I can be terribly distractible, so I like that in the theater I have to sit and watch the film from beginning to end. At home I end up surfing the web or petting the dog or stopping to get a beverage or whatever.

No one really seems to know what's driving the lower B.O. I mean, Passion is part of it, but the last fucking STAR WARS came out this year. And a new Batman! NYC movie ticket prices have been pretty stable-- around $10 since, what? 1999? I think it's DVDs. I would never collect videotapes, but DVDs are cheap, small, and have tons of extras. My TV has pretty good sound and a nice screen. Not to mention, I have 20 some movie channels. I even cancelled my subscription to Netflix because I have so many goddamn choices.

Personally I've never downloaded a movie. I find it hard to believe that something that requires such a huge investment in time, equipment and service (fast computer, fast data line, access to knowledge of how to even do it, which I don't) not to mention having to watch something on your computer that could have been filmed by someone's camcorder is really causing people to avoid spending $10. I don't buy it. This is a country where people happily part with $3-4 for COFFEE.

ETA: of course, that's $10 pp. I didn't think about what it costs families, but I still maintain the prices have been stagnant.

Personally I've never downloaded a movie. I find it hard to believe that something that requires such a huge investment in time, equipment and service (fast computer, fast data line, access to knowledge of how to even do it, which I don't) not to mention having to watch something on your computer that could have been filmed by someone's camcorder is really causing people to avoid spending $10.

No shit. And I work among geeks -- I've been offered precisely two pirated movies in the past three years (one of which I accepted, but I'd already seen the movie and bought the DVD the day it came out, so they got their money from me).

I like seeing movies in the theatre, a lot. It helps that I have no problem watching them alone, have no sitting to arrange, and rarely buy concessions. I just end up not quite having the time -- but like Robin, I watch them better in the theatre. Straight through, no napping or phone calls or web.

We more or less quit going to movies because it wasn't fun anymore. With the crowds, and the commercials (a big rant for me) and the high price of the concession, the only way I could get anyone to go with me was to go during work hours or first thing on Saturday. Otherwise it was unpleasant. Combined with a lot of disappointing movies, and not having a lot of free time due to long work hours and commute, meant that we needed to see movies on our schedule, on our (admittedly nice) home theater.

So DVDs.

Although we buy them rather than rent them, as buying used or overflow's the same price as renting (and now we're here, and NetFlix doesn't ship to APOs.) But buying a DVD and having it to watch forever and make comments during and pause and eat good cheap food is CHEAPER than a movie ticket.

Which I guess was my point, long way round.

I see almost everything in theatres, but a lot of those are free screenings, so ticket price is less of an issue.

I like going to the movies. I also like watching DVDs. Overall, I think people are more distractable, and less patient.

I think I see more movies in theaters these days, because there are a fair number of movies that I want to be involved in the discussion here.

We've pretty much stopped going to the movies, except for special events. We're pretty much limited to weekends, which are crowded. And there really isn't that much we want to see.

Also, TiVo. It doesn't matter much if there isn't anything on right now that we want to see. Because we probably have several hours of stuff recorded over the past few days. And we don't have to worry if we want to see something that's on at 2:00 a.m., or at noon on Thursday -- TiVo will get it.

I'll spend $3-4 on coffee, because I get $3-4 of pleasure from it, and because it's still in the sub-$5 category of cheap pleasures.

A movie, however, costs about $10 (up from about $7.50 a few years ago) per person, isn't a sure thing in terms of the pleasure I get from it, and may require paying for parking, depending on the theatre, which brings the per-person cost up to $13-15, and for that, we could get some okay food, a DVD (hell, we can usually buy a DVD for what it costs both of us to see a movie), and not have to deal with the other humans.

Alternative theory: game consoles. Why go see a movie when you can interactively play a story or a fight scene?

But, Plei, would downloading a crappy version of the movie be worth saving the $15? I think that was bon's angle.

Why go see a movie when you can interactively play a story or a fight scene?

I go to the movies to see work other people have done. I like narrative, acting and directing. I interactively fight all the time.