This is a nice summary article on the infamous recent survey of theater goers. It contains a link to the source data.

The Polls Are In: Movies Cost Too Much
https://www.nyfa.edu/film-school-blog/polls-movies-cost-much/

Here is the list they obligingly made up for us:

1. Ticket prices are too high – 53%
2. Movies are not as interesting as they once were – 41%
3. Prefer movies “on my own schedule” – 30%
4. Prefer to spend money on other activities – 29%
5. Can see movies at home shortly after theatrical release – 24%
6. Prefer going out to dinner – 19%
7. Don’t have as much disposable income as a year ago – 18%
8. Decline in overall theater experience – 16%
9. Online content is equally entertaining – 13%
10. Too many people using phones and tablets in theaters – 10%
(11) There is one they left out. I do not like being herded, confined, and told what to do when all I want is to enjoy myself for a couple of hours.

I agree with all the above. Here is why:

1) The high prices are sufficient unto themselves to keep me away, but there are exceptions. There are movies I really would like to see in the theater. The other list items work to keep me home.
2) Most movies are crap. I don’t want to see them in the first place, neither in the theater nor at home. For example, RedBox lists 200 movies available today. There are 3 I might actually want to see. Might.
3) My own schedule rules.
4) I have better things to do than blow big bucks on a thoroughly unpleasant theater experience. Walking the dog for example.
5) I am willing to wait half a year because I like seeing movies at home! I have a PAUSE button! I can control my environment: the sound levels, subtitles, snacks, air conditioning, cleanliness and sanitation, and so on.
6) I can go out to dinner and watch a DVD for about the same expense as going to the theater. I save money if I don’t buy theater junk food … probably do my health a favor too.
7) I do live what is called a minimalist lifestyle. I avoid frivolous spending. The money saved goes to big splurges on things I truly value.
8) Let’s recall the last time: sticky floors, trash on the floors, funny smells, loud noises leaking in from the movie next door, loud noises from the other people I’m trapped in here with, a half-hour of ads included in my ticket price. No PAUSE button!
9) Online content can be better or worse, but I get to pick and choose.
10) Don’t forget that broad who sprayed somebody with mace because he asked her to quit yakking on the phone < http://www.lamag.com/culturefiles/proper-punishment-texting-movie-death/ >.

Full disclosure: Compared to most of my friends, I’m an avid movie buff. They say so, and I agree. Hollywood is missing out on a big slice of potential ticket buyers, here in what the black turtleneck crowd calls “flyover country.”

BTW, have you ever had the stuff they call “coffee” from a theater snack counter? My home theater is closed because I’m doing this, but the snack bar (always open for me) produced a whole pot of coffee made just the way I like it. As bonus, nobody has spit in it.

My reasoning:

– no pause/rewind buttons

– people are annoying with their flashing smartphones, loud eating popcorn, kids sleeping and snoring, …

– commercials take a lot of time before movie starts and I don’t know how long they will take so it is hard to be “on time”, commercials can take 20-50 minutes from my experience, waste of my time

– watching 2h movie will take me around 3-3.5 hours including travelling to cinema

The only movie I will go to cinema will be Star Wars VII movie because I was always SW fan.

That ruined the movie for me and I didn’t see it again for another decade.  I watched it at home on TV one night and I didn’t find it too bad.  After watching it again a few years later on AMC, I went and bought the boxed DVD set.

<cite>@roydal said:</cite>
Comic book movies are among my favorites. It’s a sad comment on Hollywood when comic book movies sell more tickets than the action thrillers they think up on their own.

BTW, have you ever had the stuff they call “coffee” from a theater snack counter? My home theater is closed because I’m doing this, but the snack bar (always open for me) produced a whole pot of coffee made just the way I like it. As bonus, nobody has spit in it.

I think that is because comic book movies are based on material decades old and a lot of the time ingrained in our culture. The writers have decades of story to draw on and they can take popular story arcs that sold well in comics and translate into an adaptation or take ideas from said story. I don’t drink plain coffee, but in my theater I can make stuff like chicken nuggets and pasta and eat that while watching a movie lol.

I think that is because comic book movies are based on material decades old and a lot of the time ingrained in our culture.

You are right, and that’s no excuse for Hollywood. Hollywood does have a long list of successes to learn from, but learn they don’t. Also, good stories go all the way back to ancient Sumer, and they are still in print. The crappy ones are long forgotten. They probably outnumber the good ones, perhaps by the same ratio that movies do.

Of course, I am cherry-picking my data. We only remember the good stuff. If it were possible to make a hit move every time, someone would be doing it. James Cameron, George Lucas, and Steven Spielberg seem to have the knack.

Movie tickets cost $8.50 where I live. They cost $4.25 on cheap night. It is not expensive to see movies. as for the other complaints, yeah…fair enough. I can understand those ones.

Good – that’s the way it should be! But in the U.S. it all depends – AMC Theaters specifically prohibits you from doing that (of course you can sneak s~~~ in but just not as much). This guy Cohen makes a lot of sense …

http://articles.courant.com/2012-09-24/news/hc-popcorn-ethics-sneaking-snacks-into-the-movies-20120924_1_popcorn-prices-largest-movie-chains-movie-theaters

“It was one of the first questions I revisited and I amended my views,” says Cohen, who now does a show on National Public Radio called “Person, Place or Thing.” “You can’t subvert the primary action of a business, like bring booze to a bar or a doughnut to a bakery. But when you buy a movie ticket, all you’ve agreed to do is to watch a movie. You haven’t agreed to buy their food and you shouldn’t be subjected to popcorn-sniffing dogs or the cola detectives.”

I had a long reply to this original topic that was lost in the crash here last week but it would take too much time to recreate it so I’ll just post this. Count me in as far as agreeing with almost all of the bullet points, but would like to add that rude people of all ages, coughing, sneezing, dirty floors and missing plot details on p~~~ breaks bug me too. With my high-def wide screen 65″ plasma + surround sound home theater setup and Netflix DVD rentals + instant streaming + the PAUSE button why the f~~~ would I bother with movies in theaters any longer??? There is literally no movie made now that I ‘have’ to see when it comes out – I really want to see “American Sniper” but hey, it’ll come around before I know it – that’s one of the things when you’re older (I’m 58), you realize with experience that you’ll like it as much later as you will now, and it’s a lot cheaper!

<cite>@roydal said:</cite>
Home theater is the way to go. If I smoked or drank, the management would cater to my whim and have a full stock in the snack bar.

You are right, and that’s no excuse for Hollywood. Hollywood does have a long list of successes to learn from, but learn they don’t. Also, good stories go all the way back to ancient Sumer, and they are still in print. The crappy ones are long forgotten. They probably outnumber the good ones, perhaps by the same ratio that movies do.

Of course, I am cherry-picking my data. We only remember the good stuff. If it were possible to make a hit move every time, someone would be doing it. James Cameron, George Lucas, and Steven Spielberg seem to have the knack.

You’re right, there are many original movies that have great stories. Star Wars, Inception, Taken, Dawn of the Dead, Cloverfield, and Ghostbusters come to mind.

<cite>@mrpops238 said:</cite>
I hate people who complain about being forced to buy movie theater food. Do what I do, Eat/drink before the movie or sneak in food/drinks. You are only there for a couple hours. I do this all the time. I have never had this problem in Canada. I walk in with tons of food/drinks all the time and no one cares.

I don’t like eating before a movie because during the movie I am going to be hungry lol. At home I eat while watching a movie so naturally I will want to eat while watching at a theater. One of my female friends sometimes sneaks candy in her purse so I just have to buy a soda which isn’t so bad lol.