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Comment by cjlars | Hacker News Reader

It seems as though the cinema is finally entering a secular contraction. Home video hardware is getting cheaper and higher quality. Content going straight to netflix/hbo/hulu is getting better. And sitting in front of a movie sucking down 32oz of sugar water and fat soaked popcorn doesn't sound quite so appealing these days.

I'll see the new Star Wars, no doubt about that, but besides that I can't remember a time in my life when I went to the movies less than I do now. For the same price, I can get a nice meal out and watch a movie at home.

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Value proposition on theaters is very low.

The popcorn isn't even good. I want butter and salt evenly distributed throughout the entire bucket, not a disgustingly over seasoning top inch, and a bland inedible bottom 90%.

The cheapest matinee is a Tuesday 5.75 about 20m from me. It's just not worth it at all. Serialized dramas that I binge watch are killing movies. Attention economy continues to forces changes in old media.

I ask them to fill it up halfway, then I add "butter," return to the counter to have it filled the rest of the way, and return for a second "butter" round to ensure even coverage.

Not everyone has self-service butter.

Or just ask the person filling it up to do it for you.

Yup. Fill with corn halfway, butter, then shake the bag. Fill to the top and butter again. Don't butter with less than half the bag filled or you will soak the bottom and get soggy corn. If the theatre won't do this, go to an independent.

for the prices paid, it should be done for us. if not by machine, then by hand.

>Value proposition on theaters is very low.

The value is that it is the most effective form of DRM around. TV, video games, books, music all get ripped same day. Movies pirated version look like garbage for months.

> The popcorn isn't even good.

Have you tried popcorn at every independent operator and chain on the planet or is this based on your own subjective experience? Come to Oakville, Ontario and I will give you a bag of the best popcorn you have ever had, until then, reserve judgement.

Also, salt (Flavacol) is added along with the raw kernels while making popcorn. It is always evenly distributed. This is true for virtually every movie theatre there is.

You forgot broken seats, sticky seats and floors, other movie goers talking and looking at their devices, etc. The last time we went to the theater a woman seated next to my wife kept getting up and leaving. Finally she came back and spilled her beer all over my wife. Then sat back down without apologizing. We haven't been back to the theater since.

While it's lower than at its peak, 2016 still beat 1995 in inflation-adjusted dollars, so they're not doing too badly: https://www.the-numbers.com/market/

Or at least Walt Disney isn't: they got 7 of the last 10 top grossing movies of the year.

Wow! I had no idea domestic (infl. adj.) sales peaked in 2002.

I still love going to the movies and go now as much as ever, and will probably go much more now that I have MoviePass. I like being able to watch movies on the huge screen without all the distractions (roommates trying to talk to me, phone checking habits, etc.).

One of the theatres here in Canada has now started offering VR experiences. They have a lounge area with about 8 different experiences, with prices in the $12-15 range for 15 minutes. Gotta give them full marks for attempting something new.

A dollar a minute seems substantially overpriced.

This is why Alamo Drafthouse my only choice. Comfortable seating, prepicked seating, no ads before movies, and you can order drinks/snacks/dinner at your seat.

And they take movie pass.

I find Alamo service slow, food poor and the seats are not that comfortable. Have you been to the new recliner theaters? They are a much better experience.

What city are you in?

> sucking down 32oz of sugar water and fat soaked popcorn doesn't sound quite so appealing these days.

This is why I go to the movies!

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