Rant & Roar

"Now I don't want to get off on a rant here, but...." -Dennis Miller

Like everybody, there are quite a few things in this world which just annoy the hell out of me. I try not to voice these opinions for various reasons. I never want to hurt anyone's feelings, I appear bitter when I do, etc. Unfortunately, unless I voice my frustrations, they don't go away. The solution I've come up with, is this Rant & Roar section of my website. Every so often, I plan to vent my frustration, go on a rant and just plain roar about a certain topic that annoys me. I mean absolutely no offense to anyone in particular. This section is not an excuse for me to attack anyone. It's just me letting off some steam.

You can also check out my previous rants.

 

Topic: Movie Ticket Prices

As if the price of a movie wasn't high enough, it was just announced in the Montreal Gazette yesterday that ticket prices will again be on the rise. While most theatres here will be raising their prices by 50 cents, the Paramount will be raising their price to $12.00 BEFORE TAX. Now come on! I'm one who loves a good movie, but this is getting a bit silly, isn't it? I mean, I can BUY a movie for less than that. I know movies cost a lot of money to make, but it shouldn't cost the same amount to have to see them!

Now, I don't know what the reason is for this rise in prices, but I can speculate. My most likely theory is that people are just plain greedy. They want to suck as much money out of us as they can. The problem with this theory, is that people are going to stop going to the movies. Why see at movie for $14.00 when you can rent one for $5.00 or less? Just wait a few months. My second theory is that it's just costing companies way too much to put out movies. They are pumping out movies with over-inflated budgets and no one is going to them. Perhaps they feel that this is the only way to make back the money. Well, if THAT is the case, then I have a very simply solution: STOP PUTTING OUT CRAP!

The vast majority of movies out now are garbage. We've been having one bad movie after another and I think everyone is sick of it. Sure these movies might have great special effects or a big name actor, but those don't make a movie worth watching. Now, I don't want to play film critic and talk about what makes a movie good or bad. I just want to see a movie that doesn't make me think that my time could have been better spent sitting on a hotplate. People are sick of seeing the same movie over and over with Julia Roberts in the Place of Meg Ryan or Freddie Prinze Jr. in the place of Ryan Phillippe. Give us something new and different! We can handle it! Instead of raising the price of tickets, give us something we haven't seen before! that way, we'll WANT to go out and see it! Why are people going to pay MORE money for a movie they aren't interested in seeing in the first place?

Not only are we getting the same KIND of movie over and over, but lately, we've been getting the same MOVIE over and over. Remakes and re-releases seem to be a popular trend in Hollywood. Charlie's Angels, Psycho, Lost in Space, The Mod Squad, The Exorcist, etc, etc. I saw a trailer about 2 months ago for the release of A Nightmare Before Christmas. Not for the RE-release of A Nightmare Before Christmas, but the release. It was at this point that I came to the conclusion that Hollywood is officially out of ideas. When you start passing off old movies as new ones, then you've got problems. The most insulting thing however, is that they show us the exact same movies we've seen before, but charge us MORE money to see them! Why do I need to pay $14.00 to see A Nightmare Before Christmas when I already saw it for $8.50? Don't get me wrong here. I have nothing against re-releases. I would pay to see a movie I've already seen for the theatre experience. What I AM against is having to pay double the price for it! Paying something like $14.00 to see a movie I've already seen just isn't worth it. If I'm willing to go that far, I might as well spend a couple extra bucks and just buy the damn thing.

I feel much better now that I've vented.

 

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