My top 5 reasons for not going to a movie theater...

[Archae]

1. Cost.
I saw Star Wars first run for $1.50 when it first came out.
MATINEES are now 8 bucks and up.

2. (a) Shitty food.
I don't really like movie house popcorn, they use that butter-flavored oil that tastes like shit.
The drive-in I worked at in 1981-1982 had burgers and hotdogs.

(b) Shitty food and horrendous prices.
What is it now for that awful popcorn, and the watered-down drinks?

3. People at the theater.
They are (a) screaming and/or playing kids, (b) people who spend the entire movie yakking to each other, (c) cell phone yakkers.

4. The sound.
Voices are hard to understand and the music slams into me giving me a headache.

5. If I have to go to the john, I miss something.

Maybe I'm being a cranky old coot, but I prefer DVD's at home, complete with my stereo TV.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. My dear Archae!

We like your reasons!

There's a couple more too...Commercials before the movie! And sticky floors from all the crap people throw down there.

We now buy our movies, and watch them at home.

We can take breaks for the bathroom, or to get a snack, or whatever...

And we love being able to run it back to see if we can understand what is going on, or being said, or whatever!

Cheers for sanity!

:toast:

[Archae]

5. Yeah, feature-length ads.

And you can't mute or fast-forward them!

Oh, and that stuff on the floor, it started as spilled drinks and snacks, but it's mutated... :-)

[Skittles]

2. people who arrive late

and parade up and down the aisle waiting for their eyes to adjust, looking for seats, blocking my view - WTF PEOPLE - the movie times are posted - GET THERE ON TIME

[Iggo]

56. Oh, damn. I hadn't thought of that.

Those people piss me the hell off.

[CBHagman]

66. And now there are people who insist on coming in late...

...because they take into account the trailers and other advertisements before the movie, and their precious time cannot be expended in getting there in advance, picking out a seat, and getting settled. No, no, they must skip the trailers and climb over other moviegoers to get the seat they want -- not just any seat, mind you, the seat they want. :grr:

[femmocrat]

3. I agree with all of your reasons, plus they are just too damn loud!

And the movement on the screen is too fast or something --- I can't follow what the heck is going on with all that zooming and images whizzing by. It's total sensory overload.

I prefer TCM anymore.

[GoCubsGo]

45. Loud isn't the half of it.

One of the last movies I saw in a theater jumped all over the place. Thought I was going to puke during the previews. Fortunately, it was during a matinee and the place was had plenty of open seats. We moved to the back row, which lessened all the jittering. And, yes, it was LOUD.

[jobycom]

4. See, all that applies when I see them at home, too.

Can't get the kids off the cellphones, the food sucks... I'll pay the damn theater prices to get away from them!!

[rcrush]

6. I used to be a manager at several theatres for years and years

I hate children and rich people. They make going to the movies SUCK.

[kayakjohnny]

7. Nope, you're right.

Just tried to see Avatar. Went to Sunday afternoon matinee. Cost... $12.50 for two. Get inside and luckily only 15 or so people. Movie gets started. Black scratches all over the film. Heavily noticeable during light or white scenes.

Waiting for others to notice. Nope. Now having trouble focusing on the movie. Thinking it's not going to self correct. Go to manager. He says, "Yes, we have a bad copy, an 'old' copy".

I get my money back and leave the theater. Everyone else puts up with it.

This was 10 thick black stripes on the film from wear and tear and 20 other black stripes that were not as bad but totally noticeable.

So we leave this 1:50pm show and make another plan. I call a theater 30 miles away and confirm they have a 'good' copy. Yes.

We go up there at 7:20pm. Small crowd and movie just wonderful. But it cost the whole day to make it happen, a crapload of extra gas, and instead of the $12.50, it was now $19.00 for two.

Though it was a good movie and well worth the effort, I should not have needed to spend that much time and money and energy to see a simple god damned movie.

I agree with your post.

[rcrush]

10. It wasnt an old copy

lol one of their minimum wage projectionists scratched it on opening day. Some asshole always manages to fucking scratch a print on one of the biggest opening days of the year.

[kayakjohnny]

14. Yes, I figured such.

Because how can a movie released on the 18 of December or whatever it was, be 'old'?

First thing I wondered.

What a ball drop. One of the biggest movies in years, and someone lets that happen.

Oh well.

Got it resolved, any damned way.

[mwdem]

52. If you saw the digital version,

there wouldn't have been scrathes, since it's not film. Most theater chains have replaced their 35mm projectors with digital systems now. A movie like Avatar should be seen in 3d digital.

[begin_within]

8. And the kid sitting behind you that won't stop kicking the seat, and the

30 minutes of commercials, some previews for lame pictures to be released in the next few months, some outright commercials, for Coke or whatever.

