Saturday, December 29, 2007

What a Rip Off - or Why I Don't Go to the Movies

After Thanksgiving, we promised Stephen that if he reached a given number of Accelerated Reader points before the Christmas break, we would take him to the movies. Well, he reached his goal, so yesterday afternoon we made good on our promise.

Now we are not a movie going family by any means. The last time we loaded everyone up and headed to the theater was when Cars was released. I think Brian and I have each been once since then - though not together - that would sound too much like a date. And lets not forget that I am a notoriously cheap person. So when we reach the ticket window and it costs us $24 for the 12:45 matinee, I was a little more than mildly annoyed, but hey we promised.

So we go into the 1/2 full theater and pick out 4 seats and patiently wait to be entertained. And wait. And wait. I only remember going to the movies a few times as a child, but I saw my fair share in my teen years. The way I remember it was, you saw 2 or 3 previews and then the feature started. If you arrived at the theater more than 10 minutes after the start time, you were bound to miss the opening of the movie. Not now. When the theater finally darkened, we were first shown previews, but a solid 10 minutes of commercials. Yes, paid advertising on the big screen. This was followed by previews for more movies than I could count, and finally 25 minutes after the advertised start time of the movie, we actually got to see the movie.

We watched Alvin and the Chipmunks. It was very cute and the kids really enjoyed it. They have been quoting one-liners ever since we left. However next time we decide to bribe the boy, I am going to suggest we buy a movie and stay home. At least then we can afford some popcorn to go with it...

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I hate the movies now. Whatever happened to the $1 matinee they had when we were little?

Unknown said...

I hate the movies now for the same reason. Whatever happened to the $1 matinee they had when we were kids?