A Christmas Eve tradition for Cindy and me is to go to the movies. This year we went to see "The Family Stone" with Diane Keaton, Craig T. Nelson, Sarah Jessica Parker, Claire Danes, Dermot Mulroney and Luke Wilson. The movie was OK, better than average. It was a good comedy, a heavy drama and a chick flick all at the same time. Pretty tough to pull off on paper, but it worked for me. Cindy thought it was a little slow paced.
But that's not what got me - when we first went into the movie theater, on the outside doors was a sign that said, "Absolutely NO outside food or drink may be brought in!" Cindy remarked, "Well, that's certainly new."
Now, I'm one of those guys who is a sucker for popcorn and something to drink at a movie. Cindy said, "Are you really going to get that old popcorn and the syrupy pop at the movies?" I said I had to.
Well, after last night, I don't think I'll be doing that any longer. A small bag of popcorn was $3.35 - I spill more popcorn than what was in that bag last night. And a small Coke was $3.85! Holy shit! A 16 oz glass of syrupy pop that I couldn't finish it was so sweet that was filled to the top with ice - $3.85. Jesus! No wonder they don't want people bringing in outside food. Once you're in there and you want something to eat or drink, they got you by the short hairs.
After paying $9.00 a ticket to get in and then spending $7.54 with tax on a small pop and an equally small bag of popcorn, there's no wonder attendance at movie houses across America is down.
We only go once a year - sometimes a couple times if there's a movie that we want to see sometime other than at Christmas. And at prices like that, we're only going to continue to go to one or two movies a year. I'd rather rent the DVD, get the extra features, deleted scenes and director's commentaries; or wait for it to show up on HBO or Showtime.
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