To me, Oliver Twist is easily one of the best films released this year. Honestly, trying to adapt a literary classic that’s been done a thousand times before is a massive undertaking. It's easy enough to be original, but it's much harder to take something everyone has already seen and turn it into something engaging, well-paced, and rich with detail. Polanski kills it.
Look, everyone pays their own way, right? And besides, a sneak preview is still just $12...plus, it's not your only choice. You go to the theater for the big screen experience and the movie itself; for everything else, you've got Mastercard.
brightcobra10 said:I’m with Richard Hernandez13 on this one. When I was a kid, going to AMC Theatres seven times a week was a breeze—it barely cost anything, and I'd still have plenty of cash left over for snacks. Nowadays, though, everything is just too expensive, and honestly, half the movies coming out are total garbage anyway. I remember back when I lived in the States, I used to hit the theater on Mondays to take advantage of those student discounts. It would be much more realistic if ticket prices were actually reasonable... $3.25
Yeah, exactly. A few decades ago in the States, movie tickets only cost a couple of bucks. Now? You’re looking at over ten dollars easy. Honestly, I wish prices would go back down... $3.25But that’s never actually going to happen. That kind of issue only matters if you're watching 50 or 60 movies a year—and let's be honest, do you even watch that many?... For a movie that people actually want to see in theaters, a price point between $20 and... $9.75 It can't be that big of an issue. Unless we're talking about someone who can barely afford a meal—in which case, they should just get free tickets!
... Why wouldn't foreign distributors dictate the price? They’re obviously going to expect their slice of the pie...
I suspect ticket prices aren't actually the issue, especially since they're quite low compared to the standards of the rest of Europe this country aims to meet. A price adjustment of $3.25 wouldn't change much. Most of the programming consists of Hollywood blockbusters—which pull in crowds regardless. As for art house films, classics, or indie flicks, you can mostly find those for free online. The real issue might be the delay in getting new releases, though I'm not even sure about that. People have gotten lazy; they've settled for downloading stuff. When they do go out, they head to those massive multiplexes and have completely forgotten about Old School cinemas.
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The ticket itself is the smallest expense. You have to factor in gas for the car, plus the popcorn and soda—all of that easily costs several times more than the actual seat. For the average American earning something like $40,000 a year, a single ticket isn't a huge hit—it's basically just two gallons of gas. Not to mention how absurd it is to drive a car around a city the size of Washington, D.C.
On the flip side, there are plenty of people struggling financially who might actually want to go to the movies if they could afford it. To reiterate, there are tons of free shows available, which makes digital downloads a much more attractive option. But! You have a computer, but you can't swing the cash for a movie ticket?
On the lineup: March of the Penguins, Grizzly Man, Mondovino, Touching the Void, Crossing the Bridge, Riz, and Murderball.
I have to say, this is a solid selection of documentaries. Even though a few of these played at the Sundance Film Festival previously, I personally haven't managed to catch any of them yet...
The core issue is that people just aren't heading to the movie theater anymore, at least not with any regularity. There was a time when a good film would pack houses for weeks on end. Nowadays, you might see crowds stay for a day or two if it's something massive like Smith's, Potter, or Lord of the Rings, but that's about it. People have become far too accustomed to piracy, DivX, and digital rips; plus, there's this growing trend of avoiding human contact as technology advances—even if we don't like to admit it.
Granted, most movies coming out lately are total garbage, but that's a poor excuse. Lately, theaters have been screening titles you wouldn't even find in a video rental shop years ago—it's just that those high-quality gems never really drew the masses to begin with.
As for me, I’d much rather catch a movie in a theater (whether it's a masterpiece or just mediocre) than watch it at home. The cinema experience is incomparable to watching something in your living room—unless, of course, you have a home theater setup like Oprah; basically a private cinema for a hundred people right in your own house.
Kimberly Johnson79 said:A Star Is Born (that wedding crashing sequence is especially memorable!)
That’s been the issue with American movies lately. They have an excellent opening, but then the writers just run out of steam... Still, they're funny. More Vaughn for me, since Wilson was acting pretty whiny for half the movie.
pompom said:Guys, save your money for something better... the plot is totally disjointed and pointless, let alone the acting and the "brilliant" characters.
Yeah, exactly. If I only watched movies with cohesive plots and genius characters, I'd probably see fewer than 20 films a year.