[dysfunctional press]

9. there are some movies i prefer to see on a BIG screen...

and my 60-inch 1080p lg plasma w/yamaha-b&w-ohm sound system just won't suffice.

[pokerfan]

15. I agree to a point

But for me, it's usually about the story and not the effects. No amount of great special effects will make up for a poor story.

[yawnmaster]

11. Also, lice - its happened....that being said...

I still like going to the big screen occasionally.

[gratuitous]

12. When I hit the lottery

I will open a movie theater. I will hire local high school kids to staff the place, learn responsibility, how to show up on time and do a good job. Tickets, snacks and drinks will be reasonably priced. Popcorn will have real butter, not that stuff that I can no longer digest at my age. Movies will start on time. There will be at least two previews and an animated cartoon. Every feature will be a double feature. There will be children's matinees on Saturday, with a prize drawing after the show for something like a watch or some other gotza. No one will be allowed to enter the theater once the film starts. Cell phones will be summarily confiscated, talkers ejected after one warning.

I will lose money on every show, every day, but I'll be a lottery gazillionaire, and I won't care.

[Iggo]

17. ...and you will open this theater in my town.

There. I helped.

[BlueCollar]

61. will you teach them to hand the loose change over first?

before they hand over the receipt and folding stuff or will you allow them to put it all in a big bunch so the coins spill all over the floor?

[gratuitous]

65. Everything will cost a buck or multiple thereof

None of this 95 cents nonsense. It'll be a buck. Admission will be five bucks. Popcorn, I'm thinkin' three or maybe two. If you need help transporting it all back to your seat, there will be trays instead of those formed paper jobbies that never quite accommodate the drink. At least once a year there will be a weekend with the "King of Hearts" "Harold & Maude" double feature. Week long film festivals will dominate the summer months, so patrons can see some movies that are best seen only on the big screen.

All hail King gratuitous.

[pokerfan]

13. 6. sitting through a half hour of commercials/previews

7. Can't Google or access IMDB. (Well, you can with a phone but it tends to annoy people around you.

8. Can't pause/rewind.

[Iggo]

16. I'm with ya on 2(a), 2(b), 4, and 5.

1. The cost is the cost and doesn't bother me all that much (though if the cost went down, I wouldn't complain).
2(a). I miss the food service at the drive-ins.
2(b). I never get the butter, so I can taste the popcorn...blech.
3. I haven't run into any of those problems since I started going to the movies again about 3-4 years ago, and mostly because...
4. THE MOVIE IS SO GODDAM LOUD!!!
5. I almost never run anymore. But if I gotta pee at the movies, get the hell out of my way please...lol. (And back to the drive-ins, if you had to pee, you could watch the movie all the way til you got to the bathroom, and even in there you could hear it).

[Deep13]

18. Back in my day, the Showcase Theater in Worcester, MA's upstairs theater...

...was huge. It had fancy decorations and a big, big screen. Now, it's like watching TV. Except the color saturation is better on my TV and the TV is always in focus.

[flvegan]

19. I haven't been to a movie in a theater in years.

Reason #3 is the exclusive "why" of that.

[fizzgig]

20. those are among the reasons i don't go to the theaters anymore

plus the fact that those seats are so effing uncomfortable. i'm in pretty serious pain after about 45 minutes, which is barely enough time to get through the previews and commercials.

[gmoney]

21. I like going to the movies, but just wish the snacks were even semi-reasonably priced

went to a matinee of "Up in the Air" last week... admission, medium pop, medium popcorn added up to $19.75. Insane. But I paid it.

if I could get all that for $15, I'd probably go twice as often.

Spectacles like "Avatar" and "2012" need to be seen on the big screen though. I'll probably go see the new Terry Gilliam on the big screen, just because seeing "Brazil" in the theatre was so unforgettable. I just hope the film is better than the hokey title.

[valerief]

22. Cologne that makes you gag.

That's always a turn-off, too.

[MilesColtrane]

23. Number 5 is the main reason.

They won't pause the movie when you have to take a whiz.

[JVS]

32. Can you imagine how annoying it would be if they did pause the movie when anyone needed to pee?

[Lance_Boyle]

63. Movies longer than 2 hours need intermissions.

It is just plain stupid to make these 3 hour "epics" and not plan an intermission.

[quakerboy]

24. My rebuttal

1) My tickets are free, and I am generally paid to be there. It is a net gain for me.

2)(a) Better for me not to eat empty calories which always end up shoved in the mouth before the movie starts and are ignored during the feature itself anyway.
(b) again, would be paid for, but better not to get it in the first place.

3) I always sign up for the little button monitor thing. Someone starts being an ass in a movie, gonna hit the button, here comes the usher, problem solved. Its pretty rare that people are that inconsiderate of others anyway, in my experience. Or maybe I just have a knack for choosing the right theater at the right time, cause it always seems pretty empty

4) I like sound. a good movie deserves full immersion.

