I love/loved going to the theatre to see movies in the place where they were designed to be seen. Theatre picture and sound quality are much better than what I have on my tv set. That said, the three main reasons I don't go to the theatre as much anymore:
1. I am physically unable to go by myself due to my health. I have to have someone take me and then help me up the stairs to my seat. Then, when I invariably need to go to the bathroom during the movie, they have to help me out of the auditorium, to the bathroom, and then back into the auditorium again. It is an annoyance.
2. Movie originality just isn't there. Everything seems to be a sequel, a prequel, or a reboot. There seems to be a majority of films in the superhero genre, and I am tired of that. Many films glorify the criminal element and organized crime and I personally find this morally and ethically wrong. Let's now add all of the gross and gruesome horror/slasher films with ZERO redeeming social values. I looked at the movie lineup at my local 24 screen theatre and the only film I would be willing to see was the new Puss and Boots movie (if I needed to take a grandchild). Otherwise, NO!!!!
3. Thirty minutes of previews and commercials before the start of the movie. In my days with United Artists, theatres were told no more than three (maybe four) trailers at the beginning of a film. Now your popcorn and soda are gone before the main feature even starts. I saw the new Avatar film with my son last week and we had thirty five minutes of previews at the front of a film that was already going to run over three hours. Enough!
Transport is an issue. I don't have a car so I must take collective transport (it does not look like it if you look at how many dvd/blu-ray I buy, but I am broke). The problem is collective transport is more expensive than a movie ticket. To save on transport, I watch numerous films at a single theater, Tuesday, I watch three films back to back.
As for other people, I think they watch more TV and streaming. Moreover, video games are stealing some of the theaters' audience.
It is complicated. I don't have close enough friends that I would ask them for a lift. Plus, my friends are not cinephiles. And anyway, I don't like watching film with other people or having to compromise on the choice of the film.
Going to the cinema (transport included) cost me 45,50can$ thuesday for three films. A ticket cost 10$, the transport cost 15,50$. I'm going to continue going to the cinema, but I will watch numerous films at a time otherwise it is not worth it.
For Me, it is something probably absurd. But it is the fact that newspapers do no longer publish the theatre listings. And I hate the way movie cinemas in my country show the movies in their webpages.
a) In the first case, I like to read a physycal newspaper and before the Pandemic, all theatres had their schedule there. While reading the news I took a quick look and often I found movies that don't get a lot of promotion that I was interedted in and I could find where to watch them.
Now that I have to go to the Internet to watch the schedule, I don't take a look everyday, I have to make a decission to go to the movies first, and then go to find pout what is available. It is understandable that theatres don't spend in newspapers now that they may be on their way to extinction, but it affected Me.
b) On the webpages matter, the big movie companies here in Mexico don't allow me to search a movie and find out all the schedule in all their theatres in town, they force me to make a geographical search (North, South, West, East theatres) and look at the schedule theatre by theatre.
Most people are probably not big movie fans and they just go to a theatre near them and watch whatever is there, but for Me, I don't care about the theatre, I care about the movie, I'll go wherever I have to go to watch it, and having to look zone by zone to find what is available is annoying and time consuming.
I used to go around 30 times a year to the movies, in 2022 I only went 13 times, but beyond my complaining, I'll do my best to visit more often.
I went to the movie theater fifty four times this year. It might end up being 55 to 56 if I go Friday and Saturday.
A considerable increase over the (obvious) COVID years. PreCOVID: 2019, I went to the movie theaters 72 times. 74 times in 2018. Those were the two high points (theatrically experience wise) since I've been deliberately keeping track ... starting my documenting the attendance since 2017.
This year has been relatively slow due to starting (Feb 2022) my current job I despise and it took me months before I got out of my funkish situation. Still in the same job but at least handling it better(ish).
How about adding what we call a Betty White option? An option that would contradict your one sided poll. Something along the lines that indicates the voter still is going to the movie theater at normal or near normal rates. Just a suggestion.
Otherwise? This is a well crafted/written poll suggestion.
@Tsarstepan I agree with your suggestion, There should be two additional options:
1. I see the same amount of movies now that I have for many years.
2. I see more movies now than I ever have.
Also, I have got you beat, but I did work for United Artists for many years. In 1987, I started working for them in April and saw about 125 movies (I don't remember the exact number). Then, until I left in late 1994, I saw over 200 films a year in the theatre. I basically saw everything that was being released. I saw a lot of great films and a lot of garbage.
