someone had mentioned about waiting for knocked up on dvd.. I was saying that it should be seen in the theatre.

Jacob

Frankly, I don't watch movies in the theaters for two reasons:

1) First run ticket prices are just totally ridiculous. US$8.00 for a matinée ticket?

2) The audience is totally rude by talking during films and not silencing cellphones and pagers. (This is why I DETEST Mystery Science Theater 3000--it caused an entire generation of moviegoers to do "running commentaries" on movies, much to everyone's annoyance. )

With the price of non-CRT rear projection TV's rapidly dropping and the availability of upconverting DVD players to convert DVD output to 720p or 1080i, you can get the clear widescreen experience at home at reasonable prices.

1. Ticket prices are here are only 6.00bucks, and 8.00 bucks past 6pm. I dont mind its worth it

2. this hardly happens, I go to the movies 5-7 times a month. the last time where someone interupted the movie was 3-4 years ago. This isnt much of a problem. If it is for you, go to a different theater.

3. watching a movie on a 40 inch or so tv doesnt compare to a 30 foot by 70 foot or what ever size they are

I don't blame stuff like MST 3000, people have talked at the screen for years. I prefer to see movies in the theater, but over the last 10 years, people are just becoming ruder and ruder. This past week I had to suffer a new annoyance, which caused me to walk out.

Some complete pig decided to treat the theater like their home living room and put their feet up on top of the seat next to me. Now it wouldn't have been too annoying, except the pig decided it was all right to do this with no shoes and socks on.

I just left the theater and got a pass from the manager to come back at a later time.

I guess that's what I get for being cheap and going to one of the traditional chains. I should have gone to the Arclight in downtown Hollywood.

fitprod

I agree. Other than prices are higher here, more in the $7.50 to $8.50 range for Matinees and $9.50-11 past 6 pm around here.

But I generally don't have problems with distractions (though I can tune out a lot of stuff), and the giant screens in and off themselves make the trip worthwhile to me.

Plus I just like getting the fuck out of the house and breaking the work, come home, sleep, repeat ad nauseum routine.

Especially since often times any talking has nothing to do with the movie.

Folks,

Have you noticed that a new trend for movie theaters are premium theaters that charge more but offer the following:

1. Wide, comfortable seating with lots of legroom.

2. Gourmet-quality concessions.

3. State-of-the-art audio and picture quality with THX-certified sound systems and Kodak-certified projectors (film and digital).

4. Strict usher policy (e.g., all cellphones/pagers are required to be turned off or set to "silent" mode) and quick ejection of rude customers.

5. Strict limits on what is shown before the feature presentation (e.g., no more than circa four previews and maybe one commercial designed specifically for theatrical projection).

I'd go to the movies a LOT more often if the companies like AMC, Cinemark and Regal are willing to invest in such theaters.

their are alot of varying prices of matinee prices here in the DC area.

- some AMC's have pre noon shows (Fri-Sun) at $5, some are $6.
- standard AMC shows before 6pm are $7.00
- Regal Gallery Place: $8
- Landmark Theatre's before six at $6.75

they should do what the two theatres (near the bar) at AMC Mazza does, have the matinee shows open to all ages, the evening shows restricted to 21+ only

Is the theater experience even really that great?

It depends on the theater. In my case, it is. The theater I got to regularly is a stadium style theater with big screens, good audio and comfortable stadium seating. I also usually go to matinees so most of the time it's not overly crowded. There is something about watching movies at the theater on a huge screen. I don't care how good of a HT setup you have nothing can truly replicate the movie theater experience.

But for some, that is a good thing! I haven't had any problems with jackholes in the theater for quite sometime, if it became a regular occurrence then I'd probably just wait for the movies to hit DVD. But for now I'll still go, especially for those movies that are best seen on the big screen.

The UA/Regal King of Prussia Imax here just outside Philly is like that and it's fantastic. I go see movies almost exclusively at this theater (and gladly pay the dollar/buck-fifty more for it.


-Doc

There's a "Premium Theatre" attached to an AMC 17 here in Lombard. I'd say it only seats about 80. They have a full service restaurant outside the theater room.

