# How Many Movies Do You Watch IN THE THEATRE? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 8, 2010, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-movies-do-you-watch-in-the-theatre/559866 "2010-11-08T03:55:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-movies-do-you-watch-in-the-theatre/559866/21 "2010-11-08T12:18:03Z")
I’d rather see a film in the cinemas, but only if the volume is going to be reasonable (I spent the entire showing of ‘The Sorceror’s Apprentice’ with my fingers in my ears. I now go to films with ear protection, and I have yet to regret that decision.), if my fellow movie-goers are going to be quiet and if the film is something worth seeing on the big screen. I have fond memories of the Festival Cinemas in Toronto, a chain of rep house that showed films for $2 and which were temples for film worshippers. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-movies-do-you-watch-in-the-theatre/559866/22 "2010-11-08T12:35:44Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > What, you LIKE people chatting to their seatmates or on their cells during the movie? You LIKE kids running up and down the aisles, screaming? My favorite is the gradeschoolers who are in an R rated movie without an adult present. > > I can afford to go to the movies. However, going to a theater doesn’t give me enjoyment, because of the technical issues and also because of the social elements. I used to go out to the movies at least once a week, if not two or three times, and I enjoyed it. Now…I’m more likely to be aggravated than to enjoy the experience. > > And if the movie and theater industries don’t like my attitude, and the attitude of others like me, then maybe they could focus on making the movie going experience less frustrating and more enjoyable. The Wife and I went to see \*\*RED \*\*over the weekend. The theater was filled with grown-ups, and it was an enjoyable experience. The last film we saw in the theater was **The Kids are All Right** , which I guess also skewed to an older demographic. We seem attracted to old fart films. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-movies-do-you-watch-in-the-theatre/559866/23 "2010-11-08T12:42:20Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > Why your sensitive preciousness, and elitism make you ohh… so special. Please refrain from personal insults in Cafe Society. If you want to attack someone, take it to the Pit. **twickster** , Cafe Society moderator ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-movies-do-you-watch-in-the-theatre/559866/24 "2010-11-08T12:46:29Z")
I see 20-25 movies a year in the theater, and I really can’t remember any of the kind of misbehavior that some of you think is the norm. Of course, I only see 3 or 4 of those movies in a multiplex, so that may be a factor – but neither _Avatar_ nor _Inception_ involved audiences talking, texting, or spilling things on the floor. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-movies-do-you-watch-in-the-theatre/559866/25 "2010-11-08T12:53:59Z")
I work from home and most of my friends live pretty far away - so I find the need to get out, just to keep me sane (ish.) So I try to go to a movie once a week. It doesn’t work out that way, because there just aren’t 52 movies a year that I want to see. I’m guessing I see 20 or so a year. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-movies-do-you-watch-in-the-theatre/559866/26 "2010-11-08T13:32:38Z")
5-10. Usually the blockbusters that come out in summer or around Christmas. I’d go more often, but I don’t get out of work until 6:30 or 7:30. I like to attend an early evening show, which doesn’t seem to have nearly as many teens. Movie and dinner works better for me than dinner and a movie. The last movie I saw was _Wall Street, Money Never Sleeps_. The next one will probably be Harry Potter. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-movies-do-you-watch-in-the-theatre/559866/27 "2010-11-08T14:07:23Z")
Less than 5 in a theater. Yet I watch hundreds on DVD each year. I’d go to see more in theaters, but I avoid it because: [ol] [li]Can’t fast forward through the coming attractions.[/li][li]Can’t rewind or pause in a theater.[/li][li]Other patrons are often talking/texting asswipes.[/li][li]Like to watch movies with subtitles turned on (hard of hearing).[/li][/ol] ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-movies-do-you-watch-in-the-theatre/559866/28 "2010-11-08T14:18:42Z")
I turned my kids into movie-buffs, so that’s our stand-by activity most weekends. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-movies-do-you-watch-in-the-theatre/559866/29 "2010-11-08T14:20:17Z")
Only 2 or 3 tops. Not crazy about a lot of the offerings, and people don’t know how to behave in a theater anymore. It’s gotta be something we want to see once on a big screen. Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, that sort of thing. Once in a great while it’ll be something we just don’t want to wait for the DVD. When we do go, we try to go to the last showing on a Sunday or a weeknight, or maybe a midweek matinee, to try to minimize the number of jerks in the theater. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-movies-do-you-watch-in-the-theatre/559866/30 "2010-11-08T14:37:01Z")
Very rarely - I guess we catch the Pixar movies, and if there’s something that’s particularly spectacle-based that we really want to see (we saw _Star Trek_) - and we did go to see _Paranormal Activity_ on the spur of the moment. Before that, the last non-Pixar film we saw in the theater was either _Watchmen_ or the last Indiana Jones movie. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-movies-do-you-watch-in-the-theatre/559866/31 "2010-11-08T14:49:13Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > What, you LIKE people chatting to their seatmates or on their cells during the movie? You LIKE kids running up and down the aisles, screaming? My favorite is the gradeschoolers who are in an R rated movie without an adult present. I’m always amazed when people complain about this stuff, because I never see it. I think maybe once in my life I’ve had a problem with people talking during the movie. I wonder if this is a cultural or regional thing. ---
