Like MiniDave mentioned above, the wife and me go out on cheap Tuesday's, during the day, to see movies. We are pretty selective though and we'll only see movies that are well suited for the big screen. Typically we are in a theatre with maybe a dozen other people and our total cost is maybe $20.
We have a good time and it gets us out of the house for some light entertainment.
In reply to Beer Baron :
Same. Wife and I go on weekend mornings for $6 each, plus we have reward points that every other movie we get a free drink. The theater we go to has maybe 4-5 other couples in there at that time.
Theres just something about a movie in a theater that feels special.
In reply to Beer Baron :
The way some car companies do cars are stupid.
Same goes for movies. You're right, if done properly the whole package is an experience. The problem is, just like most people don't understand why a Miata is so great, most people won't understand a truly great movie experience. We are in the 3-speed automatic, FWD era of movies. Tech is changing, the capability is there, but few are using it to make great movie experience.
This spider-verse movie is a great example. It's the Chevy Lumina of movies. If you turn your brain off and watch it, it has entertaining parts, but it's lazy. It's uninspiring. It makes you wonder if you should have made a different purchase. It's pandering to the lowest common denominator.
So I checked with my wife. The movie night was $150. The Ramen was almost exactly 1/2 of that.
So $75 for three movie tickets (one was heavily discounted, it was only $5), the smallest popcorn ($10!!!) a soft drink, some Red Vines because Twizzlers are what you eat when you don't love yourself anymore, and milk duds.
To readjust to remove the ramen expense (ironically, the most satisfying part of the evening) it was $75 for 30 minutes of commercials, an incredibly comfortable seat, overblown sound (great low-end though), and a movie that was phoned in by the producer and studio.
I really wish I had the space to build another theater in my house down here. I still have the amps and processors.......
Reading people complain that movies are stupid, and theaters are stupid, and watching movies in theaters is stupid - hits me the same way as a non-car enthusiast complaining that sports cars are stupid, and manual transmissions are stupid, and manual transmission sportscars are stupid.
I love movies. Which is why I berkeleying hate Hollywood and have hated it for years. The CGI fests, not even thinly veiled propaganda pieces, and "inclusive" remakes of the past several years are not movies. At absolute best, they're tech demos with lots of product placement and subliminal advertising.
I can't even get a good slasher movie anymore that isn't trying to push some sort of agenda, and that's bullE36 M3.
"Oh but that's part of the art". berkeley. You. Movies are meant to be an escape from reality, not a concentrated reminder of life's bullE36 M3 with extra advertising thrown in.
Hollywood is to artistic freedom and talent as MTV is to music and KFC is to chicken.
Peabody said:Toyman! said:The juice isn't worth the squeeze.
Yes.
So few movies are worth watching, and while I don't particularly enjoy the experience, the number of ads completely ruins any interest I may have had in going. I'm not paying good money to watch ads.
So, in this day and age of pre-reserved seating, just show up 3 minutes before start time. Voila. No ads.
RevRico said:"Oh but that's part of the art". berkeley. You. Movies are meant to be an escape from reality, not a concentrated reminder of life's bullE36 M3 with extra advertising thrown in.
Some are meant to be an escape. Some are meant to make a point, say something about humanity, etc. That's the beauty of art. You can like what you like, and not like what you don't.
I do find it ironic that some folks are complaining about just wanting an escape, while others are complaining about how stupid modern movies are. You can't please everyone, but luckily you don't have to.
I saw "Fast X" last week. Brother, if you're looking for an escape from reality, that movie is it. Leave your brain at the door and enjoy the spectacle. But I also enjoyed most of last year's Oscar crop like "The Fablemans", "Everything Everywhere All at Once", "Banshees of Inishiren" and "All Quiet on the Western Front". All high-quality movies made for adults by excellent filmmakers featuring great performances.
My point is that there is something out there for everyone, and lumping all modern movies in together is not an accurate view of the market.
There are movies that really should be seen on the big screen and others that are better on the little one. I go as appropriate. The movie houses where I live are dying on the vine, however. One of the negatives of inflated property values is that space intensive activities such as movie theaters, bowling alleys and ice rinks get picked off for more lucrative uses.
I like the community experience of movie theaters. It's so easy to wrap yourself in a cocoon of domesticity (especially as you get older). If there's an idiot talking, I will try and shut them up. If not possible, I try and think of it as like a concert or sporting event where you have limited control over your surroundings and just have to deal with it.
Duke said:Peabody said:Toyman! said:The juice isn't worth the squeeze.
Yes.
So few movies are worth watching, and while I don't particularly enjoy the experience, the number of ads completely ruins any interest I may have had in going. I'm not paying good money to watch ads.
So, in this day and age of pre-reserved seating, just show up 3 minutes before start time. Voila. No ads.
I do love that! No need to rush to get there to make sure you can get a ticket and then have to find a place to sit in the dark. Just buy the tickets whenever and show up after all the pre-movie ads are over. Which reminds me... am I supposed to know who that woman is that is hosting the pre-movie ads? Maria someone-or-other?
WHOA!
I've been to the theater 3 times in the last 9 years. The Rush documentary, the ZZ Top documentary, then years ago I went to see The Shining on the big screen which was AWESOME!
RevRico said:I love movies. Which is why I berkeleying hate Hollywood and have hated it for years. The CGI fests, not even thinly veiled propaganda pieces, and "inclusive" remakes of the past several years are not movies. At absolute best, they're tech demos with lots of product placement and subliminal advertising.
Which is why I don't like the movement to completely forego the theater experience.
There are a lot of crap movies. Just as boring crossovers wildly outnumber Miatas.
But keeping the theater experience alive in general is what allows me to go see films like 'The Northman' in theaters. (Which was neither escapist, nor political, nor advertising.)
