Explain To Me What You Get Out Of Seeing A Movie In A Theatre

Cafe Society
61

Yeah, I never include concession prices because I never buy anything at the concession stand. We buy discount tickets and see a lot of matinees. We don’t drive so there’s no parking fees. As I said in another thread we don’t have kids or a dog at home that needs walking so that’s not a consideration. Other people do have those considerations and I feel for them if they otherwise would like to go to the theater more often.

But as I also said in the other thread, it’s our only “vice.” Movies are what we spend our entertainment dollars on. Oh we see live music shows every now and then, but mainly it’s movies. We don’t drink or go out to bars, we don’t do drugs, we don’t have expensive hobbies, other than movies which isn’t so expensive because of the discounts, and it’s a lot cheaper than live theater. We’re constantly getting free passes either from our points system (the AMC Moviewatcher Card really does give a lot of benefits if you go to the movies often) or from the myriad places we’re signed up to get free passes. I can’t do that as much anymore because I work nights now, but it’s an option we’ve used quite often in the past. We’re also in a position where we don’t have bills other than rent/internet/utilities because we don’t own a car, we don’t own a house, we have a value-added credit card (flat fee of $3.95 a month and we can’t spend over what’s on the card), and we have Tracfone cell phones, which we only ever use to call each other.

We DO have a kickass home theater, with a 4’x7’ screen, a ceiling-mounted projector and a surround-sound system. We also own over 1500 DVDs bought over several years (most from ebay and the pre-viewed sections of video stores), but we rarely watch them because we’re always out at the movies. They’re there waiting for us if we ever get in a situation where going out is too much of a hassle. We’re not there yet.

I never go to the movies with friends. I’d go nuts if I had a friend like Bosstone’s. My SO and I like the same sort of movies, though I’m more into heavy dramas than he is (he has no interest in seeing Precious so I saw that alone) and he’s more into rom-coms than I am (he’s seen many that I haven’t, like The Proposal). For everything else, we’re pretty compatible and share an eclectic taste in movies (the other night we saw Crazy Heart, Nine and Sherlock Holmes, the night before that we saw Avatar, Up In The Air and The Young Victoria, the day before that we saw A Christmas Carol, The Princess and the Frog and Me and Orson Welles, for example). Needless to say, we share the love of seeing multiple films in one evening and several films a week. We’re also compatible in that we both like to sit in the front of the theater.

Plus he travels a lot. If I waited for him to be here to see all the movies I wanted to see I’d miss a lot of films, but is also why we see a lot of films together when he’s home.

Our entire situation is pretty unique which is why I have no problems with people who would like to go out to the movies more but can’t. I feel bad for them. The OP though, is annoying because he’s clearly not into movies, doesn’t care about films, so of course the theater experience isn’t interesting to him. That’s not annoying, each to their own, but then he asks why we’re all so into it as if we’re aliens or something. Ugh.
On preview, yeah, it sounds like going to the theater is a lot more expensive where you live Martini.

62

Two hours of ice cold AC in the summertime when it’s over 80º outside. Also, I like going to the movies and sneaking in candy, because it feels like shoplifting and I’m getting away with it!

Portland also has many movie theaters that have a restaurant attached to it, so you can drink beer or wine, and eat some real food while you watch the movie. Nothing like drinking Ruby and eating a burger while you watch The Hangover. The movies cost half what they do at the ‘other’ theaters which is made up for with food. But hey, if you were going out to eat anyway you’re saving money!

Really there’s places you have to pay for parking? At a movie theater? I’ve never heard of such a thing.

63

You were deliberately insulting. You just called half the people in this thread sad. Do you really not realize this? Or do you just not care?

64

I don’t understand how that would be distracting. Talking, sure, but how would you even notice someone texting?

65

And incidentally, in response to this: They do it because it makes their point seem more persuasive.

