Do you get your money's worth at the movies?

When you go to the theater and you pay $10 or more on a movie, do you ever walk out of it thinking you got your money's worth and think 'oh man that was so great, I want to see it again, I can't wait till it comes out', or do you think 'well that wasn't a COMPLETE waste of my money'?

I tend towards the latter. I have gone to ONE movie at the theater this year, Despicable Me. First of all, we live in a small place so tickets are usually $6 - $7, I go in for the first time in 8 months and it's $9.75 for a ticket and I'm wondering how the hell did they raise it so much in 8 months? But apparently 3D movies cost more, which would explain why more of them are being made. So we get the glasses, we go in, the movies fun, it's funny, lot of places to laugh at it, but it's also boring in some parts, and it doesn't make a lot of sense, and it has a lot of awkward pauses when you're waiting for the movie to pick up again, and the whole time I'm thinking 'did I REALLY just spend $10 on this?'

In comparison, I saw Buster Keaton's Our Hospitality this year for a silent film festival. It ALSO cost $10 to go see, BUT the difference is when it's the silent movie festivals, they bring in a live orchestra for the music to accompany the film, and they show a 20 - 30 minute comedy short before the movie. So you have the live music, you have Charlie Chase running from dogs for 20 minutes and you have an hour and whatever of Buster Keaton unknowingly being chased by a bunch of angry gun toting Hatfield-ish feuding relatives from another family completing a fight that goes back to when he was a baby in the Civil War.

THERE I felt I got my money's worth, THERE I felt for that kind of entertainment, it was worth every cent. NOT so for the new movie that came out, even with it being in 3D and on such a huge screen and having balcony seats to see it better.

And it really isn't something new. I think back to last year when I was at the theater...I can't recall any movie I saw that I REALLY felt it was worth all the money it cost me. I saw the Blind Side, and it was okay, but I didn't want to see it again at the theater, I saw Jim Carrey's Christmas Carol and decided not to even bother renting it when it comes out this year. And I went to Transformers 2 with my nephews, one of the worst movies I've ever had the misfortune of seeing at the theater. Before that I saw Up!, which I loved, even just their pre-film short "Partly Cloudy" I felt was worth the $6.50, and before that I saw Night at the Museum 2, which since then I have not bought but I have rented a couple of times from the library because it's free.

I personally find it very hard to find any movies showing at the theater that are worth seeing, since our theater opened 4 years ago I've always gone to a few each year, but it grows to even fewer and fewer as I said to the point of this year it was the middle of July before I saw any there again. For my money, it's just not worth it because most of them are NOT really entertaining, it's just like 'oh look, 2 hours of something we can sit down and watch', the plot is usually poor at best, the acting is atrocious, etc. And for my money, most times I'd rather just stay at home and watch the same older movies I've seen a hundred times before.

Anybody else with me on this or am I alone here? I know there's an epidemic of people who go to the movies every week (how do they do that when everybody complains about the high ticket prices, I wonder?), and some of them it's 'this looks good, this looks good' but then there are also the ones who think 'oh this'll probably be crap but I'm going to see it anyway because it's something to do'. And if you won the lottery and could retire, you could afford to do that, but I can't and I know a lot of others can't so have to be far more picky about what they go to see, and when half a year can pass before ANYTHING comes out that looks good, that really doesn't say much for the modern movie industry, does it?

I feel like any movie I see recently, is not worth it. With all the lengthy previews put out there, it seems all the funny parts I have already seen. I am not motivated to see any movie at the theater anymore. It is way too expensive, in my opinion.

With how fast movies come to DVD, going to the theater is even more a waste of money. We also have a budget theater here, that movies go to after their main runs. But, the problem there is the movies are out on DVD less than a month after.

I do like the whole movie theater experience...big screen, popcorn, soda larger than my bathroom sink...but the cost is just not worth it.

Almost never. Unless I really want to see it right away I just wait for the DVD.

Compared to what audiences got before TV? Much less. I'm not talking about the quality of the films. Besides the movie (and sometimes it would be two of them, an "A" and a "B") they would get cartoons, short subjects, etc. For what I have to pay today, more and more I have to sit through commercials. I don't mean for local businesses like the local diner or dentist but for TV shows. I know why that is but I don't have to like it. I miss the trivia questions and word scrambles they used to put on the screen.

Theater movies are pretty much a waste. If I can get them for like 5 dollars and I wanna see the movie, it's not too bad.(And this is doable at a local theater) But the 10 buck ridiculous admission for the average movie is ridiculous. Most DVDs are only a little more and it's not a one-time, one-person viewing.

If I spend money to see a movie and I walk out feeling disappointed, it has nothing to do with the theater. It's the movie. The theater is only there to show the movie. Since I don't do concession stands and I mainly go during the matinees.....most of the time my movie theater experiences aren't bad at all. Especially since I saw something that I enjoyed. And I only go to the movies to see something that I REALLY want to see. If I'm not that pressed, I'll wait for the DVD.