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The 8th Wonder of Waynesville
During the Hollywood "slump" this year, a lot has been made about the fact that it now costs upwards of $9, even in backwoods Kansas City, to buy a single adult movie ticket at night. The other common complaint is the ubiquitous annoying commercials before the movie starts (and even before the usual 9 previews for other movies).
But here in isolated Waynesville, NC, I got a glimpse of what it would look (and smell) like if everyone got their wish. The matinee showing of King Kong in the "big theater" (7 rows, 12 seats per row) was $3 per ticket. There were no commercials before the movie, and in fact there was only one preview, but the theater smelled of urine, and the "sound system" was a few speakers hung on the walls.
The piece de resistance was 2 hours into the film, when in the middle of a scene the screen abruptly went blank. About 5 minutes later, the lights in the theater turned on and off a la the "return to your seats, intermission is almost over" signal that you'd see at a play, and the movie resumed again in the middle of the scene. It was an unannounced intermission.
So think about it next time you complain about your stadium seating and Dolby Digital sound costing $10 and a few ads for extreme soda.
Comments
It smelled like urine? Wow, I wonder where that came from. It couldn't be from lack of intermissions. (Although, I do have to admit that I love the idea of the intermission. Assuming of course that I actually know that's what it's supposed to be). What is the logic behind no intermissions? Surely movie theaters want us to buy more snacks?
Posted by: Eileen at January 1, 2006 12:42 AM
People will always shell out a few bucks for movie theatre costs - those who complain about the cost obviously forget how many people it takes to keep a theatre clean and shiny.
I think the real reason behind this summer's Hollywood slump is just that the majority of this year's movies sucked.
Posted by: Brian at January 1, 2006 5:22 PM
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