**Author:** ![Chopper9760](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cdc98d/32.png) [@Chopper9760](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chopper9760)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-movies-do-you-watch-in-the-theatre/559866/32 "2010-11-08T14:59:07Z")
Yeah, folks seem pretty polite at movies around here. I think it’s fun to see a film in a packed theater; big laughter and cheers, sometimes there’s clapping, it’s a fun group vibe. I don’t go to many movies because they are so freaking expensive. I feel way too guilty to hand over that much money for ~2hrs of entertainment that I can see for free inside of a year. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-movies-do-you-watch-in-the-theatre/559866/33 "2010-11-08T15:04:10Z")
I voted 5-10, but this has been a busy year of movie going for me. From 1999 to 2007, I think I saw maybe 5 movies, and 3 of them had hobbits. But this past year I made a friend who loves going to theatres, so we go maybe once a month. I guess I tend to go to places without sticky floors and obnoxious people, and I don’t mind the prices, so it’s a positive experience for me. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-movies-do-you-watch-in-the-theatre/559866/34 "2010-11-08T15:05:48Z")
> [@drm](#): > > I’ve seen 110 as of now (have a spreadsheet going). I work in the entertainment industry (I work in the art department) so it get’s written off come tax time. They’ve got a come tax now? _Oh, Jeebus, the Tea Partiers were right!_ ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-movies-do-you-watch-in-the-theatre/559866/35 "2010-11-08T15:07:21Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I’m always amazed when people complain about this stuff, because I never see it. I think maybe once in my life I’ve had a problem with people talking during the movie. > > I wonder if this is a cultural or regional thing. It must be - I mean, we rarely go, but we never have the kind of experience people whine about here. Never! ---
**Author:** ![Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glory)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-movies-do-you-watch-in-the-theatre/559866/36 "2010-11-08T15:33:58Z")
I used to go see a movie every week, but now I’m down to 5-10 per year. I love the theater experience, but can’t handle all the people talking around me. The whole VCR/couch watching/talk to friends and family during a movie has ruined the movie experience (at least for me). People are so used to talking to their neighbor during a movie - they can’t stop! Every time I go to the movies, I’m always reminded why I don’t like going to the movies anymore (have experienced movie chatting in Dallas, Seattle and San Diego - it’s consistent and obnoxious). ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-movies-do-you-watch-in-the-theatre/559866/37 "2010-11-08T15:37:49Z")
I see less than five movies in the theater a year and I’m usually hard pressed to remember what I last saw because it was so long ago. I don’t think I’ve seen any movies in the theater this year and I think the last one I did see was Star Trek back in 2009. The reason I don’t go to the theater often is because it’s inconvenient and I don’t like to fight crowds. I’ve experienced a few occasions of obnoxious movie patrons over the years but they are certainly few and far between. The cost isn’t much of a factor because I don’t purchase snacks or drinks figuring going 2-3 hours with neither food or drink won’t kill me. When I went to see The Watchman I told myself I was going to get a popcorn and soda but I accidentally looked up and saw how much it cost before getting to the cashier which caused me to change my mind. Goddamn I felt like my father which means I must be getting old. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-movies-do-you-watch-in-the-theatre/559866/38 "2010-11-08T15:42:19Z")
I voted 5-10, but it’s probably more like 10-12. I’m more likely to go out to see a obscure independent release than a mainstream movie. The audiences are not only smaller, but in general they’re better behaved at “art house” theaters. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-movies-do-you-watch-in-the-theatre/559866/39 "2010-11-08T15:45:47Z")
My hubby works out of town, and is only home 2-3 long weekends a month. Most of those weekends, we will go catch a flick if there’s anything playing we want to see. The last movie we saw in a theater was _Red_, and the one before that was _The Town_. So we probably go to damn close to 100 movies a year. We do that rather than watch a movie at home because we like to _go out_. The closest movie theater is pretty nice, too. In addition to the movies he and I see, I take **mudgirl** to probably three or four ‘regular’ movies a year, then our local movie theater has a “Summer Movie Clubhouse” deal; you pay $5.00 per person for a pass that allows you to see a second-run movie every Tuesday morning. Last summer, we saw _Kung Fu Panda_, _The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything_ and _Horton Hears a Who_, among others. We don’t go to see all ten of the movies, but it gives us quality time together on Tuesday mornings, and at a hard-to-argue-with price! ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-movies-do-you-watch-in-the-theatre/559866/40 "2010-11-08T15:59:51Z")
We used to go rather frequently – maybe every couple of weeks so maybe 20 or so times a year. Since we moved to NYC and set up a home theater, the cost-convenience-experience equation has skewed so far out of whack against theatre going that we basically never go. As a pre-teen and teenager movies were the #1 way to spend an afternoon with my friends. I remember when my friend got passes to a pre-screening of Apollo 13 through her mom - best ever! I remember searching to find a theater showing “Henry V” after we saw a clip at the Oscars (watching the Oscars- another thing I don’t do anymore). Going to see “Orlando” at the Angelika instead of going to prom 😃 oh yeah we were the coolest. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-movies-do-you-watch-in-the-theatre/559866.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-movies-do-you-watch-in-the-theatre/559866.md?page=3)