But it seems to be a necessary evil.
I can't help but think we'd all be saying the same thing about ticket prices if it cost us $25 to go see a movie and popcorn was a dollar.
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But it does cost $25 to go see a movie. At least when I go anywhere but the Gem Theater with my kids. I used to enjoy going to Westwood for movies, back when Avco and the National and those others were some of the only ones with THX and 70mm projection.

That was for event pictures. The event picture is dead. Mostly.

e
 
I gotta say I havent been in a theater in about 2.5 years. Saw Wedding Crashers with some friends and my wife. No one has said hey lets go see a movie and there hasnt been much I've been motivated enough to go see before it was out on DVD. Anymore its "hey that looks good, add it to Netflix!" Doesnt hurt that I have a 120" projection screen... Plenty big enough to make a few people sick during a recent Bourne Fest. You really shouldnt eat greasy hamburgers then watch all three of those...
 
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