Movie attendance in 2014 was the worst in nearly two decades

[JA222]

Movies today are crap. I could live with the lousy theater experience if the movies would be worth seeing.

But, everything is overproduced and underwritten. Bad writing + lots of superficial flash/gloss = failure.

Take away all the fancy camera trickery, digital editing trickery, and cheesy music — and someone in Hollywood might actually have to focus on making a good story with characters who aren't 2-dimensional superheroes or boring caricatures of some other sort.

 

[Guest]

I no longer go to the movies because of the reasons every-one else has stated, but also if you are taking your family to see a film after parking fees, treats and tickets it can cost more than an entire weeks salary. The movie industry is now just totally brain-dead no new really decent new film ideas just remakes and movies that have to have to have the now obligatory sex, nudity and profanity, which makes so many unfit for family viewing. The corporate greed of the film studios and over-payed actors is also the reason for the drop in theater attendance. These are the people that cry about video piracy, but what about the highway robbery act they subject us to every time you go to a theater, If prices were 2/3 less than they charge now the theaters would be packed almost every day the way they were in the past. Corporate greed is the major problem, these people are worse than the lowest type of drug addicts the only thing the crave is more and more money ( we all have to die and I don't know of anyone being able to spend and enjoy their Billions of dollars after they are dead). I haven't been to a theater in 12 years and do not even miss it, instead we have family and friend get together and have a more interesting and fun time than sitting on our backsides in a dark, overly loud room (excessive movie volume to destroy our hearing) and return home frustrated about being ripped off by a crappy film (they should reimburse our money if the film was garbage in our opinion and we didn't enjoy it).

 

[Ranger1st]

Lets see; $20/ticket, $15 for a soda/coffee/popcorn/candy combo PER PERSON! 4x for a family? not hardly... the kids and I will watch Netflix. not going to spend $140 to go see a kids movie, because really when you have kids, that's all you really get to go see..

 

[JA222]

Lets see; $20/ticket, $15 for a soda/coffee/popcorn/candy combo PER PERSON! 4x for a family? not hardly... the kids and I will watch Netflix. not going to spend $140 to go see a kids movie, because really when you have kids, that's all you really get to go see..

Babysitter.

 

[misor]

Lets see; $20/ticket, $15 for a soda/coffee/popcorn/candy combo PER PERSON! 4x for a family? not hardly... the kids and I will watch Netflix. not going to spend $140 to go see a kids movie, because really when you have kids, that's all you really get to go see..

Babysitter.

I'm not really sure if I want to see the babysitter.

 

[captaincranky]

I'm not really sure if I want to see the babysitter.

One supposes that would depend on what the babysitter looks like. (Assuming she's over 18 , of course).

I also think "The Babysitter", was a made for TV movie starring Kerry Russell. (Not sure about the exact title though).

Ah, here it is, "The Babysitter's seduction": http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112437/

You wouldn't want to see this babysitter?

That's kind of hard to imagine

 

[captaincranky]

#1 I probably don't want to see the 3D version and when more than 50% of the showings are 3D that reduces the number of opportunities I have to see it
#2 Prices to see movies have gotten pretty high where I live. Even the not-so-nice theaters are charging $9.50 for a non-3D showing.
#3 Snacks are too expensive. $7 for a popcorn and $5 for a soda reminds me of going to Disney World. It's easily $100 for me to take my family to see a movie. Times are tight for most people lately.

Hollywood and the MPAA haven't quite gotten it through their heads that 1, movies are a luxury, not a necessity, and 2, the entire disposable income of the people in the US, or for that matter, the world, doesn't belong to them.

Like I always say, "if it's at Redbox,it's still new to me".

Besides, the last movie I say in a theater was, "Letters to Juliet". Better known to me as, "that stinker my son forced me to watch", (long backstory goes here). In any case, the theater smelled like piss and stale air conditioning. Undaunted, I bought a larger TV.

 

[treetops]

The last movie I saw was the newest transformer, they had a display showing the only cool thing that happened in the entire movie sitting in front of the theater. Lame movie. I regret not supporting the new sin city, it was better then I thought, its been nearly nine years since the first one.

 

[captaincranky]

...[ ]....it was better then I thought, its been nearly nine years since the first one.

And you can still support it! Redbox has it in DVD, and Blu-Ray!

I don't even think Jessica Alba needed a butt double, and she's almost learned how to dance since the first one...(y)

 

[Guest]

Horrible movies thats all... I only remember watching Interstellar, Hobbit and 2 local films. Others were just jokes...Gone girl, Nightcrawler, Fury were the only decent others.

