How the hell do you guys do it?

[auge_28]

I do not watch many films in the theater, as I am a working man, father and student . . . so no time for it nor do I feel like spending $40 - $50 for 90 minutes (the costs to take my wife and daughter but leave the boy with a babysitter). We are not poor, we just choose to spend our money elsewhere . . . (just bought a 2000ft house, both cars are paid off we like vacations to London, San Francisco and the like.)

So I watch a lot of films through Netflix (all hail the mighty Netflix) and I have an ever growing DVD collection (about 1300 at this time, of course I do not buy new or at full price).

What this rambling means is that I never get to see all the films up for awards and I am constantly behind other folks when it comes time to talk about current films.

For instance, the only films I have seen at the theater on this years Oscar list is:
Sweeney Todd
Eastern Promises

And on disk:
Norbit
3:10 to Yuma
Ratatouille
Transformers

And disk I have but have yet to watch:
The Bourne Ultimatum
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Away from Her

But I try to keep up with reviews and news.

I read a post here about some kind of contest were you guys try to see the most films as possible . . . how the hell can you afford to do this in terms of cash and time?

I have a date tonight with my wife (yup busy folks have to make dates with there spouses, aint that a bitch) anyway we are going to dinner and then off to the second run theater one city over to watch No Country For Old Men for $2.00 each . . . and yes I am excited to finely see this film before Oscar time.

Do you guys live in your mother’s basements or do you just make the choice to spend your resources in this way?

This is not a judgment in any way . . . actually I am envious.

[therealjohng]

What the hell are movies?

[bigred760]

I am single and my schedule changes week to week. I rarely catch movies on opening day, but do try to catch as many as possible at the theater - matinees to avoid crowds and annoying people. I have movie cards, so I get free popcorn, drinks, and movie tickets every now and again.

I'm sure once a family rolls around the amount of movies I see at the theater will drop considerably, but until then . . .

[auge_28]

What the hell are movies?

I am confused; I never used that word in my post.
Am I missing something?

[Gordon]

I'm losing that contest pretty badly, but there are a couple of things to keep in mind:

A) It's all about how you spend your time. I could watch two movies a day, on top of going to school and having a part time job if I choose not to waste my time on the internet, on TV, etc. It's incredible how much time we waste on our computers, televisions, whatever.

B) It's an obsession, man. Some people watch sports, think about sports, know all the stats. Other people watch movies, know all the people involved in them, think about them all day long, blur reality with characters they envision, etc.

[Tweek]

What the hell are movies?

I don't know but I'm scared.:(

[LordSimen]

Since when does it cost 40 bucks to see a movie? When I saw Cloverfield it cost me 10 dollars to see the movie. :confused:

[Tweek]

Since when does it cost 40 bucks to see a movie? When I saw Cloverfield it cost me 10 dollars to see the movie. :confused:

Read the post again It wasn't just movie tickets.;)

[auge_28]

Since when does it cost 40 bucks to see a movie? When I saw Cloverfield it cost me 10 dollars to see the movie. :confused:

Did you bring you wife and daughter?
Did you higher a babysitter?

[Cronos]

I don't sleep.

[LordSimen]

Read the post again It wasn't just movie tickets.;)

Ah. I missed that part. Thank you. :D

[KenSPT]

It's all about time management.

I'm 25 years old, single, and am fortunate that my full time job has a flexible enough schedule where I can normally fit in a movie a day if I so desire. Also, I tend to need very little sleep. It's not uncommon for me to go to bed at 2am, only to wake up at 7am for work. When your days are that long, you tend to have enough free time to do what you want, no matter what that is.

