Comment by thomk | Hacker News Reader

Comment by thomk | Hacker News Reader

Oh yeah that'll be fun, now there is no price barrier to entry so the rude idiots that are in theaters now will simply overrun theaters. Ever go see a $1 movie in a low rate theater? That's where this is headed.

Honest to god I would pay $20/ticket to go sit in a quiet theater with respectful people who like to get lost in movies and know how to act.

I used to go to the movies about twice a month, now I go once every 6 months and about 50% of the time someone is talking or on their phone and I find myself in a confrontation. Ever try to settle back down and enjoy the rest of the movie after you confront someone? Forget it.

Unfortunately I'm sure I'm in the minority and this idea will probably work and I'll have to stick to Art House movie theaters or watch movies at home which is fine I guess.

I remember watching Star Wars in the theater in the 70's. Guess what? People were too engrossed to be rude. Part of the fun was getting swept up in the reaction of other moviegoers.

I hope this is figured out soon, I miss going to the theater!

Where do you live? I almost never experience this going to the theater in NYC.

In fairness, aren't movie ticket prices in NYC near $20? I haven't tried to see a movie there in >5 years, but at the time going to see one in midtown was ~$16.

Yup, pretty much anywhere in the city will be close to that. But that's regular NYC pricing, everything is more expensive there.

It is very theater-dependent in NYC: I live a few blocks from two different theaters, one is quiet and people are respectful, the other is nearly intolerable for anything other than a nonstop action movie because people are talking and texting the whole time. Interestingly, the quiet theater is a few dollars cheaper per ticket.

Try going to AMC Empire 25 (near Times Square) on a weekend. Lots of people talking, yelling, clapping, texting, etc.

I spend a lot of time at Alamo now.

Well anything near Times Square is a mess, I'm in a quiet part of Brooklyn.

Gotta keep those selfish poor people out right. Assholes live in every tax bracket.

Talking during a movie, and ruining everyone's experience IS selfish. It doesn't matter if the ticket was a $1, or free. Everyone else is there to watch a movie, not listen to you act like a jackass. Stop making this a poor vs rich debate. I know plenty of poor, respectful people. Visit India sometime.

I think the parent was being sarcastic as they were replying to a post which was saying that higher ticket prices keeps out the "rude" people. The implication then is that poorer people are rude.

Given a $10 theater and a $20 theater with reasonable geographic similarity, people that choose the $20 one should be more invested in actually seeing the movie and not just goofing off for a few hours.

It's really teenagers that need to be kept out though, in my experience.

I saw Precious in two different theaters in two very different areas around Philly (I know, but both of my dates wanted to see it separately and they were cute enough not to say 'no' to). The first was in a 'white' off the main line. The theater was really silent and the film had a very somber feeling to it. Not a good date movie in the end. The second time was in a 'black' area closer to the city. It was a much better date movie. The audience, mostly black, interacted with the film loudly and actively. The scene where the TV is dropped on Precious' head from a few stories up was not a terrible event of violence, at least not as much, in the 'black' theater. The audience was yelling at Precious to get out, to move, to not just sit there. In the 'black' theater, Precious was not a passive victim, she was responsible for herself and a real person with real action, not a vessel to represent the grinding poverty, obesity, racism, and raping of inner-city America. It was a much better movie with audience interaction, she was real, not a thing. You just have to be comfortable with that kind of theater and you have to try to participate with it too. Life is created by us all together, not 'for' us to consume.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0929632/

I appreciate your feedback, but I don't go to movies, to listen to everyone else scream, and carry on over it.

You should try it sometime. I think it's a lot more fun, and obviously, so do a lot of other movie-goers.

As someone who's seen the Rocky Horror Picture Show in a movie theater many times (with audience participation, of course), that sounds like a lot of fun

How could I forget RHPS! NOW that is a BLAST!

It's not about class.

People who go to $1 showings of movies often don't really have their attention invested in the movie. The movie theater just becomes a cheap place to hang out with friends, and they start chatting with each other during the movie, ruining it for the people that are there for the actual movie.

Higher prices keep out the riff-raff. Riff-raff of course being assholes, who as you say, live in every tax bracket.

I've been too far more second run showings than full priced films, and I can't say that I noticed much difference in people's behavior between the two.

When are we going to reach the point that home theaters -- as in, covering your entire living room wall -- become economical? That's my dream.

I've got a home projector that cost me GBP350 about two years ago - cheaper than a big TV. It's 720p, nothing particularly special but more than good enough. For me that's more or less made going to the cinema obsolete.

Now? You do have to deal with the downsides of a projector system (limited contrast, you have to religiously control the light in the room, etc.) but you can do it now.

I think it's economical. The highly regarded BenQ HT2050/W1110 I use isn't more expensive than the TVs I see in many homes. Sure, there's the audio system, but at least in my case and as a music lover that area was covered regardless of the home theater aspect.

What I'm trying to say is that you probably don't need to start with nothing - if you have a large TV and/or decent audio system you can build and improve from there.

$20/ticket pays for a home theater setup pretty quick.

That is probably at least two grand if you want something decent, so that is still 100 trips, plus you run into the issue that you can't get new movies anywhere but the theater, even if you were willing to pay the same price.

You can always watch the single camera torrent files of new releases. Makes you feel like you are there with people standing up, talking. The only difference is your floor doesn't have the sticky pop feel

I guess you're single? A family of N makes that 100/N trips.

I go to movies during off times--like take part of a day off and go during the day. A couple of times, I was the only one in the theater!

Exactly this happened in France about 15 years ago when movie theaters introduced unlimited subscriptions. They had to restrict entry on Saturday evenings, otherwise people would come only to disrupt the movie for everyone else (sorry, no reference). When the marginal cost of something is 0, people will attach very little value to it.

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