I’m going to sound like a crotchety old man for a minute here — but it’s my blog and I can write what I want. Movies are too damn expensive.
One of the luxuries of working from home is that when a friend calls me at 2 o’clock to go see a movie, I can do it. So when Paul called yesterday to ask if I wanted to see Burn After Reading, I said, “Sure.”
Not so long ago, Kris and I were avid movie-goers. Once or twice a month, we’d catch a new film. As we’ve flexed our frugality muscles, however, we’ve fallen out of the habit. Mostly we stay at home and watch movies from Netflix. When we do go out, we make a point of hitting the cheap theaters. It hurts less to pay $4 to see Indiana Jones than to pay $9.50.
But when Paul and I looked for a venue yesterday, none of the cheap places were showing Burn After Reading. The closest theater playing the film was part of the Regal chain, which I generally avoid on principle. Yesterday was a good reminder of why that’s the case.
Here’s a quick run-down of my expenses at the Regal-owned “Hilltop 9″:
- One movie ticket (matinee) = $7.50
- One “medium” diet soda (44 ounces, or about 1.25 liters) = $5.00
- One order nachos = $6.25 (and I only ate about half!)
- One box Raisinets = $3.50
I paid a total of $22.25 to watch a 96 minute movie (plus about 20 minutes of loud in-your-face pre-film advertising). Wow. Not very frugal. ($14.75 for refreshments! In retrospect, I’m amazed at myself.)
Now obviously I chose to pay $22. Nobody forced me to spend this much — I’m not denying that. But you can bet I won’t be doing this again for a long, long time. I’ll stick to the second-run movie houses and the bargain theaters, of which there are many in Portland. Some of my favorites include:
- McMenamins Theaters ($3 films with pizza and beer!)
- Cinemagic (Four or five bucks for a movie, and cheap snacks)
- Moreland Theatre (less than $10 for a movie and snacks)
- Laurelhurst Theater (all films $3)
- Family Cinemas ($5 matinees and reasonable refreshment prices — plus they have Red Vines!)
It would be fine to spend $22 to see a movie if that’s what I valued. But it isn’t. I’d rather save my money to splurge on other things. $22 would buy a nice meal. It would pay for five lunches at the local taco stand. $22 is about the price of a new comics compilation. $22 would buy one-tenth of one percent of a new Mini Cooper. I value a trip to the movies at about ten bucks, not $22.
When I told Kris about my movie-going experience, she too was shocked. “That’s insane!” she said. “That’s more than an entire month of Netflix. In fact, you could watch the entire month of Netflix and buy a bag of popcorn and buy two liters of diet soda.”
Indeed.
(Bonus ten-second movie review: Burn After Reading is goofy fun, but it lacks punch, and the ending is weak. It’s no Fargo or No Country for Old Men, and it’s certainly no The Big Lebowski.)
This article is about Choices, Frugality, Odds and Ends, Real-Life
We buy tickets from costco (good if you are already a member) it comes out to $8 each instead of $9.50 then we don’t buy snacks, we eat at home. we only watch blockbuster type movies, everything else is watched at home.
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I dont go to movies that often (maybe one a year) but when I do go I bring my own snacks. Unethical perhaps a great money saver you know it.
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It sounds like you’re suggesting that the only options were to either not see the movie or spend $22 on it. Why not buy the $7.50 ticket and then go out to get some real food before or after it?
I know you talk about trying to minimize the effect advertisements have on you. The only reason people want to eat nachos and candy at a movie is because that’s what the advertising tells you to do. Most people don’t eat Raisinets when they’re watching a movie from Netflix at home.
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I hardly ever buy snacks at the theatre. And I have a great movie mini-chain here in San Jose, California, the Camera Cinemas. They play both blockbusters and arthouse flicks, and they sell a discount card: 10 admissions for $60, so I only pay $6 per movie. The only restriction on the card is that you can’t go Saturdays after 6pm, and I never do that anyway. It’s perfect for me.
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I remember my first shocking experience at the movie theater. I wasn’t going frugal then.
A buddy and I went to see “I Am Legend.” They had a popcorn and soda “special.” Two medium sodas and a medium popcorn.
$16. $16!
