Going to the Movies

I've been meaning to write this post for a while and just haven't done it. I don't go to the movie theater to see a movie very often. Greg hates theaters, so we usually wait until movies come out on DVD and get them through Netflix.

The last week in December, Michele & Ritha invited me to go see National Treasure: Book of Secrets. Since I think the original National Treasure is the ultimate letterboxing movie EVER, I was pleased to go see the second one.

I obviously haven't been to the movie theater in a really, really long time. First of all, I found out you can buy your movie tickets on line (for $1 surcharge). After I picked myself up off the floor that I paid $10.25 to see ONE movie, I was really excited. I don't even remember the last movie I saw in the theater, but there is a good chance it was the first National Treasure. Or Day After Tomorrow.

Then I got to the theater and decided I'd better have the full movie experience and bought a medium coke and a small popcorn. How on earth can these theaters justify charging FOUR DOLLARS for a medium coke? Come on! I can get 4 two-liter bottles at Safeway for that! And the small popcorn (which was 85 oz according to my receipt) was $4.75! WHAT? $8.75 for snacks? Am I crazy? Or just really cheap.

So I paid $19.00 to go to one movie with a medium coke and a small popcorn. For one person. I guess the days of a movie being a cheap date are gone. And how does a family manage it?

Yes, I have movie theater sticker shock that has lasted almost a month. I totally enjoyed the movie, which I'd like to see again, but am still rather hung up on how expensive it is to go to the theater.

I don't know, all of you that go to the movies more often than me, what do you think? Are movies way too expensive?