Draven

There are so many theaters around us that I never end up in a packed theater, even on opening weekend. Most of the time there aren't problems with texting/talking, I sometimes go to after 10 PM movies by myself after the family has gone to bed. I have a great home theater setup but I like seeing what's out because I feel like I'm up to speed on what's going on.

I do realize that it's often cheaper to just buy the Blu-ray, but I like the theater experience, it's 5 minutes from my house and it's never an issue to see anything I want.

JayDerek

not a hassle for me. Movie tickets are expensive, but it's not like I'm seeing them a few times a week.

The Sundance theater near me is more pricey, but you have reserved seats and that higher ticket pricing keeps the teens out.

Mr. Cinema

I tend to go for the Sunday matinee. That usually involves the 30+ age group and most of the time, everyone is quiet during the film. And lately I've been sitting on an aisle seat as that has helped cut down on the chances of being near a talker. Sitting dead center is almost always a trap and the talkers seem to find me and sit in the next row back.

Oliver Clothesoff

too many external factors I can't control. I went with a 120" projection system in my basement and never looked back.

milo bloom

The wife and I only go out for movies we really, really want to see. We've seen Harry Potter and Rise of the POTA this year, and that's pretty rare to see two movies so fairly close together.

We're in the suburbs and there's plenty of theaters, but there's still getting a babysitter, finding a theater with the right time to match babysitter availability, the cost of snacks, etc, etc.

We've only got a 46" LCD, and a ten year old surround system (max 5.1 for DD and DTS), but we've got comfy chairs, and I can make up margaritas, so sometimes we just take the kid over to the babysitter and come back to the house to watch a movie.

PenguinJoe

The best part of watching movies with my girlfriend at home is after a few glasses of wine on the couch she's more than willing to slip out of her yoga pants. Especially if the movie isn't holding her interest. Sometimes we'll take the effort to go out have drinks and see a movie and she'll just come home and pass out. So that whole date costs me like $60 food, tickets, drinks, transportation. Her being at home and a bottle of wine and some chips and hummus costs me like $14 and I get laid.

Solid Snake

Nope and w/ my college ID it's $3.50. THOUGH if it's some other type of film that has a limited release. I MIGHT need to go to Dallas or Plano (which is where I saw Hurt Locker)

JimRochester

When we finally see a movie more than one of us will like we'll catch the first showing of the day for $5. Occasionally my wife and I will go on a weekend so the cost isn't that big a deal. It's date night. My daughter who works at the show only took me to one this summer. We saw Capt America for free during the week.

I don't mind the money nearly as much as the people who talk like they are in their living room or worse yet the assholes who think you can't see the light of their phone in a dark theater while they text two rows in front of you. No dickhead, bending over or keeping it in your purse does NOT hide the light. I will ask them to be quiet or put the phone away. I'll give the person one chance to answer a text with "I'm at the movies". After that you're just fuckin rude. I don't even bring my phone in. When the kids were little we would bring the phone in just in case of an emergency but not being a brain surgeon or any other type of on-call medical specialist, nothing in my life is so important it won't wait 2 hours and I expect the same.

My other pet peeve is people that insist on bringing kids that are way too young to R rated movies. Mommy, why are those naked people wrestling? or "Are those people really getting killed? Or just screaming babies that should be home in bed at 10:00 at night.

So in answer to your question we do go to the movies less often for a variety of reasons.
*So few movies we both like enough to risk paying $10 for
*The behavior of the crowds often ruin it for us.

sharkstank

Wow some of you guys have some really bad experiences at the theaters. I still love going to the movies, as do all of my friends and my girl. I keep an eye out for free screenings too, since I don't mind waiting in line. I do use my Netflix and Redbox down the street, but I don't think I'll ever stop going to the movies.

The only real change I've made is not really going on Friday or Saturday nights, as that is more likely to attract the kids just wanting to be annoying somewhere other than their homes. I live within walking distance if a theater too, so if I go to an early screening it is only 6 bucks, and I don't buy concessions. Grab a meal before or after. Every theater around here also has an identity, so I know where to go for what type of movie.

davidh777

Sounds like a good reason to pick out some bad movies

Mabuse

I used to go to the movies A LOT. Probably 3 times a week. I used to drive to LA at least once a week for an exclusive screening (How the West Was Won in true Cinerama, 3D Creature from the Black Lagoon, films not on DVD, 70mm screenings, etc). Then two things happened, and they happened just at the right time.

1. I invested about $6,000 into a home theater, so now I have an 84" 1080P HD theater with 6.1 surround sound.

2. I had two kids

I've only been to a movie theater 4 times in the last 4 years: Juno, Avatar, King's Speech, Tron 2. Two date nights and two must see 3D IMAX movies (I can't replicate that at home HOLY SHIT). That's it.

All I ever used to do was go to movies, now I have a film festival in my house every night. Different, but the same.

God bless the fact that you can have a HT so cheap these days. A set up like I've got would have cost $100,000 just a few years ago and the picture quality would have sucked.

EDIT: The only person in this thread I envy is PenguinJoe...The only thing my HT is lacking is Yoga pants.

JimRochester

Apparently at some point the Yoga pants were missing hence the 2 kids

Eddie W

What I find a hassle is stadium seating. It seems like it's so much harder to get around in. The smaller theaters have the aisle on one side. And people tend to fill up the seats closest to the aisle first, so you have to clamber over a whole row of people to get to the farthest seats.

