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I hate going to movie theaters..... - Page 3

post #61 of 99
3/2/07 at 12:43pm
The only time I like going to a movie nowadays is opening night of a blockbuster type movie (Star Wars, LOTR, Indiana Jones in 08'). Only because most of the audience are fellow enthusiasts and a degree off loudness and enthusiasm is usually expected.

I'm sorry you had to deal with such an unrespectful belligerent person. Flags of out fathers probably doesn't fall into the category I just mentioned.

Flan
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post #62 of 99
3/2/07 at 12:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by cadbury8 View Post

Reminds me of my dad and one of his "when i was young" stories. He always refused to go to the theater.

When he was growing up and would go to the theater he would be able to watch 2 or 3 cartoons, some news, a couple of shorts, a first movie and then finally the main attraction. Coupled with this and a paper sack full of candy he would be happy for the whole afternoon. And dont get him started on the price of the candy and popcorn.

All this does also ring in my mind when i go to the theater. You pay more and get less. I can see my dad laughing when there are commercials that say 20% more. They wouldnt have to give you more if they never cut down the size to begin with.

When I was a kid movies cost 25 cents for adults and 10 cents for kids 12 or under. Those were the days.
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post #63 of 99
3/3/07 at 4:33am
Quote:
Originally Posted by flags View Post

When I was a kid movies cost 25 cents for adults and 10 cents for kids 12 or under. Those were the days.

yeah? and how much was the popcorn?
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post #64 of 99
3/3/07 at 4:37am
Quote:
Originally Posted by cadbury8 View Post

yeah? and how much was the popcorn?


3 cents
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post #65 of 99
3/3/07 at 5:49am
Ok so the movie cost 25 cents and the popcorn was 3. so for the price of the movie you could buy 8 popcorns. looking at today with a 7.00 ticket price and 4.50 for popcorn i would have to say that the popcorn is highly overpriced or the movie ticket should really cost 36.00. So you are either getting the deal of a lifetime or scammed depending on which way you look at it.
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post #66 of 99
3/3/07 at 9:29am
The popcorn is highly overpriced. C'mon, just look at the price of a drink at the theater vs. anywhere else? We all know they charge that to try and make up the losses in the ticket price.
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post #67 of 99
3/3/07 at 12:17pm
I couple years ago I could go to the local AMC and get 2 drinks and a large popcorn for $10.

Last night the popcorn alone was $10!
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post #68 of 99
3/3/07 at 10:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by FredProgGH View Post

The popcorn is highly overpriced. C'mon, just look at the price of a drink at the theater vs. anywhere else? We all know they charge that to try and make up the losses in the ticket price.

Generally on a first run film, for the first couple of weeks, theaters only get 5-15% of the ticket price... all of their other income is from concessions.
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post #69 of 99
3/3/07 at 11:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by FilmMixer View Post

Generally on a first run film, for the first couple of weeks, theaters only get 5-15% of the ticket price... all of their other income is from concessions.

Exactly...
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post #70 of 99
3/4/07 at 4:13am
I never go to theaters anymore unless I'm impatient beyond belief to see a movie. For Example I'll pony up $8.75 per ticket for me and my wife to go see Pirates of the Caribbean 3 (total of $17.50) because I really really wanna see that movie as soon as possible. However with just about every other movie (I see about 3 movies a year in the theater) I'll just wait about 6-8 months from release date, buy the movie used from Blockbuster/Hollywood Video at the price of 3 movies for $20 or 4 movies for $20 (depending on popularity of the movie). that's about $5 - $6.67 per movie that I can own and see on my own home theater as many times as I want with popcorn and drinks for about $0.25 per person per item. And exec's wonder why people no longer go to the theaters in droves..

IMHO, Theaters will become a niche market after a while. They won't go away because some people will want the "experience" of a big theater going and don't have the money to buy their own projector etc., however I sincerely believe that the more Home Theaters there are the less people will go to the theater, thus driving up ticket prices and concession prices to counterbalance a dying business model. Sooner or later it becomes a novelty only to go to a public theater.
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post #71 of 99
3/8/07 at 3:53am
Quote:
Originally Posted by FredProgGH View Post

The popcorn is highly overpriced.

Yeah, but that motor oil they squirt all over it ain't cheap .
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post #72 of 99
3/8/07 at 7:44am
When simultanious release to DVD/theatre becomes a reality, moviehouses will go the way of the Dodo.
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post #73 of 99
3/8/07 at 1:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by spyder696969 View Post

When simultanious release to DVD/theatre becomes a reality, moviehouses will go the way of the Dodo.

Yep. That's the eventual outcome. The studios have already begun cutting out critic's previewing of many major releases.
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post #74 of 99
3/8/07 at 1:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gary McCoy View Post

There is only one way to seriously watch a movie, which is on film not some video imitation of film.

In this era of not-very-well-paid-and-often-teenaged projectionists, one simply has to be selective. If I want to see a good movie on film, I have to drive an extra 18 miles to a different theater. However that theater is 15 years old and a couple of generations below current sound technology, especially so on the dozen smaller screens. Therefore I have to pick the film in the first week or so to see it in a larger venue theater (there are only two such large screens and a dozen smaller screens). I also have to get there for a matinee before the place is trashed.