[auge_28]

I probably watch an average of 4-7 DvDs a week but I am almost never current in terms of new films. Is this uncommon or are you guys about the same way? Do you have to wait for DVD?
(The 4-7 DvD's a week do not include the TV shows I watch from Netflix or TiVo . . . lol)

[Le_Big_Mac]

Well, I don't have a family like yours; I'm actually a couple years short of being able to see R-rated movies on my own, which would reduce the cost with movies neither of my parents are interested in seeing. But even then, I'm enough of a tightwad that I'm only interested in seeing movies on the weekend, and usually only one a weekend. So it does sort of puzzle me how so many people are willing to pay the cost of a DVD 4 times a week to see a movie that's probably just going to be "okay" in theaters. And even if it is pretty good, it's probably not something like Cloverfield that's best on the silver screen and with an audience. It's not like anyone cares or it's to your benefit that you pay to see 27 Dresses in theaters, as opposed to the urgency of seeing something like No Country For Old Men or There Will Be Blood.

[sirdizzy]

Its all about how you manage your money and time. I can go to a movie by myself during matinee hours and resist the urge to get concessions. For example I saw Rambo yesterday at 2pm and it cost me $5.

Now if my wife goes she insists on getting popcorn and she dislikes matinees so that run us $25 but we do it like once a week as a date night where we go out to dinner and a movie and I am good with that.

I watch almost no TV and ussually manage to catch a movie every day on dvd. My biggest time waster is the internet though, thank you joblo.

[Rawlin67]

i manage my time.
i dont sleep. (thats actually the main component)
i dont have a lot of money to spend on other things. being in college, its not like im buying new clothes or sweet things for my car or anything, its just food, movies, presents every now and then, things like that.
plus, i dont pay for a lot of movies. thats another main component. and there are people who are "blah blah blah hurting the industry" and thats just too bad, i think by spending hundreds of dollars more a year than most people on DVDs and movies, i earn myself the right to do some free watching.

im very lucky in having a girlfriend who loves movies almost as much as me. she goes to the theater with me a lot, or stays in to watch some with me. we do go out and we do do other things, but movies is our favorite activity.

[Miss Vicky]

I'm single, but I work at least 40-45 hours a week. I try to be pretty picky about which movies I see at the theater, since the average cost of one trip for me is about $20 (factoring in ticket price and concessions), so normally I only see movies in the theater if I really want to see them (unless, of course, it's out of sheer boredom, then I'll see whichever movie sounds remotely interesting). If I'm not completely sure that I want to see a movie, I'll wait for the DVD, since blind-buying a DVD - even a new release - is less expensive than the trip to the theater and then I can watch it whenever I feel like, even in bits and pieces if time contraints require.

[SAI]

How do I do it... well. The bulk of my cinema going is, essentially, free. On Thursday I spent £180 on my cineworld card, which entitles me to free entry to any film at any cineworld in the UK for a year. It's the single best investment a UK based movie lover can make, even if you don't go as much as I do (three evening performances in a month and the card more than pays for itself).

I also watch stuff online, through Lovefilm (British netflix) and from my ever growing collection of DVDs and VHS.

As for the time element, I'm single, looking for work and my time is basically my own.

I saw over 400 films last year, not counting repeat viewings. This year, repeats included, I've already passed 70.

[zombievictim]

Interesting topic. Well seeing as how I'm still in High School, I have a lot of time on my hands. My weekends and freetime usually consist of just watching movies whether it be on dvd or in the theater. I don't have a job so the little money I have goes towards whichever movie either amazed me in the theater and I must have it on DVD, or the film looks great and I want to see it in the theater. Since I still live with my parents, they pay for netflix which is what I get a lot of stuff through. And for holiday's, rather than clothes or some other kind of present, my family gets me solely dvds.

That's pretty much how I can do this. I never really saw it as a problem since I really don't have a life :D

[john_rambo]

i live in a small town with my parents and all my friends live 50 minutes away and i dont drive.... although with my job i cant watch nearly as much as i used to... but with the job its not like i have a lot to spend money on so its no big deal (plus i usually go to the movies with one of my parents, so they pay, lol)

[KcMsterpce]

Yeah, going to the movies is damned expensive.

