• afk_strats@lemmy.world
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    21 days ago

    How about the fact that there’s a massive oligopoly in the industry? How about one studio basically steamrolling the industry with one franchise in the 2010s which alienated movie goers? How about movie-going being expensive AF?

    • MeekerThanBeaker@lemmy.world
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      21 days ago

      Ticket prices are really not that much more expensive than it was like 25 years ago when you count for inflation.

      Problem is that wages haven’t really gone up to match inflation… so it seems like a lot more. Same with everything else.

      • shalafi@lemmy.world
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        21 days ago

        Wow, you’re right! Me and my friends saw Red Dawn, first showing in town, for $2.50. That’s $7.75 now.

        Having a hard time finding matinees ATM, but standard times are $11-$12, do $7-$8 would make sense.

    • keyez@lemmy.world
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      21 days ago

      A lot of theaters have discount days, on Tuesdays across the 2 states I’ve lived in this year you can see any movie for $7

    • shalafi@lemmy.world
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      21 days ago

      Without concessions, that’s the highest price I’ve ever heard of. It’s half that around here.

      • finicky_foyer@sh.itjust.works
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        21 days ago

        I imagine it will vary based on your location, but I’d venture to guess most major cities like mine would be similar.

        I live in an outskirts suburb of a major city, and @BearOfaTime@lemm.ee suggested price point matches up.

        Checking the current “headlining” movie at my local theater (which happens to be an AMC Theater) to get a single “Adult Ticket” is $21.50 for tomorrow’s Tuesday showing outside of working hours (6:30PM). With “fees”, it brings it to $24.18 for a single adult ticket.

        The “Childrens Ticket” price is $18.50 per.

    • sunzu2@thebrainbin.org
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      21 days ago

      i think mean wage of full time earner in US is 27 bucks pre tax…

      why would a person pay half days of wage for this?

      prices are so out of wack vis-a-vis income that it is turning comical but yet corpo and regime whores don’t understand why plebs feel some way lol

      plus quality of hollywood slop is beyond bad… hollywood was always pedo central but at least they could make flip prior to 2010s. no they want your money while shoving shiti agenda in your ass.

      they even managed to wear the normie marvel fan jfc

    • horse_battery_staple@lemmy.world
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      21 days ago

      Distribution rights keep going up and the movie theaters pass those costs on to you in the form of concession prices. Blame the studios.

      • ApollosArrow@lemmy.world
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        21 days ago

        Yeah, movie theaters barely make money from actually playing movies. It’s another reason why selling alcohol started getting more popular at movie theaters.

  • Lazorne@lemmy.zip
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    21 days ago

    I have been to European theaters that are dine-in and smaller. You got maybe 30 comfortable seats and with tray tables. You order your food / beverages 60 minutes before the movie.

    During those 60 minutes you can wait in the lounge and have a drink with an appertife.

    When the commercials start the food is served, then the movie starts and everyone is enjoying their meal and movie.

    When the half way point hit they pause the movie as days of yore and you get a 20 minute break for going to the toilet and order more things.

    They also serve tea and coffee during that time for free.

    The kicker is that the tickets are little bit cheaper then the traditional big theater and the experience is 10 times better and more intimite since it only takes 30 people in one saloon.

    • KillerWhale@orcas.enjoying.yachts
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      20 days ago

      We have a similar experience in Australia called gold class or (de)LUX. Much better way to enjoy a movie if it’s within your budget

      • WhatAmLemmy@lemmy.world
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        20 days ago

        The kicker is that the tickets are little bit cheaper then the traditional big theater

        Gold Class is not similar. It’s twice as expensive and nothing is free; a coffee or tea is ~$5.

  • 🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 ℹ️@yiffit.net
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    21 days ago

    It’s only a problem for Hollywood, and not simply the theatre companies, because they refuse to go back to the convenience of streaming the movie like they did during COVID lockdowns.

    I would much rather stay home, make my own popcorn, and watch a movie on my own TV, in my underwear, being able to pause if I need to pee, than get dressed, drive across town, and sit in a sticky seat in a big dark room full of strangers who usually make hella noise during the film, paying 3 times more than the ticket just for a small bag of popcorn, and having to hold in my pee until I feel like my bladder will literally burst so I don’t miss anything.

    The only time the theatre experience was ever better than just being at home, was the first time I saw Rocky Horror Picture Show. Because the audience fucking participates!

