Terror Must Be Maintained...It is the Logic of History

While I do enjoy 3D movies, I do admit that the effects are often overused. Theaters who charge more for 3D movies should give the option of the 2D experience for those who either do not like 3D effects or do not want to pay the extra cost.

However, I think that charging 10 dollars for a movie is not too much to ask. Studios are investing big money in movies and they deserve to charge enough to recoup their investments. Saying “charge more for commercials” isn’t really realistic. The theaters are already charging as much as they can to generate maximum revenue. If they increase the price they may have a few companies agree to pay, but they will lose out on others who feel they are not receiving the necessary return on their advertising expenditure. Saying “don’t pay 20 million for an actor” is also silly. I would much rather pay $10 to watch somebody like Depp or Daniel Day Lewis then some little known actor, or even worse, Ashton Kutcher. These actors tend to be paid high salaries because they bring in revenue in a global marketplace.

Also, people sneaking food in the theater is another problem. That is revenue that is supposed to be generated in food sales. Could you imagine 4 people buying one PDF copy of John’s book and just sharing it? That doesn’t properly compensate John for his time and investment, just like sneaking food in doesn’t compensate the theater fairly.

I would recommend checking different theaters in your area as some of different prices (the theater by my house is $9.95 as opposed to $11.95 at other local theaters). Also, a lot of theaters have matinee deals or Tuesday night specials where they charge half price.

The only way the theater owners make ANY money is by gouging on food prices, but here’s the thing: don’t buy it!

This is like when people complain about how expensive it is to take a family of four to a ballgame, then in that description of price they say “4 tickets, parking (find free parking and walk, take public transportation, etc.), hot dogs, beer, soda, a pennant, a program, two jerseys, and a special scoreboard message is EXPENSIVE!” Well, duh. Because you’re getting extras.

$21 for two people to go out and enjoy a movie is not that expensive, and this is coming from someone who really struggles to pay the bills each month.

Now, 3D movies: Coraline in 3D was amazing, but that was an animated film. I think this is where the 3D effects should stay. It just seems to work better for the animated stuff. I don’t have any particular love for 3D or wearing the goofy glasses for 2 hours. I’d much rather just see the actors act.

Up here in RI, it’s tough to find a nighttime ticket for under $10, and they don’t have student discounts. But when I’m down at Wake Forest, the student ID knocks tickets down to $4 (and these are brand new movies) at night. It’s cheap enough for me to justify going once a week, and I’m a poor college student.

We see movies in Lawrence, KS, and there is one multiplex and one artsy movie theatre, and it shows movies that I describe as ‘bummer flicks’ but patrons would describe as ‘life changing’…I go to movies for shallow fun, darn it!

Our theatre does not, to my knowledge, show pre-noon movies, although taking the day off of work to see an early movie might sabotage the price savings. Our theatre didn’t show Avatar in 2D, so we didn’t have a choice.

We typically prefer to wait until the DVD comes out, but there are some movies that you just know you will see in the theatre. If there is a flick being advertised that one of us is really super excited about seeing in a theatre, then we will try and do that. As for concessions, true, you don’t NEED concessions, but before we commit to going we know that a bag of popcorn is just part of the experience, at least for Nicholas…and we want to keep it that way.

I would, by the way, go see an interesting looking movie with an unknown actor. If it is good storytelling, good performance, the name will become big.

Price wouldn’t be so high if people didn’t pay it. I won’t pay to go see a movie. There is rarely a movie that I need to see bad enough that I’d pay the ten bucks to see in a big room surrounded by high schoolers texting. I am a crotchety 20 year old :p

Like most things in our small town, people seem to prefer driving half an hour to an hour to go elsewhere and spend more money on entertainment/dining. There is a 7 screen theater 20 minutes away and then 9 screen/7 screen/6 screen theaters about 30 minutes away also. Matinees aren’t really an option schedule wise, and I don’t think you can get a ticket less than $7-10 at the lowest(haven’t been in a couple of years though).

Luckily we have a drive in theater about 15 minutes from us that runs double features Friday and Saturday from May thru October(they add Thursday and Sunday shows during the summer). When my wife and I started dating 6 years ago the cost was $14 a carload which was a great deal. It’s gone up every year since, now at $22. As long as they run two movies you want to see it’s still a good deal, especially since you can bring in your own food and drinks. Unfortunately, it’s been awhile since they’ve run two movies we want to see at the same time.

We’ve moved more to Netflix and Red Box to watch movies anymore. $16.99 a month gets us 3 DVD’s at a time with unlimited rentals, we can usually run through 6 discs a week between movies and tv shows. We have two Red Box locations within 6 blocks or so, which means it’s easy to grab new movies as they come out if we can’t get them through Netflix right away. There just isn’t a much more economical way to do it, if you don’t mind waiting for a movie to hit DVD.

With a few exceptions like Avatar (which, hell, that was the only reason to go see it), don’t spring for the 3D glasses. I kinda dodge some of the expenses by going during the week- the theaters by us have $5 movies Monday through Thursday, and unless there’s a midnight showing of something really good (Inception, for instance), I can wait. I don’t know how Lawrence compares to my town (it’s a suburb of Charlotte, NC) but finding the right theater can make a big difference in price.

… All this well-reasoned argument about movies (drivel, mostly), the cost to get into them (go before 6, pay $8.50 here in Hartford; who knows how much 3-D “Toy Story 3” is at 7 PM?), the hammering one’s wallet takes for snacks (unlimited popcorn and soda yesterday cost $11.50), and assorted other debits (child care, dinner immediately after “Julie & Julia”, etc.)

… and no one remarks about Bad Spock ("Mirror, Mirror) as recipient of an ironic sentence in light of this discussion: “In every revolution, there’s one man with a vision. Be that man, Mr. Spock.”

Jeri, here’s the solution. Make an event at the casa. Movies are a family event and marketed as such. Let’s be honest, there are so many films to show our kids that exceed the quality of the films produced today. Buy a projector and present the golden age of hollywood. Just be creative, the little ones will bite it hook line and sinker. If it’s the adults that want to catch the newest flick, I don’t know what to tell you. Every kid in 2010 has seen Karate Kid{this special effects version} but how many kids have seen Lord of The Flies at 11?