That's why I go out of my way to see a matinee when I can and save a couple bucks.
I also see what other movies are playing that day at the same theater, and compare the start/release times. Then I watch a movie (the one I pay for is generally the one I think I'll like), walk out and go to the "bathroom" and then head to another screen.
After that movie, I check my trusty list of movie times in my pocket and make sure I'm on schedule for the NEXT movie.

I typically do this on Saturdays, or into a Friday evening where it's kinda crowded.

[auge_28]

Yeah, going to the movies is damned expensive.

That's why I go out of my way to see a matinee when I can and save a couple bucks.
I also see what other movies are playing that day at the same theater, and compare the start/release times. Then I watch a movie (the one I pay for is generally the one I think I'll like), walk out and go to the "bathroom" and then head to another screen.
After that movie, I check my trusty list of movie times in my pocket and make sure I'm on schedule for the NEXT movie.

I typically do this on Saturdays, or into a Friday evening where it's kinda crowded.

Hah ! ! !

My wife and I used to do this, we called it Theater Hopping.
Have not done it in a while because of the kids. We would assuage our guilt by buying a large popcorn and large soda . . . lol

[KcMsterpce]

Hah ! ! !

My wife and I used to do this, we called it Theater Hopping.
Have not done it in a while because of the kids. We would assuage our guilt by buying a large popcorn and large soda . . . lol

I do NOT buy concessions 90% of the time, because then I am paying the price of more than a movie. I eat before hand, and prepare for a whole day at the movies.
That way my movie watching average goes to about $3 a movie instead of $10 a movie.

The main point of me theater hopping is to SAVE MONEY. Second part of it is to see movies I am pretty sure I'll hate, but didn't pay money to see (some times, one of those movies KICKS ASS and it was worth seeing). Third reason being if I spend all day at the movies, I'm saving money from doing OTHER things.

[auge_28]

I may be wrong here but I seem to remember reading that a theater needs to bid on a film so that it gets one of only a couple thousand copies.
Because of this bidding the theater makes little or no profit on the ticket sells.
So to cover there bottom-line and desired profit they need to ask those high prices at the concession stands.

I only mention this here because the post above reminded me that I wanted to ask you guys if this is indeed a common fact.

[athf1980]

I'm single and I work bascially 10-5. So I make sure that I find time for movies at theater. If I miss them it's mainly because the theater where I go does not get every movie. Where I live they have not gotten old country for old men, there will be blood, and sweeney todd. I'm also not in mood to drive 100 miles to Sioux Falls to see the movies that Huron does not get.

[chasingbanky]

I don't sleep.

What is sleep?

[AndrewDB]

One Adult or Student ticket, 5.60 for student, 6.70 for adult.

No popcorn (I don't eat popcorn), and smuggling in candy.. The only thing I usually buy is a drink.

I average $9.40 at the theater.

[Miss Vicky]

Theater hopping doesn't really work at my local movie complex. The individual theaters are not labeled with the movie titles, but simply with numbers (1-16) and often the same movie will be showing on multiple screens. So about the only way to do it, I suppose, would be to either wander from screen to screen until you find one that's just starting (way too conspicuous) or follow someone who has just come in the door and hope that they are seeing something interesting.

[ChickFlick]

I can't do it.

My theater charges $11 per person, and $8 matinee price.

I work full time as a teacher, and commute from Staten Island, NY to Brooklyn, NY every day for my job. On top of that, I attend graduate school classes at night. I leave my house at 4:30am, and don't get home until 9pm. I have papers to do for school and stuff to get together for work the next day. In addition, I have Saturday and Sunday off. My husband, who is a doorman in Manhattan, has Tuesdays and Wednesdays off. So, as you can see, we have no time to go to the movies, and if we decide to go late at night on a weekend, we can't get matinee price...and I refuse to pay $22 to see a movie.

[AndrewDB]

I can't do it.