This is a common strategy in all “Wahhh it’s so expensive to do X” commentary; adding in expenses that are not, in fact, necessary to do X. Every year some organization releases a report about how expensive it is to go see a baseball game, and comes out with some shocking number like $329. It’s only when you read the details that they’re assuming you not only buy four tickets, but buy expensive tickets, buy two baseball caps, a number of other souvenirs, food for four, two beers…

It sounds a lot better to slag movies if you just add on expenses you don’t actually need to incur.

66

disadvantages for me to see a movie in the theater:

  1. I’m antsy. I like to change positions frequently, stand up, stretch, lie down, etc. No can do in theaters.

  2. I sometimes miss a line of dialogue and would like to hear it played over again. No can rewind in theaters.

  3. I like to eat, sometimes stuff that I wasn’t hungry for at the start of the movies. I have a pause button on my DVD player, and far more food available in my fridge than at the snack counter.

  4. subsequent to 3) I often discover inconveniently that I need to use the bathroom during the actual playing of a movie. This means that I must miss–entirely–a scene or scenes that I have just paid top dollar to see every minute of, or else explode.

  5. subsequent to 4), paying top dollar. A used DVD, of movies I missed the first time around, costs a fraction of one movie admission, and needs to be paid only once, no matter how many people accompany you to the theater.

  6. subsequent to 5), there are other costs associated with going to the theater, including gas, tolls, etc.

  7. subsequent to 6), other costs are non-monetary–my travel time, for example,

  8. (I’ll stop the subsequent stuff–all these things remind me of other reasons) sometimes I can justify taking the time to watch a film by doing some mindless act, like folding socks during the film.

  9. I like to watch films in my underwear sometimes.

  10. I like to watch films in segments sometimes, and do not get the whole “uninterrupted movie” argument. I usually read a book in about 83 separate segment, often over a period of days–why should a film be different? Answer: it’s not. I can remember where I was perfectly fine, thank you very much.

  11. Movie talkers, confronting them, explaining the rules of social interaction to them. Say no more, squire, say no more.

  12. I get more pleasure out of re-viewing a film, usually, than I get from watching it for the first time. Dvds can replayed, often more than once, for free.

  13. When I teach movies, which is often, I want to refer to specific scenes which I can isolate on on a DVD, and re-locate easily.

  14. DVD extras: good, often illuminating, but may be ignored when not desired. Movie extras: ads, trailers for movies I’m not interested in, PSAs that I don’t need (other people do, but don’t heed them.)

  15. my new couch is more comfortable than any movie seat, especially when I’m sitting on my coat, backpack, umbrella. In my apartment all these go in their proper place.

  16. I can adjust the volume to a level I enjoy at home. If I want LOUD it’s very loud. If not, it’s not.

  17. If a dvd stinks, I can decide “the hell with it” easily and leave the room. But in the theater, unless I came alone, I must confer with my companion(s) to see if they too think it sucks badly enough to walk out, or else stay in deference to their assumed wishes.

This is all off the top of my head. I’m sure there’s more.

67

It gets me out of the house. I’m a very domestic, introverted person but sometimes I feel like I’m going to lose my shit if I have to spend one more minute cooped up inside. So, we go see a movie.

The big screens are nice too.

68

This is why nature was invented.

69

Because the screen lights up, leaving little pockets of light glowing across the audience–a huge visual distraction IMHO.

For me, the answer is simple. The director (and by extension, his/her collaboraters) made the film specifically to be seen in the theater. And I won’t judge a work beforehand–I consider it all art, and with a work of art, I feel I have a responsibility to see it in the environment and under the conditions intended.

Movies weren’t meant to be paused. Movies weren’t meant to be rewound if I get distracted. Movies weren’t meant to be seen in my living room. For me, my responsibility when engaging with art is to accept it on those terms. Seeing a film in a theater means more work, more investment–not just financial, but also my attention and commitment. And it’s on those terms that I prefer to see it, because I feel I’m a better recipient of the artist’s intentions than if I was in my living room with my wife on her laptop and a cat on my lap and the bathroom 'round the corner and the fridge a quick hop away.

Now, that’s speaking for myself personally. YMMV, obviously, and I don’t judge those who prefer to see things at home. I’m sympathetic to the reasons (especially monetarily) why going can be inconvenient or even prohibitive. And it’s a much better world if someone sees a masterpiece at home than not at all.

