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Why Did You Stop Going to the Movies?

Box office collapse portends darker days for Tinsel Town in 2023 ... and beyond

It’s the most commonly shared opinion this film critic hears.

“I don’t go the movies as much as I used to.

And that refrain came before the pandemic shut down theaters in 2020.

How the pandemic has effected the movie theater business

That’s anecdotal, of course. Now, the evidence is more compelling, and frightening, especially if you make a living in La La Land.

People stopped going to the movies this year in alarming numbers, and it got worse as the holidays approached.

The raw numbers tell the story.

The gross for 2022 domestic now looks like $7.5 billion, perhaps 15 percent lower than the year’s lowball $8.5 billion projection and far off the $11.2 billion of 2019 (which, at today’s ticket prices, would be over $13 billion).

Earlier in 2022, we saw modest-sized hits like “The Lost City,” “Elvis” and “The Woman King” show non-franchise fare could draw a crowd, even if other films stumbled upon arrival (“Bros,” “Devotion,” “Father Stu”).

Now?

It’s “Avatar: The Way of Water” and little else.

Studios release their awards-season contenders in the waning weeks of the year, and while they lack the snap of a franchise extension or superhero romp they still can sell some tickets.

  • “The King’s Speech” (2010) – $138 million
  • “Green Book” (2018) – $85 million
  • “A Star Is Born” (2018) – $215 million
  • “House of Gucci” (2021) – $53 million

What changed?

This critic reached out, via Twitter, for some informal reactions to a simple question: Why did you stop going to the movies? The answers suggest a near-perfect storm of causes that go far beyond fears of the waning pandemic.

Streaming

The rise of Netflix, Amazon Prime, Apple TV+ and Hulu means more first-rate content delivered right to our flat-screen TVs. Recent streaming originals like “The Gray Man,” “Prey” and “Hocus Pocus 2” look identical to their big-screen peers.

Same stars. Similar budgets.

So why go to the movies when you can watch first-run content without reaching for the car keys?

The pandemic accelerated this trend, no doubt. Still, films are arriving faster and faster on VOD platforms now, meaning crowds can wait just a few weeks before seeing theatrical releases at home.

Liberal Hollywood

The industry has been left-of-center for decades, but today’s stars push their political views in ways we haven’t seen in the past. Social media. Viral videos. Softball interviews. And it’s often brimming with rage against those who don’t align with their worldviews.

That has alienated a small but growing number of film goers who prefer not to support stars who rhetorically spit in their faces. Gracious A-listers like Tom Cruise and Dwayne Johnson are now the exception, not the rule.

Lack of Quality Product

“Babylon” and “Amsterdam” are two of the year’s biggest flops. The former has some admirers. The latter? Not so much. Even films arriving with plenty of buzz prove less than award worthy. Think “The Whale” as a fine example.

Over and again movie fans lament the sorry state of modern storytelling. It’s one reason “Top Gun: Maverick” popped as it did. Both critics and fans adored it, and its rugged tale of a fallen hero’s final chance at redemption proved impossible to resist.

The Biden Economy

Be careful what you wish for …

Hollywood, Inc. rallied to defeat President Donald Trump in 2020. Now, they’re stuck with an 80-year-old leader with no clue how to steer the economy out of the ditch. That’s dramatically impacting Hollywood as a whole, and even streaming services are crunching some serious numbers of late.

It’s also forcing potential movie goers to make some tough choices.

Food … or film tickets?

High-Tech Man Caves

Gen X and Baby Boomers grew up watching a TV set with a 25 inch screen. Today, that’s considered appropriate for your computer monitor.

Flat-screen TVs are more affordable than ever. That means your Man Cave or movie room can boast a 65-inch screen with high-def visuals and a state-of-the-art sound system. That makes home viewing far superior to past living room arrangements.

It’s also a wonderful way to watch movies without being interrupted by noisy patrons. Need a bathroom break? Just hit the “pause” button.

That technological advance, along with the comforts of home, means the theatrical model is less and less appealing.

************************

The people have spoken, and Hollywood should be concerned as we head into 2023.

Let’s wrap by sharing some of the Twitter responses to the question at hand. Please share your own observations below, too.

I desperately wanted to take my little to the movies this holiday season, but there is nothing out for families with young children…

People know it’ll just be streaming in a week or so if not immediately…

For me personally, I stopped going because it’s more comfortable to watch at home. I have a good enough TV and sound for me, more comfy chair, plus if I have to go to the loo, I can pause it. There hasn’t ever been a movie I “had” to see at a theater, I just wait and stream it…

The cost of the experience has become prohibitive. It’s cheaper to watch at home…

For me, it’s the product. Since prices have gone up, I’ve become more selective. And a lot of what’s been coming out lately just doesn’t interest me. Thor was the last thing I saw and I didn’t enjoy it, so I’ll be staying home more…

Simple, for our family of 5 to go & watch 1 movie will set us back $120. We still go but only every now & then…

Going to the movies used to mean a lot to me. But I stopped long before the pandemic…

And now? There’s just no reason for me to go anymore. I’ve asked myself, is it the movies, or is it me? It’s both. And I can do something about only one of them…

91 Comments

    1. Ditto
      Movies are: 1) Awful, not original and pale copies of the original
      2) Woke: male and white hating
      3) Too expensive
      4) Loaded with progressive propaganda
      5) Humorless
      6) Anti-American

      1. What you said. Hubby and I don’t want to give our hard-earned money to an industry that so obviously hates and people like us.