My theater charges $11 per person, and $8 matinee price.

See if they offer a "student" discount.

As your a teacher, you can get away with getting the student discount .. :)

[jackson13]

I did it for so long I got burned out on it. And I dont know why exactly it happened. I used to go to the theater every weekend, and see multiple movies. Now I barely go and if I dont make it to see whatever, I dont even care. I figure I'll catch it on DVD sometime soon anyways. And even DVD's dont matter much to me anymore. Working at a place with videos, I get the new releases on the day they come out, but hardly ever watch them. And after hitting a high of over 1200 DVD's owned, I realized one day "why the fuck do I own so many movies? what is this? when have I ever watched this? why the hell did I buy this?" and I've since elminated over 300 DVD's. Sure, I burned almost all of them so that I would still have them, but they are gone from my official collection and now I have a lot more space. Not to say that 900 or so DVD's dont take up a lot of space.

But I just got totally burned out. I cant explain it. Maybe I'm sick. Anymore I just spend my money on stuff like clothes and books and trips out of town to visit friends and live life. I have a lot more fun with friends than I ever did sitting in a theater by myself.

I still love movies though, but so much has changed.

[ChickFlick]

See if they offer a "student" discount.

As your a teacher, you can get away with getting the student discount .. :)


Nope, no discount of any kind, except a senior citizen discount

[AndrewDB]

Nope, no discount of any kind, except a senior citizen discount


Really?! Most theaters don't mention Student Discounts because they're too easy to get away with, but,.. I'll trust ya CF. I just find it odd that your theater doesn't offer one.

[Scarfather]

Well, first off:

I watch very little TV.

I go to school nights, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and I get most of my homework done those mornings. Any free time left on those days I'm working for the local paper, but I write fast and furiously. When all my work is done, I have a lot of free time, which I can spend watching any good movies that are around. But I usually don't, as I'm freewriting during most of that time. Here's the kicker:

I work part-time at a nook of a movie rental store on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Just about every movie ever put on VHS and DVD is in ten seconds distance, and short of dealing with customers (which basically amounts to talking about movies and ringing them up) I'm pretty much watching movies from 8 - 4. I can get 3 - 4 in. So, given, I see about 10 movies a week.

But fuck, I love movies, so shoot me.

[BakeTheMooCow]

I go to matinees, almost exclusively. With a student ID, it costs me $6.00 in a state-of-the-art theater with stadium seating and fantastic sound. I usually go straight from class, so I have a backpack with me and I'll buy a bottle of water and some chips from a 7-11. Costs me $2.00.

I theater hop sometimes if I'm up to it. If the second feature is good, I'll go back to the box office and pay for it. If it's shit, then I'll be well happy with myself that I didn't pay for it and go whistling home.

There's also a rundown theater near my house that has first-run movies for $4.00. I use that sometimes if it's too cold to go to the fancy theaters.

I rarely rent movies. I search and watch items on eBay and I can usually find older movies for $2 to $3. In the last month, I've bought Days of Heaven, The Thin Red Line, Memento (special edition), Adapatation, Fargo, Being John Malkovich and a host of other films - each one of them for under $4. I get the film within a week and it's cheaper than renting a film. And all of them were in excellent condition.

If I want to watch a newer movie on DVD, I'll rent it.

I've seen 60 2007 films and 42 of them were in theaters.

The only times in 2007 that I've spent more than my usual amount was when I took my little sister to the movies on three occasions - Ratatouille, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Enchanted.

I can't even imagine spending as much money on movies as the rest of the schmoes do. When the topic "What will you buy/rent this week...?" comes up and people list 3 films to buy and 4 to rent, I think "No way". That would be way too expensive.

