We recently took the kids to see Night At the Museum. Cute film. I generally don't care much for going to the theater. Too expensive and too much bullshit. Especially to see a movie that I saw 20, 30, or 40 years ago with better actors. Damned remakes! And I can't pause the movie to go wee wee.
The last films I saw were The Matrix: Reloaded, The Matrix, Titanic, and Congo. Somehow, I don't think I'm missing much.
The Matrix: Reloaded - Didn't see it. The Matrix - Didn't see it. Titanic - Saw it and puked. The only good part was Kate Winslet's bewbies. Congo - Meh! The book was better.
I am waiting eagerly for the day when DVD's are released at the same time the movies hit theaters. Then I will never go to a theater again.
Bah, you have no appreciation for visual quality. 35mm is still FAR better quality than DVD (though they can certainly ruin it by shooting video rather than film, like I'm pretty sure they did for Ocean's Twelve), and HD only begins to catch up with it. Did you see Hero in theaters? How about on DVD? I've done both. They are simply incomparable.
I've no doubt, but at home there are no chattering teenagers, my couch is more comfortable than a theater chair, the food is better and far cheaper, and I can hit "pause". Plus, purchasing the movie on disk is cheaper than two people going to the movies and you can watch it as much as you want. The environmental quality at home far outweighs the visual quality advantages, I'm afraid.
What Phantom said. Going to the theater has gotten to the point where it's just not fun any more. Too many noisy, inconsiderate idiots, too expensive, too uncomfortable. I can lay in bed with my wife and watch a DVD on a big-screen TV and have a much better time.
i like going to the cinema once in a while, but really, why am i paying so i can't fart, belch and rearrange slim and the twins?
I used to go to the theater 1.5-2 times/week on average. Then I got a home theater setup and a shitload of DVDs. Now, I'm down to about 5-10 times/year, mostly during the big summer movie season. Sometime before summer, I'm going to invest in a big new widescreen HD set and re-vamp my home theater. I expect my attendence at movie theaters will fall to 2-3 times/year maximum. I wouldn't invest in cinemas. There's no future in it.
You just need to find the right theaters. Third-run places, even college theaters... way cheaper, and you can often find stuff beyond the new releases. Saw a 35mm print (a beautiful, never before run or cut archive print) of The Great Escape with digital sound a couple months ago. There's a movie theater experience for ya. Fan-fucking-tastic. Paid three bucks for it, and another two for popcorn and a drink. (regrettably, not in the bay area) When I get rich, my home theater's going to be in 35*. *of course, with shipping at $150 for a 3 can x50lb/can movie, I may be firing up the HD-DVD player quite often instead.
Yes, film does look fantastic done right. But a 60" HDTV running Blu-Ray looks pretty good, too, and it can be paused if I need to take a leak.
I would say it has nothing to do with the aviablity of home theaters. It has more to do with the studios "block buster" one week in theater mentality, the theaters "jack the price to get all you can befor the hype drops" mentality... And the fact that the studios are produceing PURE CRAP these days. It is driving people to turn elsewhere for their entertainment sources.
Not just one reason. But pretty much all having to do with the circumstances of my life, not the quality of the features.
The main reason we don’t go to the theater anymore is other theater goers. It’s become nothing more than another place to socialize. Conversations throughout the film are expected, as are cell phones, crying babies and kicks to the back of your seat. Expense and quality are the other reasons we don’t go anymore. It flat out costs too much to see movies that are most likely crap. Remakes, rehashes and retreads make up the majority of films; business ventures designed to appeal to the widest possible audience. And seriously what’s the deal with the price of popcorn, soda and candy bars? Much better to watch the movie of your choice in the comfort of your home without distractions and with the ability to pause the movie for whatever reason. Oh and cheap food.
Cost. Huge reason...second reason, people...I'm not a people person and killings will ensue. Look at the bottom line...a DVD costs an average of $20...just tickets for two and refreshments alone will run that, not counting the fuel you used to get there.
foods one reason i will visit the cinema - a ben and jerry's ice cream sundae now sure, i could have one at home, but if i did that then i'd have more of them and inflate to mr creosote proportions... so i regard it as a treat every few months or so - if i go during the day, not too many folk to piss me off, plus i have a card that gets me in at student prices (they had a deal with a place i used to work at, and the deal card has no expiry date ), so cost-wise the whole thing ends up costing me about £8
