Yesterday, James and I were invited by some friends to see Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, and as a fan of the first two Underworld movies, and with James excited to go, I agreed to go. We were set to meet up at the Atlantic Station theater, which was pretty crazy because of the Cirque De Soleil going on, but we managed to eat before the movie, and actually made it to the movie on time! (I know, surprising for us!!). Given all of our good fortune with timing, the frustration of parking only increased when we went to get tickets for the film. Going to get the tickets revealed that the theater operates in a typical WTF fashion; only one of the three self-service kiosks were working. Seriously, if you make them available for people to purchase their own tickets, having them in anything less than working order is unforgivable.
After waiting for the incredibly slow people in front of me, I managed to get our tickets, and I have to say, the moment my receipt printed I was almost instantly in an even worse mood. I mean, it’s almost adding insult to injury with the economy in the toilet, and for them to still be charging $10 for a movie ticket?! Now I know why our theater was practically empty; going out to the movies in particular is getting too darned expensive. I could have just bought the DVD for the $20 I shelled out for us to see the film, and I could have enjoyed it in the comfort of my own home; and even watched it more than once!
All things considered, I will say that I liked the movie, though, so for that reason alone, I was glad that we went to see it. However, that wasn’t enough to bring me back to the theater in the future; and here’s a few reasons why: Unlike most, I am not impressed with seeing a movie in the theater. It doesn’t do anything extra for me, and I quite like having the comfort of being able to enjoy my comfortable couch, as well as the ability to press pause and run to the bathroom if it’s necessary. When watching from home, I don’t have to worry about parking, and I don’t have to pay for concessions. I also don’t have to deal with annoying theater goers. (that’s more reasons NOT to go than I thought!).
So… Underworld is probably the last movie I am going to see in the theater for a long while. During the previews, we saw one for Watchmen, and while I really want to see that movie, I might have to just wait for DVD; after all, I can just outright buy it, and if it sucks, I could chuck the DVD in the trash, and I would be out no more than I was to go and see it in the theater.
As an aside, I really think they need to come up with some gimmick that will pull people like myself back the theaters, or the movie business is going to continue to suffer. People need incentives to go and see your film, and charging out the nose isn’t a pro for certain. My suggestion, is that they offer you the exclusive chance to buy the DVD upon exiting the film. Seriously, how many times have you seen a movie, and you wanted to go and watch it again? For me, that’s most of the time, and that is yet another tick in the column for waiting until the DVD is released. How cool would it be to get the DVD right after seeing it? I know that would make me go to the theater without hesitation. Oh well… I can’t make the movie business bend to my desires. While it sounds like I’ve already made up my mind, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see if anything can get me back to the theater in the future; if not, does anyone want to come over for movie night?!
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