spinoff: movie theaters

[Del Montess]

How much do you pay to go to the movies? Do you mind paying it for a fun time, or do you go rarely?

Jake and I almost never go, but i go with my girlfriends every now and then. The last regular theater I went to, I got tickets for $6 each through groupon, the movie wasn't great and the chick behind us had a ridiculously obnoxious laugh. If I had paid more than 6 for that experience I would have been pissed, heck, I was pissed as it was.

I would prefer enjoying the movie at home, with some alcohol in my comfy chair.

That being said... last week my friend and I went to see the Hunger Games. we both loved the books, and have been really looking forward to the movie, so we decided to make it a little more fun and went to some super fancy theater in pasadena. Tickets were 25$ each. We got recliner chairs that were amazing, and a pillow and blanket, and a little button between the seats to ring for the waitress. The drinks (yep, they serve alcohol) were only 3$ since it was some discount day or something. And popcorn was included. And people weren't annoying as fawk (im guessing since it was a nice place that was pricey, people may act better? Idk, but it was great). I loved it.
was it overpriced? Yeah. Did I really love it since I pretty much never do fancy stuff like that? Oh hell yes I did! We had a blast.

Point being, I probably wont waste my money on regular movie theaters anymore, the experience (largely due to being surrounded by annoying assholes) sucks. But I will definitely save a little in order to do a date night or double date night or friend date day at that fancypants theater every now and then.

So where do you draw the line on a theater being worth the money?

[Mr.Slave]

when I went to see the hunger games, the buttmunch behind me kept kicking my seat.
i always make it a point to sit in the back row but it was full.

i think those tickets were 16 bucks a piece.
its ok if i know its an actual decent movie.

[JohnRobHolmes]

I rarely go out to the theaters unless it is at my local independent movie theater. They serve drinks and have comfy sofas, and one of my good buddies bartends there so it is always a great time.

Otherwise I stay home to watch movies. There is a choice of the 47" LCD upstairs or the home theater with 8 foot widescreen downstairs, I certainly can't complain. I just can't pay the $10 per ticket the big theaters are asking, nor do I enjoy $7 sodas and $3 candybars.

[Charlie-III]

Sheesh...to go with a family of 4, it gets expensive, regardless of the ticket price.

-Gas to/from
-Tickets
-Snacks

It can quickly grow to over a $100 trip. We would usually make it a "big night" but that means dinner, so it can become $200+ quickly for 4 people.

We can get "cheap seats" in a small theater, but you get the "second run" movies (they've been out a while).

Eh, I like to go out at times, but partly to take a load off my wife. I remember way back when, my room mates & I did "hot dog night" at a local bar. It was $1/each, or 5 for $4. They had beer ($1/mug) then we hit the cheap theater. With our ticket stubs, we could get a sundae @ Dairy Queen for $1.
Total for the night was ~$9 + gas/person (4+ in a car) for food, beer, desert & a movie!!

Crap is getting too expensive today.

I want to hit a theater that does "food service & alcohol" just once for a change. Likely on a business trip at some point.

[Mr.Slave]

Originally Posted by Charlie-III

Sheesh...to go with a family of 4, it gets expensive, regardless of the ticket price.

-Gas to/from
-Tickets
-Snacks

It can quickly grow to over a $100 trip. We would usually make it a "big night" but that means dinner, so it can become $200+ quickly for 4 people.

We can get "cheap seats" in a small theater, but you get the "second run" movies (they've been out a while).

Eh, I like to go out at times, but partly to take a load off my wife. I remember way back when, my room mates & I did "hot dog night" at a local bar. It was $1/each, or 5 for $4. They had beer ($1/mug) then we hit the cheap theater. With our ticket stubs, we could get a sundae @ Dairy Queen for $1.
Total for the night was ~$9 + gas/person (4+ in a car) for food, beer, desert & a movie!!

Crap is getting too expensive today.

I want to hit a theater that does "food service & alcohol" just once for a change. Likely on a business trip at some point.

No kidding that would suck!

The way of the world now is everything is getting more and more expensive, yet when you ask for more money to do the same job people tell you to STFU stop being to entitled blah blah blah.
somethings really wrong with this way of the world.

[fred0000]

I didn't know there was a such thing as a fancy movie theater, that sounds like a really good idea.

we rarely go to the movies, me and my girlfriend will see previews and comertials to movies and act excited saying "we gotta go see that!" etc. but we usualy just wait for it to come out on video.

[GRIMGREG]

Why I have a big screen and good surround sound at home. So much better than any theater.

It helps that I don't feel the need to see everything immediately when it comes out.

[Duuuuuuuude]

Been a while since we've been to the movies...I think tickets were $7.50 for adults, $5.00 for kids. Snacks and drinks are easily the most expensive part of the trip, but its just part of the experience so we buy what we want and have fun. If I was that worried about saving money I would just stay at home and play Parcheesi.

[Greatscott]

I don't go to Theaters all that much, maybe 3 - 4 times a year, and normally avoid them for all of the reasons you guys have given. There are some movies that I want to seen in a theater like Transformers, Batman, and Avatar, but most of the movies I watch are on my TV at home.

There is a theater in San Diego kind of like the one you described Jess, it is open-air, you are in comfortable lounge chairs with pillows and blankets and the crowd is very agreeable. I prefer to spend just a little more to get a better experience.

[Del Montess]

Originally Posted by Charlie-III

I want to hit a theater that does "food service & alcohol" just once for a change. Likely on a business trip at some point.

that's the type we went to, it was kickass. the food was way too much, like 13$ for an appetizer... so we went to lunch beforehand. though we did splurge on a piece of Cheesecake Brulee, holy mother of yum was that good (I was a bit drunk at that point, so I don't remember how much that was).

Originally Posted by fred0000

I didn't know there was a such thing as a fancy movie theater, that sounds like a really good idea.

I didn't know until recently, and have wanted to try it. I think it was totally worth it!

I agree with you Scott, I'm willing to spend a little more to get a better experience.

this is what we went to:
iPic Theaters - The Ultimate Movie Theater Redefining Entertainment