After I left that job, the only time for many years I saw anything in theatres was when I took my kids to a Disney movie. This finally changed with the LOTR saga and I started going back to the theatre. It has never been anywhere near the same rate, but It was at least one every two weeks.
Since my strokes, the numbers have dropped. I maybe saw six films at the theatre all year this year. Avatar 2 was actually the first one I saw since Death on the Nile.
Come to think of it, maybe there is merit in there being an ideological option oriented around anti-commercialism and anti-consumerism, or even anti-"capitalism" altogether. Then again, entertaining the idea of following that route could give rise to trying to account for too many other ideologies like being pro-consumerism but oddly anti-hedonism, an affliction that likely only be experienced by folks who only ever watch unentertaining technical/analytical/dataish documentaries, the kinds of that have never come to movie theaters. Of course, these aforementioned descriptive examples are effectively cult-like and not mainstream at all, so why bother? I don't know.
I've never really been a very frequent silver screen attendee, and I've not gone to the show all by myself since the few times that I did during mid-2000s decade. Okay, so, I'm meaning that I only go to the show with family or friends, which means that I face the same problem in that particular regard as cinephile revealed earlier, that my tastes in movies tends to differ from a vast majority of moviegoers. I suppose I ought to describe everything that I don't like about the cinema system in the places that I live or lived, i.e. vaguely Michigan and Indiana. Well, I share the same sentiments put forth by Pencho15 and the TheOldJalapenoman, e.g. the issues with staying aware of the available offerings (let alone screening schedules), and being unenthusiastic about sequels, prequels and reboots. I just barely enjoy the experience. The prices of foods and beverages at concession stands are too high or the offerings too limited (rather too unhealthy). I often simply smuggle my own snacks in, along with liquor (which is ironically also not particularly healthy). Sometimes the temperature inside the buildings are not quite right, but that isn't really a problem, since I'm well versed in the custom of dressing in layers. I also try to look for cinema buildings that have auditoriums with spacing between seating rows/pews that is greater than average, also whereby every single seat has its own arm rest (and probably a cup holder built into every arm rest). Well, shit! No wonder the prices can be so high. (Seriously, I think, a lot of the pricing has to do with the auditorium cleanup process, utility bills and how the studios often don't want to allow cinema operators are larger cut of the ticket revenue. Also, business taxes just about factor into everything.) Lastly, I ought to point out that I've hardly gone anywhere since the massive global outbreak of what I would describe as a somewhat mild plague.
@jeorj_euler Yes, the movie theatre makes a very miniscule percentage on the box office sales of the movie tickets. In fact, in the first few weeks of release, they may actually lose money on the ticket sales (because of having to pay financial guarantees to the studio up front just to book the movie). Theatres in smaller towns or cities that do not have competition may actually make more on ticket sales because of smaller percentages and guarantees. Because of this, theatres have to make their money in other ways (concession sales, video arcades inside of the theatre, etc.).
Utility prices are also incredibly high in the winter as you have to heat these huge auditoriums with high ceilings (and warm air rises, so the heat blowing from the vents just goes and heats the ceilings). The xenon bulbs in the projectors also burn a lot of energy. You know that it is cheaper to use a 60 watt bulb in your house instead of a 100 watt bulb? Did you know that some projectors use bulbs that are over 3500 watts? In addition to having to run that bulb, you also have to cool all of the equipment from the heat put out by that bulb. Projection booths are always very warm and are often unbearable during the summer months.
People are basically pigs and theatres have cleaning crews that are basically there all night long to clean the auditoriums. It is difficult to mop between and under all of those seats and it takes hours, but there is sticky soda everywhere with popcorn stuck in it (and, even worse, sunflower seeds if they are snuck in).
I actualy saw this one many, many times in theatres! There are also a lot of old Front Row Joe policy trailers (that is what they were called) from Cinemark Theatres on YouTube.
