I walked into the latest AMC movie to be presented with yet another price hike for everything from movie tickets to popcorn. This is no surprise, as prices have steadily been rising at the AMC Theatre movie chains for several years. As a movie critic, I will watch a lot of movies during the course of a year, and cost becomes a pretty big deal. The solution? At times, I’ve seen movies at the early show to beat the price jump, or I’ll go to a lesser chain-not as plush as AMC but the movies only cost 5 bucks.For many movies, that’s more than they’re worth! As far as the concession stand prices, most people know by now that this is the way theatres make their profits. So everything is incredibly marked up.
And at AMC, they have taken full advantage of the price-gouging in this new era. The good news (for AMC) is that there exists a new generation of movie-goers willing to pay the prices without question. But there’s another sub-set of the viewing public that largely stays away from the big screen movie. This is a shame, as so many great and classic films are meant to be viewed in a theater and on the Big Screen.
Yet more and more talented writers and directors are taking their talents and heading to cable outlets. As the audience moves to the smaller screen, so does the talent. There’s no immediate solution to this growing problem, but my prediction is that if the trend continues, we may be waxing nostalgic on the bygone era of the Big Screen Movie, sooner, rather than later.
Six Degrees of Film 