Plus it makes me uncomfortable for reasons I'm not really sure of. Give me a good old fashioned theater where the floor has a gradual slope and one aisle straight down the middle.

The Bus

Considering that I make housing choices based on how easy it is to get to a movie theater, no, I do not find it a hassle.

fumanstan

No issues for me. Here by Irvine, there are 3 theaters nearby that are high quality that I enjoy going to, a dollar theater, 2 theaters that play indie flicks, and another older theater that I can catch releases that are a month or two old. Not to mention other good theaters a short drive away if I really want to.

Most of the time i'll try and catch early movies before noon for cheaper pricing at AMC, or go late with some buddies. I don't have many issues with other annoying people either, probably because of the times I go.

And i've been taking advantage of my Regal Rewards card lately too, so free popcorn comes up fairly regularly.

I have a 50" Plasma at home and Blu-ray's, which are also enjoyable, but I always like the theater experience

gbranton

These two things most of all, the prices and the assholes in the theater.

For what they want for a two movie tickets, popcorn and a cokes I can have a DVD, steak on the grille and bourbon.

As for the people, maybe it's better elsewhere but in this God forsaken hellhole of a town I live in I can't watch a movie without supressing the urge to kill at least four people who are talking to their friends, their cell phone or the screen. I can buy a nice tv and surround sound system for less than the the price of bail and legal representation AND it doesn't effect my ability to get a job later.

naitram

Up until a few years ago I still went, mainly to the last show on Sunday nights at the THX theater cause nobody would be there, or to retro screenings in the summer but that's dried up here somewhat.

But with 20 minutes of commercials, mouth-breathers checking their stupid pointless fucking tech-gadgets every 5 minutes, and the threat of bed bugs from the last scuzzbag just waiting to climb aboard and suck my juicy bloods, no thanks.

If I could smoke, I could possibly be swayed back (even though I don't smoke in my house, but I'd smoke in theirs ).

DeanoBKN

I hate the local theaters but the one 20 minutes away is far nicer. The screen is huge, clean theater, and as long as you know which showtimes you avoid you usually don't end up in a theater full of asshole teens.

Sure, I run up a $40 tab for a movie but I love going to the movies so much, I don't really mind it.

PenguinJoe

I don't know what city you live in but as for retro screenings a lot of cities during warmer months do Movies In The Park which is basically a retro screening of an older movie. Chicago does Ferris Bueller, The Fugitive, Risky Buisness, Kung Fu Panda, Iron Man. when i was in Atlanta they did They did North By Northwest, Pretty Woman, and Shrek one summer. Its not bad for free.

Xander

Is it more of a hassle than Netflix delivering the movie to my house and me watching it on my couch? Yes. But I still love the movie theater experience (not including the skyrocketing concession prices), and some movies need to be seen on the big screen.

Deftones

Nope. Used to be when my local theater was packed all the time. Since they've opened up another theater at a nearby mall, it's rarely too busy. I don't even really have to get there half an hour early for new summer releases. It's pretty awesome.

kd5

High prices are our biggest deterrent. We'll usually wait until the movie hits the budget Cinemark theater (if it does), or wait until the DVD hits the stores and has a chance of making the rounds until it's a price I want to pay. I don't feel compelled to see a movie as soon as it comes out, so my methodology works for us. I have a 53" WS HDTV and a decent receiver w/ 2 towers that make it feel like we're sitting in the back row of a movie theater anyway, so it's all good here. And I can pause the movie if either of us needs to take a leak too... -kd5-

Anubis2005X

I used to love going to AMC Hoffman, but now I can only stand it if I go to a morning show for $6 where people are there to actually see the movie. Otherwise it costs almost twice that and you have to deal with an unlimited number of assholes who won't stop checking their asshole phones and making asshole comments...

Hokeyboy

I go to the Cinemark Premier level ONLY in Boca Raton. I've done the whole spiel before: separate balcony section away from the riff-raff, NOBODY under 21 allowed, huge sofa loveseat/recliners, free popcorn, free valet parking, alcohol and gourmet food delivered to your seat or available at the bistro, and reserved seating (you can pick your exact seats online). It's $20/person, but it's WORTH EVERY PENNY. Always have a great experience, with no chatty douches, cellphone gazing fucktards, or shithole kids.

The downside is that the Premier level is only available for the BIG first-run movies, which isn't bad when I want to go see the must-see big studio movies (Captain America, Harry Potter, Thor, etc.), but for smaller, foreign, independent movies, I have to go elsewhere. So I generally wait for home video on those.

For me and my wife, that ends up around $50 for a night at the movies ($40 for two tix, two overpriced sodas and tipping the valet guy) but it's more than worth it. The convenience of it is amazing. We already have reserved seats, so we don't have to get there a half-hour early to avoid sitting all the way on the side. We can show up a minute or two before showtime (which is still commercials), drive right up to the theater entrance and have the car valet parked, go up the escalator, grab our free popcorn and overpriced soda, get led to our seats by an usher (I always grab front-row balcony, dead center), and enjoy the show without rush or worry.

Anubis2005X

Dude, that sounds friggin' divine. I wonder if there's a place like that in Northern VA...