Burn After Reading: The $22 Movie
Published on - September 25th, 2008 (Modified on - September 29th, 2008) (by J.D. Roth) 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.)
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Another one of my “in the old days”. When I was a kid- 45 years ago(I didn’t walk 5 miles barefoot in the snow to school), the Esquire Theater in Philly had $.25 kiddie matinees on Saturdays- Septa buses were $.25 each way, a candy bar was $.5, popcorn was $.10 and a cup of soda was $.10. Now the matinee for me(not a real senior yet) here in Maryland is $8.25(seniors are 7.25). I do not buy snacks- except $1 candy Monday or free(guess I’m not buying) popcorn Tuesday at Regal. If you know of any cheap movies here in the DC/MD area besides the first show(before noon weekdays)at white Flint- let me in on it. I am more likely to rent or get use a free code at Red Box or borrow from the library.
Burn After Reading- I agree- ok but not great- however, I thought the Brad Pitt character was funny/goofy. I agree with a reviewer who said everyone else was just too obviously stupid. We are not all morons here in DC
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Don’t beat yourself up! i love the coen brothers too and bought a couple (fargo, lebowski, oh brother). I haven’t been to a theater movie in years. I also like netflix and the library (when the movie isn’t scratched so badly that it’s unwatchable).
HULU is great too!
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since the shooting in the back of the theater, we haven’t gone back. Years ago – we saw ‘jackie brown’ – all the animals from ‘uptown’ came to my neighborhood with their guns.
no feet on the seats, no cellphones, (back then people had beepers!).
best part: netflix, hulu, pbs and public tv movies.
life is a compromise!
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$22.00 dollars!! I feel bad for you, I can beat it though, my wife and I paid £12.50 each to see Charlie Wilson’s War at Leicester Square London, when it came out.
That’s pounds, so about $25.00 each, just for the movie!
When the guy said £25.00 I nearly passed out, no snacks for us so you were lucky in that respect, needless to say since then we have only gone to the local cinema and mostly use LoveFilm.com (similar to your netflix, I think). If you want to see movies and keep them I would recommend http://www.PennyDVDs.com they have a USA site coming in November.
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I am most amazed at the $5 drink. If you had gone with only the raisinets (it was the middle of the afternoon) it would have been $11, which is pretty close to what you value it at. I think that it’s ok to treat yourself to something you wouldn’t normally do now and then but just be realistic in what you need (a small snack) vs. want (candy and nachos and a drink overpriced by 5000%).
For discussion on sneaking food in, see:
http://www.freemoneyfinance.com/2008/08/is-it-ethical-t.html
http://www.freemoneyfinance.com/2008/09/my-theater-resp.html
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Apparently Free Money Finance recently wrote about the same subject. His readers, too, though it was fine to sneak snacks into the theater. FMF e-mailed his local theater to find out their policy. They don’t allow it.
Again, the best solution for me is to continue attending cheaper theaters that offer smaller less expensive snacks!
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Try taking your kid and a friend – good luck skipping the snack bar! It’s at least a $50-75 bill. We threatened Comcast we’d cut back our account, so they offered a (small) discount on the monthly fee and threw in HBO, Starz and Showtime for a year for free! I’m a news junkie or I’d have gone the way of basic cable…
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I don’t see why your costs were over $7.50. Eat before the theater. Who buys food at the movies and then complains about it? Just my $.02.
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In answer to JD’s question, I do not sneak food into movie theaters, but I very rarely buy any, unless I go to the theaters that have real food and beer as opposed to cokes and popcorn. That isn’t cheap, but at least you’re getting something for your money other than air, ice, and sugar. When my father took us out to the movies as kids, he never bought us cokes and popcorn, so I never developed that association and I don’t feel like I’m depriving myself if I don’t get any.
The airport is a different matter–they only bar you from carrying in drinks for security-theater reasons, so I don’t see a problem with carrying in a water bottle and filling it from the water fountain.
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The snack prices vs. the cost of movie tickets is an example of the psychology of spending. A friend of mine in business school said they even studied it; if the price of the ticket goes up by something as small as a quarter, most people usually notice and, out of principle, refuse to pay such an increase. However, if the price of snack foods go up, most people don’t notice or protest since they’ve already purchased it or they’re “already there.” Thus, prices go up on the snacks rather than the tickets.
As for big ticket items: the most recent (and most painless) experience was buying a digital camera. I liked my friend’s version. And so I went out and bought the exact same one with minimal research on functionality. There were newer models out there, with more bells and whistles, but since I knew what I wanted, I got a good deal and I’ve been really happy with the purchase.