    • XeroxCool@lemmy.world
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      21 days ago

      There’s a hundred original movies shown every year. Just because they don’t have hype and general discussion doesn’t mean they don’t exist.

    • Syntha@sh.itjust.works
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      20 days ago

      Literally wtf are you talking about? It’s never been easier to look up what movies are playing in theatres right now and how they’ve been received, even if you don’t actively keep up with releases. Straight up bizarre take for a movie forum

    • droporain@lemmynsfw.com
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      21 days ago

      You forgot about how you get to hear other people talk through out the movie and check there phone on 100 percent brightness.

    • acosmichippo@lemmy.world
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      21 days ago

      for me it’s not even the cost of the movies themselves that’s causing me not to go. it’s the cost of everything else in my life that has been adding up, so unnecessary entertainment expenses like movies are an easy thing to cut back on. Maybe there is a lower threshold that would get me to go more, but it’s probably not a realistic one.

      also at home I have exactly the food and drinks I want at any time, I can pause for pee breaks, and I don’t have to deal with any annoying people, ads, or trailers.

    • Frozengyro@lemmy.world
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      21 days ago

      Yup, nothing is worth 20 bucks a ticket. Especially considering 3 weeks later you can ‘rent’ it for 5 bucks.

        • koberulz@lemmy.ml
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          20 days ago

          Yeah, bring back original movies like Hundreds of Beavers, Conclave, Memoir of a Snail, The Substance, A Real Pain, Babygirl, The Last Showgirl, I Saw the TV Glow, Challengers, Wicked Little Letters, Love Lies Bleeding, Origin, The Zone of Interest, The People’s Joker, Kinds of Kindness, Poor Things, All of Us Strangers, The Holdovers, Anatomy of a Fall…

                • koberulz@lemmy.ml
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                  20 days ago

                  A couple of them aren’t out yet. A couple I missed, or they just didn’t get theatrical releases here (Australia). Everything else, I Saw in the cinema. Anora, as well, hasn’t come out here yet. The Brutalist. I could go on…

  • AA5B@lemmy.world
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    21 days ago

    It’s always convenience and cost

    • the cost is absurd
    • I used to wait 4-6 weeks so I could watch without crowds but now the movie is gone
    • just like with live tv, I no longer have to follow their schedule. However if it is only out for a short period, they’re going to miss me.
    • lack of advertising, believe it or not. Maybe they still advertise, but advertising is. So bad now that I block as much as I can. Even if they tried and it’s “a tragedy of the commons”, that’s their fault that I no longer hear that a movie exists

    It’s too bad because now that my kids are away at college I keep thinking I can go more frequently. But not if it’s too expensive, too inconvenient, and I don’t even know what movies there are

    In reality, I actually do go to opening weekends more frequently now that there is reserved seating and less crowds, but my overall movie frequency is much lower.

    Even Alamo Drafthouse is not a solution. We finally got one but it’s downtown only, so that’s a lot of inconvenience.

    • XeroxCool@lemmy.world
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      21 days ago

      I live in dense metro suburbs. The theaters are empty at 2 weeks. Just bump up your schedule. Most tickets at bought before visiting so you cans ee the map of seats open

    • Kaiyoto@lemmy.world
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      20 days ago

      Yes on the advertising. The few movies I would have gone out of my way to see in the theaters never had advertising on anything I watched.

      There have been times I’ve heard of videos and I’m like “they made a sequel?!” or I’m just shocked to hear they made a movie about something at all. I’m trying to remember the specific movie but I think it was based on a video game.

  • SharkEatingBreakfast@sopuli.xyz
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    20 days ago

    Last movie I went to (like 2-3 years ago), there was a lady on her phone with the brightness turned all the way up nearly the entire time.

    No thanks.

    • niktemadur@lemmy.world
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      20 days ago

      Rude people have always been around the moviegoing “experience”.
      Then cellphones and social media popped up, making things geometrically worse.
      Then in order to not inconvenience the mindless assholes inside their theaters, they managed to run the real movie lovers out of their establishments.

      Then somehow, incredibly, the pandemic made things even worse! Like something about being alone with their hollow lives for a year or two, broke something in the hollow psyche of those already mindless, rude hordes.

      There was one time in 2007 that blew my mind in a movie theater, they were screening a limited engagement of No Country For Old Men before general release, so everyone who was there, was there for the love of cinema.
      There is no music soundtrack in that movie, it has long stretches of silence, and in each of those scenes, in this packed large old movie house, I swear you could hear a pin drop.
      My god… what an exceptional movie experience that night was, I’d never experienced anything quite like it, before or since.

