Up until the 1990s, I used to be an avid movie-goer, even in the heyday of VHS and the availability of rentals. Being a lifelong cheapstake, however, it's never been part of my M.O. to see first-run movies or top sellers as they debuted, because it always cost more. As a result, by the time I saw the big box office hits, they'd be several weeks or months old, and many of them I missed altogether.
Fast-forward to the early 2000s. I became increasingly fed up with the way some people ruined the experience with all of the talking during the movie, such as those who had already seen the movie beforehand, especially those who had seen it several times before. Just as bad were the people who yammered on about topics orher than the movie; they weren't even pretending to be interested in what was on the screen! Lastly, parents who let their children run up and down the aisles, shriek at the tops of their lungs, kick the seats, spill drinks on people and chairs, the crying babies, young children being taken to R-rated movies, etc. All of this made it increasingly difficult to sit and enjoy a movie.
As if if that wasn't bad enough: then came cell phones. Take everything I wrote above and add to it the culture of the 24/7 phone-indoctrinated. It was already less pleasant being surrounded by chowderheads who carried on inane conversations with the knuckleheads seated next to them, now I had to listen as some rot-brain recounts the entire conversation he/she had at work yesterday or explains to Aunt Myrtle how to switch over from AOL to gmail, all the while being blinded on a dark theatre by 37 different lit screens cutting through the air like an onslaught of Jedi light sabers. No one seemed to understand that placing the ringer on silent or vibration, not answering a call, or (heaven forbid!) turning the phone off altogether during the movie were viable options available to them.
With ticket prices steadily rising as movie quality steadily declines, it's become a futile, fleeting search for entertainment by that medium.
A combination of if all these factors keep me outside of movie theatres now.
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This post was edited by Randy D at May 1, 2017 8:26 AM MDT
Not to mention in six months you can rent the movie for a few bucks and watch it at home. Theaters can buy phone jammers, too. I almost bought one for my classroom but the lowest powered one would have taken out the main office.
About once a month is typical most of the time, but I occasionally go to film festivals when I may watch 5 or 6 films in a two-week period. I went to see "Neruda" about 10 days ago. That will be the 9th movie I have seen on the big screen in a 4-month period, probably a record for me.
This post was edited by Zack at May 1, 2017 7:35 AM MDT
Adaydreambeliever 