Recently Michael and I have been lamenting the closure of pretty much the only still operating Dollar Theater we knew of, Premier Cinemas At Jumpers Hole Road. Of course, you're all familiar with the dollar theater, the older model movie house showing second run films a couple months after their debut. These places had it all... bargain prices, great movies you probably were seeing for a second or third time late in the summer, maybe even trashbags full of popcorn for a buck. But they've almost all been decimated in favor of the 2400 screen multiplex with $5.00 popcorn, or $4.50 buckets of soda. With their screaming babies in R Rated movies at midnight and their rising ticket prices.
Don't get me wrong I love these theaters with their pre-show's and raucous opening night crowds... but why can't we live in a world with both? Here's part of the reason... Hollywood is ripping us off...and they aren't even making money off the theaters. This article here details among other things why a film like "Gone In 60 Seconds" made 242 million bucks in theaters... and still lost almost 100 million dollars.
http://www.slate.com/id/2118819
Basically, it comes down to the fact that the home video market is where all the money is. But I ask you, would it be where all the money is if we were being forced to pay upwards of 20 bucks just for two tickets and a popcorn in a theater?!?!? Probably not. So is this all a vicious circle? If movies were cheaper than a home video rental again would people flood back into theaters? Are people just getting too lazy to leave the house anymore? Or is technology destroying movie theaters? For every blu-ray disc cheaply produced in Mexico, does another theater get boarded up?
Well maybe. But the day where anyone can just watch any movie at will at home is still a long way off. And while dollar theaters may be nearing complete extinction (at least here in the northeast), we do have film enthusiasts trying to save a piece of the golden age of viewing films... Ladies and gentleman I give you non-profit community theaters. These places are usually classic movie houses that mix up indie fare, classic movie nights, and some newer hits to bring in people. Here are a couple of local examples:
http://www.countytheater.com
http://www.brynmawrfilm.org
The Bryn Mawr theater even features "Open Screen Mondays" where you can screen your own short films in front of a crowd! Plus on weekends they show cool "classic" movies at midnight (we recently caught a fun screening of "Zoolander" there).
The other spearhead in the re-emergence of the theater is the Classy art house theater. Of course, these places tend to skew towards a more well-informed crowd with its indie flicks... and the prices can get higher. But hey, you get what you pay for. Here's a couple we frequent:
http://www.ritztheaters.com
http://www.thecharles.com
I guess getting people to come out involves some gimmicks these days: assigned seats, muffins and bagels and danish sales during Saturday matinee shows for those brunch time crowds like they do at the Ritz.
And that stuff's all well and good and fun. I guess I just miss a simpler time of being able to see movies like "Jurassic Park" on the big screen over a year after it came out.
Then again I live in a world where I can be blinded by "Happy Feet" on a 300 foot IMAX screen. So it's not that bad a world for movies. I mean small town America still has a couple Tastee Freeze's left...you just have to look for them. And thats part of the fun.
Tune in next time for Part 2 in our Movie Theater Series, when we'll look at the decline of the Drive-In movie theater!