  • stardust@lemmy.ca
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    21 days ago

    Watching at home is more affordable and convenient. Even going out to the movie theater is time consuming having to drive there and find parking then drive back if you don’t live in a place close to the theater even if prices were reasonable.

    • wjrii@lemmy.world
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      21 days ago

      I live less than ten minutes from a decent enough multiplex, but I only go to one or two movies a year, when it’s a project I am excited for and the spectacle of the thing makes the giant screen, giant speakers, and properly darkened viewing room outweigh all the incredible advantages of watching at home.

      I still don’t get any popcorn though. If I’m into the movie enough to deal with the… ugh… theater, I don’t need to bother with overpriced concessions.

    • Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      20 days ago

      Movies at home: $0

      Movies at home: I don’t have to go anywhere

      Agree with you… there’s a clear winner there.

  • jpreston2005@lemmy.world
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    20 days ago

    I used to go see movies all the time with friends/family, then it got too expensive.

    I got a better job and could afford to go back, but then COVID hit, and my (ex)wife was terrified of being shot, and so my first movie in years was the first new Dune, played at an Alamo Draft House.

    I went with a couple friends, got a seat too close to the screen, my friend started POUNDING their popcorn, chewing super loudly, while other people talked. Like, I thought people would shut up once the commercials ended and the movie began, but no, it didn’t even wane! I got up and left after a few minutes, got a refund on my ticket. Haven’t even thought about going back. Whatever I watch, it’ll be on my couch, at home, for free.

  • sunzu2@thebrainbin.org
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    21 days ago

    Hollywood does not respect the audience, movie theater is a bad service.

    Why would working person pay either of these parasites?

    Yarr ;)

  • edgemaster72@lemmy.world
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    21 days ago

    Maybe I’m weird but never in my life have I just gone to a theater and hoped there was something interesting enough showing to draw me in just from a title or maybe a poster in the lobby. I just can’t imagine pre-allocating my time and money to such a venture on a whim with little to no idea of what I might be getting in to.

    • CarbonatedPastaSauce@lemmy.world
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      21 days ago

      It did happen back in the day when a lot of movie theaters were attached to a mall. I actually saw The Matrix that way, wandering through the mall with my girlfriend after dinner, and the poster looked interesting to both of us. Hadn’t heard a thing about it. That was a cool experience.

      Once theaters shifted to a destination unto themselves, you really don’t see the ‘wander into a movie’ thing anymore.

      • bradboimler@lemmy.world
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        21 days ago

        I actually saw The Matrix that way, wandering through the mall with my girlfriend after dinner, and the poster looked interesting to both of us. Hadn’t heard a thing about it. That was a cool experience.

        That must’ve been awesome

        That movie blew my mind and it’s one of the very few I paid to see multiple times in theaters. I think that one was four times.

        • CarbonatedPastaSauce@lemmy.world
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          21 days ago

          It really was. After the first chase and the phone booth smash I was not sure what I was watching, but by the time Neo meets Trinity at the club I was hooked. And the scene in the skyscraper lobby had me picking my jaw up off the floor.

          It’s one of the few movies I actually have memories of going to see, like instead of just remembering the plot of the movie I remember the events leading up to it, where I ate dinner, looking at the poster and deciding to go inside and watch it, etc. And I remember my reactions. It was that intense, and certainly a lot of that came from not knowing WHAT to expect.

          The only other movie theater experiences in my memory with that intensity are watching Saving Private Ryan the first time (obvious) and Return of the Jedi, because there was a Darth Vader at the theater and I was super psyched that me and my sister got our picture taken with him!

        • koberulz@lemmy.ml
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          20 days ago

          Saw it theatrically in 2020, when cinemas here put on a lot of older films since they needed something to show and nothing new was coming out. There were some teens there who had evidently never seen it before.

          I first saw it on DVD using my computer. Not the ideal experience.

    • Lauchs@lemmy.world
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      21 days ago

      I’m really lucky, there’s an independent theatre near my place. If I don’t have plans, I’ll see what’s on as I trust them to choose good stuff. Seen a lot of really awesome movies I never would’ve caught otherwise and best of all, absolutely spoiler free.

      Sure, some that were not my jam at all but overall, walking into a movie and knowing next to nothing about it can be exhilarating, the story can go anywhere and you have no idea what’s up.