In reply to DrBoost :
What did you dislike about the new Spiderverse movie? I planned on taking my kids.
In reply to yupididit :
Personally I didn't feel like they were telling me much of a story, I felt like they were trying to wow me with glitz instead of impressing me with depth. Think of the current automotive styling trend of the horrendously ugly and huge grills where most of the grill (or cooling, or brake ducts) are fake. Most of the grill exists to wow me, it's not functional. The automotive stylist could have done something innovative with that real estate, but instead they decided to just make something bigger.
To me that's a lazy movie. Instead of taking the time, money, and effort into making a story that's engaging, interesting, and makes me want more, it's a bunch of effortless pizzaz. Loooooong chase scenes where I'm wanting the chase scene to end so we can get back to the story.
Don't get me wrong, there was a story there, just seemed less of a story than the first movie.
There were a number of references to previous spider man movies, I always like to see a nod to previous generations.
Here's what surprised me the most. It was utterly predictable. No plot twist, no story fork, no surprises. I'm not a Marvel or Spider Man fan, but I enjoy the movies. My wife is even less a fan. But we were both predicting the next move a long time before the movie went there. Usually a few moves out; 'well I think this is going to happen, then that will cause/allow this, but this could also happen. If the first happens, this will fall into place, if the second happens, it'll be this and/or that'. When casual viewers are predicting a good portion of the movie, the majority even, why am I paying you to tell me the story?
Now, this is just a personal thing, but I don't like political agendas being forced on me. Entertain me, but leave politics, woke, racial issues etc. out of it if it's not germane. I won't go into any detail for a few reasons, but there was ONE political, woke, or racial issue that could easily be considered germane to the story and I accept that. It could have been left out as well with nothing lacking, but I'm good with it.
There will be some that say it was the best movie since the talkie came out. That's fine. To each his/her own.
In reply to Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) :
Oh man, Fast X is absolutely batE36 M3 crazy in the best way. We saw it about a week ago. 10/10, no regrets.
In reply to DrBoost :
So, a movie based on a comic book premise didn't have the equivalent of literary depth that you prefer? 
In reply to John Welsh :
It was trite and predictable. A movie based on a comic book where anything is possible should be anything but predictable and allows itself depth of story that is hard to rival.
In reply to RevRico :
In the late 70's we'd blow a doobie and hit a movie many Sunday nights. The cheap theater was $3.50 and popcorn was another $3/$4. Grab some water from the fountain on the way out.
If the movie sucked we didn't care, being out $7. Whatever. Things have changed. We'd also grab a White Sox game for $10-$15 and try to street park. Those days are gone.
In reply to Datsun310Guy :
That $7 in Jan 1978 (a guess from "late 70s) is roughly $34 in today's money. I think those days are very much still here.
thatsnowinnebago said:In reply to Datsun310Guy :
That $7 in Jan 1978 (a guess from "late 70s) is roughly $34 in today's money. I think those days are very much still here.
Checking this against my experiences going and catching movies the summer after I graduated high school (2000). Those $6 matinees and $9 full price movies come out to... $10.50 matinee and $16 full price. Yeah... that's about what we're paying, but now I have more discretionary money. Granted, I'm also more likely to pay for the snack bar snacks instead of sneaking stuff in from the gas station store.
Beer Baron said:RevRico said:I love movies. Which is why I berkeleying hate Hollywood and have hated it for years. The CGI fests, not even thinly veiled propaganda pieces, and "inclusive" remakes of the past several years are not movies. At absolute best, they're tech demos with lots of product placement and subliminal advertising.
Which is why I don't like the movement to completely forego the theater experience.
There are a lot of crap movies. Just as boring crossovers wildly outnumber Miatas.
But keeping the theater experience alive in general is what allows me to go see films like 'The Northman' in theaters. (Which was neither escapist, nor political, nor advertising.)
Exactly. I will go see every new Wes Anderson movie in the theatre. I'm already planning to see Asteroid City in a few weeks.
Not because they particularly benefit from the big screen, but to encourage studios to keep making movies like Wes Anderson makes.
Duke said:Exactly. I will go see every new Wes Anderson movie in the theatre. I'm already planning to go see Asteroid City in a few weeks.
Not because they particularly benefit from the big screen, but to encourage studios to keep making movies like Wes Anderson makes.
Yeah. When the first John Wick movie came out, one of the reviewers I follow said something to the effect of:
"Go see this movie in the theater. See it twice. You don't like the normal fare that Hollywood churns out? You want to see good, unique, and interesting original properties and not just another super hero flick? Money talks. Pay money to see that kinds of original films you want to see more of get made."
The most recent movie I saw in a theater was the extended edition of Return of the King this past Spring. THAT was definitely worth it. It was a limited days special thing for the anniversary of the movie, and definitely the best time I've had in a movie theater since college.
I think a lot of modern movies are designed to fit any screen, which is great for watching at home but makes the big screen less necessary. Watching LoTR3, which was so obviously designed for a theater showing, makes that even more clear.
Theater canoe.
The bride and I usually go to a weekday matinee - tix are much cheaper and the theatre rarely has more than a few people in it so you can pic your best seats.
She's also really good at ferreting out special programs they offer, which often result in free popcorn and/or sodas.
I went to a movie last week. The ticket price was $4.50. I thought "Hmm.. that's great. I'll get some popcorn too". The smallest popcorn was $20, and it was terrible.
I went back to the same theatre this week. The ticket price was $11.50. No popcorn this time.. Turns out last week I went on a Tuesday- that's their discount night. I'll go on Tuesdays in the future.
Theatres are dead, and worse than that many of them are tied to malls. Malls are horrifically dead. That's a helluva a lot of real estate being wasted.
I still like movies.
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