I started babysitting for pay when I was 11. I also got a $3/week allowance from the time I was 12. That money was invariably spent on 45rpm singles and movie tickets. My best friend Jacquie and I were at every movie on opening weekend. Saturday was matinee day and there was no stopping us.
When I married and moved to Nashville we had no money. NO money. We scraped and saved and would occasionally treat ourselves to…the movies of course. None of the theatres we hung out in exist anymore. That fact actually kind of makes me very sad to think about. The Regal Cinemas down in what is now called Brentioch were our stomping grounds. We’d get tickets to a matinee and kick off the evening with a game of pinball in the arcade. When I’d get my quarterly bonus from the travel agency we’d celebrate with a day of movies–all day Saturday going from theatre to theatre. (Yes, we bought tickets for every show.) I always swore that I’d be a movie-going person. To my mind, people who didn’t go to theatre movies were stodgy and dull and lacking in a sense of fun.
That’s why I’m sort of ashamed to admit that not only have I not seen The Avengers yet, I don’t know if I will see it until the Blu-Ray hits the shelves at Target.
It isn’t that I don’t want to see it. It’s just that I….well. Maybe I am stodgy and dull and lacking in a sense of fun. I personally don’t think so, but then again the idea of having to sit in a room full of strangers and their never-off iPhones lacks a certain appeal.
There’s also the little manner of our home. We only drive one car, which gives us a healthy amount of disposable income. I say “disposable”, but it isn’t thrown away. It becomes things like curtains, new microwaves, sundry plants, the occasional appetizer at a restaurant. Most of it is socked away in savings for things like emergencies and vacations. Three years ago we decided that instead of going on vacation we’d buy our dream home theatre system, and that now sits in our bonus room. I tell you that cake decorating reality shows never looked so good!
It also kind of makes going to the movies more of a moot point. The last few movies we saw in a theatre (Inception, Up, a couple of others I can’t think of…Ironman II…Thor…) all actually look better on Blu-Ray than they did in the theatre.
I suppose I could go on and on. What this really is, though, is rationalisation. I’m confessing that the girl who used to go live in the movie theatres just doesn’t anymore. No matter the reason for it, I still feel a little sad at the loss.
Just Another Pretty Farce 
Years ago, I saw the theatrical version of Max Payne with my son and his friend on an opening Friday night. Never again. All the tweens there texting instead of watching THE MOVIE.
I solved that problem by going at noon on Saturday. No texting tweens, smaller crowds, and as an added bonus, cheaper ticket prices. Avoid 3D for an even brighter picture and more savings.
I get to the theater every other Saturday or so, sometimes every Saturday during the summer. I love it. I actually get a little cranky when The Hunger Games and The Avengers yield full theaters during my usually quiet noon Matinee (but that’s usually balanced out by the roar of the crowd during especially funny scenes, and there are more than a few in The Avengers.)
The Avengers is Joss Whedon at his best. Do yourself a favor and make an exception for this one in the theatre. If you don’t have a great time, I’ll apologize profusely. But I’m feeling as safe as can be with this recommendation. 😉