5) see #2. Don't hit the soda at the theater, use the restroom first, and if something hits the chute anyway, I can hold it. If I cant, the movie wasn't good enough to distract me, so Im not worried about it. Plus I am ADD. It wasn't like I was really going to be paying attention to anything for 2 solid hours anyway.

I get what you are saying, but situations differ. you are welcome to your favored approach to movie watching, and I hope you enjoy it to the max, for what time you put into it.

[TrogL]

51. Where do you get the button monitors?

I could have used one during Avatar. The lady and her idiot daughter next to me babbled through the entire show despite me and everybody around them repeatedly shushing them.

[LeftyMom]

25. I like the drive-in.

Two of my favorite places to eat are close by, so if I'm going I stop and get take-out, so I get a movie, very good food AND heated seats.

That said, I have a fantastic TV, so I very rarely bother to go see a movie. Usually just if it's something I can't wait to see a few months later, or some crazy epic that will lose something on a smaller, if ridiculously large by home standards, screen.

[Mad_Dem_X]

26. I'm with you.

The last film I saw in the theater was "The Dark Knight," because I wanted to see it on the big screen when it first came out, and not wait for the DVD. I would have to really, really want to see a movie badly to go to the theater again. I'd much rather watch at home, for all the reasons you stated.

[rurallib]

27. One more - my seat at home is much more comfortable

[GoCubsGo]

44. And, you don't stick to the floor.

Every movie theater I have been in during the past 15 years has had sticky floors. Even the new ones. Don't they mop them?

[raccoon]

28. How 'bout (6) Nearly all movies suck nowadays. nt

[blueamy66]

29. I will add

-I am 5'11"....I am never ocmfortable in a movie theater.

-they don't sell beer

[Frosty1]

30. I only have 1 reason

They do not close caption the movie. To a hearing impaired person that's a biggie.

[Iggo]

35. Wow. I never even thought of that.

How would they do that, by the way? Special glasses, maybe? (Don't laugh at me. It's early.)

[Lydia Leftcoast]

36. May I suggest foreign films?

No, seriously.

They're captioned for everybody!

[EndersDame]

42. At all of the theatres in austin you can request CC

[Iggo]

55. How do they do it?

I'm racking my brain and I can't come up with anything!

[EndersDame]

57. Talk or sign to the projectionist or manager

I actually was at movie and they announced that there was some one in the audience who was hearing impaired so thy were showing it in CC and if they didnt like it then they would refund their tickets for another time.I guess the production companies of some movies give theatres a CC and a non CC version . I would imagine it would be like American movie production companies making subtitled versions for distribution in other countries

[EndersDame]

59. Wiki To The Rescue!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Closed_captioning#Movies

I always assumed that it was like subtitles!

[madinmaryland]

31. I haven't been to a theatre in 15 years. I refuse to pay that much, and would

rather sit in my living room with my family and pay only 5 bucks for a movie.

[Pool Hall Ace]

33. 2001 was the last time I was in a theater.

If a film is relying heavily on special effects, it's probably not my kind of movie anyway.

[Midwestern Democrat]

34. I still enjoy the movie theater experience - the dark room, the big screen,

the audience atmosphere. Plus, IMO, theater exhibition is a large part of the "prestige" of the film industry - if films ever stopped being shown in theaters and became strictly home entertainment - the whole industry would eventually be seen as nothing more than glorified TV and eventually devolve to TV standards.

[DainBramaged]

37. You are being cranky.

1) price is relative

2)Don't buy the food

3) Don't buy the food

4) Get a hearing aid

5) Go to the bathroom BEFORE going to the movies.....

[MissMillie]

38. Believe it or not, I don't go because I'm afraid I'll bother other people

I can't sit for more than an hour before my RLS starts making my legs all jumpy. I'd hate to be the person sitting in front of me (heck, even behind me) after 60 minutes into a movie.

[av8rdave]

39. The only time I like the theater is when I go to our local movie tavern

Seating includes a table, a button to summon the waitstaff, a full menu and a full bar. Now THAT'S the way to see a movie.

Other than that, I would much rather watch at home. My family room furniture is more comfortable, the fridge is a few steps away, the sound is better, and NO *&%$ING ADS AND PREVIEWS that you can't skip.

[cbdo2007]

40. We have a special at the AMC Theater's in Kansas City here on Wednesdays....

that solves many of your problems.

Any movie is $5 all day on Wednesday. Plus, if you use your Movie Watcher card you get a free small popcorn with each ticket purchase. Then we also ask for cups of water so snacks are all free.

Also, they do this because NOBODY goes to the movies on Wednesdays apparently so there is rarely more than 10 people seeing any movie, even new releases.

May not solve all of your probs but it is still fun going to the movies for $10 a week for my wife and I, snacks included, and no crowd.