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“Mostly we stay at home and watch movies from Netflix.”
Sadly us poor Canadians have to make do with a pale imitation of Netflix (Zip.ca), which seems not to have any of the movies you actually want to watch.
One thing I have to stop doing is ordering movies via the cable provider’s on-demand system. The selection is poor so I invariably end up over-paying for something mediocre.
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It is amazing how much we tend to associate watching a movie with eating. There is no logical reason you can’t go without food and water for a couple of hours, but the default position is eating. We either pay through the nose at the concession stand or trying to smuggle food into the theater. Masterful job by the marketing folks!
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Your problem is buying snacks there. Wear something with big pockets and sneak snacks in! No one’s going to frisk you!
I don’t go see movies in the theatre very often either. Only if its an epic movie, like Lord of the Rings or something. I also like going to the drive in. Two movies for the price of one! And you can lounge in your car. You can bring a baby and nurse! You can bring an entire meal of chinese takeout! What ever you want.
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I spent ~28 for two tickets to Dark Knight at IMAX, which is the last movie I went to her with.
Girlfriend took me out earlier this year an spent about $40 at the theater which is what I call crazy!
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I sneak food into the theatre. I started doing this not for financial reasons, but for health reasons. The theatres simply don’t sell anything healthy enough for me. So I’ll bring my homemade low-fat muffin in my purse and I won’t feel guilty about it! Once in a while I buy a drink, but not usually.
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$22 in 2007 is the equivalent of $12.20 in 1987. When we were kids, movies seemed cheaper by half, but we generally make 2x (or more) money now.
When you take inflation into account, it doesn’t seem all that bad.
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JD #106: The best solution is to *not buy snacks at the movie theater*. You give a lot of great advice, but in this instance you should listen to the advice that dozens of your readers have given you in this thread.
Theater snacks are both grossly overpriced and grossly unhealthy. You are doing a disservice to your wallet, your body, and your community by consuming them. You are sending the message to the theater that “Yes, I think you serve quality products at a reasonable price!” which makes it that much less likely that they will offer anything more nutritious, more tasty, or less expensive. Vote with your dollar.
I should point out that there is absolutely no moral or ethical reason for not sneaking your own snacks into the theater. The theaters only have that policy so they can force their captive audience to buy their fare at their price. If you don’t feel comfortable sneaking your own snacks into the theater, you can get better quality food for less money at any number of nearby businesses both immediately before and after the movie. That is, if you feel the need to associate snacks with a movie in the first place.
In fact I encourage you to break this food/movie association — do you want to watch a movie, or enjoy some tasty food? You can’t do both well at once. More than likely you’re just stuffing your face unconsciously while focusing on the movie. If you were to sit down and take some time to enjoy some food, would you really choose to buy raisinets and nachos? Or would you get something more satisfying? Save your money, your time, and your calories for things that really count, to maximize your enjoyment to cost ratio.
Sorry if this comes off as harsh but really, you can do a lot better here. Now that you are conscious of how your choices affect your life, and the lives of those around you, you have no more means of rationalizing poor choices.
As for going to movie theaters in the first place — they can provide a superior sensory experience and, more importantly, provide a venue for social gatherings to get us out of our electronic cocoons. I don’t mind paying a few bucks for a memorable experience. Just don’t buy the food! I’ll sneak in my own water and trail mix, thankyaverramuch.
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You hit the nail on the head. A coke, candy and nachos to make it through a 96 minute movie? Good lord, bro. Everyone knows that the recession stand is rip off. Just don’t get anything.
Now, the last NBA game I went to (probably 10 years ago), I bought a ton of concessions, but that was because it was awesome. Holding up a giant foam finger and yelling “YO BEER MAN!” were part of the experience. And, yes, I even bought crappy nachos that I washed down with those expensive crappy beers. Man, I had a good time.
But you can’t yell “YO BEER MAN!” during the movie, even at McMenmamins.
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$22 = 22 Redbox movie rentals!
Although they don’t have the most extensive choices, they still have numerous blockbusters films as well as smaller ones.
But I do agree that it is crazy how prices keep skyrocketing! At least the big AMC 30 in my area lets you bring in your own food and drinks.
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I’ve found that letting your money leak out versus mindfully using it to treat yourself are two totally different things. One makes you feel crappy, the other makes you feel content. Go with your gut!
