My girlfriend and I were talking about this last night. We have Netflix, Hulu, a 1080 plasma TV, blu-ray and a redbox in the 7-11 next to our building. Granted we live in a big metropolitan area and not a suburb or smaller city which i wouldn't think the experience would be much different going to the movies its always expensive we have to get their on time we can't pause anything we bring in our own alcohol sometimes we both work so when we go its like high school kids annoyingly running around. 3D really isn't that much of an appeal to us. It's alright but I really don't care if a movie is 3D or not. Imax is cool but the closest IMAX theater is Navy Pier which is all tourists and we avoid any place with tourists cause they have no idea what they're doing or how to drive. So I've found our movie going has really decreased quite a bit this summer we've prob only been to four or five movies the entire summer. Bridesmaids, Contagion, the one about the kids and the alien, and Hangover. Anyone else find their movie going decreased? I'm just wondering not trying to cause some debate.

I'm lazy and don't want to deal with the high prices. I would consider going if they served decently priced beers, good food, and allowed me to pause the movie in order to get laid.

Other than the high prices, no.

Expensive, but not a hassle.

Throw in the allowable use of the electronic cigarette and that's me in full.

I haven't been to the theater in quite some time....I have a very nice TV with sound system at home and love kicking the shoes off, opening some alcoholic beverages, and possibly relaxing with a significant other (as it applies at the time ;-).

The money isn't too big of an issue but hitting up a redbox for a new release I'm very interested in for only a buck after shopping....come on, it's common sense.

only when a certain "friend" has an average taste in movies and doesn't venture into foreign, independent fare - oh and he always falls asleep - that drives me up the wall - essentially I find an excuse not to go to movies with him.

I agree with this. The popcorn is usually over salted and $7 for a drink at the Icon Theater bars is too much considering the ticket was only $9. I could easily blow $60 for a two hour movie which is the same exact price of a Wrigley Field rooftop ticket to a baseball game with open bar. Even if the movie will have a happier ending than the Cubs.

I still enjoy seeing stuff on the big screen. Most of the Regal theaters around here offer up top notch audio/video presentations, especially their digital projection screenings. If I had a hugely expensive HT setup, I'd probably go less to the theater.

I live in a country town and I can assure you it is a real hassle;

1) Get in car - waste petrol and time getting to theatre.

2) Pay for parking.

3) Stand in line - wait for the endless spiel from the ticket seller about what great concessions are available - "You can buy a small popcorn and drink with your ticket for only an additional $12.00!"

4) Walk to correct cinema - wait whilst acne ridden teenager studies my ticket front and back for at least thirty seconds to ensure it is not a forgery before reluctantly permitting entry.

5) Walk over stickey carpet and sit in seat that stinks of sweat, fart juice and soda.

6) Wait until ten minutes after the stated start time for the ****ing advertisements to start.

7) Watch 20 minutes of advertisements, 10 minutes of trailers.

8) Watch scratched up print of brand new film with damage so bad in places that the flick is barely watchable -also try to ignore unspecified stain on centre left of screen that has been present for at least a decade.

9) Listen to teenagers trying to be funny in the back rows, endless phone conversations, et al.

10) Walk out of cinema, find car has been ticketed despite putting money in meter.

11) Waste time and more petrol driving home.


All in all, I am happier just to watch a DVD 90% of the time.

I'm still a big fan of going to the movies. Now that my son is back in school, the wife and I will start going a lot more often than we get to during the summer.

I like going for more adult films, but blockbusters and whatnot, i'll usually wait for blu. I can't stand the crowd. Plus, the arthouse theater closed, so choices are limited.

that's not a hassle, that's downright depressing

Nah, I live 5 minutes away from a theater. On my days off during the week and I have nothing else to do I will check the listings for the early shows. For less than 16 bucks I get lunch (bucket of popcorn) soda and get to see a new movie. Theater is never crowded, sometimes I have it to myself.

nope.

It's getting crazy expensive, but I still love going to the the movies.

