Vote in our poll for a chance to win a $250 Amazon or Best Buy gift card (1 Viewer)

[Ed Moxley]

In the past 10 yrs., we've been to the theater maybe 7 times. So, I voted 1% - 30%. I guess it's actually less than 1%......... We saw The Hobbit at the theater. Probably won't go again until the next Hobbit movie at Christmas.

 

[Elizabeth S]

I average about 60 - 70 theatrical viewings a year (my record is 104). For me, it's the opposite of a social activity -- I love going alone because it's MY TIME! Going to the theater is just something I've done since I was a kid. I'll take the day off for those special films I must see on the first day, first showing (like "Before Midnight").

I don't think I would change my theater-going habit even if I had a spectacular set-up at home. I want to see the films of interest NOW on a big screen, not wait 4 months for the Blu-ray. Yes, occasionally there are distractions from those around me, so the smaller the audience, the better. I also fear being "spoiled" in the interim between the theatrical and blu-ray release.

 

[Rob_Ray]

I've found that the moviegoing experience that I thrilled to as a kid is long gone now. And it's not just rude moviegoers and cellphones that others grouse about. It's the general lack of showmanship all around. No more massive, single-screen theatres with plush curtains. A non-stop barrage of commercials between screenings. No cartoons or shorts, just loud, intrusive and generally repulsive trailers for movies I have no interest in seeing. An all-around presentation that doesn't interest me at all. Exhibitors have made it clear that I'm not their target audience, so I stay home and wait for the bluray, unless it's something I really, really want to see in a theatre, which happens maybe twice a year.

In short, I've become my dad. And that scares me.

 

[bigshot]

I have an intense hatred for cable/satellite TV. I don't want to pay $80-$100 bucks a month for TV. Call me old fashioned. I grew up with rabbit ears that cost bupkis. I'm stuck in my ways.That said, I recently started experimenting with a totally new/totally old solution... Broadcast TV. I got an Elgato eyeTV Hybrid and a nice leaf antenna and hooked it up to my 1080p Epson projection system through my Mac Mini server. I was astounded. Here in Los Angeles, we get 74 broadcast stations. Most of it is crap, but the same can be said of cable. I added to that a Roku 3 with a $7.99 Netflix streaming account. Boom. Everything I need. Broadcast and streaming video looks and sounds great... HD, 5:1 sound, a huge selection of titles.There is an alternative to the overpriced phone/internet/TV packages you get mailers on all the time. It's right there for free on TV and over the internet. When you add Netflix streaming to that, you are pretty much set for anything you might want. What's old is new again.

 

[Jason_V]

I have an intense hatred for cable/satellite TV. I don't want to pay $80-$100 bucks a month for TV. Call me old fashioned. I grew up with rabbit ears that cost bupkis. I'm stuck in my ways.

Amen. I ditched cable TV and TiVo back in December in favor of Hulu Plus, Amazon Prime and Netflix discs. Between those and the substantial collection of movies on the shelf (and podcasts and...well...going out), I don't feel like I miss anything. Any broadcast show I want to see is streamed on the network website or on Hulu. And if it's not...I don't much care.

I thought I was going to hate my life after I cut the cord. Not so much, it turns out. I'm not mindlessly watching everything now. I have to be deliberate when I decide to put something on.

 

[Michael Elliott]

If it wasn't for ESPN and Turner Classic Movies then I'd have no need for cable. MGMHD and HDNet Movies are two more good ones but I could get these films elsewhere. I think my cable/internet bill is around $120 right now.

 

[AlexF]

For me, my theatre going has dropped significantly since kids. Shocking that.

If you'd asked about 3 years ago, my first answer would likely have been in the 60-80% range. Now? 1-30%. We've managed two movies a year in the theatre for the last couple of years. Would I like to see more in the theatre? Yes. Can I? Not easily.

 

[jimmyjet]

question 2 is not really relevant if the answer to question 1 is never.

so i just put that i go to the movies the same amount.

 

[davidHartzog]

My cable bill is about $130 a month, just so i can watch TCM from time to time. Well, this alo covers the phone and wifi for my Nook. I watch mostly dvds; i own about 1200. I only see maybe half a dozen film a year. Frankly with these small screens now, whats the diff? I can remember seeing Thunderball and Heat of the Night on screens as big as a house, now that was something. Also most films coming out are sequels, remakes, remakes of remakes, reboots, reboots of reboots, or based on a comic book or a video game or a tv show that wasn't that great to begin with. The variety just isn't there. If i lived in NYC, it would be different, i could see all kinds of movies, but i don't.

 

[Parker Clack]

We have the convience of having a multi-screen theater at one of our Casinos where I can go watch a 1st run movie at noon and there might be 3 other people in there and I still don't go to the movies anymore. Mostly because the movies they make now-a-days at really shot with the home viewer in mind. There are few and far between movies that need to be seen on the big screen anymore. If the movie is shot with the movie goer in mind (that is in 2.35::1 or there abouts) then I will go to the theater to watch it. Everything else I can wait to watch it on my 50 inch plasma.