Oh, and if I smuggle in anything, it’s a bottle of water for a long movie. I refuse to pay $4 for bottled tap water when I can bring my own filtered water for free. And I have no guilt about that. If I eat there, I get popcorn. You can’t smuggle in hot, buttered popcorn, anyway. These are rules set up by theaters to avoid having to compete with the marketplace for your money. If they were competing, they’d offer more of what people want: healthier snacks, more selection, etc. No morality here, just economics.
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JD!!!
you forgot one major minor expenditure
the equation goes a little like this:
$$ = miles roundtrip / your car’s mpg * price of gas
the walk to your mailbox for netflix saves you this money too!!!!!
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I wish it were possible for me to appear sheepish and contrite on the blog, but it’s not. All I have is words. However, rest assured that I’ve heard your message loud and clear. Later today I’m posting a links roundup that will include the following intro:
Thanks for all the comments in the $22 movie thread. At first I felt picked on (though I deserved it — I’m the bonehead who spent $14.75 on snacks), but enough repetition has finally beat a point into my head: I don’t need to buy snacks at the movies. Who cares if I’ve done it for 39 years? Just because it’s a life-long habit doesn’t make it right. (“It’s you being lazy and not thinking ahead!” Kris tells me.)
The best suggestion from that discussion is to take that $14.75 I spent for snacks and use it for a decent meal before or after the movie. Duh. So obvious, and yet sometimes it’s the obvious things we cannot see. Thanks for the suggestions, everyone!
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Let me point out that this is one of the things that I love about GRS. I may share the things I learn every day, but trust me: I learn a ton from you guys, too.
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It’s fun to eat theater junk food at the movies. Not every decision has to be a rational money/fitness decision.
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a comments on comments
“Cineplexes are disgusting breeding grounds for disease.”???? If the diseases are obesity, rudeness and general bad behavior, I agree- otherwise not so sure.
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Nova 12 in Des Moines is the only place I’ll go see movies. $7.50 for the movie, pop with free refills and a medium popcorn. I don’t do it often, but it’s a treat when I do! And I don’t feel like I wasted a ton of money AND two hours of my life if the movie sucks:)
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Netflix + 42″ plasma + nice sound system = never going to the theater again
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I am apalled that so few people seem to think that it’s wrong to bring your own snacks to the movies. Every business owner has the right to set the rules for his/her establishment and expect people to honor them. One poster mentioned that since you won’t be frisked upon entry (i.e. since you won’t be caught) it’s okay to break the rules. So if I think I won’t get caught, is it okay for me to steal from retail stores? Pick up a candy bar to eat for later and say that since it’s over-priced anyway I shouldn’t have to pay?
I don’t think that a movie-goer is required to visit the snack bar, but if you want to eat at the movies then that’s the price you pay. I recall an article from a couple of years ago detailing the economics of running a movie theater. The contracts for first run movies are written so that the theater gets about 10% of ticket sales the first weekend and increasing amounts after that. If the theater only gets $0.75 of your ticket, of course they’re going to try to make more on the concessions. It’s your choice whether to buy, but bringing in your own food is just WRONG (beyond CHEAP) if it’s against the rules.
We’re a society. Society only works if we respect each other. So maybe it’s not breaking the law to sneak in snacks, but it does violate our social contract with each other. Show a little class and dignity, respect your fellow humans, and either skip the movies, skip the snacks, or belly up to the bar and buy them from the theater.
JD, I liked your rant but these comments inspired one of my own. Sorry for the tirade, but, darn, it feels good to get that off my chest! Sure wish I had a local theater that serves beer; maybe I’d mellow out about BYOBing it.
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I’ve been to watch three IMAX films:
* Space Station 3D (at the Science Museum).
* Beauty and the Beast (remastered version).
* Superman Returns 3D.
The Space Station film was very interesting, and as far as I know you can only watch the IMAX version. The other two were good, mainly for the big screen rather than any 3D effects; I particularly liked looking at the library in BatB, where the shelves went floor to ceiling!
The cinema tickets are more expensive, but there’s a fringe benefit: people who go to watch a film at the IMAX really want to watch it, so I’ve never seen any of the bad behaviour that happens at a normal cinema (e.g. kids running in after their film’s finished in a different room, or people chatting on their mobiles). I wouldn’t go there all the time, but it is nice as a special treat.
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Netflix is great! I go see a movie in the theater about every 3 years, if that. Averaging 1 movie/week it would’ve cost me >$1400… as opposed to getting 2-3/week from Netflix at $17/month = $612.
I put the extra $800 towards my new 47″ Philips LCD– combined with a great sound system and comfy couch, I have absolutely no reason to leave the house for movies.