    2. Exactly this. Why would I want to have my face rubbed in The Narrative by actors and directors who hate me?

      I just want a fun story that’s consistent and rooted in some sort of realism. Even if it’s a fantasy epic, keep it likely. I’m fed up of seeing some 65lb black lesbian defeating the entire Dragon Army Of Eternal Hellfire whilst all the men twice her size hang around like dipshits waiting to be insulted.. Yeah, The Witcher writers – I’m looking at you.

      These days I’d rather read the original books than watch any film mAdE fOr A mOdErN AuDiEnCe and actually enjoy the lore and the story as the author intended. The huge screen that the author of this article spoke of is now there purely for sports.

      1. Not even sports anymore. They ruined that too. I stopped watching football, which was the only sport I can tolerate watching on TV, when they started kneeling during the anthem. Especially when the Ravens did it at the game in England… They knelt during a song about the British SHELLING THEIR OWN CITY, and then stood for the UK anthem so as not to show disrespect (also blowing the whole ‘kneeling isn’t a sign of disrespect’ bullshit out of the water, even they didn’t believe that crap).

    3. The author didn’t quite get it. He got the issues of “Liberal Hollywood” and “Lack of Quality Product”, but he didn’t get that Liberal Hollywood contaminates the product with wokeness and SJW signaling that causes a large portion of “Lack of Quality Product”. As you pointed out, they’re creating woke propaganda, not entertainment.

  1. Could it be that movies suck? Even for free/stream/DVD the question we always ask is “Is it worth the 90mins?” For the last few years the answer has been fairly consistently no. Its not worth even the time.

  2. Amazon could have released Reacher and The Terminal List as theatrical movies, but chose instead to stream them as serials.

    But streaming is not the ultimate answer.

    I look at the lists on Amazon or STARZ and get the same feeling I did when I used to walk through my local video store past literally thousands of titles: “not interested.”

    My lack of interest is proven by how many movies and streaming series I began on Prime, but never continued. Simply not worth my time.

    1. Have you noticed you can no longer remove from “Currently Watching” those movies or series that you started and didn’t like? You can’t remove them anymore on the streaming app or Roku but must go to your computer and login to Amazon Prime to remove anything you don’t want to continue.
      The latest season of “The Boys” was so repulsive in the first episode we want to get rid of it but can’t.

  3. Consider some other factors driving the decline in theater-going:
    Crime. Urban and suburban crime rates are sharply up. Why risk going to a cinema if you could be robbed or accosted going from car to ticket booth? Also, will car windows be smashed.
    Gas Prices. Movie theaters are often 5-10 miles away for many suburbanites. gas prices are often the straw that breaks the camel’s back when debating a movie trip.
    Women’s preferences. Back in the day, going to the movies was considered a valid date or “date night” option. Now it isn’t, for many women. Sure they will Instagram a premiere or trendy independent film, but otherwise they get no social credit from their friends for going to multiplex with their man. Plus, their fear of crime is higher. Plus plus, many of them say that theaters aren’t clean. It just isn’t considered a special experience any more. If Hollywood wants a future, it needs to cater to needs of women, especially suburban professionals in the key 20-45 age range.
    Add to that: kid’s movies that include fart jokes and other things that kids will annoyingly repeat for the next 6 months. Casual swearing in movies puts parents off too. Finally, time cost. If a movie isn’t good, at home, it is easy to find another. If you are in a theatre, you’re stuck.

  4. I think a couple of things are missing. Things that the movie industry and theaters did to themselves.

    Number one; sound volume. With modern movie audio (THX, high-dynamic range) and modern theater sound systems the sheer volume is enough to hurt my ears. I would walk out with numb hearing as if I’d been to a rock and roll concert. My wife would actually wear ear plugs to cut down the volume. When we would complain about the excessive volume we were told that the sound system has no volume control and it was actually controlled by the movie itself and the theater had no ability to adjust it. (This, of course, is bullshit… any and every audio system has a volume knob somewhere in it.)

    Number two; no breaks (intermissions). Even as movies get longer and longer, they have eliminated intermissions. I think it’s been decades since they made a movie with an actual intermission in it (Ben-Hur, Dr. Zhivago, etc). When you research this, you will find that the theaters are actually prevented by contract to create their own intermissions by pausing or interrupting the movie. Only the movie producer can create and OK an intermission. This means there’s never a chance to use the restroom or get more snacks (don’t theaters make their money from snacks??) without missing a good portion of the movie.

