Movie Theaters

[Links2k]

Does anyone besides young people still regularly attend a movie theater anymore? When my kids were much younger, they attended Central Day School in Collierville, so every Monday I would go to the Collierville theater to watch almost anything. When I walked in, they knew I wanted a large Coke, a hot dog and a small popcorn. I always went to the first showing, so I almost, always had the theater to myself. 
 

Now days I prefer watching movies at home. I have so many streaming apps that I can wait to see anything new that comes out. The exception may be Costner’s “American Saga.”  I had planned to wait for it to stream, but the other night while watching a recording with my wife, the trailer for American Saga came on and I decided to watch it again instead of fast forwarding like I normally do. Well, the wife saw it and screamed “that looks like it’s going to be good!”  I agreed, then told her about the excitement being generated about the movie.  So, if see wants to go to the theater, we’ll be going to the theater. My out may be that my wife has a short attention span and does one hundred things at once, so she may never mention the movie again.

[Grayfox54]

When I retired, I used to go quite often when something good came out. I usually enjoy the big screen experience. I'd go to the first show in the middle of the week. Rarely more than 5 or 6 of us there. 

But frankly, the last few years there hasn't been much that I can't wait for it to stream.  Not a damned thing I'm willing to spend money on. 

[Links2k]

1 hour ago, Grayfox54 said:

When I retired, I used to go quite often when something good came out. I usually enjoy the big screen experience. I'd go to the first show in the middle of the week. Rarely more than 5 or 6 of us there. 

But frankly, the last few years there hasn't been much that I can't wait for it to stream.  Not a damned thing I'm willing to spend money on. 

I think Amazon Prime video is already selling “Civil War.”  I imagine it will be available with the subscription  in a few weeks. 

[gregintenn]

I’ll be interested in hearing how you liked the Costner movie if you go. We haven’t been to a theater in a while, but I’d kind of like to see The Bike Riders.

 

The last several times we were in a theater, they were anything but crowded. I don’t see how they stay open.

Edited June 24 by gregintenn

[Pain103]

I haven't been in probably 3 years. Now most movies can be rented on a streaming service for probably the same or less than tickets and snacks at the theater. 

[BigK]

4 hours ago, Links2k said:

...The exception may be Costner’s “American Saga.”  I had planned to wait for it to stream, but the other night while watching a recording with my wife, the trailer for American Saga came on and I decided to watch it again instead of fast forwarding like I normally do. Well, the wife saw it and screamed “that looks like it’s going to be good!”  I agreed, then told her about the excitement being generated about the movie.  So, if see wants to go to the theater, we’ll be going to the theater. My out may be that my wife has a short attention span and does one hundred things at once, so she may never mention the movie again.

I haven't been as excited to go see something on the big screen as I am to see this movie in a long, long time. 

[NoBanStan]

1 hour ago, Links2k said:

I think Amazon Prime video is already selling “Civil War.”  I imagine it will be available with the subscription  in a few weeks. 

"What kind of crappy movie are you?"

*edit* hit post too quick..

I would love to go back to the theater. It was always a treat to see a great story in a great format. It can still be that way if they would make movies worth watching.

Maybe Deadpool and Wolverine will be fun.

Edited June 24 by NoBanStan

[Links2k]

1 hour ago, gregintenn said:

I’ll be interested in hearing how you liked the Costner movie if you go. We haven’t been to a theater in a while, but I’d kind of like to see The Bike Riders.

 

The last several times we were in a theater, they were anything but crowded. I don’t see how they stay open.

The Bike Riders has a good feel to it. I’d like to see it. The kid who recently played Elvis is a very good actor. I can’t recall the name of the series, but he played a WWII bomber pilot. I think it’s showing on Apple TV.

[Links2k]

1 hour ago, Pain103 said:

I haven't been in probably 3 years. Now most movies can be rented on a streaming service for probably the same or less than tickets and snacks at the theater. 

True. Certain movies I purchase and watch several times. The Matrix series, Top Gun II and Oppenheimer. 

[tercel89]

I would go with my kids to the movie theater all the time when they were young and also with my wife. Well when the Star Wars movie The Force Awakens came out in 2015  , I worked overtime along with other police officers to do security at a theater since there were huge crowds. Some kid got sick and threw up what looked like 5 pounds of greasy buttery popcorn and the smell was awful ! This happened right in front of me . After that I could never stand the smell of popcorn , so I hadn't been in a long time until last month. The cool thing I notice now is that our big movie theater was reclining seats which is really neat ! 

[Jeb48]

I haven't been in years and then only some big block busters that needed a big screen and sound system and there is always someone behind you talking through the movie.  Sometimes explaining what is going to happen next to who they are with.

[Chucktshoes]

2 hours ago, gregintenn said:

I’ll be interested in hearing how you liked the Costner movie if you go. We haven’t been to a theater in a while, but I’d kind of like to see The Bike Riders.

 

The last several times we were in a theater, they were anything but crowded. I don’t see how they stay open.

Covid shutdowns + the pivot to streaming broke the public of the habit of seeing movies in theaters. They’re all struggling hard now and Hollywood’s insistence on putting out crap movies focused on The Message isn’t helping draw folks back to theaters. I expect to lose at least one major chain in the next couple of years. 

[Links2k]

9 minutes ago, Chucktshoes said:

Covid shutdowns + the pivot to streaming broke the public of the habit of seeing movies in theaters. They’re all struggling hard now and Hollywood’s insistence on putting out crap movies focused on The Message isn’t helping draw folks back to theaters. I expect to lose at least one major chain in the next couple of years. 

I think they should close all of the theaters. New release movies could be released directly to customers at a decent rent or purchase price point, and others wait six months to a year for them to stream. 