Tickets are about $16 with free popcorn and soft drinks included. That alone is worth it. Of course you can get alcohol and hot food, which is a little pricier, but still nice. Also it's 21+ only. Never had any issues with disturbances in there. I saw Harry potter 4 there and had a great experience not having to deal with a large crowd.

The only drawback is they only show one film per week.

The Imax at KoP is indeed fantastic. Only bad thing is it takes me a good hour to get there.

My favorite "premium" theatre was the Ritz Sixteen in Voorhees, NJ. Nobody under sixteen was admitted without an adult. Nobody under 6 admitted, period. Concessions were reasonable ($6 for a soda and popcorn). And they had 16 screens, 90% of which ran movies that were only in limited runs.

I'd be there nightly if it wasn't too, an hour away.

I like KoP's IMAX screen as well, but Harrisburg's theatre is actually closer to DC. Since the Smithsonian, tends to book it's A-list Hollywood films at Udvar Hazy, which doesn't have a 3D IMAX system, I make an effort to come up into Pennsylvania to see 3D IMAX movies.

Interestingly, my two friends and I were up at KoP during a time when there wasn't an IMAX feature on the big screen - instead they played 'Final Destination 3' - wow! I loved it supersized and ear piercing, my one friend on the other hand was rather repulsed by it all.

To be honest there never is anything playing at my local multiplexes that i fancy seeing as i just can't get my head round the whole 'Hollywood Blockbuster' movie thing and i just don't see it as a 'theatre' experience any more from when i was younger...the cinematic 'theatres' for me are now long gone and turned into Bingo halls and fitness clubs, certainly where i live in the UK....instead there are multi-screen,soul-less 'arenas' with all the latest technology sure enough...yet absolutely no charm what so ever and so i'd sooner stay in the comfort of my own home being able to watch the kind of films i want to watch not mentioning being able to pause a film when the inevitable overdosing of caffeine affects my bladder..lol....or maybe i'm just getting old

Here in dallas (well Frisco, a suburb) they just opened a new cinemark near me. Here are the prices:
Adult Evening $7.75
Adult Fri/Sat after 6pm $8.50
Adult Matinee before 6pm $6.50
First Matinee Showtime $5.00

Um no thank you. The only time that is actually close to reasonable is the first showing on sat/sun due to price and work. Some people say they haven't had a bad experience in years, I have a bad experience about 50% of the time over the past several years. (The exception being the local IMAX, which is even more expensive but is a different experience from viewing at home...the crowds there have never been a problem in my times going.) Even in a brand new theater just built and open less than 2 months I have seen picture/sound quality issues that make the experience actually lower quality than watching at home for me.

Yeah, it's location is the only dodgy aspect. I used to live in Springfield (Delco) so it was about a 40 minute trip out there. Now I live in the Manayunk area of Philly, so it's a just a 15-20 minute jump down 76.

I LOVE the Ritz. The one in Old City is nice too. I try to get down there as much as possible as it's the only feasibly local theater that shows independents and non-mainstream flicks.

Seriously, it's amazing how it makes just about any movie seem better (except Spider-Man 3... it was without hope).


Sweet Jeebus. They gotta open one of those puppies around here. Save me from having to sneak in a flask or waste time with the rolling and lighting of substances in the car.


-Doc

I love our theater here, the Rave. Theres two and one plays bigger movies and the other plays movies that arent on as many screens. Both have great seating for the most part(each has a theater in it that the seating sucks but most of the time this is for movies that have been out awhile so theres not alot of people there anyways). The picture and audio is amazing.

I still love going to movies for the experience. The crowd reaction, good or bad, is always entertaining.

Yeah, it's great. The AFI Silver in Silver Spring, MD serves alcohol as well. Foreign and indy films, film festivals and alcohol? Can't beat that!

A theater near use is gonna start serving Alcohol too. They plan on showing sports games etc on the big screen too, now that they all have digital projectors.

I have 7 theaters near me. the closest one is about 4 minutes away, the furthest one is about 20 minutes away. They all but I think 3 are all Digital Projectors now. One is THX certified. One is a indie type theater that shows only smaller flicks.

Since my son got the job at the theater and we can go for free we go weekly. Prior to that it was only for event movies. I still have no tolerance for the talking, bringing way too young kids into adult themed movies and the texting. What thought process do people have when opening a brightly lit cell phone and texting is not supposed to be distracting to the people behind you?