    Yes, technology fixed both of these problems. DVD’s and streaming at home put the user back in control and fixed these annoyances. But the movie industry and theater corporations created these problems themselves!

    1. I enjoy going to see Bollywood movies for enjoyable storytelling, positive life affirming stories and yes they actually still have an intermission in most films! The theaters that cater to the Hindu audiences more actually honor that intermission too – it’s a treat!

  5. Three major franchises, Star Wars, MCU and James Bond weren’t just exhausted, but seemed to turn against their fan base. That started years ago. Plenty of other movies came out that were antagonistic to what could have been the target audience. Ghostbusters [2016] is one of those. Covid just made it obvious that the elite class weren’t fond of the general public while we became reliant on home entertainment options.

  6. Another reason – theater audio is too loud. I’m attending a movie, not a rock concert. The last movie I saw in a theater made me want to bring earplugs.

  7. The writing is terrible. The movies are written so poorly I’m always disappointed if not insulted. The characters are repulsive, the plots predictable, and the messaging relentless.

  8. We stopped going because the films stink. We go to be entertained — not to be scolded or lectured to. If you can’t do that, my family won’t buy your products.

    1. Thank You!! Movies stink. It’s the same plot over & over. If it made $5 a few years ago, let’s redo it with a different set & put it out there again. Beyond that, I’m sick of watching 120lb. 23 year old women try and act like they are saving the world kick boxing big hulking guys. There isn’t a plot line that doesn’t scream “I am woman hear me roar”. It’s breathtakingly stupid & totally uninteresting for me. There is no humor, no character development, no script. Hollywood RIP.

    2. Reminds me of a Henry Rollins interview where he was referencing some social-issue music band with scolding lyrics hollering at an audience member: “Hey you! STOP SMILING!”

  9. Nobody wants the lgbtxyz blm bulls***, but Hollywood is being bent over by China who is trying to destroy the US. So I say f*** Hollywood in the neck.

  10. I am struggling really, really, really hard to understand how freaking STUPID anyone must be to not understand WHY millions of Americans are refusing to step foot into a movie theater, to pay for grotesquely over priced tickets and get then viciously butt raped at the concession stand for a lousy box of popcorn or for a watered down soda pop. Are these confused idiots in possession of even a single healthy, properly functioning brain cell?

    Let me provide a short summary. Every single movie (or TV show) that oozes out of the nether regions of the tribe who owns and controls Hollywood is vehemently and viciously spewing never ending, vitriolic levels of raw HATE and venom at White Americans. Every new movie or TV show pushes anti-white themes, messages, and constant demonization of White European people.

    Oh, and let me not forget to mention that every movie or TV show that oozes out of Hollywood pushes the most vehemently anti-Christian, anti-Christ, anti-White American traditional values poison, anti-White Southern heritage propaganda that is so vile and offensive that it could have only originated from the evil brain of Satan himself.

    Yet, these Hollywood imbeciles claim that they can’t figure out why White Americans are refusing to ingest their nauseating and disgusting garbage?

    1. I couldn’t agree more. What’s the point of deliberately turning off half of your potential revenue base? These folks sure don’t know much about business.

      1. I’ve asked my self that question for years as I’ve observed film and music and other entertainment people nonchalantly dismiss half, or more, of their potential audience. I think what happened is along the lines of how TV is now “narrowcasted” instead of “broadcasted”. Basically when you are, let’s say, Bruce Springsteen, you NOW have plenty of fans to fill your seats when you tour so that you don’t have to pretend anymore to even like those potential ticket buyers who you consider “deplorable”. It’s a numbers game. When Springsteen started out he wasn’t that well known, and wouldn’t have dared to put down people of a different political stripe. As the years passed and his audience grew, that’s when it became safe to “come out” and be dismissive of the “others”. Same with Hollywood and TV where they focus on “their” people and either ignore, or in some cases, as part of the act they insult those “dregs” who are outside of “their” cool club. Thinking of Colbert or Kimmel. The only time this narrowcasting model begins to fail is when the overall numbers start dropping and there aren’t enough of “their” people to fill the seats or watch the films/TV. Or buy the products. Michael Jordan famously said (years ago in a different era) “republicans buy shoes too”. Now Nike writes off those same republicans cause Nike is massive without them. Should the day come when Nike crashes all of a sudden you will hear and see ad campaigns catering to everybody again. In the case of Springsteen though, I doubt it. Even if his popularity plummeted to having to play the proverbial casino I suspect he would pretend to change.

    2. I think most of us have forgotten that White US Citizens make up SEVENTY PERCENT (70%) of the ENTIRE population of these United States. SEVENTY PERCENT! And we are treated like second class, secondhand people. Disgusting!

