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.

Of the 18 movies playing here I want to see 4. Two I would probably be fine wiht waiting and seeing in the theater.

There are 5 remakes and from what I've read those aren't good. On my way home last night I was listening to the night time djs and they suggested renting Godzilla rather than wasting time and money on War of the Worlds.

they suggested renting Godzilla rather than wasting time and money on War of the Worlds.

If they meant the Matthew Broderick, US made version? OUCH!

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

Yeah, me too, but I'm wondering what overall cultural change has affected the box office. If it's not just creative studio profit reporting getting out of hand.

I mean, most movies have always sucked.

I mean, I used to fight interactively before getting pregnant. I'm just now able to do real push-ups again, let alone take a fall.