I almost crapped my pants. That’s over $5 each!
Needless to say, I was disenchanted with the theater experience like you are now.
http://www.goingcarless.com
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You didn’t see a $22 movie. You had a $7.50 movie experience and bought $14.75 worth of junk food to go along with it. That’s just foolish on your part.
I highly doubt when you sit down to watch a film at home you’re having a giant soda, nachos, and Rasinets. So why did you feel the need to purchase these items when you went to the movie theater?? You bought the snacks because you wanted them. You can’t blame advertising for this. It’s power disappears the instant you consciously recognize what it is designed to do.
I go to the movies all the time and I never get snacks unless I get a free coupon for them as I enter (which Regal Crown Club members get as rewards). I see all the same ads for them and smell all the same smells, and I simply choose not to purchase them because they are unhealthy and overpriced.
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$7.50 for a movie isn’t that terrible, around here it’s more like $10 for a matinee and $13 for a night showing at Silver City. The real question is, why did you buy so much crap?
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I always sneak a bottle of water in my purse, and buy popcorn only. Is this frugal…or cheap?
Since I’m paying to see the movie, and paying for popcorn, I consider it frugal. Also, I buy movie tickets at Costco or from a local theater which does 10 tickets for $60 total (excludes Saturday night showings.) If you live in the San Jose area, Camera Cinemas does the 10/$60 deal. It’s a credit card type of thing, and you can buy 2 tickets per movie with it.
-Erica
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Don’t forget St. Johns Cinema (not the McMenamins one)! First-run movies for $6, with a $4 matinee. Pizza & beer, too! It’s like the good second-run theaters, with new movies. The owners are super-nice too.
http://www.stjohnscinema.com/
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Ummm…..The movie was only $7.50…right? Which seems reasonable. A matinee and some M&Ms tucked in your pocket sounds like a great deal. You know how you’re not supposed to go to the grocery store when you’re hungry? Maybe you shouldn’t go to the movies when you’re hungry :}
clw
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You could have made it a 7,50 movie if you had simply snuck in a can of coke and chocoalate bar, but you have to buy popcorn, nothing beats movie popcorn!
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Um, the only reason it cost you $22 was because you spent money on all the ridiculous priced snacks. If you had eaten beforehand you probably wouldn’t have bought the snacks and there wouldn’t be a reason to justify buying them. It doesn’t make any sense to buy snacks at the movie theatre…whether or not you are on a budget….they’re unhealthy AND expensive. You could either bring your own (yes, I know it’s not allowed, but I do it rarely) or not eat at all. I’m sure you can go for 2.5 hours without eating something.
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I totally agree with Aleks above.
I’m just jealous that you can see a movie for $7.50, matinees are $9.50 here and evenings are $12-14.
As for the amount you spent on food, I’m afraid you’ll get no sympathy from me- I hate the smell of faux-cheese nachos in theatres and dread that someone next to me will be munching their way through a pile!
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You left off the Avalon Theatre. The popcorn is cheap, the movies cost $2.50, and the theatres are seldom crowded. Yes, the floor is a tad sticky, but if the movie turns out to be boring, you can always hit the nickel arcades across the hall!
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You are all absolutely correct! I could have saved $14.75 if I hadn’t bought so much crap to eat. I realize that. But you’re missing my main point.
The movie itself was $7.50 for a matinee, which to me still seems outrageous. And then the snacks were an extra $14.75. It used to be that going to see a matinee and getting some snacks might not have been frugal, but it was still reasonably priced entertainment. It’s not anymore.
I’m being a grouchy old man, grousing about the high cost of living. Even if I’d paid just the $7.50 for the movie, I couldn’t have come in under my $10 acceptable line if I wanted a treat. None of the snacks cost less than $2.50. Not even the water!
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I hear ya. I personally haven’t been to a movie theater in almost 3 years. On the other hand, my wife absolutely loves going to the movies. We’ve sort of come to an agreement that if she really wants to see a new movie, she might as well just ask one of her friends to go see it with, and I’ll wait until it comes out on netflix.
Couple the high cost of going to the movies with the fact that our nearest theater is nearly 45 minutes away, and even if the movie was relatively cheap, the cost of gas to drive there, and the thought of sitting in the car for a total of an hour and a half to catch a 2 hour movie really kills the appeal of it all.