I have an HTPC with cable and I am looking forward to the day I can get rid of it. I am one of the lucky few that will be getting Google Fiber. Right now I am paying ~$120/month for barely 5m/sec internet and basic cable. With GF I will be getting 1TB up and down and 125 HD channels with a 6 Tuner 2 TB DVR for the same $120/month.

I use Netflix and Amazon Prime all the time. My wife added Acorn TV which I enjoy when I can't watch something from the BBC on Netflix or Amazon Prime yet. I just use Playon or my Roku 2HD and have a great time.

My other issue with going to the movies with my family is my wife and daughter have to order at least another $50 worth of crap to watch the show. When you throw in another $25+ for the tickets and another $40 to $75 for dinner afterwards I have a hard time justifying the expense. When I was a kid going to the movies every weekend I was spending maybe $15 for 4 movies and that included a soda and popcorn. The cost of going to the movies has really kept me away from them for years.

 

[sidburyjr]

We plan to move later this year and will eventually be living in the Charleston, SC area in the winter and the Boston, MA area in the summer. This will undoubtedly change the way that I watch "current" tv. I currently have DISH but doubt that they would be willing to install equipment in two places and only charge for one. Right now, my satellite package is basically everything but when we move I intend to cut it down substantially.

I don't have Netflix but do have Amazon Prime and an extensive UV and digital library on my computers and Apple TV (first gen). So I stream a lot but most of it is from upstairs where my computers are to the plasma in the living room, with an occasional burst of Amazon Prime free stuff.

I don't think my movie watching habits have changed too much since getting a big tv hooked into my stereo in the living room (It's not really a home theater but just a bunch of stuff tied together in my living room and home offices. Both my wife and I are retired so we typically go to the theater on Senior Mondays when all shows of all movies are one low price (5.75 plus 2.50? surcharge for 3D and another surcharge for XD). If we don't make it on Mondays or the first show of the day (which is also discounted) senior prices are somewhere between 6 and 7 dollars per ticket. We usually go when the crowd is small perhaps during the second week or third week of a release. We saw Star Trek this past monday (in 2D at the recommendation of our daughter) and that was the first time in memory that a cell phone rang in the theater when we were there. The person was in the row behind us and just hung up the phone without answering. So I've had no problems with inconsiderate people for the most part. We try to go every couple of weeks but sometimes miss out.

Since I'm 70, I've seen lots of catalog titles in the theater over the past years but there are so many movies that I've missed that the 1-30 percent option is probably the best for me, maybe in the 25% range if I had to guess.

And of course I've discovered numerous TV shows from DVD before starting to watch them on actual TV. For example, my daughter made us watch season 1 of Burn Notice hoping to convince us that it was worth putting it on our schedule. She succeeded but I'm not unhappy that the upcoming season will be the last. But I'd guess that most of the TV on disk that I have was bought after seeing it on TV rather than before.

 

[Spencer Draper]

I live for theaters, especially historical venues. Have done so since childhood. Yet in the past few years I almost never see a film theatrically due to costs and never being able to find a decent venue, especially one that can present picture and sound properly.
My local arthouse is expensive for going all the time so I have to pick what I'd like to see most, typically reduced to just going to only the repertory print screenings.

I don't stream because I can never get the quality to level out, and I'm still a stickler for physical media. Additionally they never seem to care about using correct transfers.

It's pretty sad when a $10 BD at home on a modest setup can equal if not better a theatrical presentation. Plus, there's never anything I really want to see. It's not as if you an go and see classic or the great films from time to time in a normal context. You still have to seek out the indies and less commercial fare, and still are usually regulated to seeing them on video later.

That said, the best theatrical experience I've had in years is in the Carmike second run in the not so good area of town. Not so good movies play far better in an old THX auditorium on 35mm for $2.

 

[SWFF]

Just entered!

 

[NBPk402]

I originally slowed down going to theaters due to price but my HT is good enough now (not the best) to where we enjoy the movies at home much more than the theaters plus we save the money. I also was fed up with the noise from others and the kicking of seats etc that happen when we would go to the theater.

 

[zoetmb]

The problem with the poll is that there's an implied bias that if we're seeing fewer movies at the theatre as compared to the number we're viewing at home, that we're attending theaters less because of the availability of home theatre. But that's not the case (at least not for me).

I'm seeing fewer movies at the theatre because most movies today suck. No major studio is willing to make a movie that's going to earn less than $350 million. There are relatively few films made for intelligent adults about realistic people. Everything is a comic book movie or the equivalent or a movie about Peter Pan boys behaving badly. Lots of blowing things up in the former and lots of unfunny toilet humor in the latter and little character development or strong writing in either.