[NoBanStan]

28 minutes ago, Chucktshoes said:

Covid shutdowns + the pivot to streaming broke the public of the habit of seeing movies in theaters. They’re all struggling hard now and Hollywood’s insistence on putting out crap movies focused on The Message isn’t helping draw folks back to theaters. I expect to lose at least one major chain in the next couple of years. 

You forgot to add poor writing and acting, unless you had that roll up to "crap movies".

Beyond The Message, they continue to produce fan service garbage with no original idea or plot. This is why we got ghostbusters, a new matrix movie, bill and ted, twisters, etc, etc... all of which are terrible (yea i know twisters isn't out, but Bill Paxton isn't with us anymore, so piss off hollywood). They take something good and then try to cram their garbage into it, hoping to make a quick buck on name recognition.

I'm gonna get hate for this, but I hated the new Top Gun because of this formula. Same basic plot with an unapologetic death star trench run rip off at the end. Oh look, the good guys face all the same scenarios and challenges as the first movie! Oh look, an F14 for the heroes to take! Who saw that coming??

[Darrell]

7 hours ago, NoBanStan said:

I'm gonna get hate for this, but I hated the new Top Gun because of this formula.

That was the only movie I've ever gone to the theater to see TWICE, and I bought the DVD and have seen it half a dozen times since. To each his own.

I went to see the last Mission Impossible at the theater and left very, very disappointed. There was non-stop action, but no plot at all. I almost left before it was over.

[NoBanStan]

1 hour ago, Darrell said:

That was the only movie I've ever gone to the theater to see TWICE, and I bought the DVD and have seen it half a dozen times since. To each his own.

I went to see the last Mission Impossible at the theater and left very, very disappointed. There was non-stop action, but no plot at all. I almost left before it was over.

I totally wanted to like it. Showed up as a fanboy ready for some fun. It started out great but quickly went down the tubes for me when they introduced the other pilots, the love interest and the rest of the plot.

MAJOR kudos to Cruise for getting Kilmer in the movie though. Classy move.

[NoBanStan]

10 hours ago, Links2k said:

True. Certain movies I purchase and watch several times. The Matrix series, Top Gun II and Oppenheimer. 

I'm not sure I could get through Oppenheimer a second time. Very well done film however.

Also, by The Matrix series, I will presume you mean 1-3 and not that flaming abomination Resurrection

[monkeylizard]

I have the AMC subscription so I can go as much as I want for just $21.80/month incl. taxes. That makes it nice because if a movie sucks, I can just leave and go do something else and don't feel like I wasted my money, just a little time.  Technically it's not unlimited, it's 3 movies a week. I can only think of once in the past 2 years where there were actually more than 3 movies out I wanted to see in a week AND had time to do more than 3. I just waited and saw the 4th one the next week.

AMC's plan is way better than Regal's because AMC doesn't upcharge for anything. I can see movies at the IMAX, Dolby, 3D, etc. with no extra fees. Regal charges fees for EVERYTHING, including booking tickets in their own app. They're ridiculous.

I go to usually 3-4 movies a month except in the lean months of January-April when not much comes out and it's the dumping ground for bad movies. Even then I usually get to 1 or 2 a month. May through August is prime time for blockbusters and October-December is prime time for the dramas and the occasional blockbuster, especially around Thanksgiving and Christmas.
 

[btq96r]

With few exceptions, for new releases, unless it's a James Bond, or Star Trek movie, I'll wait for it to hit streaming.

AMC theaters was doing this cool thing where they would show old movies remastered.  Getting to see Lawrence of Arabia in a theater was a very cool experience.  That's worth the time and cost.

[monkeylizard]

Yep. Those are included in their subscription too.
They'll replay some newer "classics" too. A few weeks ago they did the LotR trilogy, one each day.
I watched JAWS on IMAX a couple of years ago. That was super cool and the first time I've ever seen it on a big screen.

[gregintenn]

11 hours ago, Links2k said:

The Bike Riders has a good feel to it. I’d like to see it. The kid who recently played Elvis is a very good actor. I can’t recall the name of the series, but he played a WWII bomber pilot. I think it’s showing on Apple TV.

I've been a Tom Hardy fan since I first saw the movie Lawless. If you haven't seen that one, don't cheat yourself.

[btq96r]

50 minutes ago, monkeylizard said:

They'll replay some newer "classics" too. A few weeks ago they did the LotR trilogy, one each day.

If you couldn't smoke in the theater when it was released, it's not a "classic".

But year of production aside, the way they upscale these movies for the modern screen is impressive.

[mikegideon]

12 hours ago, Links2k said:

True. Certain movies I purchase and watch several times. The Matrix series, Top Gun II and Oppenheimer. 

Yeah. The Matrix took more than one pass for me. I need to watch Oppenheimer again. 

[Grayfox54]

16 hours ago, gregintenn said:

The last several times we were in a theater, they were anything but crowded. I don’t see how they stay open.

My local theater (20 screens)  has survived by being one of very few ( maybe the only one)  in the Memphis area to show Hindi/Bollywood movies along with some classics. Right now they have 3 Indian movies and "Coming Soon" they have The Never Ending Story, Rear Window and Blazing Saddles. Hey, whatever it takes to stay alive. 

[papa61]

Haven't enjoyed the theater since I was a kid. Once I got a drivers license and went to the drive in I never (almost) went back. Let's see, put on real clothes, sit in a dark room with people without a cigarette for 2 hours vs watch from my recliner with my dogs on65 inch with sound system. Nope, I can wait a week or two until it is available to stream or on DVD. And actually, the wife and I prefer older movies.