Movies and Theaters

I went to see the new Harry Potter movie yesterday afternoon for the second time. As I was waiting for the movie to begin I realized I had gone to very few movies this past year, and with the exception of the current one and one other, I had been disappointed in all of them. I also realized that my time attending movies, other than for those rare movies like Lord of the Rings that I could not imagine myself missing on the big screen was more or less at an end. Being the introspective type, I thought about the reasons.

First and foremost is the declining quality of movies in general. They are more about cheap laughs or overdone special effects than they are about legitimately well-done, thoughtful films. And I'm not talking about those "great" films that nobody goes to see anyway, but more in terms of things like Schindler's List, Lord of the Rings, or others of that ilk. Real entertainment that have you wondering where the time went when the film is over. These don't have to be wonderful films, but they do have to be of sufficient quality that the viewer doesn't feel insulted at the end. There is a medium class of films and these will be those I no longer go to the theater to see, but will wait for the DVD and watch them at home.

Next comes price. It costs $9.50 where I live for a full admission to just get in the door. Now I admit I only attend matinees or use a senior discount, but that's not the point. Given the poor quality of most big release films, why would anyone in their right mind pay $9.50 or more for the privilege.

And that gets me to my next point. It used to be you went to the theater because unlike television, you could enjoy a movie without endless commercials and advertisements, other than the syrupy "let's all go to the lobby" attempts to sell more concessions. Now there is a 20-30 minute non-stop commercial presentation preceding the movie. Boring hype for a bazillion things that if I wanted to watch I'd have stayed home and watched TV. I paid to be in the theater; I should not be subjected to commercials.

Speaking of concessions, have you looked at the price of concessions now days? I'm surprised they don't make the people behind the counter wear masks and carry guns. Talk about highway robbery! A small bag of popcorn is $5.00 where I live. That's about 5 cents worth of popcorn, some stuff they call butter topping (that has never seen the inside of a cow), and someone to put it together in about 10 seconds. Of all the things I will miss about going to the theater, movie popcorn is going to be the biggest. I love that stuff. I know it's not good for me but I love it anyway and a movie just isn't a movie for me without it. I've tried not buying it and well.....I missed it.

Then we have the people in the theater. In the past we knew that when you went to a theater that once the movie began you kept quiet out of respect for those who are in the theater with you. If you brought kids, they either behaved or you took them out. And babies? Well.....there is this wonderful innovation called a babysitter that generally takes care of that. Old time theaters had special soundproof rooms for people with babies who just couldn't seem to leave them at home. That let them see the movie and spared the rest of us trying to hear above some screaming kid.

Today people are rude, inconsiderate, and often disruptive. They talk throughout the film. They arrive late, after the film has already started. They are so lacking in common courtesy and good manners that they have to be told no less than five times before the movie begins to turn off their cell phones, and inevitably there is still going to be one or two who ignore all the requests and then....beyond belief......will actually try to carry on a conversation on the phone during the movie.

Finally, there are the theaters themselves and the parking hassles just to get to the movie in the first place. Many theaters are way too small in terms of the distance between the rows. I have very long legs...the type that make flying pure agony.....and sitting with my knees jammed into the row in front of me makes it hard to walk by the end of the movie. Most of the seats are uncomfortable, so that by the end of the movie I'm more concerned with the fact that my backside is going to sleep than I am about how the movie turned out. Now I'll give you that the newer theater chains are getting much better about both of these things.

So after thinking about this a lot this past year, I've decided that I for one will not be attending more than one or possibly two movies in the theater from now on. The movies are bad, the prices too high, the concessions are ridiculous rip offs, and the people are rude and inconsiderate. For me, I'll just wait an extra six months and rent or buy the DVD. Just did that with War of the Worlds last night, and am I ever glad I didn't waste money and time going to the theater to see that.