An Article on Movie Theaters

Anyone who enjoys seeing e-reader articles from the Wall Street Journal posted in this space (a rare bird that), will be dismayed to find that I'll pass on posting the opinion article on the evolution of reading media through the ages that was printed today. I'm not a big fan of satire in the WSJ opinion pages. I want meat on the final pages of the main section, not dessert, thanks.

I will however comment on this article (here) Double Feature: Dinner and a Movie by Lauren A. E. Schuker that addresses some changes in theater offerings. Miss Schuker describes several upscale theaters that are revamping. They are offering dinner, drinks, larger, more luxurious seating, and waiters who will serve and clear during the movie. "I am one hundred percent sure that these theaters are the future of movie-going," she quotes Jeffrey Katzenberg as saying. I lived in Brussels for a year and one of my favorite hangout was a movie theater near the Atomium (see it here). This theater had large, comfy seats, over three dozen auditoriums, sals gals who would walk up and down the aisles selling waffles and chocolates during a long break that occurred between the previews and the feature, and bars outside each auditorium entrance where patrons could buy drinks prior to the show and take them in with them. However, I don't agree with Mr. Katzenberg. My friends and I did not go to the theater for the noshing or the drinking, we went because it was a cheap form of entertainment.

"Theater chains hope the new style of film-watching—which has previously been the realm chiefly of small independent theaters—will help boost the number of moviegoers after years of flat attendance."

I disagree with the above quote. I believe that if theaters want to boost sales they should convince distributors to set a lower ticket price. My wife used to get a perk from her job whereby she got 10 movie tickets a month for 20 dollars. Let me tell you we used all 10 of those suckers every month. We went to as many movies as we wanted to. Now, having lost the perk, we might go to five movies a year.

I understand that theaters make a majority of their profits from what they sell at the concessions, so I understand why theaters would want to create a larger offering. Who wants to sit next to a guy eating spaghetti, or liver pate or heaven forbid seafood while in an enclosed theater? And what about a blood-filled horror movie? Are you going to want to eat a rare piece of meat while watching SAW 6?

Mark me down as not a fan of the future of theaters.