    3. You forgot those obnoxious people who talk through the entire movie. Usually in vulgar language, interspersed with cackling and other stupidity.
      And those who light up the room with their cell phones, taking calls, posting selfies (cannot understand why that requires copious chat), and watching OTHER videos on those cells – with the sounds applied for the rest of the theater to be forced to hear.

  11. 1. I like good action adventure, but I’ve never warmed to superism as a concept, and it’s dominated action-adventure for the past decade.

    2. I’m sadly not woke enough for most story lines now. Franchises have all turned into “The Further Adventures of Mary Sue.” I like women as much as the next guy, but perfect and smug is not a good hook for a main character. The story line of Avatar left such a bad taste in my mouth that I’m likely not to see the sequel, no matter how beautiful the underwater scenes are. I’ll watch snippets of it on TV someday, maybe with the sound turned off.

    I don’t have a home theater and every week scan the offerings at the local theaters – a lot of horror movies, probably because they’re cheap to make, and movies with intriguing names and nebulous plot descriptions, but with a featured cast of A-list Hollywood wokesters, so the smart money says they’re preachy in a bad way. Saw about eight movies at the theater in 2022, probably do the same in 2023, compared to 15-20 a year in the nineties and aughts. I haven’t changed as much as the movies have changed. Characters+Story+Setting+Music.

  12. I stopped going because of two reasons:
    1) liberal Hollywood. Why should I put money into the pockets of people that disrespect and despise me? Screw em. There are numerous entertainment avenues. Europeans put out much better quality tv series and movies and Koreans are also putting out good quality series.
    2) poor quality product. Let’s face it the plots are easy to decipher and outcomes are easy to guess. Trite cliche’s dominate the writing and repetitive chase scenes, and pyrotechnics are now boring and tiresome. That is not entertainment. Crappy people are putting out a crappy product.

    1. Yep agree completely, also the last time I went we had to sit through what seemed like 45 minutes of advertising before the movie actually started.

  13. The last time my family went to a “theater” was to see Titanic. The picture was out of focus the sound had a blown woofer and a bunch of dindus tried to rob me. Luckly my friend is a MMA fighter and the chief thug got a broken arm and busted ribs. Anyway I now have a projector with a cinemascope 165″ image. And 25,000 watts of sound. I have only seen one theater that was better and that was a 70mm film based IMAX theater in Rochester NY

  14. I stopped going to movies years ago because my fellow movie goers are inconsiderate knuckle heads. They arrive late, light up cell phones, talk, and shout. They argue and even fight. It’s like the day room in a mental hospital. Don’t ask how I know that.

  15. Starting in the 70s, writers became obsessed with “anti-heroes” (rebels without a clue), and ever darker views of humanity. Everything is sh*t, everything is corrupt. Next they forgot how to conceive, let alone tell, a story. Premise/setup, complication, resolution, became premise/setup, complication, dissolve into incoherence and irrelevance. Heroic triumph, character development, growth, spiritual or moral evolution became impossible when everything and everyone is corrupt. Life in the suburbs was dark, shallow and empty, redeemable only by pederasty, adultery and homosexuality (American Beauty.) Then came the obsession with apocalypse and sucking whirlpools of regressive degeneracy of individuals (Sopranos, Breaking Bad, etc., etc.) Streaming isn’t helping that trend.

    At theaters, it’s comic books, tedious sermonizing, or the world as seen through the eyes of your average Hollywood screenwriter, which is to say, immature, utterly conformist and morally twisted.

    In short, there’s almost nothing ever worth watching.

  16. I find the TV and movies are woke and going for “diversity” always when it should not be there. For example Bridgerton immediately turned me off as it was suppose to be happening in mid 1800s England yet a good part of the cast was not white and this would not match the time period. Hollywood is playing diversity and LGBTQ almost constantly in Movies, TV, and commercials. I gave up on all as I do not need to pay for anything.

    In the past year I have watched only a couple new movies out and it was Top Gun-Maverick and The Adam Project and most TV was streaming Blue Bloods, NCIS, and older CSI. Other movies were older via streaming.

  17. “It’s also forcing potential movie goers to make some tough choices.

    Food … or film tickets?”

    Easy choice: Food.

    I have seen nothing recently (save Maverick) which even remotely interesting and I haven’t even seen Maverick. It has been years since Hollyweird has presented anything even remotely interesting. Frankly, I don’t miss it.

  18. Watch a few K-Dramas on Netflix and you’ll see what H-Wood could be doing. The writing, acting and production values are far better than anything coming out of Hollywood these days. (i.e. “My Mister”). Most have subtitles which many people hate. But their quality is addictive. This is an open invitation to Korean Drama producers to come here and give America what they really want – 2 hours of escape from the constant harping of the Kulture Karens who run everything now.

  19. I stopped going because why would I pay a huge amount of money to see movies by and starring people who hate my guts. And the movies usually suck on top of that. They can make their money from Blue states from now on.