I think it's a mix of some of these things. Even the war in the Ukraine is a factor. Since then the energy prices grew very high and also the inflation. Going to the supermarket is very expensive today in Europe. More and more people haven't got money they can spend at cinemas. Then when you go to the cinema, there are always people which think that the money they spent allows them to misbehave. That doesn't happen when you stream in your safe home. It's more comfortable, especially when you have good equipment at home. And at home you won't have 45 minutes of commercials before the movie starts. D*mn, I already paid for it, why do they force me to watch all these commercials? At home when I stand up, I'm not stuck to bubblegum at the seat. Home, sweet home. As bad as it hurts for me, but the best times of cinema are over. :(
combo for me: If I see a movie in a theater, it has to be a movie that is made for the big screen and would lose a lot going to the small screen, so I'm selective because I can't afford to see just any movie.
Modern movies are way too long to sit in a theatre for. If a modern flick is under 2 hours, it's probably not very good, and if it's more than 2 hours, I've got better things to do with my life. Sure there's been a few good sagas over the years, but for every Godfather, there's a ½doz Jurassic Parks, of LOTR, or comic/space themed franchise. Also, the stories and characters are terrible., or they're either a sequel, a prequel, a reboot, or an adaption of somebody else's fantasy.
TheOldJalapenoman
466 Messages
•
4.9K Points
1 year ago
I love/loved going to the theatre to see movies in the place where they were designed to be seen. Theatre picture and sound quality are much better than what I have on my tv set. That said, the three main reasons I don't go to the theatre as much anymore:
1. I am physically unable to go by myself due to my health. I have to have someone take me and then help me up the stairs to my seat. Then, when I invariably need to go to the bathroom during the movie, they have to help me out of the auditorium, to the bathroom, and then back into the auditorium again. It is an annoyance.
2. Movie originality just isn't there. Everything seems to be a sequel, a prequel, or a reboot. There seems to be a majority of films in the superhero genre, and I am tired of that. Many films glorify the criminal element and organized crime and I personally find this morally and ethically wrong. Let's now add all of the gross and gruesome horror/slasher films with ZERO redeeming social values. I looked at the movie lineup at my local 24 screen theatre and the only film I would be willing to see was the new Puss and Boots movie (if I needed to take a grandchild). Otherwise, NO!!!!
3. Thirty minutes of previews and commercials before the start of the movie. In my days with United Artists, theatres were told no more than three (maybe four) trailers at the beginning of a film. Now your popcorn and soda are gone before the main feature even starts. I saw the new Avatar film with my son last week and we had thirty five minutes of previews at the front of a film that was already going to run over three hours. Enough!
(edited)
0
Maxence_G
4.4K Messages
•
70.5K Points
1 year ago
Transport is an issue. I don't have a car so I must take collective transport (it does not look like it if you look at how many dvd/blu-ray I buy, but I am broke). The problem is collective transport is more expensive than a movie ticket. To save on transport, I watch numerous films at a single theater, Tuesday, I watch three films back to back.
As for other people, I think they watch more TV and streaming. Moreover, video games are stealing some of the theaters' audience.
(edited)
2
Pencho15
Champion
•
6.4K Messages
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114.7K Points
1 year ago
For Me, it is something probably absurd. But it is the fact that newspapers do no longer publish the theatre listings. And I hate the way movie cinemas in my country show the movies in their webpages.
a) In the first case, I like to read a physycal newspaper and before the Pandemic, all theatres had their schedule there. While reading the news I took a quick look and often I found movies that don't get a lot of promotion that I was interedted in and I could find where to watch them.
Now that I have to go to the Internet to watch the schedule, I don't take a look everyday, I have to make a decission to go to the movies first, and then go to find pout what is available. It is understandable that theatres don't spend in newspapers now that they may be on their way to extinction, but it affected Me.
b) On the webpages matter, the big movie companies here in Mexico don't allow me to search a movie and find out all the schedule in all their theatres in town, they force me to make a geographical search (North, South, West, East theatres) and look at the schedule theatre by theatre.
Most people are probably not big movie fans and they just go to a theatre near them and watch whatever is there, but for Me, I don't care about the theatre, I care about the movie, I'll go wherever I have to go to watch it, and having to look zone by zone to find what is available is annoying and time consuming.
I used to go around 30 times a year to the movies, in 2022 I only went 13 times, but beyond my complaining, I'll do my best to visit more often.
0
Tsarstepan
3.9K Messages
•
84.9K Points
1 year ago
I went to the movie theater fifty four times this year. It might end up being 55 to 56 if I go Friday and Saturday.
