With your hand on my shoulders, a meaningless movement... a moviescript ending and the patrons are leaving, leaving

Have movies priced themselves out of people’s budgets? I had a conversation with a co-worker this morning about whether I had seen a certain movie yet, to which I responded, “No, I’ll wait for that one on DVD.”

He said it was good and that I should go see it. I asked if he thought it was worth the $9 (per person, b/c who goes to the movies alone?) I would have to pay to see it in the theatre. He said probably not and that brought up the original question that I posed. That question begat a different version of the question, are movies theatres just a giant waste of money? The buildings that house the individual theatres are like warehouses now. There are as many as 24 individual theatres in some buildings with huge lobby areas for teenagers to congregate, 20 ticket windows, through which you cannot understand what the person on the other side is saying, large, somewhat clean restrooms and an overpriced concession area with 15 registers available to order at every 150 feet. The theatres themselves are built with comfortable seats, some with armrests that lift up, so you can “get cozy with someone next to you”, drink holders and spacious aisles, so as your going to the two empty seats in the middle of the aisle, your crotch/ass isn’t directly in the face of the people you’re attempting squeeze by.

All of that being said, here is my argument: A movie that comes out in, say, July/August (the summer “blockbuster” months) will be available on DVD in time for Christmas, or just after Christmas/New Year’s. You can go cool off during those months in the theatre or maybe go to a drive-in (if you’re lucky enough to live near one) and spend $9/person for tickets, $5.50 for a medium popcorn and $4.75 on a medium drink. For the same money, you could get a decent meal somewhere and enjoy the company of your friends, family, etc and in a few months rent the DVD for $5 from Blockbuster, get a six-pack of beer for $6 and buy a box of microwave popcorn for $3.50. Then you could sit in the comfort of your living room/home theatre and watch the movie in an atmosphere that is just as relaxing and may even have less teenagers hanging around! In addition, you don’t have to worry about missing anything because you can hit the pause button if you need to go to the bathroom! If your cell phone rings, you won’t bother anyone by answering it and again, you can stop the movie for any other type of emergency that might arise.

My perspective is also skewed because I belong to an online DVD rental club. I pay $20/month for unlimited movies, of which I can have three “out” at one time. Going back through my last year of rentals, I’ve averaged about 10-12 movies/month and if we do the math, that’s right, it costs me less than $2/movie. I’ve only waited 3-5 months for the movie to come out on DVD and when it does, it’s in my mailbox within a few days. The best thing I like about renting movies is that if the movie is bad, I can turn it off and know that I didn’t just blow a ridiculous amount of money in the theatre to see it. I simply eject it and send it back.

Now there is something to be said for, “it can only be truly experienced on the big screen.” I can agree with that. Star Wars, Batman, King Kong, The Last Samurai, Superman, Pirates of the Caribbean, Indiana Jones, Apollo 13, most movies about war, some, but very few horror movies and most action movies are certainly experienced better in the theatre, but to know which ones will be worth the money is the trick.

Back to answering my original question, in my budget, movies are overpriced and I’ll continue with my rentals unless I see something that is a must-see in the theatre.