  20. The last thing I saw in the theatre was the 2nd Ant-Man movie, maybe 2018? Those were really the only Marvel films I have enjoyed in a long time. The main reason I stopped going to theaters was all the distractions. People playing with their phones, loud talking and crying infants all contributed to my decision. Also, on more than one occasion, someone felt the need to sit right in front or behind me in a nearly empty theater. Those were the times I wished I could pass gas on command, just for a little payback.

    Fortunately, since then, there are only a few things I wished I had seen on a big screen.

  21. I stopped going around the turn of the century, when two big-budget films, neither of them particularly left-wing, gave me a one-two punch of juvenile, pig-ignorant imbecility. They were “The Patriot” and “Pearl Harbor.” Really, really bad screenwriting. I like a movie that’s written well — “Bachelor Mother,” “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” “Shepherd of the Hills,” “A Foreign Affair,” “The Quiet Man,” “North by Northwest,” “Third Man on the Mountain,” “Charade,” “Goldfinger,” “Tom Jones,” “Bullitt,” “A Man for All Seasons,” “True Grit,” “The Eagle Has Landed,” “Barry Lyndon,” “The Gods Must Be Crazy” “Die Hard,” “Ghostbusters,” “For Richer or Poorer,” to name a few at random. No matter the genre, no matter the stars, good writing is key. I could watch the 20th century’s movies forever. This century’s, not so much.

  22. I just visited my sister over Christmas, and was looking for a movie to go to with her. Everything at the AMC 16 either screamed “woke” or “bad” from looking at the listing, except a cartoon movie “Puss n Boots, the last wish”. So we went to the cartoon, and it was actually quite good. Silly, but good.

    1. Oh, I forgot to mention, AMC’s website is really really bad. I had to fight with it every step of the way. It keeps wanting to know your location on every page, its search would not work, and pages would not load properly. It seems that any kind of anonymizing on your end breaks their site. Most people simply want to find a theater and see what is playing, so I don’t understand what they are thinking for designing a website like that.

  23. There’s nothing new. Hollywood is either remaking old movies or using the same trope in a tired way. It’s boring and there are better ways to spend my time and money. I don’t even watch on streaming services.

  24. The last movie I attended in a theater was Psycho. I had just returned from a stint in Viet Nam, it was a Sunday and all my buddies were out doing girlfriend things so I succumbed to all the hype and went by myself. It was a late afternoon and there were maybe 8 other people in the theater in one of the DC suburbs.. That was what?,,,57 years ago so they have been having problems for quite a while.
    Personally I think actors and actresses are made up of people with real personal problems. They spend all day at the movie lot pretending they are someone else. Someone who is smart, kind and brave. Then they go home, wake up and they are the same a-hole they have always been.

  25. I actually have a different take. Movies are bad because of universities. They are turning out left-wing nuts who are literally mentally ill. Every left-wing organization, including Hollywood, has productivity problems. They are all obsessed with anti-racism, etc. This has strongly effected leftist non-profits.

    Once you get past the ‘representation’, the actual stories being cranked out bear the same resemblance to real stories that a paint-by-numbers painting bears to a Monet or a Picasso. It’s not art. Colleges no longer teach art or beauty. They teach anti-whatever as a substitute for knowledge. You have ignorant screenwriters. They are doing the best they can. That’s what we’re afraid of.

    1. I believe you have correctly identified the core issue, the actual cause. Increasingly I encounter fewer and fewer people of any age who seem able to conceive independent thoughts and few I know have any knowledge at hand beyond the pablum fed to them by mindless propagandizing media, all foisted upon them by the bought and paid for by the corporate-government complex.

      When I was young, not every university was top rate, and not every professor was either sane, and many were poor teachers. At a minimum, though, the institutions I had contact with over my formative and working years did offer some level of relevant education and also maintained minimum levels of attendance and performance to get through most courses and even more to attain a degree, of any major.

      These days, the system is working at severely dumbing down even legal and medical education. If the system is trying to put me in jail, I want a lawyer who knows the law, believes in “justice,” and understands American legal and Constitutional fundamentals. If I am sick or injured, I want a medical practitioner who understands the human body, scientific fundamentals, the basics of diseases and the principles of treatment. And, above all, I want a medical practitioner who takes seriously, and believes in, the Hippocratic Oath.

      We as a society are morphing into an Idiocracy in every sphere and at every level.

      I am an old guy. I have lived mostly in pretty good times, worked hard, and have had an overall very good life. I now just have to maintain a while longer and it no longer will be my problem. I am sorry for those who come after me.

      Who knows what the distant future holds for humanity, and change is constant and relentless, so what is today will not be what is tomorrow. The pendulum swings. If society is to survive with any coherence, the craziness will abate. Unfortunately, right now, at this time, currently, and for the near future, the inmates increasingly are running the asylum… and we not only are allowing it but seemingly are encouraging it.

