mwynn

I did not see a catch all thread for discussing movie theaters.So was looking up times for Spider-man this morning and noticed that the local AMC, only had two shows all day for IMAX, 3d, Standard, etc. This is the theater we saw Spider-man opening weekend. It was pack, the theater did not open until 2:00pm and the first showing was 2:15.

This theater is in an outdoor mall, without a lot of good shops to me. Nearby there is a Target and a Grocery Store. None of the other theaters in the city have these hours. Even a smaller theater nearby has better hours.

Seems they have been hit pretty hard with staffing issues as they were not serving food besides popcorn.

Anyone else seeing this at their local theaters?

DJariya

My local AMC stopped serving Chicken tenders almost a year ago and blamed it on supply chain issues. They also stopped serving Mozzarella sticks also blaming supply issues. They also recently ran out of fries, pizza and nachos when I went last weekend to see Matrix.

Hard to tell why they are having these kind of issues. When the theatres re-opened last year in limited form, they had signs saying they are purposely making a limited menu due to the limited capacity. But, now pretty much all are operating at 100% and I guess they just don't have enough bodies to prepare those kinds of foods and it's easier and cheaper to just focus on popcorn and candy.

Shannon Nutt

Hey, my local AMC SHUT DOWN between Christmas Day and tomorrow (New Year's Eve) - no reason given. I suspect a Covid outbreak among staff (they never wear masks), but who knows?

Artman

Yep, just checked my AMC (one of the best in the North Seattle area) and there's no late showtimes today, but they are back tomorrow.. Odd considering this is the best weekday stretch of the year for theaters. I think we're just going to have to get used to more limited times, with the exception of opening wk event movies. And even with that, there's very little staff.

L Everett Scott

The Province of Ontario is allowing movie houses to do business so long as no food or drink is served. Without that concession revenue, they have to be seriously hurting. That's still better than Quebec where the Provincial Government has shut the doors of all cinemas.

Word is that Spider-Man: No Way Home is taking up every available screen up here. Smaller or poorly performing films are getting bumped so additional NWH shows can be scheduled.

This would be a good introduction to Economics for anyone who's never taken a course.

Rodney2187

The Rise of Skywalker is the last movie I saw in the theater. I love movie theaters, but just haven't felt like going back. I upgraded my movie room at home instead.

DJariya

France banned concessions for 3 weeks. That's going to hurt their theatres as well.

E Unit

Theaters are starting to shut down in Austin again as well.

Why So Blu?

My AMC has showings start at 10:30pm tonight. Tomorrow's latest shows start at 9:00pm, because I figure they want everyone out before midnight. New Year's day Saturday has showings past 10pm back again with no food supply issues.

JayTL

I used to go to a theater at lease once a month. usually 2-3 times, and maybe up to 7 during busy months.

Since they've reopened, I think I've been 5 or 6 times. Total. I'm not saying the magic is gone, but I'm not feeling it anymore

mwynn

My movie theater visits had dropped over the years, as I find the experience tedious. I would really rather just watch movies at home, at my own pace.
I used to get together with friends and see a few movies a year. As we all get older making that time is harder.

JayTL

I've always enjoyed going to the movies solo..it's never really a social thing for me. Raimi's Spider-man 2 I think was the last time I went with 4+ people.

But then again, I don't usually buy concessions, maybe a beer just because..so it's not like the theaters miss my absence lol

I'm good waiting a couple weeks and streaming the movie.

TomOpus

I still go at least once a week. Still miss having Alamo Drafthouse around.

mwynn

I also used to do family outings we did a few movies with 3 generations. I just think think over time that it was not the same as before. Now that you only have to wait a little over a month. The only thing that stands out is the MCU, because of spoilers.

rocket1312

My local AMC (which is the best theater in my area with the widest selection of movies) opens at like 4 and the last showing of the day is no later than 7:30-8. Those are pretty much the exact hours I can't go.

The last 2 weeks with college kids on break they've kept later hours and I went for the first time in I don't know how long (I've been to other theaters plenty of times). I was excited enough that I almost restarted my a-list, but then I checked next week and they were back to reduced hours.

rexinnih

AMC I usually go to looks like they are running a full schedule but menu was limited when we went to see Spiderman last week. We usually only get popcorn and drinks anyway so no impact.

Eric F

Enjoy your COVID.

I worked at AMC approx 7yrs ago, worst job experience of my life. They were used to working with kids and treating them like shit, they couldn’t pull that with me.

