Why are y'all goin' to the movies?

[BuyingThyme]

Are you goin' to the movies because it's cheaper than goin' to dinner? Or is it because movies like Mall Cop are so compelling?

http://movies.yahoo.com/mv/boxoffice/

Movies with 'legs' keep industry running strong

More hold up beyond debuts, helping box office race past last year.

By Claudia Eller
March 9, 2009

Hollywood is witnessing a phenomenon it hasn't seen in more than a decade -- movies with legs.

Pictures that hang in at the box office over multiple weekends -- known as "having legs" among theater operators and studio executives -- are contributing to a sharp rise in attendance and ticket revenue. The upsurge is a welcome respite for Hollywood, where weak consumer spending has undercut DVD sales, long the backbone of the movie industry.

So far the recession doesn't appear to have dampened trips to the multiplex, where ticket prices in major cities now top $8 and a tub of popcorn can cost more than $5. Attendance at movie theaters in the first nine weeks of 2009, typically one of the slowest periods for ticket sales, is up 14.8% over last year, according to Media by Numbers, a box office tracking firm. Box office revenue is up 16.5%.

...

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-fi-legs9-2009mar09,0,1278659.story?track=rss

[scarletwoman]

1. Pretty simple -- escape from reality. (nt)

[BuyingThyme]

6. Yes.

I use DU.

[DJ13]

2. Many families have probably traded a vacation at Disney World

.... for several outing to the movies throughout the year to spread their entertainment expense out over a longer period.

Of course that means that the theme parks will be hurt, but Disney and Universal will end up making money either way.

(Six Flags is rumored to be considering bankruptcy.)

[BuyingThyme]

4. That's a good point.

[Lorien]

48. Disney world is doing OK. People can't afford trips oversea though

especially since BushCo devalued our currency. :-(

[MedleyMisty]

3. We've seen Coraline and Watchmen recently, and they were both decent

My sister-in-law forced Taken on us because she likes Liam Neeson.

We saw Slumdog Millionaire a while ago, and it rocked. Not all movies are lowest common denominator trash.

We go because it's a night out and it's fun and we want to see the movie. And we generally go out to dinner before the movie, so I'm not sure how it's an either/or thing?

As a more general answer - remember that movies did very well during the Depression. It's an escape from your worries for a couple of hours.

[BuyingThyme]

16. I was going to movies like crazy a year or two ago.

Very affordable and way fun; and you could bring your own truckload of FOOD. Then they shut down the last drive-in.

Now I don't even relate to the movies yo mention above.

[bridgit]

5. It ain't for Mall Cop

Usually when we go we have comp's from studio' we work for < :popcorn:

[BuyingThyme]

11. If you're Kevin James...

I apologize.

[Lex]

7. Last 2 I saw were "Slumdog Millionaire" and "The Wrestler"

What the heck is "Mall Cop"?

[BuyingThyme]

9. See the links for Mall Cop.

:hi:

[Lex]

10. I think I'll pass. I looked it up on imdb.

:hi:

[Tangerine LaBamba]

13. What did you think of "Wrestler"?

I'm repulsed by Mickey Rourke, but the movie intrigues me.

[Lex]

27. Even though I knew the violence was fake

it was still really hard to watch. And the stapler, the razor? Uggg.

I felt sorry for/fascinated by the Mickey Rourke character. Marisa Tormei wasn't overwhelmingly good, like I had anticipated. The actress playing his daughter was very good. Formulaic overall, but I'm glad I saw it.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

30. Thank you

I'm squeamish about violence in movies, so that, coupled with my Rourke repugnance, seals the deal for me.

Thank you a lot.

:toast:

[Mari333]

54. may I break in here? The Wrestler was great

really well done. really well done. And I am a stickler for good writing, directing, timing, and acting. its worth it.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

8. netflix............

For various reasons, I missed movies for the past two years. I'm catching up now, and it's so cheap as to be scandalous.

Saw "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" yesterday. Surprisingly good.

Now, more than ever, we need to escape from reality as much as possible. Pharmaceuticals are good, too...............

[bridgit]

17. There it is!

:thumbsup: Wish I'd have bought stock in the place sooner :(

[BuyingThyme]

20. The only thing I know about Netflix is they spend a hell of a lot of money on advertising.

And "over one billion" movies rented.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

24. They do?

I've never seen any of their advertising, and only signed up because a friend of mine urged me to. Now, for 9 bucks a month, I can watch as many movies as I want - their MD distribution center gives me, essentially, overnight service.

It's a great deal.

[BuyingThyme]

31. On radio it's non-stop.

They're the ones who ask those ridiculous questions followed by, "How many movies has Netflix delivered so far?"

[Tangerine LaBamba]

33. I don't listen to radio -

I've been lucky, then.

It's a good service, though - and you cannot beat the price.

[BuyingThyme]

34. "And no late fees! Ever!"

(Again from the radio.)

:hi:

[Tangerine LaBamba]

35. Oh, you poor thing!

You've been damaged.

But you're cute.............