  26. I stopped going to the movies and football games because the stars are Woke, especially movie stars. They have made a big effort to let me know that they don’t like people like me and they don’t care about the things I care about. The football players not standing for the national anthem was pretty much the breaking point for me. The movie stars and football players have a right to their opinions, but they can’t expect me to be their fan. I’m happy at home watching classic movies on my tv set, I can lots of good movies for free. I saw the Yul Brynner/Steve McQueen version of The Magnificent Seven last week and it was great. I’d never seen it before, don’t know how I missed it.

  27. I have not been to a theater in many years. The prices are sky high. The theater is filled with obnoxious clown who are loud and disruptive.
    The movies absolutely suck. I am not interested in movies that are nothing more than pointless left wing propaganda lies. I will not support the left wing imbeciles that act in these terrible movies.

  28. I stopped because since the theaters themselves have been subpar since COVID, with limited food menus, subpar food that they do have, and unprofessional staff. COVID got me used to having a movie experience at home, and the theaters have only gotten worse since then!

  29. The movies have become an endless stream of political drivel. Even Marvel has succumbed to pushing whatever agenda the Mouse House feels is timely. Ultimately when folks are seeking e-n-t-e-r-t-a-i-n-m-e-n-t they’re not interested in propaganda. I find smaller films — often ones that appear on video or streaming — are more in tune or, at the very least, don’t drumbeat their message for 90+ minutes.

    Also, Hollywood keeps pushing stars that are, honestly, either way past their limelight or never really found one to begin with. Clooney and Julia Roberts? What year is this? 2000? How long did they try to tell us Rebel Wilson was the next Julia Roberts? And, sorry, but Melissa McCarthy has never been funny.

    Plus, these stories all seem to be self-indulgent on the part of the writers and not reflective of the times. Even historical dramas can’t seem to get their facts straight, instead spinning the biographical details to fit whatever cause du jour is up their collective butts.

    So … no thank you.

  30. We stopped going to movies primarily due to weak stories being promoted and too many “woke” insertions in plots that were already troubled. Hollywood needs to follow the Tom Cruise lead and re-learn how to entertain ( Not Lecture ) and be grateful you have an audience

  31. There are three reasons I rarely go to a theater:
    1. The big screen is for movies that maximize the scale of the format. Top Gun, epic war movies, movies that have sweeping cinematography and massive visuals – those are the kinds of films that I want to see on the biggest screen possible. Small scale human dramas and the like are just as good on a t.v. so why would I trouble myself to drive to the mall and watch those there?
    2. Cost. As it is I generally watch the matinee when I do go because by the time the kids and I sit down I’ve shelled out $40-$50. That’s just not viable for me for more than rare occasions.
    3. Most movies are just crap. Whether because of wokeness nonsense or just the fact that so few in the industry understand how to actually tell a story in the medium, I don’t watch many new movies EITHER at home OR at the theater because they’re just not worth my time.

  32. I got tired of trying to believe that a 5’5″ 115-pound woman can beat the holy crap out of five 6’4″ 240-pound male gym rats and not even break a nail.

  33. “That has alienated a small but growing number of film goers who prefer not to support stars who rhetorically spit in their faces.” I don’t think it is a small number. There’s at least 75 million of us. Adds up. Who wants to pay good money to see a Soviet-style propaganda film, especially one that is telling us that we are the problem? Not I. And I certainly am not going to put any money into the pockers of actors, directors, etc., who trash me and my values. Only movie in the last 3 years that I had any interest in watching (besides classics on TV) was Maverick, which I watched at home. Haven’t been in a theater in 7 years. I don’t anticipate ever going to one again if nothing changes.

  34. I have gone to see 2 movies in the past year. One was the Top Gun reboot and the other believe it or not was Bullet Train. Story lines are old and contrived, even streaming services are not hitting the mark. Super Heros are played out. Sick of the multiverse genre which is a cheap plot tactic to spin off characters. The stories are hard to follow and frankly every movie does not need to be a continuance of another movie. CGI is overplayed and it also cheapens the effect of the movie. Hollywood needs to get back to telling stories without politics, without woke agendas, and trying to include every race or sexual orientation into a story. If Hollywood did this, they would see people go back to the movies.

  35. I think people are still willing if the product is worth it. Lately it hasn’t been. Why would I pay upwards of $100 (tickets a drink and a popcorn) for my wife and I to go to a theater where they have to play the audio so loud it makes my ears ring in order to drown out the inconsiderate a-holes chattering to each other or into their phones and to watch “entertainment” that isn’t entertaining, or even very good?

    I went to see Top Gun Maverick in the theater. That’s the only theater trip I’ve made in…I guess about 4 years or so. That one was worth it. For the most part, the dreck they’re putting out these days isn’t.

    Heck, I don’t even watch most of the Hollywood movies after they come out on the streaming services…they’re just terrible. Either unoriginal, unimaginative, unintelligible, or all three – when they’re not just outright political propaganda.