 

[SirGCal]

I don't go for the following reasons.
1) Maybe one show a year worth actually going for to begin with... if that... (covered already above)
2) Cost. I make a damn good living but for me to take the family, it's well over $100. (covered already above)
3) People, I can't enjoy movies anymore cause people talk non-stop. So why go? (covered already above).
a) The IMAX near me is one exception. There people seem OK but price is 2x. And I don't even get food so...
4) I'm in a wheelchair, so in any given theater, there are 3 (maybe) seats we can use and never enough for a family of 4...
5) I don't mind waiting a few weeks for it to hit BluRay... I don't need to see it today. It's just not the same as it was waiting in line for the blockbusters in the 80's and 90's.
6) I do not watch previews at all anymore. I do not watch broadcast TV so no commercials, etc. If you see a modern preview, you just watched 95% of most movies. So why buy a ticket? When it comes out I might watch it, etc. Fresh and new to me. Knowing little to nothing about it, etc. Save maybe the book it was made from.
7) And back to the first one again, so much garbage out there, so few good movies to enjoy. It's just painful anymore to watch the latest 'block buster' and have it be yet another 'buster'... So I'm sure as heck not spending good $ against stacked odds that the movie will be another flop anymore. I'll wait.

 

[CrisisDog]

I'm tired of the remakes (Spider Man, TMNT), drawn out "sequels" (Hobbit, Hunger Games, Transformers), and director Michael Bay. There's nothing worth seeing, no new ideas. And unfortunately, I'm not holding my breath for the new Star Wars...

 

[rwburnham]

I put the majority of the blame on audience behavior, although a dearth of quality movies is also a factor. I used to enjoy going to the theater, even if it was to see whatever random movie was playing. Even a crappy movie can be fun to watch with the right audience.

Now, people treat the theater like it is their living room, with the constant talking and frequent cell phone use, despite the numerous warnings from the theater about those things. Is it really so hard to put away the phone and just sit quietly for a couple of hours? What is worse is that I can't just blame one age group, because I have seen bad behavior from all age ranges.

If I do go to the theater, it's only for movies that I really want to see, and even then I am hesitant because I worry the experience will be ruined by the audience.

 

[wiyosaya]

I live in a bigger NYS city and there are only three different mainstream theaters that are worth going to, IMHO. One offers reclining seats, but still has its drawbacks as you can hear the movies in the surrounding theaters. The other two simply offer great sound systems.

I refuse to go to one of the remaining theaters because of the oft mentioned sticky floors for one, and because I got MOLDY popcorn there one time.

Most of the time, I will wait for movies because my home viewing experience is far superior to seeing it in any theater in the area.

Theater chains will have to consider revamping the experience if they want people to continue to pay outrageous prices for an experience worse than seeing a movie in one's own living room.

Even so, like others have mentioned, I am also getting tired of garbage remakes and infinitely extended sequels especially when they are worse than the original. IMHO, "Into Darkness" was trash compared to "The Wrath of Khan", and even now, I would rather watch "The Wrath of Khan".

 

[cliffordcooley]

IMHO, "Into Darkness" was trash compared to "The Wrath of Khan", and even now, I would rather watch "The Wrath of Khan".

Expectations before watching movies, can and probably will lead to disappointment. I enjoyed "Into Darkness" because I wasn't expecting "The Wrath of Khan". And to be honest I was always a bit disappointed in "The Wrath of Khan". It is the one Star Trek movie I can not watch over and over again.

 

[SantistaUSA]

Posters have already covered the insanely high prices and crappy movies, and I agree with that too. My biggest pet peeve is the rudeness of patrons. Ever since the first VHS players where people discovered they could talk during movies in their living room and then decided it was OK to do the same in a movie theater, going to a movie has been a miserable experience. Now we have an ultra "absorbed with themselves" generation who spend 23 hours a day staring into their portable device and posting on social websites. God forbid they'd have to sit and watch a two hour movie without checking their phone or talking to their friends in a voice level you'd use at a rock concert.

Last movie I went to - about 4 months ago - there were two young ladies (early 20's I'd guess) sitting right in front of me and had been yapping away through all the previews. Fine - it's just previews. But just as the movie started, one looked to the other and said, "SO WHAT'S THIS MOVIE SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT?" I leaned over and put my head right between the two and said, "Maybe if you shut the f--- up and watch it, you'll find out." People around us applauded when after my comment they got up and left.

That's why I don't go to movies but maybe once or twice a year.

I've had to do that as well several times, one time it was my friend that kept checking her phone, I gave her a hard time a few times but she can't stop it, I will never go out to a movie again with her.