- cross-posted to:
- [email protected]
- cross-posted to:
- [email protected]
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In 2019 a friend and I got subscriptions to Regal and began going to a movie a week. Most days we’d plan something, but sometimes we’d just show up and pick something. (We blindly picked Underwater, and what a great surprise. Also decided to see the Tom Hanks Mr. Rogers film and proceed to ugly cry all over myself.)
Then COVID.
The last movie I saw in theaters as a subscriber was Bad Boys for Life. I tried to go see Dune 1. I drove 30m, bought popcorn and a slushee, and waited… But the video file was corrupted. They said they had to redownload it before the next show, so they canceled the showing and gave everyone a free ticket. I never bothered using it. I just went home and watched it for free on HBO Max.
I love theaters, both as nostalgia and just to have the experience. But man, “paying extra to go out of your way” is a difficult sell.
Why would I pay >$30 for a subpar watching experience where there’s annoying people all around, I can’t stretch my legs, I can’t bring in my own food, and I’m shoved an industry ad that blames me for seeking a better market option (the seven seas stores tend to have the same movies for less than 1/30th of the price)?
I used to go see movies all the time with friends/family, then it got too expensive.
I got a better job and could afford to go back, but then COVID hit, and my (ex)wife was terrified of being shot, and so my first movie in years was the first new Dune, played at an Alamo Draft House.
I went with a couple friends, got a seat too close to the screen, my friend started POUNDING their popcorn, chewing super loudly, while other people talked. Like, I thought people would shut up once the commercials ended and the movie began, but no, it didn’t even wane! I got up and left after a few minutes, got a refund on my ticket. Haven’t even thought about going back. Whatever I watch, it’ll be on my couch, at home, for free.
I have been to European theaters that are dine-in and smaller. You got maybe 30 comfortable seats and with tray tables. You order your food / beverages 60 minutes before the movie.
During those 60 minutes you can wait in the lounge and have a drink with an appertife.
When the commercials start the food is served, then the movie starts and everyone is enjoying their meal and movie.
When the half way point hit they pause the movie as days of yore and you get a 20 minute break for going to the toilet and order more things.
They also serve tea and coffee during that time for free.
The kicker is that the tickets are little bit cheaper then the traditional big theater and the experience is 10 times better and more intimite since it only takes 30 people in one saloon.
We have a similar experience in Australia called gold class or (de)LUX. Much better way to enjoy a movie if it’s within your budget
The kicker is that the tickets are little bit cheaper then the traditional big theater
Gold Class is not similar. It’s twice as expensive and nothing is free; a coffee or tea is ~$5.
I’ve done delux in the states. Tickets were more expensive.
We’re in an age of huge screens and sound systems at home.
Plus it seems we’re also in an age of paying a months worth of streaming service for one person to see one movie.
It’s no wonder the cinema is on its arse.
When a new cinema opened in my city back in december 2022, I got an unlimited movie pass. That allows me to see every movie I want, as often as I want. It costs 20 euros per month.
If you want to see a movie a few times a year, the cinema is expensive. Individual tickets can be up to 16 euros here, plus snacks and drinks.
But if you want to see ALL the movies, well, it’s surprisingly cheap by comparison. I really only need to see 2 movies per month to make the pass viable. But I’m not seeing 2 per month - I’m seeing at least two, three per week. I’ve done three movies back to back.
So the trick to casual movie going is: go see everything :D
I thought theaters were going bankrupt after offering those unlimited passes. They banked on people getting the pass and maybe using it once or twice.
Yeah, in the US they really scaled back those movie pass programs. I’m in the Netherlands though.
I honestly don’t care how the economics of it work. But I’m using that pass to the fullest extent possible. I’ve seen a hundred and one movies this year so far, so about 110 or so total. That works out to two per week or 8 per month. So I’m getting my money’s worth for sure.
I do buy the occasional popcorn or a drink, but certainly not every movie.
I know in the US they figured that pass use would drop off after the initial period. Much like how gyms are packed in january, but by march those people have stopped coming. Of course, they apparently missed the fact that going to the movies is actually fun. Going to the gym isn’t (for most people).
Tbf i thought wicked was pretty great-
How about the fact that there’s a massive oligopoly in the industry? How about one studio basically steamrolling the industry with one franchise in the 2010s which alienated movie goers? How about movie-going being expensive AF?
Nah, it’s the fault of the casual moviegoer. Of course.
I still casually go see 90’s films for $8 at a small place downtown sometimes, I even get popcorn.
I just like going to the movies. It’s nostalgic for me. I grew up in the 90’s. Put Forrest Gump on a theater for a cheap price and I’ll be there.
You’ve hit the nail on the head. 8$, not 24$ for entry and 18$ for popcorn and pop. Movie theater prices are insane.
I love the movies, too. And I’d love to go if I had a smaller local theater where I reside compared to the large corpo chains. During the handful of times I’ve been to the movies I end up disappointed with the experience: other persons are obnoxious (constantly talking, chewing loudly with mouth open, kicking seats, etc), they play on their cell phones with bright lights, it’s extremely cold, and the audio is incredibly loud that I get headaches from the experience. I found that using my concert ear plugs helps tremendously. I could go at a later point when the movie is no longer drawing large crowds, but at that point if I waited this long to see the movie I might as well wait longer for it to release to physical media I can own and rip to my PC.