    It’s a shame…I used to LOVE movies and the entire theater experience. I still enjoy re-watching many of the classics from my youth, but the theater experience has become more painful than enjoyable, especially compared to the amazing A/V systems within reach of the typical middle class consumer these days, and the movies are, for the most part, garbage.

  36. We only go to the theater for “Special Events” such as revivals of classic films like “Casablanca” or Riff-specials like “Riff-Tracks Live” or niche foreign films such as “Gundam” or “Shin Ultraman”. These are not available on streaming services and are not burdened by “The Message” (as the Critical Drinker says) so they are worth the cost.

    Most of the current crop of movies out of Hollywood are badly written and have less than stellar acting. Add to that the SJW focus and it’s just not worth the money. Why should I go see a non-historical “The Woman King” when I can see “Greyhound” on streaming for less money and less preaching.

    The super hero genre appears to be dying out now, so one wonders what will be next. Maybe if Hollywood loses enough $$ they may start looking at what folks are watching… Nah, they will turn to the Chinese market as it is bigger than the US…

  37. 30 some years ago, i took my family to my last movie, a PG13. My boys were still young, the opening language was a horrible, we got up and left and I asked for a refund. Never been back into a movie theater since, and have seldom watched a movie on TV. Hollywood is a cesspool nothing good comes out of a place like that.

  38. I still go to the show at the neighborhood multiplex and will continue in the New Year. I went to seven movies at the theater in 2020 and 17 movies in 2021. This past year, I went to the movie theater 19 times, either with the spouse or solo. Some movies were good and some bad, some disappointing and some surprisingly moving. If the movie industry cannot continue to support neighborhood theaters with new films, we will lose something important to our shared culture.

  39. I stopped going to the movies because doing so directly supports the fascist, socialist pigs who are aggressively waging war on truth and humanity. Actually… I did take the family to see The Chosen – both because we really like it so far and to send “a message” – but even that I don’t feel as good about as I should. The more success they have the more likely it is that they will be forced to bend the knee – and undoubtedly they will, if they haven’t already – and therefore my supporting them will be as good as supporting the other side. Otherwise, I don’t care if the movie is some regurgitation of the kind we watched in better days, or if conservative critics promise me that it’s completely devoid of wokeness. The industry as a whole is both a fundraising arm and propaganda tool for the woke army, and it must be completely purged. So, I personally have no intention of ever fully returning until every willing participant has been run out of town, never to be heard from again; and every unwilling participant has apologized and made amends for the harm that they helped cause.

  40. A famous person once said, “One cannot serve two masters.” Hollywood must collectively decide which of their two goals to go after:

    1) Entertaining, shocking and delighting their patrons with compelling stories that celebrate (or caution against) the human condition,
    OR
    2) Hammering out “social justice” with messaging and politics, in an effort to win more elections for their political party.

    Clearly, their choice, at least for now is option #2. I don’t think it’s working well for them.

  41. Simple…I decided to not give money to people who don’t like me. Not a tough concept to grasp. Top Gun Maverick was a perfect example of paying tribute to a character, and fan base, without waving any political flag of any devotion to the viewer.

  42. There is a pandemic CAUSED BY FAUCI and ECO HEALTH ALLIANCE doing GAIN OF FUNCTION RESEARCH IN CHINA. This is significant because this MANUFACTURED DISEASE does not behave like naturally occurring diseases which offer HERD IMMUNITY and NATURAL IMMUNITY ONCE ONE HAS CONTRACTED THE DISEASE.

    This also makes my fellow right wingers hatred of masking COMPLETELY STUPID since it’s literally ALL YOU GOT and while it might not work 100% there is NOTHING ELSE to prevent the transmission of the disease of you catching it REPEATEDLY. So no, not going to the effing movies to sit around morons who wear their masks under their noses or worse who cry ‘Merica while spewing germs all over the place.

    ARREST FAUCI

  43. I’m tired of all the leftist woke propaganda in movies, TV, and commercials. It’s to the point of being absolutely ridiculous.

    The plots are unoriginal, uninteresting, or just woke remakes of older movies. Why would you do this when the originals were great?? Oh yeah, because the these uneducated Lib Gen Z college grads writing the content lack individual thoughts, creativity, and humor. A little real world life experience might help too.

    Given the above, we have no interest in spending our hard-earned money on overpriced garbage (both the movie and the food) just to sit in a dirty, loud theater with noisy, rude patrons. Not when we can have a fun, quality experience at home for free.

  44. I watched “Avatar: The Way of Water” only to have a break, a guys night out, and see the 3D and double frame rate HFR. The theater had lounge chairs, and the 3+ hours went fast. It was moderately enjoyable, but if I hadn’t been invited, and if I hadn’t been curious about the 3D and HFR, I would not have gone. It was OK, the general plot, and special effects well done, but not worth my time. Parts were predictable.