That’s why I have a big HDTV and surround sound, so I don’t have to pay through the nose or drive somewhere. But my wife likes the “experience” of going to the movies. Oh well.
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I agree with you on the ridiculous prices, but we still love watching movies on the big screen. The Entertainment Book has offers for the AMC theaters which brings down the admission prices a few dollars. There are some coupons out there for AMC as well to get a free small popcorn with purchase of a coke product. Still not all that cheap. We sneak in candy and drinks from time to time. We get older movies from the library, and have a one-movie account with Netflix as well. Guess we’ll make do since we are such movie buffs.
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Do you have any drive-ins near you? It’s too bad they’re a dying breed, but I found them to be a great, relatively inexpensive movie-going experience.
It costs the standard price of a movie ticket to get in. Bring Windex and a few paper towels to clean off your windshield before the show begins. Tune your car radio to the FM broadcast of the movie’s sound track.
Once the show begins, you begin feasting on whatever delicious food and beverage you brought with you. My personal favorite was always pizza and beer, but I’m a simple man.
Special bonus: no morons talking behind you, no morons texting on their bright cell phones in front of you, and no ugly looks from the other patrons when you thunderously pass gas.
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I only pay full price to see action films that would look best on the big screen. Otherwise its Netflix for me. I also will sneak in my own candy. But drinks and popcorn are hard to sneak in. I try to eat before I go that way I’m not tempted.
But for me movies just aren’t worth it. I usually can’t sit still for 2 hours anyway, so going to the movies is something I don’t often do.
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I don’t read this site for the complaining about the cost of things. I read it for all the great advice.
Please go see another movie and plan ahead this time. Sneak in food, find a discount (student of life), wait until it shows up at the cheap theater, ride your bike to the theater, whatever.
I want to read the movie thread with you bragging how much you saved over your last experience.
Thanks, Ian
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Oooof! $$! I love the pub theaters… have you checked out the Bagdad? One of the most gorgeous theaters in town, and in the upper balcony they have lots of nice, cushy love seats. The Laurelhurst is just a couple of blocks from me so I tend to go there a lot.
Just imagine, for $22 at one of those theaters you can get a movie ticket, a pitcher of beer, 2 slices of pizza and a donut!
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“I paid a total of $22.25 to watch a 96 minute movie ”
What’s the big deal? You cannot splurge everynow and then. According to the previews, I knew the movie was a downer.
I have 6 figures in investments, but I still find little luxuries like going to the movies, which will not hurt my cash flow
I think you are more upset that the movie wasn’t good than spending the $22
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working in the industry I hate to say this, but some films are meant to be torrented. I was so excited for Burn After Reading, but then I saw how bad the marketing peeps whored it out (completely twisting negative reviews into positive ones) that I gave up. Read this isht – http://www.gelfmagazine.com/archives/the_coens_emotionfree_uneven_thriller.php.
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If you go to the movies in my area, it’s about $10. $10 a month is not unreasonable for that type of entertainment, especially compared to what a big entertainment system + cable would cost (I don’t have the need for most of that stuff, just want to see a movie every once in a while).
You’re right, though, the food is way overpriced. Don’t buy it. The “treat” is the movie itself.
I don’t think we’re missing the point. I think we’re disagreeing with you. $10 to see a movie is not outrageous. All the additional junk is priced outrageously, so the logical conclusion is to not buy it!
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I love Ian’s comment at #20: “I don’t read this site for the complaining about the cost of things. I read it for all the great advice.”
Ouch. Good point.
But can’t I wear my grumpy old man hat just the once?
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I haven’t been to the cinema in years. Sticky floors (ugh), screaming children, whispering people, etc. I’d rather stay at home, curl up on the sofa, and watch a film from Lovefilm (like Netflix). I can dress down, have a mug of coffee and stroke the dog (who will probably be on the sofa next to me) at the same time. it’s a much better experience.
And it’s a damn sight cheaper.
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Wow, that is a lot.
To get movies to see on my blog I usually go to AMC Theaters on weekends. If you go before Noon you only pay $5 at older AMC’s and $6 for newer AMC’s. It’s not expensive and it is for any movie that is playing before noon.