I'm also seeing fewer movies at the theatre because prices have gotten really expensive and because the theatre experience has gotten far worse as the industry further consolidates.

In NYC, the AMC Empire 25 charges as follows: regular 2D: $14.50, RealD 3d: $18.50, ETX 2D: $17.50, ETX 3D: $19.50; Lie-MAX 2D: $19.50, Lie-MAX 3D $20.50.

IMO, that's a lot to spend for a movie that is either going to be bad or bore one to death.

In spite of special venues like RPX and ETX, the sound quality usually sucks. It's brittle and often way too loud. I really don't want the dialog "yelling" at me for two hours. Doesn't anyone understand what dynamic range means anymore?

And even if one wants to avoid 3D, 2D has been ruined by the presence of 3D because most digital projectors leave the 3D filter on when projecting 2D movies, greatly affecting color quality and dimming the image, although I just did see an ad for a device that fixes this in the latest issue of Boxoffice magazine.

There was a time when if I passed a theatre and something was about to start, I'd go in. But now it's much more of a rarity. There's rarely something I want to see. I find that sad because I probably used to see 50 movies a year in a theatre.

 

[Michael Elliott]

I am curious what a normal ticket price is around the country. I think the most expensive one around here is after 6pm when they go to around $10.50 but this is before the 3-D charge or if you're seeing something in IMAX. I think most matinee prices range from $7-$8 but the discounts can get tickets at $5 or $6.50, which are the ones I always try to hit. I don't start work until 12:30pm so going to a $5 showing at 10am is actually quite nice.

I know NYC and LA plays everything and sometimes too much but it seems the indie and foreign markets are extremely good this year. I've seen quite a few films that didn't break the box office but they were still extremely good for those who don't want the remake/comic/sequel type of movies. I think there are quite a few good movies out there it's just people are electing to go watch the bad ones or they simply don't support these films by going to see them in a theater, which is why I'm sure more and more of these will probably become available on streaming/VOD only.

 

[PaulDA]

I am presentationally promiscuous. I watch films at the cinema, with my HD projector 5.1 HT, on my SDTV with 2.0 audio setup (state of the art circa 1997 setup--TV is from 2003 though and I have HD DVD and BD in both systems), streamed to either system or my computer or even, in a pinch, my iPhone. I have BDs, HD DVDs, VHS, DVD, iTunes downloads. I buy and I rent.

I watch fewer movies at the cinema since I have an HT setup, but the causal effect is not what one might assume. I don't watch more movies at home because I have an HT, I have an HT because getting to the cinema became far more problematic in terms of time with the arrival of children and my odd work schedule (as well as a move to the 'burbs that puts me farther away from English-language cinemas than I used to be). In fact, my having an HT is, in part, a compensatory gift from my wife as I chose to give up my tenured position to become a stay at home parent (with a part-time, non-tenured teaching gig on the side that is somewhat precarious).

Ideally, I would want to see every movie in a state of the art cinema, reasonably full with well-behaved viewers (and a good chunk of them being friends with whom I can discuss the movie afterwards). Reality is never ideal, so I see most movies on my reasonably decent HT setup by myself or with one other person (not counting kid movies--usually the whole family is in on those). I go for the best format available at a reasonable cost and convenience. But it's the movie that counts more than the format or presentation. I watched Lawrence of Arabia for the first time on a 13 inch colour TV. It was great. Got even greater when I got to watch the BD a few months ago. Hope to catch a nice print at a big screen cinema some day. But I would prefer to watch it on that old 13 inch TV than never get to see it again. Same goes for a lot (and I mean a lot) of movies.

 

[Jason_V]

I am curious what a normal ticket price is around the country. I think the most expensive one around here is after 6pm when they go to around $10.50 but this is before the 3-D charge or if you're seeing something in IMAX. I think most matinee prices range from $7-$8 but the discounts can get tickets at $5 or $6.50, which are the ones I always try to hit. I don't start work until 12:30pm so going to a $5 showing at 10am is actually quite nice.

Up here in Seattle, AMC just raised the morning price to $6.50 from $6 for 2D shows. When we saw Star Trek at night in IMAX 3D, it was $17.50.

 

[Steve Morgan]

I live 25 miles from a theater so there is a $20 bill just to get there and back,add tics,drinks,munchies and your up to $60 for a movie. I have put at least $15000 in to my HT so I pre-order blu-rays and watch at home so I can pause and take breaks and grab an adult beverage some thing you can not do at a commercial theater!

 

[TravisR]

I live outside of Philadelphia and the average of the 4 chains near me is about $13 at night. Matinees range from $5 at the AMC to $10 at the Regal. The art theater is $9.75 at night. An IMAX matinee is $18 and at night, I assume it costs your first born.