[UseYourIllusion]

I'm a college student with a fiance. She goes to school all day. I take my classes on the internet, so I'm at home all day. I watch like three - four movies a day because I have time. I burn literally every single thing that I watch, including TV series, plus I go to the theater on occasion. Basically, it costs me next to nothing. I also don't have cable, so everything I watch is a movie or tv show that I get off of the internet. I also have a DVD collection with like 400 REAL DVD's. My friends all work and stuff too, so I usually see them on the weekends. I also write screenplays literally all day, and I'll throw movies on in the background for inspiration. My movie fandom is treated like a full time job, as its literally what I do all of the time. I consider this my "training" to get into the film business. I do nothing but study movies, talk about movies, and write movies.

[TeeRay]

I'm a sophmore college student. With my schedule, I have Monday's off, and Wednesday and Friday afternoons free. Those mornings I have class, and Tuesday and Thursday I have class all day. I spend a lot of my free time watching movies that I either buy (which i've trimmed down as of late. Buying DVD's is expensive, and I need to save some money), record, or borrow from friends. I also work at a movie theater part-time, so I don't pay for movies. Don't always have time to see them all though. We had No Country For Old Men last week, and I had no time to see it, so now I have to wait until the DVD hits. I still haven't seen Cloverfield either. I am seeing Rambo tomorrow though.

That's my story.

[BanksIsDaFuture]

I'm a full-time projectionist at a movie theater so whenever I am bored at home, I head there to catch a movie. Usually, I see all the movies I'm anticipating before they come out, but I also catch movies I had no interest in when I'm just bored. That's how I saw movies that I didn't think would be any good, like Enchanted or The Hunting Party.

Plus, I'm not in school at the moment and I don't have a family of my own. Just my g/f who likes going to the movies just as much as I do.

[bringtherain]

One thing you could do auge is pick your movies a bit more carefully. If the issue is that you want to be caught up on some of the great films before Oscars, here is my suggestion. I am a college student soon to graduate and then get a job, my going to the movies will then increase because I'll have money, but this is what I have been doing while poor.

I suggest for the first 2/3 or so of the year, only go to the movies for ones that you are pretty sure deserve a big screen viewing. For example, I Am Legend can have some powerful images of an empty NYC on the big screen, moreso than at home. For the rest, as you mentioned you have netflix, wait for the DVD. They are coming out much faster now, and it should be managable to see some of the best films of the year.

I assume you and your wife have seen enough films to gage which films you will most likely like, big blockbusters, or which are just blah. For the last 1/3 of the year do exactly that. I've noticed that really only about one really decent looking film comes out a week, so use your judgement to see if you should see it. Because you didn't go as mucn the first 2/3 of the year, you should be able to justify getting a few more in towards the end of it. Pick the ones that are getting Oscar buzz, or wait a week and listen for the word of mouth. No Country for Old Men, Atonement, and Micheal Clayton have all been brought back/extended because of the oscars, something that seems to happen enough with the high profile films.

Also, I don't think it is bad buying some popcorn and such. Yeah it is expensive, and yeah you could eat before. But sometimes it is just part of the movie expirience. Justify it by only going to theaters sometimes, like I've mentioned. Most likely it adds to the wife's (and your) satisfaction of going. It is also true that they make profits on consessions not tickets. And you know what will happen if conssesions don't sell. Tickets will just get more and more ridiculous.

IMDB recently mentioned that box offices made much more money than last year, not because admissions went up, but tickets pricing did. That is not good news at all. And that is one reason I say buy consessions. If raising prices works, companies will just do it more, which sucks for all of us.

There is no problem with seeing most films on DVD, just plan with the timing of the releases a little better.

Hope this helps.

[dennisv]

I just watch movies whenever the fuck I want.

[Tony_Montana]

I have no life...

[bigred760]

I have no life...

That's not a prerequisite for joining the site?

[echo_bravo]

Well, I am 24 with no wife or children so I dont have to worry about taking a whole family out to the movies.

I used to go to the theater all the time when I was in college. My friend worked at one of the theaters and I got free passes all the time. Now I am out of college and rarely go to the theaters unless its a cant miss film (No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood etc).