And no, andrew and I are not related.
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Ditto #127, the best frugal option for real value in my opinion, but I stated that yesterday. My couch, in my lounging clothes with a blanket, and my own healthy microwave popcorn are usually hard to beat.
My husband and I agreed that it was worth it to see Dark Knight at the Regal IMAX, but he made me wait a month before going because the theaters are so crowded when a really popular movie comes out. It was a great movie and well worth the value of the ticket price. I remember buying some candy at that one (the movie was 3 hours long!), but that was for the bargain price of $4.
Usually for health and economic reasons we don’t buy concessions or bring our own, but occassionally I sneak a little snack in. I don’t see anything wrong with it because theaters should change their selection and prices if they want me to buy their stuff. The movie is running anyway whether I show up or not, so they are still ahead $10 for my ticket.
Last night we went to the Cannes festival and saw Tropic Thunder (crappy movie, some funny parts, but mostly too dumb to be funny) and again the loud, annoying people were a total turn-off.
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I don’t think $22 is a lot to spend on a little fun, once in a while.
Rose
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I don’t eat snacks during movies. I wouldn’t eat most of that junk at home either. But I do try to remember to sneak in my bottle of water, in case I start coughing or get really thirsty.
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Why on Earth would I want to waste my hard earned $$ on Hollywood movies which are All mediocre at best!!! We have stopped going to movies years ago and DON’T miss them!! If there is movie we want to see we can wait a month or two when it arrives at our Public Library and we can see it for ONE DOLLAR, that is usually about what these Hollywood Mega Buck?? movies are worth!
Save your bucks for more important things and check out your Public Library.
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I know this is pretty far down in the comments, so no one may see it, but I’d like to throw the Milwaukie theater in there. It’s not far from Oak Grove Family Theaters, and 2 adults get in for $5. They even have water for $0.50.
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Movie going is something I didn’t really do up until recently, and now it’s a great source of joy. I sometimes attend early morning sessions, which are considerably cheaper, or attending special cheaper days (locally – in Australia – Monday is cheapest, followed by Tuesday and Wednesday; new movies debut on Thursdays here). Although to be honest I do this for the convenience rather than the savings. The real trick is to go and see the movie and NOT buy the junk food. You want your mind to be stimulated, not your tastebuds. Go to a restaurant or cafe for that.
If you’re interested check out some of my recent reviews: Up The Yangtzee, WALL-E, The Visitor and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.
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Why is it that we Americans feel we can’t go for two hours without eating? I’m mystified by our national preoccupation with movie snacks.
That said, if my daughter or a friend is sitting next to me with popcorn, I almost always say, “Yes, thanks,” when this person asks, “Want some of my popcorn?”
Go figure.
I wrote an article for MSN Smart Spending about ways to go to the movies for free. (It includes “The Warren Report,” which operates in Portland — maybe you should check it out, J.D.) You can find it at http://blogs.moneycentral.msn.com/smartspending/archive/2008/08/13/how-to-go-to-the-movies-for-free.aspx.
Incidentally, if collecting 485 My Coke Rewards points seems too onerous for a free ticket — even one that includes a coupon for a free soft drink — then consider saving points for the “free popcorn with purchase of a drink.” It costs only 32 points and you can print it as many times as you want until mid-January 2009.
And seriously: Why don’t we all just skip the snacks????
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In Ednburgh Scotland we have several cinemas which have good deals like a half price mondays or membership deals which include free film previews. Cameo Cinema or Cineworld cinemas you can join for a £10 fee a month see unlimited films. Aren’t there any deals like that where you live?
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oh and a film here in Edinburgh is normally standard price about £5.80, £8.99 in Camden London and £12.50 in Leicester Square London – $7.50 sounds quite reasonable to me
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I grew up never buying snacks at movie theaters because my parents said they were too expensive. We didn’t sneak in snacks because the theaters banned outside food. (I don’t know about PDX’s bargain theaters, but Regal bans outside food, although they allow you to bring in refillable water bottles.)
It was a shock when my husband and I started dating because he always wanted to buy snacks, and we got in the (bad) habit of doing so. On the upside, we pretty much limited our movie going to matinees, which saved some money. Of course, we blew all the savings and then some on the snacks!
