Now I understand...

Post by **Skyone** » Sun Sep 09, 2007 3:53 pm

Damn right! It's actually 9 bucks here in the inflated state of California, but what can you expect? This is just the reason I have gone to see a movie like three months, and before that - four months.

soundwave · Post by **soundwave** » Sun Sep 09, 2007 4:09 pm

gamer2 wrote:
ganonbanned wrote: oh, and about your soda problem: first, they charge extra for ice? WTF?
I dont like Ice when I am in a theater. It melts too fast, I like to savor it. Also you can get more soda in a ice less container.

Yeah, but sometimes they don't cool the soda, so unless you get ice it can come out warm, I've had to deal with that on a few occassions, it sucks. Especially Mountain Dew, Mountain Dew is a horrible drink when warm.

Mode7 · Post by **Mode7** » Sun Sep 09, 2007 4:56 pm

Theaters don't make a lot of money off ticket sales. It costs more just for one view because it's an experience in the sense that you have the lighting all set up for you as well as an Xbox hueg-sized screen to see the movie on. So you're paying for all that and a sorta "luxury tax" just to be able to see it there.

Food is where the movie theaters make up the real cash. They're just like the theme parks -- they really don't make that much off ticket sales, but food (and souvenirs) are overpriced because people are willing to pay more to eat at their convenience in these situations.

Just sneak food in. The worst the staff could do is throw you out. You will NOT get arrested and it is my firm belief that you should feel absolutely no shame for saving money because you are NOT obligated to buy food from them.

[Aside: As for why DVDs are comparitively cheaper... MSRPs for most DVDs are $25-30 nowadays, but since retail outlets are super-competitive, they forego any profit and usually price them $10 lower (with the hopes that you'll buy other things in the store). You can't really do that in a movie theater, even if a certain movie cost less to make than another.]

benol · Post by **benol** » Sun Sep 09, 2007 5:17 pm

LOL. Xbox-size.

lifeisbetterwithketchup · Post by **lifeisbetterwithketchup** » Sun Sep 09, 2007 5:30 pm

Dr. KillGood wrote:
lifeisbetterwithketchup wrote:Yeah, buy a 75 cent bag of Reese's Pieces at the Target across the street instead of the $4 bag at the theater that's the same size. That's what I always do. Deep pockets are your friends.
LOL thats what I do, you live in Georgia too lol?

Um, no. I live in Illinois.

joevennix · Post by **joevennix** » Sun Sep 09, 2007 6:28 pm

Yeah, here in Texas if you want to take someone to a really nice theater parking is $3, tickets are $8 for students, and food is like $3 for a bag of skittles, $4 for a small, and I mean small popcorn, and maybe $3.50 for a small drink.
But after that prices go up only by like 50 cents per size, so a large ends up being $4 whereas a small is 3. Kinda like hard drives. You have to have the large, since in your mind its such a good deal. I also like how the large popcorn bins are so huge that no one could ever finish one in the duration of 1 movie, so they offer refills on only the larges. Whoever designed that was a genius.
It does help to have friends who work at the theater though

EDIT:Wait wut soundwave is here? Oh hai

Nicholai · Post by **Nicholai** » Sun Sep 09, 2007 10:16 pm

I usually just bring a backpack filled with a burger from a fast food place and a load of candy and a smaller cooler with a few drinks, and claim I'm a tourist, carrying all my stuff.

Limewater · Post by **Limewater** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 7:02 pm

Why is everyone talking about sneaking burgers into a movie theater?

I can understand sneaking in a candy bar or something, but why on earth would you want to eat Burger King in a movie theater?

Of course, I'm not entirely sure why any of you would willfully choose to eat Burger King food in the first place...

And I would love to only pay 6.75 for an adult movie ticket.

Ecksem Diem · Post by **Ecksem Diem** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 7:04 pm

The theater by me charges seven and a half dollars a ticket for matinees, and eleven and a half dollars a ticket for standard admission. The soda runs around the five dollar mark (depending on size), and the popcorn runs anywhere from four to six dollars (again, depending on size). Considering the prices, you'd think they'd have something more recent than a Cruis'n machine in their mini-arcade.

Super Mulletman · Post by **Super Mulletman** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 11:41 pm

Does everyone else's theatre have some kind of bloodthirsty vendetta against outside food? I usually go to the mall across the street, get some candy, maybe some drinks, something unnecessary but fun, like caffeine gum, and walk right in with the bag. No one freaking cares. I've gone in with friends and we've all brought in entire dinners. I have never been stopped for food. Not once.

And if your theatre really, really doesn't allow it, make friends with the ticket people. That leads to all kinds of good stuff.

Also $10 a ticket in California Bay Area. Matinee is $6.

ZN13 · Post by **ZN13** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 9:42 pm

joevennix wrote:Yeah, here in Texas if you want to take someone to a really nice theater parking is $3, tickets are $8 for students, and food is like $3 for a bag of skittles, $4 for a small, and I mean small popcorn, and maybe $3.50 for a small drink.
But after that prices go up only by like 50 cents per size, so a large ends up being $4 whereas a small is 3. Kinda like hard drives. You have to have the large, since in your mind its such a good deal. I also like how the large popcorn bins are so huge that no one could ever finish one in the duration of 1 movie, so they offer refills on only the larges. Whoever designed that was a genius.
It does help to have friends who work at the theater though

EDIT:Wait wut soundwave is here? Oh hai

I dont know where you live in texas but here, there's no parking fee, the tickets are 7$ and a large drink is 3$.
You must live in a big city or something.

Post by **Sparkfist** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 10:02 pm

Funny my brother, father and I were on the topic of theaters earlier today.

My dad was further describing House of Wax that he saw in theaters when he was 9. He mentioned how it only cost him $0.50, and he could stay in there all day if he wanted. Lets also keep in mind that House of Wax (the original) was a 3D picture so with two projectors its more money, and secondly is that it's a horror movie and my dad saw it when he was 9.

Now as days you can't get away with half that stuff. Most kids can't get into an "R" rated movie even with the parents, and once the lights come on security is likely to be called in to have to kicked out.

My last note on this rant is that the price. If you compare the value of $0.50 in 1953 to the average cost of a ticket now ($6.50), things just don't add up.

Now I know that the theaters are not making a whole lot of money, and majority of those problems are that movies are not really work going to the theater to watch. If they try and get some good movies in there and maybe even offer refreshments at a reasonable price, they might, just might get more business.

On another note. I was thinking that in winter time I could sneak a camal pak in. They hold about 100 oz., or ~1.5 liters/quarts. That's enough to get through a movie like LoTR even.

Adam G · Post by **Adam G** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 11:16 pm

If you think about it, a nice projector is like... $600-$2000.
Imagine, a $1000 projector, all the wonders of home, and a nice Cam download.
After the 100th movie, it's paid for itself. That isn't even considering friend and family watching too.
Yet...piracy, for one reason or another, seems to be frowned upon in society.
A lot of kids break copyright laws. Maybe download one song or uploading a video with music added, it's all the same.

Post by **Skyone** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 11:25 pm

94" diagonal

http://skytroniks.com/images/projector/IMG_0500.JPG
http://skytroniks.com/images/projector/IMG_0502.JPG

$250 from eBay. Totally a worthwhile investment.

benol · Post by **benol** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 11:28 pm

Sensor bar hack?