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Solomon is right — 90% of the objection is due to the crap environment. A few landmark theaters are ok, but obviously you have to do your due diligence in exploring theaters.
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You can’t even get into a theater where I live for your ten dollar limit, JD. It’s twelve bucks just to walk in the door. Consequently, I only go once or twice a year. I stick almost entirely to Netflix — and half the time I find that a film that looked interesting when it first came out no longer interests me by the time it gets to the top of my queue.
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Those of you for whom it costs $10 or $12 to get into the theater: is that the matinee price? Holy cats, either way.
At what point do movies become too expensive? What must it be like to take a family to a movie? When I was a boy, one of our favorite things was for the family to go see a movie together. If Mom, Dad, and the three boys were to go to a film today, it’d cost nearly $40 just for admission!
I don’t really mean to complain. I love going to the movies as much as the next person. I’m just spoiled by the cheap theaters. As I mentioned, Portland has some great ones. For the price of my $7.50 matinee ticket for Burn After Reading, I was able to see the last Indiana Jones film and buy some Red Vines and a bottled water.
Portland also has a great chain of pub theaters. You can buy beer and pizza and watch a second-run film. This is very inexpensive, as the long lines testify. I’ve seen some great movies at The Baghdad: The Matrix, Children of Men, etc. But it’s even more fun to watch bad movies like The Scorpion King this way.
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I agree, movies are ridiculously overpriced. I love my Blockbuster online account, but still see some new releases in the theater. My costco sells discounted tickets to some chain theaters (basically matinee price anytime), or there’s also the drive-in which is a fun experience in itself. The only time I buy food from the theater is if I’m with a bunch of people and we get the big bucket of popcorn and share so it’s 1-2 dollars each. Or else I bring my own snacks from home. Frankly, I don’t see anything unethical in that. there have been times I’ve been actually carrying a bag of food or a drink and no one has ever said anything to me. If the items were reasonably priced, I’d buy them there, but it’s not.
p.s. Theaters in my area are at least 10.50 this is the non-matinee price. Matinees range from 8.50-9.50 I’d say. I don’t know how families go to the movies at all, especially since kids usually want food when they are there.
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JD, just curious on your take on the outrageous cost for concerts these days.
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$7.50 for matinee is outrageous. lol
But that is why I sneak in Gummy Bears to eat.
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The Academy! Haven’t you been to the Academy? And how did I not notice that you’re in Portland?
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When was the last time I was active in the comments like this? It’s a sign that I’m Caught Up, that I have posts written for the next few days.
@Susan
It has been a l-o-n-g time since I went to a big concert. I’ve been to some smaller concerts, though. Also, I tend to go to concerts only for bands I really love.
Believe it or not, at this very moment I’m researching ticket prices for The Decemberists show in Portland on 11/29. I’m having trouble finding the actual ticket prices, though.
Aha. They’re $27.50. Well, that’s pretty darn steep, too. But it’s The Decemberists. I’ve seen them live three or four times already, and I know that I’ll get $27.50 worth of enjoyment from the show.
I guess maybe that’s the real issue here (as a couple of commenters already noted) — getting value for your dollar. I can pay $27.50 for a two hour concert and think I got a bargain. Or I can pay $22.25 for a mediocre movie and some junk food and feel ripped off. The key is to make smart choices, right?
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My wife and I try to only go out to watch movies once in a while, and tend to wind up going on weekend evenings. Prices are getting pretty high for first-runs, but I’m not overly concerned–watch the credits at the end of most movies, and then remember that everybody on that 10-minute list needs to get a cut of your $7-10 ticket, not just the theater and the studio heads. From what I hear, theaters don’t make much on ticket sales, which is why snack prices are going so high. They need to earn money too, so I’m not averse to paying $5-6 for one large popcorn which feeds us both, though I limit my snack purchases to just that–anything more we want I buy cheap at Walgreens and sneak in via my wife’s purse (big enough for a couple boxes of candy and two canned drinks).
And of course, we only go out and do this once in a while. We saw four movies this summer, and I think that’s going to be all for the year.
