# Do You "Wait" Until Films Are Out For Awhile Before Seeing Them? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 27, 2005, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wait-until-films-are-out-for-awhile-before-seeing-them/318846 "2005-08-27T06:42:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2005, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wait-until-films-are-out-for-awhile-before-seeing-them/318846/1 "2005-08-27T06:42:53Z")
I just saw Batman Begins yesterday. Liked it a lot. And as I had hoped, there were maybe 10 people in the entire theater. I generally hate crowds, so unless it is something I really, really, really have to see ASAP (the LOTR films for example), I will wait until things “die down” and go a few weeks later. This of course limits my ability to enter into threads on current films…I think a Batman Begins thread might be a tad dated by now…but I still prefer to wait. So, does anyone else wait until the crowds leave before seeing films in movie theaters? Maybe we should start a new style of threads…for people like me…called, “Fashionably Late Movie Threads”. ---
**Author:** ![Electronic\_Chaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Electronic\_Chaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronic_Chaos)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2005, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wait-until-films-are-out-for-awhile-before-seeing-them/318846/2 "2005-08-27T07:19:32Z")
Generally, unless the movie is something I really want to see, I wait until it comes out on DVD. If it’s something I really want to see, I usually catch it the first week it comes out (or sometimes even the first day). ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2005, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wait-until-films-are-out-for-awhile-before-seeing-them/318846/3 "2005-08-27T07:22:27Z")
Sometimes, depending on how badly I want to see it. Thanks to my work schedule, though, I can nearly always work it to go see new movies in the middle of the week at an afternoon matinee. It’s great - half price tickets, no lines, no crowds. You can show up late, skip all the previews and ads, and still get a great seat in an uncrowded theater. It’s the only way to go. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2005, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wait-until-films-are-out-for-awhile-before-seeing-them/318846/4 "2005-08-27T07:23:57Z")
I don’t go to the cinema very often, but I always wait for a while before seeing a film. I hate having to queue. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2005, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wait-until-films-are-out-for-awhile-before-seeing-them/318846/5 "2005-08-27T07:56:26Z")
I wondered why the word wait was in quotes, then I saw this: > [@](#): > > Location: Chi NYC Berlin LA Vegas I swear, it’s an epidemic in Chicago, people putting quotes around every word they want to highlight. Under “New” Management! “50%” off Ring “Doorbell” for service “Down” Transfer Stairs To O’Hare (an honest-to-goodness former song in the subway) So, yes, I “wait” to see films. I like to see them on opening day! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2005, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wait-until-films-are-out-for-awhile-before-seeing-them/318846/6 "2005-08-27T07:59:29Z")
Uh, former **sign**. I hope you know I’m just teasing you. I’ve never had a chance to razz any of the signmakers so here was my chance. Anyway, I do love to see movies asap, if they’re important to me. I hate to be spoiled, and the longer I wait, the more chance there is of that happening. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2005, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wait-until-films-are-out-for-awhile-before-seeing-them/318846/7 "2005-08-27T08:01:25Z")
I usally wait till it hits the local cheap theaters, which also sell Pizza and Beer. Otherwise I wait till it comes on DVD. In some cases, when I really want to see something, I’ll go to the regular theaters, but that’s rarer and rarer these days. ---
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2005, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wait-until-films-are-out-for-awhile-before-seeing-them/318846/8 "2005-08-27T08:02:43Z")
“Waiting a while” has become more of a gamble in recent years since many films only stay in theaters for a few weeks. But I, too, avoid seeing films on the opening weekend – or even the first week or two if they’ve had a big publicity build up. Weekday matinees are great if you don’t have to work. Ideally, I like to see a film with an interested, respectful audience in an uncrowded theater, though sometimes a nearly private showing is fun. It’s hard to hit a happy medium, so while I’ve been unemployed I’ve been seeing many movies as one of half a dozen or so people in the audience at the bargain theater shortly before they come out on DVD. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2005, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wait-until-films-are-out-for-awhile-before-seeing-them/318846/9 "2005-08-27T09:15:46Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > Uh, former **sign**. > > I hope you know I’m just teasing you. I’ve never had a chance to razz any of the signmakers so here was my chance. > > Anyway, I do love to see movies asap, if they’re important to me. I hate to be spoiled, and the longer I wait, the more chance there is of that happening. I “tend” to “overuse” the “quotes”, but in the thread title, you can’t do any coding and wanted to emphasise the “wait” in the sense that it was the crux of the question. So, you “got” me, and “no” I understood you were just “teasing”. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2005, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wait-until-films-are-out-for-awhile-before-seeing-them/318846/10 "2005-08-27T12:50:08Z")