The only hassle is PEOPLE. The other day the wife and I went to see The Change-Up. It's been out for a few weeks, so we walked into an empty theater. We sat in the middle of the first row of the second section. As the previews started, a group of people came in and sat down right the fuck next to us. We were the only two there and they sat in the seats next to me! Not even a seat in-between! I looked at them and said, "What the fuck?"

And what did they say back?

When I worked at a theater and saw everything for free, a kid once sat right next to me during "Pokemon 2" right when it was starting, even though there were plenty of other seats available. I spent the whole movie wondering whether it'd look more creepy if I moved or stayed where I was.

Having small kids is the biggest hassle. Now that they're older and can attend PG-13 movies, it helps, but nothing cramped my moviegoing style more.

I remember going to see Fellowship of the Ring. Four hours of babysitting, three and half hours of downtown parking, admission, snacks--good grief. Good thing I liked the movie.

I rather be home comfortable, quietly and concentrating entirely in the movie than to be around idiots that chew bubblegum, whisper, munch on crunchy popcorn, they get up to use the bathroom and I have to move. F**k that bullshit.

That's really weird. I can only assume they were fucking with you.

There's a movie theater near me with a bar and reserved seating. So I guess for like $5 extra you can get the seat you want. However when my girlfriend and I went to see Sucker Punch earlier this year the theater was packed and no one was in reserved seating so we asked the usher if we could sit there and he denied us. No one sat in those seats the entire duration of the film really pissed me off and we had to sit next to these kids who kept lighting up their iphones every 5 minutes to message their friends.

I love going to the cinema. The only thing I really hate is 3d. I won't see a movie if its its only in 3d unless its something I'm really excited to see. I hate 3d. It's a gimmick and I really hope it eventually fails as bad as 3d tv's.

Other than that the big multiplex chain in Vancouver offers special deals on tickets to certain small businesses, so I can see any film for 8 bucks a pop. And usually I'll go on one of my days off and catch 3 films. I'll pay for one and sneak into the other 2. So it works out pretty good price wise.

I used to go a lot more when there were more theaters and they were easier to get to. I used to work on 43rd Street in Manhattan, just two blocks from Times Square, where I could see films at the massive single screen Loew's Astor Plaza, the twinplex the National, the single screen Embassy, the Criterion (a former single screen chopped up into six or seven theaters), the Embassy 2, 3, 4 (the former DeMille chopped up into three) and whatever 42nd Street theaters were still open at the time. Plus, the Guild, an art deco single screen in Rockefeller Center a few blocks up. I remember seeing TRESPASS at the Criterion one evening after work and then walking up to the Embassy to see THE DISTINGUISHED GENTLEMAN right afterwards--and this was on a weeknight with work the next day. (That was 19 years ago--I was younger then.)

Now, all these theaters are closed, my office has moved to 34th and Fifth, and the nearest theaters are several blocks-to-a-half-mile away. And they're all multi-story multiplexes where only one cashier is on duty, despite a bank of cash registers, so you have to wait on line no matter when you go, and then you have to take several escalators to get to the floor your theater is on. And then sit through 20 minutes of commercials and awful trailers before the movie starts. And then God help me finding a comfortable seat in which the back doesn't bend down to the floor. Because of chronic back pain, I need a seat back that doesn't move, and the best I can find these days are usually in the very back of the theater. It's not uncommon for me to try out four or five seats before settling on one that's the least uncomfortable. And at the 34th Street multiplex (8th Ave.), the bathroom's not even on the same floor as the theater.

So yes, it's a hassle. I'm nostalgic for the days when you bought your ticket outside, stepped through the door and gave it to the ticket taker and took a few steps and--voila!--you were inside the theater and ready to take your seat. And it was a big theater, too. And the seat backs didn't move.

That was my first thought, but I don't think they were. They seemed very surprised when I reacted. Then they quietly moved a few seats over.

Have you tried going to the first matinee on a weekend? Cheaper and less crowded = Less hassle.

I'm easily pulled out of the movie ... I have to sit near the front to try to cut out the number of people who will be texting in front of me. Now I mostly only go to midnight premiers (Harry Potter, etc) because the people there are there to actually watch the damn movie.