[bikebloke]

41. I haven't set foot in a cinema for 10 years.

I got tired of people talking. And especially the hyena-laughers. If a film is billed as a comedy, they start cackling non-stop as the lights dim.

And lack of leg room.

I prefer to sit at home with a DVD.

[EndersDame]

43. Every Movie Theater should be like The Alamo Draft House chain in Austin

No Children Under Six Allowed unless during Baby Day screenings

Good Food and Good Beer! Sometimes they have special food pairings with the movies prepared by special guest chefs!

They are dead serious about NO talking, texting or having cell phones go off during the movie. If you are doing anyof these you will be kicked out with out a refund

They also have very cool programming: in addition to having the new releases they show Indie, cult , classic, weird ,forgien and exploitation movies. They also have events like Master Pancake Theatre (think a live mystery science theater 3000) Quote a longs Sing alongs , They show silent films with live music , showings with some of the cast and/or crew and many other cool things

All in All They are movie theaters for movie fans by movie fans and it is a good experience

http://www.drafthouse.com/

[Alexander]

46. My friend is a manager at a nearby theater. I can bring beer in and wach movies for free.

Normally I wouldn't darken a theater door, but I do enjoy this.

[elocs]

47. There is a second run movie theater in my city where you can see moives for $3.

Still a nice looking old theater in downtown that was built in the Great Depression and its were I went to the Saturday matinees as a kid some 50 years ago. A hugely high ceiling where once upon a time you could see stars. They took out some of the seats in the front and put tables in front of them so they can serve food and beer.

The trouble is that I just have gotten used to watching movies at home. I saw Avatar on Christmas Eve and went to see Marley and Me at Christmas 2008. Dvds have spoiled it not only for the cheap viewing, but nowadays people watch a movie in the theater like they were watching it in their living room, talking right out loud and everything, adults as well as kids.

Movies at home are just easier now. I have Netflix with not only getting their Bluray dvds and streaming video with hundreds of movies, I also can rent movies to watch on my 50' plasma using Amazon. I have a front projector with a 7' screen and surround sound if I want a bigger screen, so actually going to the movies is only a once or twice experience for me.

[WillParkinson]

48. #3....

Little boy comes up to us during Ghost Busters 2 and asks for money. We tell him no.

Then he says, "do you guys suck dick?"

The kid wasn't more than 10 or 11 years old.

===

We went to the re-release of Star Wars, which Paul had never seen, and the kid behind us was constantly "Daddy, daddy, daddy?"

Yeah, #3 is my #1!

[TrogL]

49. The only movies I go to now are IMAX and 3D

If I turn my sound system up that loud (yes it WILL go that loud), I'll crack my foundation (further).

3D TV's aren't going to be out until next year and I'm going to wait for the price to come down.

[kwassa]

50. the other reason: 95% of new movies are not worth paying anything for.

I feel my time is stolen from me when I see them for free or near-free on TV.

[tonysam]

53. +1,000

I couldn't have said it better.

Once in a while I will go to a theater just for a change of pace.

[MindPilot]

54. I won't touch the food.

My son worked at a theater when he was a teen. He's told me things...

[BlueIris]

68. "He's told me things..."

LOL. I'm stealing that.

[triguy46]

58. Wife and I have not been inside a movie theater since 1991...

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. I don't think I'm any worse for it. And now we have a streak to protect.

[BlueIris]

62. Ouch, what a film to end your theater-going career on.

Curiously, that was one of the early nineties flicks that "inspired" me toward a future life as a cinephile (you'll just have to forgive my taste at the time, I was 12 that summer.)

I see fewer and fewer movies in the theater--last year marks my all time low (one: "Gran Torino.")

[sakabatou]

60. People at the theater....

(c) cell phone yakkers.

Some woman next to me was about to talk into a phone when watching Avatar. I asked her twice before she put it away.

[azmouse]

64. I've never eaten at the movie theater. Ever.

The smell of that crap alone keeps me away from it and then there is the cost.

And I cannot stand the sound of all the chewing and the popcorn bags rustling during the movie. It drives me nuts.

[EOTE]

67. There are still some drive-ins available.

If anyone hasn't been, I strongly recommend seeking one out and giving it a try. I live in Baltimore and I'm less than a 10 minute drive away from The Bengies. It's generally $7 per person for admission, but that's usually for 3 movies! So, if there is more than one movie you want to see, it's usually a great deal. Also, they sell a wide variety of tasty food that's pretty reasonably priced. Also, there's just something very luxurious about seeing a movie on the big screen from the comfort of your car. Bengies pumps in the audio through FM stereo and the quality if very nice, especially if you've got a good car stereo (Pro-Logic makes it even better). And you don't need to worry much about going to the john as you can typically still hear the movie. Going to the drive-in is one of the things I look most forward to in the summer.