There’s a local theater that shows second runs (they’re primarily live stage, but use movies between shows), so that’s where I usually see most movies. Only $3 a ticket. Just this week, I finally caught **Crash** (truly great film, BTW). We also go to the drive-in a couple of time in the summer, but it makes more sense for us to rent than to pay for a theater. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2005, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wait-until-films-are-out-for-awhile-before-seeing-them/318846/11 "2005-08-27T12:57:04Z")
A dollar theatre with pizza and beer? I am so jealous! I love mid-week matinee pricing, especially when they continue the lower prices into the late afternoon. We’ll often see a new movie the monday after opening weekend and enjoy a nearly empty room. The exception, though, is when there’s a movie I really want to support. Not that our two tickets are going to mean anything substantial, but I like the idea of a bigger opening weekend for something non-traditional blockbusterish. Those movies usually aren’t crowded opening day anyway, so it all works out. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2005, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wait-until-films-are-out-for-awhile-before-seeing-them/318846/12 "2005-08-27T13:29:00Z")
As **zagloba** points out, with the way “they” (Hey! Where’d those quotation marks come from?) yank movies anymore, it can be dangerous waiting too long. I’ll usually see a movie a few weeks after it opens – long enough that the crowds aren’t ridiculous, but not so long it disappears. I occasionally miscalculate – missed **The Island** (I have a _major_ Ewan McGregor crush) this summer – but it seems to work. The upside of living in a major city is the number of indie houses – the downside is there’s no such thing as a bargain theater. Not that I’ve found around here, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2005, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wait-until-films-are-out-for-awhile-before-seeing-them/318846/13 "2005-08-27T14:19:29Z")
My wife and I hate crowds and standing in line, so we almost never go to a movie on the opening weekend. We usually do a late-afternoon matinée on a later weekend so we can go to dinner afterward and talk about the movie. But this has the disadvantage of not being able to take part in the discussions here on the Boards. The upside to this is that the people who do go to movies on the first weekend almost always have collectively a much more favorable opinion of these movies - especially summer blockbusters and sci-fi movies. It’s best to avoid these threads in any case. ---
**Author:** ![Monstre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@Monstre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstre)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2005, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wait-until-films-are-out-for-awhile-before-seeing-them/318846/14 "2005-08-27T15:55:26Z")
Unless it’s one that’s a total “MUST SEE… NOW!” – like the LOTR movies when they were coming out – I will often wait until one comes around to the $1 theater here in town. We have a good one – with 8 screens. They charge $1 on most days, 50 cents on Tuesdays, and $1.50 on Friday and Saturday nights (after 6 PM). Things won’t come to the $1 theater until a little after they finish their major runs in the regular theaters, but that’s okay. They have 8 different things at any given time, and usually movies will stay there a few weeks, rotating maybe 2 new ones into the lineup each week. Sometimes it depends on the reputed quality of the movie. If there’s one that I really really must see, and it’s also been well-received, I’ll probably go see it earlier. Many movies are just too iffy – might be good, might not – perfect for $1 theater viewings. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2005, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wait-until-films-are-out-for-awhile-before-seeing-them/318846/15 "2005-08-27T16:28:21Z")
like others, the LOTR movies were the only ones I HAD to see in the theatres. About the only other one I haven’t waited for in the past 5 years is Charlie and Chocolate Factory and Matrix Revolutions and – okay, so I guess I don’t wait. But it’s not that big a deal if I DONT see them either - I can wait till DVD for most of them. The exception to this is if all my friends have seen a movie I sort of want to see, a recent example being Star Wars III. Then I see it even though it isn’t a top priority, so I wno’t be spoiled by my friends talk. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2005, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wait-until-films-are-out-for-awhile-before-seeing-them/318846/16 "2005-08-27T16:30:03Z")
Depends on the movie. Most we can wait for. _Serenity_, on the other hand, we are going to see at least 3 times opening weekend. What can I say? The wife and I still “date.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2005, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wait-until-films-are-out-for-awhile-before-seeing-them/318846/17 "2005-08-27T17:41:36Z")
I almost always wait a few weeks. I usually have some movie passes around that are valid after a film has been out for a couple of weeks. I’ll go out of my way to avoid crowds and especially teenagers. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wait-until-films-are-out-for-awhile-before-seeing-them/318846/18 "2005-08-28T02:57:05Z")
Day before Yesterday, I finally saw _War of the Worlds_, _Charlie and the Chocolate Factory_, and _Sky High_. Mainly because I was broke for most of the previous two months.