But I really can’t do it. I barely ever rent, so I operate on the assumption that if I don’t see something in the theater, I probably won’t see it at all (or not for a long time). And similarly, unless I see something in the theater, I never really consider having “seen” it, in one sense. I’ve seen movies I thought I understood and judged accordingly on TV that I had to completely reassess after seeing it later in the theater (usually a revival house). The experience, for me, is that different–so substantial in exploring and revealing the merits of the artform (lighting, composition, sound, etc.) that seeing it at home is, in some way, giving the film short shrift.

Now, not everyone feels that way. Some have a more casual relationship towards moviegoing, and others prefer having more control over their environments, which allows them to better appreciate what they’re seeing free of distractions.

But not me. Just my $0.02.

70

Because if you’re in a dark room and someone opens/turns on their cell phone, the light is super bright and visible to everyone above that row. It’s amazing how people seem to not realize that a bright light can be seen in the dark, though most of them just don’t care.

71

You’re coming very close to calling other posters sad based on their movie preferences. Don’t do this, it borders on threadshitting.

Everybody else is also advised to stick to the topic and not make any inferences based on how other people watch movies.

72

I used to love going to the movies. Now I can’t stand it. The volume is too loud, the a/c is too cold, the floors are sticky, the seats are stained and dirty, the concessions are overpriced, the tickets are overpriced, and there’s alw

73

To me, getting popcorn and a soda is an essential part of the movie-going experience. It’s one of the things that sets seeing a movie on the big screen apart from the experience of watching that same movie in my own home. Usually I don’t snack while watching TV, whether it’s a broadcast show or a movie. But having that popcorn and soda is a treat, and it’s an essential part of my experience. So I do consider the costs involved to be essential for the experience. I know, when I decide to go to the movies, that I WILL want that popcorn and soda, and I make sure that I’ve budgeted for it.

Your mileage obviously is different. Your way of watching movies isn’t wrong, and neither is mine. And if you don’t usually buy anything to snack on during movies, then your projected cost of watching a movie will be lower than mine, even if we watch the same movie, at the same time, in the same theater. But my way of calculating the cost of watching a movie is valid. When I go to the theater, I WILL spend money on concessions, and I might as well consider the cost of the whole package. After all, if I go to the zoo, I need to figure in the cost of parking (except on Wednesdays, which is free parking day) as part of the cost of the outing, as well as the cost of admission.

74

Cut off in my prime!

Always some dork with a cell phone and the backlight on, texting or yakking, or else jingling approximately 150 keys on a gigantic key ring. And 15 minutes’ worth of trailers and ads besides.

I love my own office/den as a viewing room.

75

I don’t get how movie theaters are supposed to be a social experience. Ok, you’re in the general vicinity of people, but you’re not talking to them or interacting with them in any way. Hell, you can’t even see them.

76

You know, there’s this strange period of time that exists both before and after the movie…

77

Well, yeah, but those periods would be there with or without the movie theatre.

78

Then by all means buy popcorn and a soda. (I almost always do too.) But it’s your choice, not something you’re forced to do as part of buying the ticket. It’s inaccurate to state that the cost of the popcorn and soda is an inherent part of going to the movies - it’s an option. It’s true that you would want to figure that cost in, but someone sayign “Going to the movies sucks” isn’t coming at it from the same direction you are. They’re lumping the cost in and implying it applies to everyone, as well as usually not mentioning that for that money you’re not just getting a movie, you’re also getting popcorn and a soda.

79

But you’ve shared an experience with your friends. You can get dinner together before/after the film, and then discuss the film and your impressions of it. Pretty much the sort of thing that happens in CS all the time, but involving people you know, in a pub or restaurant or the car home, after a movie you just saw together.

As far as I can tell, the only two people in this thread besides the OP who have commented on the expense of popcorn and soft drink are people who feel it’s part of the experience and as such is a necessary expense which they are happy to pay, but which still needs to be factored into the overall cost.

80

Note to self: Must try Jaffas.