A considerable increase over the (obvious) COVID years. PreCOVID: 2019, I went to the movie theaters 72 times. 74 times in 2018. Those were the two high points (theatrically experience wise) since I've been deliberately keeping track ... starting my documenting the attendance since 2017.
This year has been relatively slow due to starting (Feb 2022) my current job I despise and it took me months before I got out of my funkish situation. Still in the same job but at least handling it better(ish).
How about adding what we call a Betty White option? An option that would contradict your one sided poll. Something along the lines that indicates the voter still is going to the movie theater at normal or near normal rates. Just a suggestion.
Otherwise? This is a well crafted/written poll suggestion.
4
jeorj_euler
10.6K Messages
•
224.3K Points
1 year ago
I've never really been a very frequent silver screen attendee, and I've not gone to the show all by myself since the few times that I did during mid-2000s decade. Okay, so, I'm meaning that I only go to the show with family or friends, which means that I face the same problem in that particular regard as cinephile revealed earlier, that my tastes in movies tends to differ from a vast majority of moviegoers. I suppose I ought to describe everything that I don't like about the cinema system in the places that I live or lived, i.e. vaguely Michigan and Indiana. Well, I share the same sentiments put forth by Pencho15 and the TheOldJalapenoman, e.g. the issues with staying aware of the available offerings (let alone screening schedules), and being unenthusiastic about sequels, prequels and reboots. I just barely enjoy the experience. The prices of foods and beverages at concession stands are too high or the offerings too limited (rather too unhealthy). I often simply smuggle my own snacks in, along with liquor (which is ironically also not particularly healthy). Sometimes the temperature inside the buildings are not quite right, but that isn't really a problem, since I'm well versed in the custom of dressing in layers. I also try to look for cinema buildings that have auditoriums with spacing between seating rows/pews that is greater than average, also whereby every single seat has its own arm rest (and probably a cup holder built into every arm rest). Well, shit! No wonder the prices can be so high. (Seriously, I think, a lot of the pricing has to do with the auditorium cleanup process, utility bills and how the studios often don't want to allow cinema operators are larger cut of the ticket revenue. Also, business taxes just about factor into everything.) Lastly, I ought to point out that I've hardly gone anywhere since the massive global outbreak of what I would describe as a somewhat mild plague.
4
Breumaster
8.8K Messages
•
164.5K Points
1 year ago
I think it's a mix of some of these things. Even the war in the Ukraine is a factor. Since then the energy prices grew very high and also the inflation. Going to the supermarket is very expensive today in Europe. More and more people haven't got money they can spend at cinemas. Then when you go to the cinema, there are always people which think that the money they spent allows them to misbehave. That doesn't happen when you stream in your safe home. It's more comfortable, especially when you have good equipment at home. And at home you won't have 45 minutes of commercials before the movie starts. D*mn, I already paid for it, why do they force me to watch all these commercials? At home when I stand up, I'm not stuck to bubblegum at the seat. Home, sweet home. As bad as it hurts for me, but the best times of cinema are over. :(
(edited)
1
Pencho15
Champion
•
6.4K Messages
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114.7K Points
1 year ago
@Aris_Athanas you have a typo in option number 10, it's cinemas instead of cinames.
1
Peter_pbn
Champion
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13.9K Messages
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324.9K Points
1 year ago
Live Poll
https://www.imdb.com/poll/cKvrTlnhJ9Q/
0
0
BonaFideBOSS
6.7K Messages
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127.7K Points
1 year ago
Because
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riverotter
1K Messages
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27.8K Points
1 year ago
combo for me: If I see a movie in a theater, it has to be a movie that is made for the big screen and would lose a lot going to the small screen, so I'm selective because I can't afford to see just any movie.
0
rob_webster
334 Messages
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7.1K Points
1 year ago
Modern movies are way too long to sit in a theatre for. If a modern flick is under 2 hours, it's probably not very good, and if it's more than 2 hours, I've got better things to do with my life. Sure there's been a few good sagas over the years, but for every Godfather, there's a ½doz Jurassic Parks, of LOTR, or comic/space themed franchise. Also, the stories and characters are terrible., or they're either a sequel, a prequel, a reboot, or an adaption of somebody else's fantasy.
0
urbanemovies
9.2K Messages
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154.4K Points
1 year ago
FYI, latest worldwide and North American yearly box office totals per boxofficemojo.com
0