However if there is a digital presentation the local theater (only two years old with good audio) is great. However THAT theater has simply never employed a good film projectionist.

I find that in general it is easy to criticise commercial theaters, often for sound quality issues - which to be fair are the hardest part of a presentation to assess from the projection booth. What everyone overlooks is that the DVD version of a film has seriously compromised the video in the conversion to a digital image - and this degradation is present in every single DVD, whereas when you get lucky and see a fresh film with a good projectionist on decent gear with a decent audience, the experience is overwhelmingly immersive. To settle for the Home Theater version of the work is after all to settle for an image that at absolute best will be about 80% as good as the original film.

Gary




We are not talking about home video superiority over film. We're talking about presentation, based on real life experiences. You can have the best format if it's ruined by lousy equipment or careless staff, not to mention some of the patrons, who ruin the experience even further.
Oh and let's not even mention that most the the current CGI heavy movies's SFX shots aren't film to begin with. So unless you watch some small indie film or Borat budget type comedy, chances are that not much of it was actually filmed with cameras. And there is editing, that pretty much becomes digital as well. So this "watching movies on film only" is becoming more sentimental every year.
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post #75 of 99
3/8/07 at 11:49pm
^^^ What are they filmed with? Cell phones

And just because non linear editing is the norm, shows still finish on film, even films shot with a digital camera..

Only in the next two years will digital projection attain around 10-15% market penetration, and if people think that is going to solve presentation issues, they are sadly mistaken. Film is simple to fix.. what's going to happen when you have a minimum wage popcorn jockey trying to troubleshoot an encrypted digital down load gone bad, or properly keep a complex state of the are video projector in calibration and alignment? I fear for this time..
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post #76 of 99
3/9/07 at 12:26am
Quote:
Originally Posted by FilmMixer View Post

^^^ What are they filmed with? Cell phones

And just because non linear editing is the norm, shows still finish on film, even films shot with a digital camera..

Only in the next two years will digital projection attain around 10-15% market penetration, and if people think that is going to solve presentation issues, they are sadly mistaken. Film is simple to fix.. what's going to happen when you have a minimum wage popcorn jockey trying to troubleshoot an encrypted digital down load gone bad, or properly keep a complex state of the are video projector in calibration and alignment? I fear for this time..

Valid concerns, but many more young people can deal with computer related issues than the complex mechanics of proper film projection. As long as the file gets downloaded and the bulb in the projector is fresh, we have a shot at a high quality presentation. God forbid that a projectionist in a town Chattanooga's size thread a platter system without scratching the print. It seems to me a digi projector ought to be a lot easier to deal with- just make the image fit on the screen and focus the crosshatch pattern. Hell, even I can do that
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post #77 of 99
3/9/07 at 10:56am
I hate loud teenagers who think they're funny. That's why I never go to a movie on opening weekend.
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post #78 of 99
3/9/07 at 6:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by FilmMixer View Post

^^^ What are they filmed with? Cell phones

And just because non linear editing is the norm, shows still finish on film, even films shot with a digital camera..

Only in the next two years will digital projection attain around 10-15% market penetration, and if people think that is going to solve presentation issues, they are sadly mistaken. Film is simple to fix.. what's going to happen when you have a minimum wage popcorn jockey trying to troubleshoot an encrypted digital down load gone bad, or properly keep a complex state of the are video projector in calibration and alignment? I fear for this time..

You tell me how they "film" CGI done on computers. The point is those analog film lovers don't realise just how much of what they see on screen is never filmed in the conventional sense, or going through several digital re-editing on computers before it gets transfered back to celluloid.

To me that's not the same as actually filming a live scene, event.

Regarding digital projection. You're missing the point here. It's not just about the bad presentation, it's about the patrons themselves. If you need a hundred other people to fully connect with what's on the screen, then you belong there too. If not, then the choice is obvious.
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post #79 of 99
3/10/07 at 1:46pm
Speaking of excessive CGI, I wish I could remember who it was - it was a well know comedian or actor - who made a famous comment during an interview a few years back like, "Eventually, there will be no more "actors" in films - everyone and everything in them will be artificially reproduced".

I saw the interview, and he was only half-joking when he said it.
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post #80 of 99
3/10/07 at 4:02pm
The Final Fantasy films are a (very small) step in that direction.

What's funny is if you look at most animated films, the characters typically resemble the real actor anyway, even in cases where they're portrayed as animals or some other abstract. It seems to me that actors love doing voice-only performances, given the large number of superstar names that go into many of these animated films. Just go in the studio, read your lines, and leave. Pretty sweet gig.

Since we've got a virtual cast, now we need is a virtual audience for those that want a theatre experience at home...