Seriously, I know the way they (don’t) maintain their facilities, they don’t care much about health codes, it wouldn’t surprise me if the whole staff of any theater came down with COVID all at once.

mwynn

Whoops! Viral TikTok Busts Movie Theater Using Amazon Prime To Show ‘The Grinch’

https://decider.com/2021/12/30/viral-tiktok-movie-theater-using-amazon-prime-video/

Baron Of Hell

The theater nearest me was remodeled. The bathrooms that once could hold a dozen people have been replaced by one one person bathroom for men and women. Our new train station follows the same dumb dumb logic.

mndtrp

For my wife and me, we aren't really interested in going to the theater much any more. We've gone maybe 3 times in the last 4 years. We were going to start taking the kids to the theater, since it's always fun being a kid and doing that, but then covid hit. If things ever chill out on that front, we'll start taking the kids once every handful of months or so.

Inhumans99

I have only seen two movies in theaters in the past 2 years (Shang-Chi, and Spider-Man No Way Home (and there is no movie coming out in the near future that is a must first see in theaters film for me), and even though I am not usually a concessions guy I did notice the limited options.

At first you think to yourself, supply chain issues (and there may be a bit of truth to that, seeing as how theaters are not going to buy up all of Safeway's or Targets candy and stuff to have stuff to sell, that is not realistic to expect that, so if their normal supplier is having issues delivering goods to the theater it means less concessions to choose from), but Djariya has hit the nail on the head, due to limited staffing, and the efficiencies of not having to prepare or stock 50 different concession items, it is just easier to offer the traditional concessions of popcorn, soda/bottled water, maybe some boxed candy, and if you are lucky, a hot dog.

I get it, and I am sure things will eventually get closer to normal (more employees working, more concessions for sale) but based on the numbers that theaters delivered for films like No Time To Die, Free Guy, Shang-Chi, Eternals (it still made a bit of coin in theaters), Encanto, Sing 2, and of course Spider-Man NWH, it would appear that even with limited staffing and concession options that the experience of seeing a film on a big screen with superior sound (at least for this apartment dweller without a fancy sound set-up) is far from over for most theater dwellers, including this guy.

Count Dooku

Maybe it is just the way I was raised. We were a movie-going family, but we NEVER bought concessions, except for sometimes soda. My mom would sneak in popcorn and candy (and drinks if she could) in a big purse.
So, for me as an adult, the availability of food at the theater means nothing to me. Even now, I will just bring a protein bar with me.
I know theaters make their money on concessions, so I am not helping them, but I ain't paying $10 for 50 cents worth of coke and popcorn.

Nevertheless, I will never not want to see movies in theaters. And unless you are Richie Rich with an actual home theater, I can't fathom the idea that the gen pop thinks that watching a 6 ft screen is always satisfactory.

IBJoel

I'm petsitting for my parents in Florida and went to the 16-plex I used to work at for The Matrix Resurrections. They were down to only 4 screens and seemed to be completely disorganized (no ticket taker, for instance). I ended up being the only person in my showing. Just thought it was odd how Florida is pretty much entirely opened, masks optional, and then this was like barely a functioning business. I wonder if that's Regal policy, rather than Florida.

Alan Smithee

One of the most useful things my parents taught me was never buy anything at the snack bar- I used to beg every time but they never gave in. When I went to work at theaters, the snack bar was the first place they put me and I swear I had never seen dumber people in my life- many would complain about the prices but just go ahead and pay them anyways. Even though snack bar money was likely where all my pay came from, I'd still never advise anyone to spend money there unless it's a theater run by people who actually care about the business- and Sillymark, AMC and Regal are NOT those people.



Problem is that many new theater screens are pathetically small- they may still be bigger than what I have at home, but not by much. I got the biggest screen I could afford for my living room, I would still have room for something bigger but it's certainly functional. If I go out to a theater I want a HUGE screen, but many theaters you walk in and think "they've gotta be kidding". The trend of not even properly masking screens, and making them common-width so widescreen movies are letterboxed, is completely inexcusable. The rule has been that Die Hard should never appear smaller than Driving Miss Daisy (although it does at home), and I simply don't go back to any theater without proper screen masking. Instead I'll save my money for a home projector that can give me the same experience but with no ads or rude people.

Eric F

As an adult working at a theater you can’t believe some of the shit the customers gave me, especially when I worked the concessions stand (like I had anything to do with the prices). AMC’s anti-customer policies combined with expensive prices and cheap customers led to some really explosive interactions. Id regularly see people shelling out hundreds of dollars on concessions for the families complaining all the while. I got into a fight with some woman because she thought the “large” popcorn meant unlimited refills (old policy). Personally I couldn’t give two shits if people had free popcorn until they exploded but the management would monitor the employees- I would often give out extra popcorn anyways to people who spent hundreds of dollars because I knew the popcorn cost AMC next to nothing.