I mostly go to my public library to rent movies. Its totally free and their selection is really good.

[Donnie_Darko]

All I do is buy DVDs and download flicks. Do I watch them? Fuck no... well, hardly ever. You see, I'm what they call a "gottahaveit" personality type. I want it, I buy it, and that's about it. I bought something like 30 DVDs and downloaded probably 20 more movies in the past say, 3 months, and I've watched maybe... 5 of them? Yea... I suck. But hey, at least I CAN watch them... if I ever decide too. :cool:

And yes, I've bought MANY of the movies I've downloaded... so I'm not ALL evil. :p

[FLAME_ON]

I just watch movies whenever the fuck I want.

Is there any better time?

[auge_28]

Our "date" went well, we finely got to watch No Country For Old Men and as you may have guessed we love this film.

I am so happy we spent the $$ to see it in the theater . . . holy shit.

On the way home I did not want to talk about the film as I needed to ponder it a while . . . I was looking for a part of the film that I did not like and finely I told my wife that I could not think of a single moment that did not fit.

She asked me what I thought was meant by the sherifs story of the dream of his father, I told her that since the film had no real ending to its narrative that the director used the monologue to fake closure and an ending so that we would not feel cheated. I think it worked as I did not hear anybody say "What the hell?" as the credits rolled.

Best film I watched of 2007, of course I missed several but I feel it will be extremely hard to beat this film.

[bringtherain]

That was my reaction to no country also. I really really want to see There will be blood. One of my buddies said that he has no way of deciding whether There will be blood or no country is a better film. He thinks they are both just amazing.

[sarah1980]

I just watch movies whenever the fuck I want.

same here

i don't like going out much (very anti social due to bullying in school) so i usually just stay home and watch movies or talk to my fellow schmoes here

and the plus side of just staying home and watchin movies all the time is that i save money ;)

[APzombie]

to be honest, i was the same way.

then i started working at an independent art theater. i get to see great films for free. when i graduate college and move away i'm going to cry knowing that privilege is gone.

[The Postmaster General]

I'm in your boat Auge... 2006 I saw 2 movies, and 2007 I saw many more, but still less than 10. Circa 1996 - 1999 I was seeing probably 2 - 3 movies a week. It's not as much a money issue for me as just a time issue. Especially with a kid, it takes a lot of orchestration and planning.

[Monotreme]

Well, considering my situation, I'd say it's pretty simple. DVDs aside, being in the army I have absolutely no expenses on life, as I am fed, sheltered, and given everything I NEED by the Israeli government. Which leaves my (measly but still existant) monthy paycheck for leisure-only. And since I'm home for only two weekends per month, that also substantially lowers my expenses. Soldiers also get a substantial 50% discount at pretty much every entertainment venue, including the movie theatres, so couple that with matinee showings and you've got a pretty cheap ticket. I also only buy concessions when I have an unquenchable craving, which I will usually get in a movie during the Summer season as opposed to a movie like Atonement.

[EZM22]

I make it a point to watch at least one movie a day. I quit my job a month ago, I'm looking for another one, and I have a shitload of free time.

I'd happily spend it watching movies, but then there's my parents bitching at me for not doing something useful.

Back in college I used to go the movies once a week (in the morning, cause it was cheaper and less crowded). Nowadays, I only go if I consider a film really worth seeing. Finding someone to go with is pretty damn hard though, since I'm single and I don't know anyone who has the kind of free time I do. (or likes movies as much, or isn't cheap)

This film magazine I write for, I'd like to ask those guys how the hell they do it. They're way older than me, they have jobs and still they manage to see every damn flick playing in theaters. Usually when talking about current films, I'm always lagging behind.

Is it me or did this post make very little sense? I'm rambling.

[AndrewDB]

I have no life...

That's not a prerequisite for joining the site?


Last I checked, yeah, it was.