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Ha! You beat me to it — if I’m going to pay $20+ to sit still and be quiet, there had better be a live performance going on — theatre, concert, hockey . . .
A couple of theaters near us just came out with discount cards, where $30 buys 5 movies and 2 medium popcorns, so I invested in 3 of them, because sometimes we just want to get out of the house and see a movie on the big screen without the kids.
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The last two big concerts we went to were really discouraging–during the first, two women behind us chatted loudly right in our ears the entire time, catching up on their lives, I guess–why they spent money on the concert when they had no interest in the music, I don’t know.
During the 2nd the people in front of us stood up, swaying drunkenly (people started drinking in the parking lot before the concert even started) and singing loudly and off-key. I doubt they even remembered what concert they went to the next day.
Not worth it!
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I see your point in principle and as a fellow Portlander, I feel lucky to have such good cheaper movie theater options available. For the same reasons you mentioned, my husband and I generally avoid places like Regal, just because we would rather wait and see the movie much cheaper at home, without the loud person behind us talking, etc. We purchased a large LCD TV and surround sound stereo nine months ago and have only seen two movies at the theater since then. Outragous movie theater prices was one of the considerations for that purchase.
However, you spent 66% of your expense on food that was not necessary or healthy. We recently saw Dark Knight in IMAX because we thought the experience was worth it, but we chose to enjoy a meal outside of the movie theater before the movie. That movie theater food is a rip-off no matter what!
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JD
Take it easy…you splurge once in a while !
LOL @ JoBmore…Gummy Bears !
Netflix is the way to go. Also, I don’t see anybody talking about DOLLAR THEATRES ! I have heard of some cities where 6 months old movies are shown for $2 ! That’s a great deal, but sadly there are no such theatres where I live
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Why did you go last night when you can go tonight for the price of 3 cans of food?
http://www.oregonfoodbank.org/news/newsroom/Canstheatrelist.html
I’m going to see Igor!
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@Mary Sue
D’oh! Neither Paul nor I knew about that.
But now that you’ve brought it up, maybe I can take Kris on a cheap date tonight.
“Honey, why do you have six cans of creamed corn with you?”
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@ Mary Sue, Igor is on the list of movies that don’t qualify for cans.
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McMenamin’s has Red Vines too! (at least The Mission Theater does)
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I’ve made a rule for myself that I won’t see a movie if I think it will be just as good on the small-screen. So far only Harry Potter and the new Batman series have made the cut. All the others are definitely not worth the $10, and I’m not a fan of matinees unless it’s a crappy day.
I agree that movie prices have definitely skyrocketed…but spending twice the cost of the movie on snacks is just a silly move on your part.
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i dont see why NetFlix is so highly supported. It’s a repeat payment, so unless you are watching 7 films a month, you may as well rent individually. And if you’re watching 7 films a month, that’s 15 hours you could be spending making that time work for your savings or bank account.
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A reminder that you did not see a $22 movie. You saw a $7.50 movie. That’s 1/3 of what you spent. It’s a great movie and well worth it, IMHO. The rest of that stuff? Not so much.
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I think I share J.D.’s grumpy feeling about this. I feel the same way every time I buy overpriced food in a restricted environment – airports (where you can no longer carry many food/drink items through security), amusement parks (where they often check your bag, and you don’t want to have to carry stuff around, anyway), movie theaters, sporting events, etc. Sometimes I want to enjoy a snack with a movie or eat a meal at a ball game, but my options are:
1. Break the rules by sneaking stuff in,
2. Feel like I’ve just been hit by some sort of scam artist by paying way overinflated prices, or
3. Be hungry.
None of those options is appealing. Yes, I know that I can eat before I go, and I only want the popcorn because it smells so good, yadda yadda yadda, but the lack of a better option makes me feel worse about the overall experience.
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Everyone will have their opinion on this, but I actually enjoy posts like this one. I like hearing about the highs and lows, the joys and frustrations, triumphs and mistakes, of your whole financial experience. We all have them.
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I am ok with the price of movies, but the concessions are really crazy. $5 for a small drink. $6 for a small popcorn. wow. nuts. I can even eat beforehand, and I’ll end up getting popcorn and eating the whole thing. Too bad you can’t sneak in popcorn!
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