[chrisser]

Add to that refreshments, parking in some places, maybe a meal before or after the movie and it's an expensive day or night out.

When I was in high school (early 80s), going to a movie was a relatively cheap date. We were willing to take a chance on what might be a bad movie.

Nowadays, besides the fact that I can just wait, read plenty of reviews (usually on FR) and then rent a digital version in the comfort of my home of a movie I have a reasonable expectation of enjoying, the cost of visiting the movies has soared, and the likelihood of seeing one worth watching has plummeted.

It's simple economics. Cost is high, probability of value is low, alternatives abound and cost far less. The only thing I find worth visiting a theater to see these days tends to be Pixar cartoons.

[ken5050]

When I was in HS ( early 60’s) we went to the movies for a cheap date..but never watched the movie...

[fatnotlazy]

I'm old enough to remember double features for 50 cents. Often the B movie was better than the main attraction. Sometimes we had shorts - usually brief documentaries — and at least one Warner Brothers cartoon too.

Even in the 1980s, we still had neighborhood theaters that would show second run movies for a dollar. If you didn't have to see the latest release the day it was released, the one dollar movie was a bargain.

We used to have drive-in theaters too, but I think they are all gone now, at least where I live. I figure eventually, all theaters will disappear.