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If you guys want to be frugal - and healthy - I suggest skipping all the movie theater soda, candy and trans fat-soaked popcorn crap, whether from home or wherever. I watch people go through huge tubs of that yellow crap in two hours like zombies - and you know they're not skipping dinner later that evening (and then people wonder why their ass looks about the size of a Goodyear blimp?..). Focus your money on buying nutritious food (which you should cook at home, much cheaper than eating out all the time) to eat at meal times.
Like many here I can only afford a movie once or twice a year anymore. It says something that despite the outrageous ticket and concession prices that theaters can't stay profitable. I have no sympathy at all for theater managers or theater owners. You have a problem. Period. A serious problem. You are not trying to solve it you are simply trying to social engineer it out of existence. With every escalation of price and/or policy against free access and enjoyment of the theater product you lose some customer base. I heard recently that some movie distributors want to experiment with a direct to home delivery of first run titles via the internet. Bye bye onerous theater management policies. You guys are over. Finito. You did it to yourselves.
If ANYTHING is driving people away from theaters, it's not the price. As I said above, we rarely go to a theater, and when we do, it's to the first Sunday morning matinee. Why? Not the prices, but the rude, self-centered patrons who think that everyone in the theater paid to hear them talk and make noise and comment on the movie. I'm not terribly surprised that there would be people who thought it was just fine to try to drive the theater out of existence by sneaking in outside food; after all, it IS all about them, isn't it?
Meanwhile. theaters nationwide had the best holiday season in ages.
I guess they are not over yet!
Well, of course not. Yet. That was my point. Retail figures this holiday season were also not reflective of the bloodbath in the economy. Christmas has a way of suspending reality. WWII soldiers stopping in mid-firefight to sing carols and share smokes... ... but the fighting began again.
We all know how expensive the candy and sodas are at the movie theater theater these days.
When I was a little kid, me, my brother and dad would all fill our pockets full of candy and sodas before we went into the movie theater to watch the matinee. I still occasionally practice this today. I went to go see a movie recently and the girl I went with snuck in a small bag of chopped up fruit and snickers for me and a bag of popcorn in her purse for herself as well. We did this despite the signs posted not allowing this.
Do you sneak in your own candy/food? either because you don't agree with paying exorbitant prices or maybe just because the theater doesn't sell anything you like.
I think its crazy that movie theaters charge an arm and a leg for food and drink. Yes I know that theaters make most of their profit on food and drink.
Sometimes I do cause I am not paying my money on the snacks they serve at the theater, the snacks are outrageously expensive, sometimes I go to a nearby fast food restaurant before the movie, I definitely agree with you that it's crazy that they charge an arm and a leg for food and drinks, one time my friend bought a big tub of popcorn and I asked for a small cup and they wouldn't give me one
If ANYTHING is driving people away from theaters, it's not the price. As I said above, we rarely go to a theater, and when we do, it's to the first Sunday morning matinee. Why? Not the prices, but the rude, self-centered patrons who think that everyone in the theater paid to hear them talk and make noise and comment on the movie. I'm not terribly surprised that there would be people who thought it was just fine to try to drive the theater out of existence by sneaking in outside food; after all, it IS all about them, isn't it?
Get a grip. Who is self centered here. People trying to drive theaters out of business because they don't want to pay $3.00 for a large box of Milk Dud's?! That is why we are in the hole we are in because too many Americans are not at all outraged by inflation or price fixing or price gouging. You are inwardly proud of the Capitalist ethic and entrepreneur spirit and support the end of consumer protections and the dwindling value that Americans receive for their money. You think $12.00 for a movie ticket is fair and $11.00 for a full ride of drink, popcorn and hotdog is reasonable but you avoid it yourself by going to morning matinee's and claim that it is to avoid noisy patrons. Yeah right.
<shrug> I've worked in the industry for many years and if I go, it is either at a matinee or a weeknight - to avoid the rude people and cellphones. On one hand, I agree with Leisesturm, that theatres have done a lot of this to themselves. On the other hand, much of the blame goes to the distributors, who often have a minimum per cap (different than the concession per cap) where each seat filled must give the distributor $X dollars. It is their product, they have to pay actors and crew, and make a profit.
Some of the blame goes back to the anti-trust laws. If the producers of the films had a vertical monopoly, where they had control of distribution and presentation, you can rest assured that a lot of the shenanigans that happens in movie theatres would not be allowed. The anti-trust laws used to make sense for "opinion makers" like theatres, but times have changed.
I have newspaper clippings about theatres that cover many many years. The same "costs too much" argument comes up repeatedly. I just was going through articles from about the time "Shindler's List" came out and everyone was in an uproar that the prices had risen to $6. Rule of thumb is an evening movie costs almost exactly the same as minimum wage for about 1.5 hours, in most markets. It hasn't varied significantly from this formula since the depression. Yes, a lot of the older customers drop out because of higher prices, but just as many do so because of cellphones, movie swappers, dirty theatres, and poor presentation.
As for popcorn, a REASONABLE amount is reasonably healthy. There is too much salt for many people, but corn popped in coconut oil is not bad as far as snacks go. Coconut oil got a bad rap from the Center For Whining In the Public Interest, but truth will out, and coconut oil is a staple on health food store shelves now. Popcorn has a decent mix of starches and sugars. Soft drinks? That is another story. Not just sugar water, the stuff is high fructose sugar water that probably should be priced right up there with tobacco products. It doesn't help that it is sold in bladder-buster sizes. I call it as I see it.
BTW, For whoever it was that thought it was fine to swap movies, and wondered why I wrote as much as I did to him - I didn't. If you note the top of my post on the subject, I specifically stated I wasn't writing to that poster, but to others who might think his "reasoning" was legit.
If ANYTHING is driving people away from theaters, it's not the price. As I said above, we rarely go to a theater, and when we do, it's to the first Sunday morning matinee. Why? Not the prices, but the rude, self-centered patrons who think that everyone in the theater paid to hear them talk and make noise and comment on the movie. I'm not terribly surprised that there would be people who thought it was just fine to try to drive the theater out of existence by sneaking in outside food; after all, it IS all about them, isn't it?
I have a hard time believing people all of a sudden started people talking more during movies, when they've been around for decades. The more logical explanation is of course the internet and rising costs.
I hadn't been to the movies in years. I went and purchased a box of M & M's for $4.00 or so. I opened up the packet and was SHOCKED that inside there was a tiny tiny bag of candy inside this HUGE box. Very misleading.
Next time I would have no issues bringing in my own food, they are being very deceptive with the packaging.
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