Movie outing...EXPENSIVE!!!

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I'm almost in shock. Here's the deal.....my girlfriend decides to have a nice Sunday and take her six year old grandson out to see the new Dolphin Tale movie. I'm thinking what a nice inexpensive yet fun time she will have. WRONG!!! She arrives home a few hours later and tells me I'm not going to like what it cost us. I'm thinking....ok, no big deal...maybe fifteen bucks tops. NOPE! Keep in mind that she took her grandson to the early matinee showing. It cost her $7.25 to get in....and the same price for the 6 year old. Then she gets two cokes and a medium buttered popcorn. Here's the part where I almost passed out.....total cost of the movie trip for a grandma and grandson.....$32.50!!
That's just sickening. How can families even afford that? I was told that she even saw several large families in there buying loads of food and seeing the 3D version of the movie ($4 more each ticket). That must have cost them over $100 easy!
What a rip-off.
 
In a world where everyone "deserves" $100/month cable, and $100/month cellphone plans, what's the issue? Its just another Benjamin to send out to someone else.

And people wonder why they are broke and in terrible financial condition.

People need to start boycotting a lot of this stuff before it will go back to being more reasonable.
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
In a world where everyone "deserves" $100/month cable, and $100/month cellphone plans, what's the issue? Its just another Benjamin to send out to someone else.

And people wonder why they are broke and in terrible financial condition.

People need to start boycotting a lot of this stuff before it will go back to being more reasonable.


+ 100!!!!
 
People ask me why I rarely go to the movies.

My wife gets some Groupon deal and occasionally goes to a new release with the daughter. No theater purchased food.
 
I go to the local independent film movie joints. A few times a month.

It always blows my mind how they can offer these films so cheap.

It's about $3 per movie and $2.50 for the popcorn. I'd never consider drinking corn syrup beverages but I'm guessing it isn't much more than a bottle of water, $1.
 
Besides being expensive and tons of high-school age kids, its rare that we go to the movies. I can wait a few months until it comes out on TV.
 
Quote:

It always blows my mind how they can offer these films so cheap.


what films are they showing?

My understanding is the production studios grab 90% of the gate receipts at the first run places, lessening the amount if the movie stays longer. A steady stream of new movies pretty much guarantees $6 popcorn and soda, as the studios are making off with all the gate money.

Very little of my $$ goes that way, maybe 1 movie every two years. The last movie I saw was Ponyo.
 
OP, i feel your pain. Movies here are $10 a person. Me and the wife went to see something last week, i never buy anything to snack on but this time decided to dish out a few bucks to keep her happy. My bill was in the $40s.

90% of the time, i wait for the movie to show up @ Redbox. $1.07 after tax and i enjoy it from the comfort of my house surround sounds and free refills on popcorn which costs $1.
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The worst is when I can't get to the movies until the very end of its run at the theater. Same cost, but I end up in the old, smaller-screen theater with sub-par sound quality. If I really had any guts, I'd walk out every time this happens, but I never do.

I can't help myself when it comes to popcorn, but it's getting ridiculous. Once I get past the heart-stopping first layer of synthetic butter I realize how terrible the popcorn really is. I don't understand how microwave popcorn can taste so much better than theater popcorn, but it does. How do they up popcorn!? Unfortunately, I do still buy it (I'm weak,) but I have taken popcorn back - so salty and hard; it was unbelievably terrible.

I'm also a bug proponent of local places that play Indie films. They always have tasty popcorn with real butter and reasonable prices.

In the end, I have been spending more of my money on Netflix and Redbox movies lately. I think there's going to have to be some sort of change in Hollywood or they'll risk losing more of us. My home theater doesn't compare to the theater, but it's getting better and the benefits of staying home are slowly making staying home the no-duh choice.
 
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Originally Posted By: andrewg
I was told that she even saw several large families in there buying loads of food and seeing the 3D version of the movie ($4 more each ticket). That must have cost them over $100 easy!
What a rip-off.

I take a slightly different tack on 3D movies (and IMAX, for that matter).

I don't go to the movies just to have something to do or something to watch. There are plenty of cheaper and better ways to kill time. For me, going out to see a movie in a theater has to be an experience that I could never replicate by watching a DVD in my apartment. Thus, I'm more than happy to spend the extra money for a 3D and/or large format showing. IMO, if it's not worth watching in 3D or IMAX, chances are it's not worth going out for at all.

Some examples: On one hand, there are movies like Avatar. Avatar has to be seen in 3D on the biggest, baddest screen with the best sound system possible; without all of that sensory immersion and impact, it's just Pocahontas in space. I wouldn't even bother renting it on DVD, let alone going out to watch it in 2D in a normal-sized theater. On the flip side, there are movies like Forrest Gump. That movie loses none of its impact on a home TV with a mediocre sound system, which means there's no real reason to go out to see it.

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true, still, kind of a nice change of environment from seeing it at home and the big screen adds a bit still to non action movies like forest gump.
 
Just don't hit the big theaters...

We have a few first run small theaters that are pretty good. No more than 4 bucks anytime. Kids discounts as well.

I can spend just under 20 bucks and take the three of us to a late show, complete with pop and popcorn. Sometimes even with a hot dog thrown in as well....
 
Demand the best, America: gourmet organic popcorn and Jim Jarmusch films! Can imagine "Dead Man" and popcorn..
 
I went to the movies twice in the last 20 years. $1 DVD from nearby Redbox is good enough for me, I enjoy it from the comfort of my house 5.2 surround sounds and cheap snacks I bought on sale days before.
 
Originally Posted By: JRed
Nobody forced her to go to the movie theatre.

Stellar comment there brainiac.
The point of my post wasn't meant to draw criticism. If you can't grasp the notion that taking a six year old to see a matinee film with his grandmother shouldn't be a financial drain....then you are either very young (and don't know that historically in this country a matinee is SUPPOSED to be cheap....including popcorn) or you just choose to be rude.
 
At some of the movie theaters here, if you go during the peak time you'll pay $12 per person, and don't even get me started on the food, it's generally about $5 for a large popcorn and $5 for a large drink. So you can easily pay $90 for a family of four to see a movie!
 
Take my family out is $15/adault, and $11 per child under 14...$52. $62 if it's 3D and we take our own glasses.

Throw in a popcorn, and 3 icecreams, and there's another $17.

Have to do these things occasionally, as seeing and getting excited about movies is a part of growing up...as is paying $50 for a single game of ten pin for the four of us.

They also learn the lesson that sometimes we won't see the movie, and buy it for $30 the day it hits the stores.
 
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