The future of movie theaters

[Monkey_Driven]

I like going to to theater too.

[tragabigzanda]

Whenever there's active promotion on the part of somebody else, whenever I see somebody all dolled up for a fancy photograph and someone's handing out flyers or whenever there's active promotion for something like that, as an imposition on my day, I hate all those people and I want them to fail. I have a visceral reaction to advertising and promotion. There's just something about salesmanship that grates on me on a very base level and I react very negatively towards it. I want those people to suffer and I want their enterprises to fail.

[doone]

I'd miss the popcorn.

[B]

Movie theaters fucking suck, hope they all go out of business and kill off the shitty malls and strip malls they're in while they're at it.

Chapel Hill has a great one built in 1927. They're cheap ($7 for adults). They sell beer. They host local events. They'll even do a birthday party with popcorn, soda, and pizza for $250. You can show what they're showing or bring in your own DVD.



There's also an "art house" theater supported by a non-profit that shows all the independent movies. They aren't as cheap, but they do sell beer or let you bring in coffee from the attached coffee shop.



My family tends to frequent the six screen AMC in town, because we can get gift cards from Discover. Their concessions are cheaper than most places, and the manager, Thor ... yes, THOR, is great. He's suggested when to buy tickets, and once gave me my money back when I had to leave a movie with a crying baby. It's only ever sold out for Spider-Man 2 and The Last Jedi, which is a mixed blessing. No one's ever in the theater, but then, I don't know how they are making money.



And lastly, there's the abomination, which charges $15-$20 a seat, but it's one of those fancy, reserved seat places that will bring beer, wine, and cocktails, and a full menu to your giant, cushy recliner. They also get the stuff like Let's Play Two and show old movies during the summer. They suck, but they also have their uses.



I love movie theaters.

[Bammer]

Hardly ever go, won’t miss ‘em.

[epilogue]

I will miss the Alamo Drafthouse if it disappears.

[DissidentRival4]

i miss the dollar theater

This. Saw Pulp Fiction about 5 times and Independence Day about 5 times in dollar theaters back in the day, lol...
But now? It's rare to take the whole family to the movies - when we do - we take advantage of the free AMC membership and try to do $5 Tuesdays. But with kids in school, it's obviously not a very frequent occurrence. So we will occasionally go during the matinee priced show on a Saturday or Sunday. The rare times we pay full price is mommy/daddy date night.
So all that to say - I wouldn't miss the theaters if they went away. I'd rather spend the $20 to stream a brand new release in the comfort of my own home - a lot cheaper than taking a family of 4 and getting concessions too.

[tragabigzanda]

Whenever there's active promotion on the part of somebody else, whenever I see somebody all dolled up for a fancy photograph and someone's handing out flyers or whenever there's active promotion for something like that, as an imposition on my day, I hate all those people and I want them to fail. I have a visceral reaction to advertising and promotion. There's just something about salesmanship that grates on me on a very base level and I react very negatively towards it. I want those people to suffer and I want their enterprises to fail.

[Mickey]

If I still lived in Vegas I'd deeply miss the local casino theaters, which are lovely insofar as they're always empty but serve alcohol and have huge reclining seats. We never go to the movies in Philly though, it's too much of an ordeal.

[tragabigzanda]

Whenever there's active promotion on the part of somebody else, whenever I see somebody all dolled up for a fancy photograph and someone's handing out flyers or whenever there's active promotion for something like that, as an imposition on my day, I hate all those people and I want them to fail. I have a visceral reaction to advertising and promotion. There's just something about salesmanship that grates on me on a very base level and I react very negatively towards it. I want those people to suffer and I want their enterprises to fail.

[lennytheweedwhacker]

i miss the dollar theater

This. Saw Pulp Fiction about 5 times and Independence Day about 5 times in dollar theaters back in the day, lol...
But now? It's rare to take the whole family to the movies - when we do - we take advantage of the free AMC membership and try to do $5 Tuesdays. But with kids in school, it's obviously not a very frequent occurrence. So we will occasionally go during the matinee priced show on a Saturday or Sunday. The rare times we pay full price is mommy/daddy date night.
So all that to say - I wouldn't miss the theaters if they went away. I'd rather spend the $20 to stream a brand new release in the comfort of my own home - a lot cheaper than taking a family of 4 and getting concessions too.

yeah the $5 tuesdays are nice...we have a theater here that tickets are around $5 no matter the time...they get pretty much everything the amc one does as well

[lennytheweedwhacker]

I haven’t had a dollar theater in my vicinity for years now. I’d prefer they survive rather than the multiplexes.

we had one for quite awhile here that got up to about $2...the only catch is that the movies came about four months or so after the normal theater release

[DissidentRival4]

If I still lived in Vegas I'd deeply miss the local casino theaters, which are lovely insofar as they're always empty but serve alcohol and have huge reclining seats. We never go to the movies in Philly though, it's too much of an ordeal.

They just recently opened up a theater (about two years ago) that supposedly does this as well. I say "supposedly" because I have yet to see the bar open when we've gone. The best thing about this theater is that we can pre-order the tickets and actually get to choose our seats ahead of time. I do like that aspect a lot.

[tragabigzanda]

Whenever there's active promotion on the part of somebody else, whenever I see somebody all dolled up for a fancy photograph and someone's handing out flyers or whenever there's active promotion for something like that, as an imposition on my day, I hate all those people and I want them to fail. I have a visceral reaction to advertising and promotion. There's just something about salesmanship that grates on me on a very base level and I react very negatively towards it. I want those people to suffer and I want their enterprises to fail.

[Mickey]

How’s the awesome Philly food scene holding up in the pandemic, Mickey?

It's okay, there's been a lot of rallying around local restaurants so most of the ones in our neighborhood have stayed open via delivery/pick-up and seem to be doing alright. But I can't imagine they're at full staff right now and without margins on alcohol sales I'm not optimistic. We're trying to do our part to put some orders in without doing takeout every night.

[Mickey]

If I still lived in Vegas I'd deeply miss the local casino theaters, which are lovely insofar as they're always empty but serve alcohol and have huge reclining seats. We never go to the movies in Philly though, it's too much of an ordeal.

They just recently opened up a theater (about two years ago) that supposedly does this as well. I say "supposedly" because I have yet to see the bar open when we've gone. The best thing about this theater is that we can pre-order the tickets and actually get to choose our seats ahead of time. I do like that aspect a lot.

It's a nice middle ground--I hate the Alamo Drafthouse style places with all the food and the servers, it's too distracting, but the old-style movie theaters really make you wonder what you're paying for when there's no beer and they're less comfortable than your house.

[lennytheweedwhacker]

I haven’t had a dollar theater in my vicinity for years now. I’d prefer they survive rather than the multiplexes.

we had one for quite awhile here that got up to about $2...the only catch is that the movies came about four months or so after the normal theater release

That still sounds great. But I’m more interested in older movies: Hitchcock, Goonies, Reservoir Dogs...

never heard of any of those

[Simple Torture]

This certainly seems like something that's going to have effects felt for a while to come. This was supposed to come out in theaters of October 2021, and (according to the article) Disney was going to make $75 million in distro rights plus ticket sales, and now they're banking on people signing up for their service and forgetting to cancel after the free trial instead.

[Bammer]

Disney was going to make $75 million in distro rights plus ticket sales, and now they're banking on people signing up for their service and forgetting to cancel after the free trial instead.

You can count Mrs. Bam among that group.

[Superblood Wolfmoon]

I just bought this and this and will have my own movie theater in the backyard soon for my friends and family. Best part? No dumb-dumbs allowed! I will miss that popcorn though.