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Movies still worth the buck

February 29, 2008

By: Mitch Ringenberg <mringenberg@hilite.org>

Going to the movies just isn’t the same anymore.

A few weeks ago, I was at the movies and found myself astonished at the raised ticket prices. My ticket cost a staggering $9.50. I know, a mere fifty cents is not an earth-shattering amount of money, but it got me thinking as to why the theater would choose to raise its prices. I mean, the movie theater certainly hasn’t upgraded on the quality of the movies its showing, which is obviously a problem that would be very difficult to fix.

The movie theater has not changed the size of its seats or enlarged its screens. No, the problem was that theaters just aren’t making as much money as they used to. A study conducted by Statistics Canada, showed that in 2004, movie theater attendance fell 4.6 percent and it’s still dropping.

This information bothers me as a person who loves going to the movies, but the statistics also make sense. First of all, it seems that all the great Oscar-nominated movies coming out these days are only being played in more artsy theaters and when they are released in mainstream theaters, they only play very briefly and at odd show times. This means that the general public will be forced to sit through mediocre or even terrible big-budget films such as “Alvin and the Chipmunks” or “Meet the Spartans” (shudder), despite their dismal quality.

But bad films have been around forever, so this can not be the only reason for the decline in attendance. Another contributing factor is the upgrade in home entertainment systems and the introduction of Blu-Ray/HD DVD movies (now only Blu-Ray). Everyone has had that experience when they’re at the movies and some annoying people are sitting near you and won’t stop talking.

Before, the benefit of going to the movies was the fact that you couldn’t get that kind of movie-viewing experience anywhere else. Now it seems everyone has a big plasma or LCD television at their house and with those, there’s hardly much of a difference between that and the real thing.

Also, with Blu-Ray movies, the picture is actually as good, if not better, than what you’d be seeing in the theater. And with DVDs coming out so quickly these days, you hardly even have to wait for the movie you want to see to be available for viewing in the comfort of your own home. However, that doesn’t mean theaters are completely useless.
With going to the movies, comes an experience and atmosphere that is impossible to recreate in your own home no matter what you do. Also, movie theaters

still offer somewhat enjoyable (if not outrageously overpriced) concessions.

Going out to the movies is something all high school students love to do with their friends. It is a social pastime that has been going on for ages.

But I think high school audiences are one of the only groups keeping the business alive. Fortunately, with such a slow, drawn out, decrease in popularity, the movie theaters’ losses will not be evident for quite some time. Te begin with, they could start by taking their prices down just a little bit.

The theaters still make enough money where they could most likely afford to lower their prices enough to increase attendance. Also, they can try upgrading the picture and resolution of the projectors so they can keep up with home entertainment systems. These are just a few suggestions that could possibly help the business stay afloat.

But still, with those raised ticket prices, I realized I could buy a movie for almost the exact same price and apparently, audiences are starting to realize this fundamental inconvenience as well. If the movie theater industry wants to try and keep itself in business, it will have to make some definite changes and improvements, or else fear the entire industry becoming completely irrelevant. Mitch Ringenberg is a reporter for the HiLite. Contact him at mringenberg@hilite.org.

Updated by ychoi · Filed Under Perspectives 

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