  45. Rob Reiner is reason enough to give up movies permanently. Hard to believe this idiot actually ever made good movies. Everything WOKE goes BROKE. Smart people would get that and dump the woke s***. Additionally if you hate the audience, then why are you still in this country. All we ever hear from these snowflake Hollywood idiots is how great other countries are compared to the USA. There are millions of Americans who would gladly help them move out of the country free of charge.

  46. It’s all libtard propaganda that hates America, white Men, masculinity, faith, family, and real values, while promoting feminasties, socialism, and the gay agenda.

  47. The movie makers and celebrity entertainers have become ‘progressively’ non-relevant. Everyone I know stopped going to the theater several years ago much less acknowledge Hollywood. Their liberal driven agendas in every movie is being felt in their bottom lines. And the out-spoken celebrities who push their political views on the public are facing increased backlash & dwindling paychecks too. They don’t even realize how foolish they are when they alienate 1/2 their audience with anti-conservative vitriol. It simply demonstrates to the world the only free speech Hollywood believes in is that which agrees with their own. So accordingly, 1/2 of the potential customer-base won’t be purchasing their products. How does the old saying go? What goes around comes around.

  48. My last movie memory? 7 bucks for a paper straw crimped into cup of ice coated with a slick of coke flavoring.

  49. The tribe that owns Hollyweird seems to hate white middle class values. Their films are expensive to see, woke, loud, stupid and made for 13-year-old morons. Ten-minute car chases and machine guns take the place of thoughtful writing and plot. Where is the next Maltese Falcon? Casablanca was a war propaganda film and yet beautifully made. Avatar is a feast for the senses but where is the plot? Actors hate us and our values and we hate them back.

  50. I stopped going to the movies when woke politics infected Hollywood, and producers became concerned more about preaching woke politics messages than good storytelling and moviemaking. It’s that simple.

  51. I saw more movies at the theaters in 2022 than ever because of my AMC A-List subscription! 39+!!!
    I don’t have the bad movie-going so experience many do when I go (maybe because we mostly go see movies at a AMC in a nice mall). It’s been amazing seeing films in IMAX Laser, Dolby Cinema, and Dolby Cinema 3D this year.

  52. The reason I reject Hollywood and its products is the same reason I reject the Far Left Hate Mob. On the socials, the Left is a hateful online lynch mob; censoring anything and anyone who doesn’t agree with them.

    Now imagine you’re a Hollywood producer who wants to make a movie. Put on your helmet and get ready for the flack from the studios if you don’t appease them with every frame of your movie.

    So what are the viewers left with? Fantasy garbage that cannot exist, but Hollywood and the Left says you’re a good boy if the producer followed their rules; the angry mob won’t come after you. (Except Cameron found out it doesn’t work out that way sometimes.)

    The day I stopped going to the theaters was the day after watching the Daniel Craig Bond go from being a suave, sophisticated, intelligent, and professional agent into a crying, blubbering, and feminized drunkard who goes on drinking binges and refuses to take out the Really Bad Guy, despite the 00 status.

    Hollywood, redefine THIS, OK?

    1. I was born in Los Angeles in 1950. I lived around the areas where we would run into movie stars all the time. I remember how special it was to get an autograph…they were bigger than life. I loved seeing movies being filmed in our streets back in the 60’s. They were big productions, and some movies were black and white but real good. Most directors even advertised in the newspapers they needed extras…exciting for a kid. I remember being in the background of a crowd…loved it. But now it’s all filmed and cut in a matter of months, and most of them are completely computer graphics. We know these are the end times of Hollywood’s shining star. everyone knows it’s easier to setup at home…cheaper.
      Seriously, the only movie left that I would go see is about the Pandemic, but too old to wait for that to happen.

  53. Just remember all of you folks who are crying about too much ‘woke’ in the movies – UP UNTIL RECENTLY IT WAS ALL CONSERVATIVE AND NO ONE ELSE HAD A VOICE OR VISIBILITY IN THE MOVIES. Remember how it feels to be ‘forgotten’ and to be ‘demonized.’ It isn’t fun now, is it?

  54. Now imagine you’re a Hollywood producer who wants to make a movie. Put on your helmet and get ready for the flack from the studios if you don’t appease them with every YouPeopleMovie frame of your movie.

  55. Nobody mentioned the obvious?? Allergic to the stench of popcorn toxchems! Also many people are allergic to corn, now that that GMO garbage is EVERYWHERE! Very hard to avoid, but the stench of toxchems wafting your way?? No thanks!

    Idiots checking their phone, talking on the phone, light in your faces. Fights. Millennials have 0 manners. They take your seat if you get up. People reek. I hate crowds. Who wants to sit next to a stranger? The increase of illegal mass immigration means you’re likely to be surrounded by people who have no business here, who hate it here, and who hate you.

    The badly “awake” content (“woke” isn’t a word, folks! That’s Black speak. Do you also say “axe me a question”? So why…I rest my case! Enough of the woke word, and its crap. Go back to sleep! I rarely used to go to the movies anyway because of most of the aforementioned. I must have gone to movies twice every decade and that’s it.

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