Why I Don't Go Out to The Movies

I finally saw 300 last night. I won't bother discussing the movie because I imagine by now you've either seen it or have read about it on a dozen other blogs. All I will say about the film is that I enjoyed it but was underwhelmed.

The reason I waited so long to see it is because I hate going to the movies. Don't get me wrong, I love movies I just can't stand dealing with the crowds at movie theaters. I don't mean that to come across in some freaky, misanthropic way, its just that the crowds themselves are usually dominated by rude, loud, jackasses who end up ruining the movie for me.

Even though we waited three weeks to see 300, the 6:30 show at the Imax theater was still packed. While watching the tepid interchanges between seat seekers and those who felt that their coats and bags deserved their own seats, I got to thinking that there are generally two types of New Yorkers. On the one side there are people who realize that we all live, work and play in this city together. That doesn't mean you have to like everyone but simply treat each other with a little common decency.

And at the other end of the spectrum, you have people who act as if they are completely oblivious to the fact that they live in a crowded city. These are the people who carry giant, golf-course sized umbrellas on the streets when it rains or instantly push onto a crowded train when the doors open rather than stepping aside and letting the passengers exit first. You can often find these people stopping directly at the top of escalators and stairwells even when their are crowds behind and trying to get someplace and they are also likely to push the "door close" button when they enter elevators and see another person heading for it. The worst examples of this type can be found at the movie theater. They bring infants and small children to horror movies and take mobile phone calls during the movie. I was at a movie a few years ago when a man took several calls and never once left the theater or lowered his voice but chatted away as if he was in his living room. He then had the added nerve to get angry at the other people in the theater for asking him to be quiet.

I figured out last night that whenever Seth & I go to a movie, we are spending at least $40 and that's if we just grab a slice of pizza rather than full dinner. There are at least 10 movies coming out this year that I want to see, which means about $400 we will spending. I decided last night to take that money and use it for a good home surround sound system to go with our large screen TV. That'll show those loud-mouthed bastards at the theater!