Last night, 300 came out. That’s one movie my husband is just about giddy to see. However, we didn’t plan well and ended up showing up at the theatres when they were already sold out. So we went to the bookstore. 
So much for cleaning off the bookshelves. I bought my father-in-law The Art of War, myself a book on medeival warfare and barely restrained myself from several others. The ones I went there for, however, I fully splurged.
Susan Kearney’s Island Heat!
Christine Feehan’s Deadly Games!
Gena Showalter’s The Nymph King!
Alyssa Day’s Atlantis Rising!
And last but never least: Warrior Angel by Margaret and Lizz Weis!
Holy cow! The queen creator of Dragonlance and her daughter wrote a paranormal romance together! I’m not sure who wanted it more, Craig or me.
I just have to say, I dropped $50 on books. $50 that would otherwise have gone on seeing 300. Seriously.
$10 per ticket, 2 tickets, 2 drinks, popcorn and nachos. 2-3 hours of enjoyment.
vs.
5 fiction books, 2 non-fiction books and weeks of enjoyment. Then years of having those books on my shelf so I can introduce family and friends to these authors.
Methinks the movie industry thinks too much of itself.
Every few years, they’ll put out a good one with a decent plot and graphics, but for the most part, I’d rather wait for video. I don’t need to see the big name stars that bad. It might have been a big deal, theatre vs. tv, once upon a time, but most homes now have entertainment systems that rival the theatres. Big TVs with HD, surround sound and the ability to pause when it’s time to go pee. And the comfortable chairs! Popcorn and drinks and candy or food at a decent price. The ability to share with family and friends without breaking everyone’s bank.
So why the horrible prices? They aren’t off-setting their losses because of home entertainment systems and whatnot. They’re actually forcing more and more people away from going out to a theatre. Thereby getting more out of a few tickets instead of less out of many tickets, which would probably net them a higher gross.
Why are they doing this? A few (compared to the total number of actors and actresses everywhere) need multi-million dollar paychecks? Then billions of promotional dollars? It would be interesting to see a price break down of those $10 tickets.
How much am I paying for the doorman and ticket seller to have a job and support their family and how much and I paying for Mr. Big Name Star to buy ridiculously expensive car #15?
Most likely, each dollar and cent of a book and a movie can be broken down so their prices make complete sense. But speaking as a consumer, if they want to keep selling things, they need to pay more attention to the little guy. Because maybe that $10 ticket is necessary in their eyes, but as an ordinary person, I’m comparing.
$50 for 1 movie or $50 for 7 books.
My family loves entertainment, but the 1 or 2 good movies a year are losing out to the 10-20 good books a month. I mean, when my daughter has to go through difficult procedures, we bribe her. Fight through this as best you can and we will get you something to offset the pain.
You know what’s interesting? She’s never asked for a movie. It’s always been books.
What does that tell you? Seriously, what’s your take on this topic?