:hi:

[Lorien]

58. They are a very blue company

which is a good thing. :thumbsup:

[Dappleganger]

32. That's what we've done...

although dh did use up the rest of the free movie tickets we rec'd for xmas to go see Watchmen yesterday. I'm quite satisfied to wait until the videos are released.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

38. I like being able to watch and then stop,

go off and do whatever is next, and come back and pick up with the DVD. It's like reading a book, which I still regard as the most luxurious of entertainments.................

I have Gran Torino and Doubt on my "to be released" list at netflix. They'll remember for me.

Nine bucks a month. How much are movie tickets these days? And all those damn commercials..............

[shanti]

56. another satisfied netflix customer!

;) me too!

[marmar]

12. I'm an art-house film junkie.....I've cut out other excesses, but I love el cine.....

..... No "Mall Cop" for me. The last four films I saw were "The Class," "Moscow, Belgium", "Milk" and "The International."

[Tangerine LaBamba]

15. I just saw

"The Killing Of A Chinese Bookie," and Ioved it.

Ever see it?

[marmar]

19. No. It either hasn't opened at the Detroit-area art houses (including the two Landmark Theaters)....

or I missed it.

When did you see it?

[Tangerine LaBamba]

28. Oh, it's an old, old movie

1976, I think. A John Cassavetes film. I got it through netflix.

Here's a link about it - http://tinyurl.com/dmo5ku

I'm a Cassvetes fan, so I'm a bit biased, but this is really worth seeing.

[marmar]

29. THAT explains it......

:)

Nope. I'll have to rent it.....I like Cassavetes too.

[Warpy]

14. It's a couple of hours outside the house

that you're in danger of losing full of all the junk you went into hock to get and don't know what you're going to do with and a thrill ride in an alternate reality for a short period of time.

People went to the movies in the Depression, too. Same reasons.

[BlooInBloo]

18. Just BT here.

[BuyingThyme]

21. Me?

[BlooInBloo]

23. hahah! Nice.

[defendandprotect]

22. I'm not -- !!! I'm catching up on old movies at my library . . .

and I can wait for the "new" ones to come out in DVD ---

except maybe I'll go see "MILK" . ..??

[BuyingThyme]

25. Mee to.

I discovered the whole library-movie thing about a year ago. Who knew? I have like four library cards now.

[defendandprotect]

46. My library now takes movies that are something more than a year old . . .

and let's you take as many as you want out FREE for a week ---

Many of them are documentaries, many are foreign films.

Plus the usual American stuff thrown in. I've probably had 30

out so far over the snow days here and about 4-5 of them have been gems!

[Lorien]

50. Ours does that with all titles. Kinda drives me nuts to see people walking off

with 30-40 DVDs in their bag. Do they really watch that many in one week? I'd like a ten DVD limit so there would be more variety left there for everyone else. If you watch ten movies in a day or two you can always come back for more!

[defendandprotect]

51. Wow -- great . . . but, no, I usually take out 5-6 at a time . . .

couldn't watch more than that in a week.

That's a great library you have !!!!

How are you doing with your library adding on religious books in non-fiction?

[Lorien]

57. I've never seen any there. There's a good balance between liberal and

conservative material at our library. Lots of Ann Colter books and loads of copies of every Micheal Moore documentary made, plus you can always find a copy of "an inconvenient truth" or "Jesus camp". And this is in Orlando no less! Where is yours located?

[defendandprotect]

62. Westfield, NJ . . . that's central NJ --

We have 1 Ann Coulter, 1 Jesus camp -- haven't see it -- and 1 Michael Moore/each documentary ...
1 Inconvenient Truth -- which I supplied for them because they were so late in
getting around to it!!

In the past years, we've also been getting male librarians which gives the library
a kinda spooky feel. A MALE head of the library now -- a first!! Doesn't make
me feel confident. Somehow they seem to be doubling their staff. They also redid
the library with funds from a private organization which raises funds for the library.
They did a crappy job. They've kind of turned it into a Starbucks -- big easy chairs.
We had comfortable chairs before, but these are high backed wing chairs.


Downstairs, where we have huge beautiful windows letting in a lot of light at the side
of the library, they put some 8 chairs/2X2 in front of the windows and then they put
up floor to ceiling bookcases close by so that none of the light from the windows can
now travel even to the center of the library. In the center of the library, they have
put two TV's mounted from the ceiling which seem to be tuned to CNN constantly!
And in that area tables for tutoring! Surrounding that area people are selecting Music.
Audio books, and films. They kids/tutors are annoyingly loud -- and I'm sure those
selecting materials are often annoying to them. You're right on top of them.

As you enter the library, the check in/check out is no longer in front of you -- it's
off to the side with almost NO areas in the library to put books down while you're waiting
or to put down your coat or anything else. So now, instead of people lined up along counters
holding their stuff, they are standing in lines in front of the new counter in everyone's way!!

They closed down the library for more than four-five months to do this!!!
In calcuulating why it took so long, I gather that they had to move the bookcases to remove
old carpeting and put the new stuff down. My question is why?
They could easily have removable runners between the book stalls which would provide more
ease and ability to move things around when necessary. Did I mention the new carpeting
is stripes? Light background, medium stripes of varying colors.
I am betting that this layout is going to have to be changed in the very near future!!