Simply ask all the kids on the block to come into your HT, spill drinks all over the floor and put their gum on the seats. Record them screaming in your backyard, and play that back with a boombox while the movie is going. Tell all your friends to call you every 5 minutes. Set your PJ 10 steps off focus. Crank the mids up on your receiver to ear-piercing levels and get 2 blown speakers for the fronts. Create a pendulum with a hammer on the end that continually hits the back of your chair, again, and again, and again. Lastly, make certian to cook some Orville popcorn, grab a can of soda, and then take a $20 bill out of your wallet and tear it up. NOW you've got that theatre experience at home!
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post #81 of 99
3/11/07 at 7:09am
Quote:
Originally Posted by spyder696969 View Post

Since we've got a virtual cast, now we need is a virtual audience for those that want a theatre experience at home...

Simply ask all the kids on the block to come into your HT, spill drinks all over the floor and put their gum on the seats. Record them screaming in your backyard, and play that back with a boombox while the movie is going. Tell all your friends to call you every 5 minutes. Set your PJ 10 steps off focus. Crank the mids up on your receiver to ear-piercing levels and get 2 blown speakers for the fronts. Create a pendulum with a hammer on the end that continually hits the back of your chair, again, and again, and again. Lastly, make certian to cook some Orville popcorn, grab a can of soda, and then take a $20 bill out of your wallet and tear it up. NOW you've got that theatre experience at home!

LOL. Welcome to every theater experience I have ever had - minus the big dirt spot on the screen at one theater and the film actually falling out of the gate at another.
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post #82 of 99
3/11/07 at 8:16am
Quote:
Originally Posted by NetworkTV View Post

LOL. Welcome to every theater experience I have ever had - minus the big dirt spot on the screen at one theater and the film actually falling out of the gate at another.

he forgot one thing. The basket ball player to block at least one part of the screen so you can do the bob and weave while sitting behind him.
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post #83 of 99
3/11/07 at 8:36am
Quote:
Originally Posted by FerretHunter View Post

The last movie I went to see for myself was Matrix Revolutions. Some jackass reserved an entire row of prime seats for his buddies. I was an even bigger jackass for accepting this. I should have torn him a new one. I still regret not doing something on that day. Then again, you never know with people. He might have been packing heat and taken care of me in the parking lot after the movie.

Anyways, I won't go to the theaters for my own movies anymore. However, I have two young kids and they can't wait 6 months for the movie to come out on DVD. Thus I have to take them every once in a while.

You should've said,"Excuse me." and walked through his legs...
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post #84 of 99
3/11/07 at 9:08am
Quote:
Originally Posted by FredProgGH View Post

The popcorn is highly overpriced. C'mon, just look at the price of a drink at the theater vs. anywhere else? We all know they charge that to try and make up the losses in the ticket price.


I used to manage movie theaters and I can tell you that they make a killing on concessions. For every $1000.00 taken in $50.00 at the most is spent on supplies.
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post #85 of 99
3/11/07 at 9:34am
a large popcorn isn't even a quarter in kernels..not to mention I could get a large drink at my main conv. store for $.59. Same thing is 6-8X higher at a cinema...1,000% profit for a combo ($12)at least!

Just glad my main mall theatre has a food court where most of the cinema ticket takers let `food court' drinks in ($1.50 44 oz. styrofoam cup) OR at my other one where souvenit cups are $1 per refill for a year.
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post #86 of 99
3/11/07 at 9:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by SbWillie View Post

a large popcorn isn't even a quarter in kernels..

Well be fair- factor in a few cents for the electricity to pop it and a couple more for the bucket
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post #87 of 99
3/11/07 at 10:17am
My buddy is a food distributor. He and I figured out the theatre's cost of a 32 oz. drink one day...

3.1 cents for the soda mix, 3.8 cents for the cup, 1.8 cents for the lid, .4 cents for the straw.

Total cost = about $0.09

Cost of a 32 oz. drink at the theatre = $3.50 - $4.50

Profit Margin = 3,500% - 4,500%

Only with government and theatres do you get this kind of raping and have it still somehow be legal.
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post #88 of 99
3/11/07 at 10:30am
And then think about what they charge for WATER. Name brand water. What freaking executive at Coke/Pepsi thought that scam up anyway??

"You know... if we took the syrup out of the cola... y'know, the sugar, the part that costs the money... we could charge MORE for it."

It's bad enough paying $1.25 for a 16 oz. Dasani that would cost a fraction of a cent out of the tap, let alone $3.50. Thats, what, $28 a gallon? And we're getting pissed over gas prices??
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post #89 of 99
3/11/07 at 10:37am
Quote:
Originally Posted by FredProgGH View Post

It's bad enough paying $1.25 for a 16 oz. Dasani that would cost a fraction of a cent out of the tap, let alone $3.50. Thats, what, $28 a gallon? And we're getting pissed over gas prices??

Sure, but gas is somewhat necessary right now for most people. It's hard to get around without it - especially in a state that gets snow in the winter. With water, you actually have the choice of drink some out of the tap. You have the choice of not buying it at the theater if you don't want to pay the ransom.
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post #90 of 99
3/11/07 at 2:28pm
Living in the state that's motto is "The Greatest Snow on Earth" I can tell you that I'd rather walk in the snow than drink "The Chlorine-Rich, Flouride-Filled, Foulest Water on Earth" we get out of our taps here. It's like drinking from the public pool after a toddler swim class.
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