Last movie I went to (like 2-3 years ago), there was a lady on her phone with the brightness turned all the way up nearly the entire time.
No thanks.
Rude people have always been around the moviegoing “experience”.
Then cellphones and social media popped up, making things geometrically worse.
Then in order to not inconvenience the mindless assholes inside their theaters, they managed to run the real movie lovers out of their establishments.Then somehow, incredibly, the pandemic made things even worse! Like something about being alone with their hollow lives for a year or two, broke something in the hollow psyche of those already mindless, rude hordes.
There was one time in 2007 that blew my mind in a movie theater, they were screening a limited engagement of No Country For Old Men before general release, so everyone who was there, was there for the love of cinema.
There is no music soundtrack in that movie, it has long stretches of silence, and in each of those scenes, in this packed large old movie house, I swear you could hear a pin drop.
My god… what an exceptional movie experience that night was, I’d never experienced anything quite like it, before or since.
Anything except lower ticket prices right?
Ticket prices are really not that much more expensive than it was like 25 years ago when you count for inflation.
Problem is that wages haven’t really gone up to match inflation… so it seems like a lot more. Same with everything else.
Wow, you’re right! Me and my friends saw Red Dawn, first showing in town, for $2.50. That’s $7.75 now.
Having a hard time finding matinees ATM, but standard times are $11-$12, do $7-$8 would make sense.
When it costs $50 for 2 people to see a shitty movie?
A lot of theaters have discount days, on Tuesdays across the 2 states I’ve lived in this year you can see any movie for $7
Or I can just watch it at home.
It used to be $5.
I remember paying $1.
I’d pay three-fiddy…
It used to be a nickel
and in those days, nickels had pictures of bumblebees on ’em. “Give me five bees for a quarter,” you’d say. Now, where were we?
Without concessions, that’s the highest price I’ve ever heard of. It’s half that around here.
I imagine it will vary based on your location, but I’d venture to guess most major cities like mine would be similar.
I live in an outskirts suburb of a major city, and @[email protected] suggested price point matches up.
Checking the current “headlining” movie at my local theater (which happens to be an AMC Theater) to get a single “Adult Ticket” is $21.50 for tomorrow’s Tuesday showing outside of working hours (6:30PM). With “fees”, it brings it to $24.18 for a single adult ticket.
The “Childrens Ticket” price is $18.50 per.
that’s fucking insanity. I thought for sure the person who said $50 was including snacks.
That’s what it costs here. It’s a hunnit if you want concessions.
Too expensive 💁
Being the price down and I’ll consider going again
for me it’s not even the cost of the movies themselves that’s causing me not to go. it’s the cost of everything else in my life that has been adding up, so unnecessary entertainment expenses like movies are an easy thing to cut back on. Maybe there is a lower threshold that would get me to go more, but it’s probably not a realistic one.
also at home I have exactly the food and drinks I want at any time, I can pause for pee breaks, and I don’t have to deal with any annoying people, ads, or trailers.
Yup, nothing is worth 20 bucks a ticket. Especially considering 3 weeks later you can ‘rent’ it for 5 bucks.
Especially considering everything is a reboot or a sequel now. I want some original movies again.
Yeah, bring back original movies like Hundreds of Beavers, Conclave, Memoir of a Snail, The Substance, A Real Pain, Babygirl, The Last Showgirl, I Saw the TV Glow, Challengers, Wicked Little Letters, Love Lies Bleeding, Origin, The Zone of Interest, The People’s Joker, Kinds of Kindness, Poor Things, All of Us Strangers, The Holdovers, Anatomy of a Fall…
Did any of those appear in the theater, or are they all straight to streaming?
They all had theatrical runs AFAIK.
Crazy, I’ve only heard of two of those movies. I guess my ad blocker is working. Haha.
Thanks for the recommendations
A couple of them aren’t out yet. A couple I missed, or they just didn’t get theatrical releases here (Australia). Everything else, I Saw in the cinema. Anora, as well, hasn’t come out here yet. The Brutalist. I could go on…
Or pirate for free and have a more pleasant experience.
Free market. Amiright?
Took my kid to see Moana 2 yesterday. Medium popcorn was $11.50. WTF…
Distribution rights keep going up and the movie theaters pass those costs on to you in the form of concession prices. Blame the studios.
Yeah, movie theaters barely make money from actually playing movies. It’s another reason why selling alcohol started getting more popular at movie theaters.
I guess you love what you watch 😉 anyway 😜
It’s only a problem for Hollywood, and not simply the theatre companies, because they refuse to go back to the convenience of streaming the movie like they did during COVID lockdowns.
I would much rather stay home, make my own popcorn, and watch a movie on my own TV, in my underwear, being able to pause if I need to pee, than get dressed, drive across town, and sit in a sticky seat in a big dark room full of strangers who usually make hella noise during the film, paying 3 times more than the ticket just for a small bag of popcorn, and having to hold in my pee until I feel like my bladder will literally burst so I don’t miss anything.
The only time the theatre experience was ever better than just being at home, was the first time I saw Rocky Horror Picture Show. Because the audience fucking participates!
Dammit Janet!
Oh Brad!