They have now also taken the computers out of a separate room and plunked them down in the
middle of the upstairs! I'm not sure if they increased the number, but at the most 50%.
Still, when I would occasionally use them they were only 50% used . . . and as far as I can
see that's still true.

They enlarged the children's area and that's still off to one side -- plus
they took the kid's videos out of the general video collection.
This was a huge new brick library about 10-15 years ago and certainly not shabby before the redo.

[Lorien]

49. Me too. Though I do hit the second run theater with friends sometimes

my TV at home is pretty tiny, so if I want to see a movie with friends we spend the 2.50 at the second run place down the road. It's kinda fun.

[shadowknows69]

26. I don't think I am anymore after watching 30 minutes of previews and commercials

COMMERCIALS! Before "Watchmen" saturday night.

[pengillian101]

44. Commercial-free TV.

That is pretty much the only TV I watch. Cable/satellite.

Commercials drive me nuts.

[pengillian101]

36. Cable or Satellite TV is about that price for a month of movies.

$15 per month or less for a premium movie channel. Non-stop movies 24 hours a day.

Movies are a year+ old. BFD.

[BuyingThyme]

43. I hear that.

And I have no problem watching Austin Powers or Dumb & Dumber for the umpteenth time on TBS.

[RB TexLa]

37. Just about anything would be a better use of the millions people hand over to them every weekend

Just about anything.

[BuyingThyme]

39. We must continue to support the Hollywood Commies.

At all costs.

[RB TexLa]

40. I don't have to do anything for them. We go to the movies from time to time, I think the last time

was in October.

I prefer to keep my money for myself.

[BuyingThyme]

41. You go more often than I.

:hi:

[Veritas_et_Aequitas]

42. Swee sweet escapism here

[xenussister]

45. Saw 170+ movies in the theater last year. I love going to the theater.

We have a home theater and around 1500 DVDs, but still go out to the theater all the time. I love movies. I'm the type of person who's seen all of the Oscar nominated films *before* the nominations come out. Usually, anyway. That's not always the case with foreign films or documentaries that haven't opened yet but are nominated.

Luckily we live in a city where there are a lot of theaters and great selection of movies. I prefer art-house and good dramas, but we have very eclectic taste in films. We never go see just one movie. It's always at least 2, sometimes more. Six in one day is my record. I also often see movies multiple times. I saw my favorite film from last year, The Fall, 9 times in the theater. I've seen Milk 4 times, Slumdog Millionaire 3 times.

I just love the theater. I love sitting there in the dark watching the big screen. My husband feels the same. It's one of the things that brought us together. Unlike many, we never ever have any problems with other patrons. I can count on the one hand the times we've been annoyed by someone over the past 10 years. It helps that we sit in the very front, where hardly anyone else wants to sit, unless the theater is sold out. We also go at odd times. If we're going to a blockbuster we'll see a midnight show, or opening day.

We never bought into the "American Dream" and so don't have a house (we rent), a car (we take public transportation) or credit cards other than a debit card, all by choice because we've always feared debt. Since we have no debt, rent, utilities and phone/internet are our only monthly bills. That's one of the reasons we can spend so much on movies. But even then, we use a lot of AMC Costco discount passes, plus we go to matinees, plus we have AMC Moviewatcher cards and go so often we get free passes every few weeks. We also belong to clubs that help us get free passes.

It also helps that our kids are grown and we don't have a dog. We can do anything we want.

It's our thing. We don't like plays (they're too expensive). We don't go to sporting events. We go to concerts but only at small venues featuring up and coming artists (saw Tori Amos in a tiny, 100-seat bar). Our main thing is movies though. We love movies. There's nothing wrong with us.

[BuyingThyme]

59. No, there's nothing wrong with you.

You just know what you're into. Thanks for sharing.

:hi:

[blue_onyx]

47. I haven't been to the movies in years

I would like to go more often.

[WI_DEM]

52. Even during the depression of the 30's the movies were a form of escape

and still are.

[krabigirl]

53. Movies, video games, entertainment in general do well in bad economies.

Hollywood did great during the Depression of the 30s.

[raccoon]

55. I used to go to movies a lot. Not any more, because they suck.

It's rare that one is at the theaters these days that appeals to me.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

60. I like the noise of the audience and the sticky floors ...

er, wait, no. That's why I like eating at home and renting DVD's.

Never mind.

[TroglodyteScholar]

61. I haven't seen a movie in the theater since Fahrenheit 9/11...

I guess if the theaters around here were nicer, I go see more movies. But really, the biggest problem is that most of the movies that would interest me don't get shown around here. Hell, I had to drive and hour and a half to see Fahrenheit. Pheh.

[leftofthedial]

63. no $$

and my friend (my daughter's friend from high school) who used to give me passes finally moved away.

:-(

My girlfriend got laid off too, so she can't even take me...

[tangent90]

64. We haven't gone out to a movie since walking out of one in 1986

maybe 87...somewhere about then.

[BuyingThyme]

65. Was it Night of the Comet?