Now we’ve got an almost 4-year-old and pretty much the only movies we’ve seen in the theater were at the Kennedy School, which charges $3 for adults and $1 for kid. Truly a bargain! Of course, we always blow it there because we end up arriving for shows around lunch time and everyone’s hungry so we buy food. Despite the fact that admission is only $7 for the three of us, we usually end up spending like $25 total. (Part of the problem is I LOVE their cider. Not the alcoholic cider, although that’s good too, but their regular cider. Yummm!)
I do get most of my DVDs from the library. (No Netflix here, and pretty much the only movies we buy are kiddie DVDs that the munchkin will watch dozens adn dozens of times.) I do love that they’re free — and I love the Multnomah County Library in general — but there’s two problems:
1) You only get 15 holds on your waiting list and if you sign up for too many movies that have long waitlists, you can’t put holds on any books! And your hold list is tied up for months sometimes.
2) The very popular, relatively current releases are often beat up by the time I get to them and many are just completely unwatchable. I always notify the library when that’s the case — and hope they remove them from circulation — but then my only option is to get back on the waiting list at the END of it and hope for a better copy by the time it gets through another 217 people. (Yeah, they have multiple copies, but it still takes weeks and weeks.)
We very, very, very rarely rent something from Blockbuster when we can’t bear to wait for the library DVD (i.e. Harry Potter, etc.). We do that once, maybe twice a year.
Yeah, I’m really really cheap.
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A friend of mine work with cinema projects (I don’t know how it’s really called), and he told me that 60% of the cinema profit is from the bomboniere. 60%! I can understand why…
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My wife and I got to the movies maybe once a quarter. 90% of the time we get free or discounted tickets, or at minimum go to a matinee. We never buy the snacks at the movie theater. They are just too overpriced for us. We just live without food for a couple hours, and somehow it doesn’t kill us. Growing up my wife basically never went to the movies as far as I know; and I went sometimes. If I went with my dad we would go to the evening showing and get snacks. If I went with my mom we would go to a matinee and sneak in snacks. I tend to take more after my mom than my dad in this regard.
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I love going to the movies and I’ll pay whatever for the tickets. I also support the local movie theaters and buy a bottle of water and a pickle (both not unhealthy).
I go about twice a month so as long as I fit things into my budget, it really won’t affect anything overall.
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Steph…exactly! If you bring in outside snacks, you have no right to complain about costs. That is why ticket prices and consession prices are so high. And once they are up high, they are not going to drop. Stay at home if you can’t afford a movie.
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it’s funny reading this article because i avoided the movie theatres the whole summer. i haven’t watched any of the summer movies that were shown. the last movie that i watched was indiana jones 4 that was last may. last thursday, my friends and i went to amc to watch the mummy 3. sorry about the titles they’re too long to type. the reason we ended up watching an older movie is we have passes for movies that are 2 weeks older. since we couldn’t watch burn after reading i decided to watch the mummy 3. we brought in our snacks, which consists of 2 big macs (we also got a coupon from mcdonald’s) and a big bag of doritos. we don’t really care about the popcorn that’s why we got doritos. we bought the largest soda inside the theatre because we wanted cold drinks. so our damage was $8.50 for food. i know that should be a month of netflix, but the passes are free. that’s why i was never ashamed of bringing snacks. i guess the next time i’ll be inside the theatre will be on nov 21 for twilight. and yes i’ll bring my own snacks again.
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While I suffer from Grandpa Syndrome too, occasionally, I think I’ll bring up my own alternative point of view on this.
I only go to the theater to see Big Huge Blockbuster Movies, usually associated with a comic book
The last movie I saw was “The Dark Knight”, before that, “Iron Man”. I bought the ticket, got the junk food and enjoyed the HELL out of it.
To me, the snacks are part of the experience.
I only go 4 or 5 times a year, and I figure I can splurge during those 4 or 5 times because of the money I’m saving by using Netflix or Hulu or other resources.
Enjoy them Raisinettes and Nachos baby!
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I tend to just bring my own food nowadays. I’ll buy a drink sometimes, but the markup on food is just ludicrous. Then again I only see movies about once a year due to the cost. (This year there were two but only one I was the one paying for. Iron Man and The Fall.)
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JD
If it makes you feel any better, tickets in Australia cost around A$15 (US$12). Cheap tickets are A$7 on Tuesday nights which would work out to just over US$5. And that’s just the tickets. Don’t get me started on snacks…
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Oh, and get this… they make you pay for the ‘convenience’ of ordering tickets online… It’s the most convoluted thing I’ve ever heard of!!
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I tend to take my own food, much to my wife’s embarrassment. There are times when she’ll say in advance that she’d like to buy food there, and as we don’t go very often I think that’s a fair deal.
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