Comment by apparent
20 hours ago
I went to see Mission Impossible the other day. It was the first movie I'd seen in theaters in a long time, and honestly it was underwhelming. I have a projector at home and don't generally care about seeing the latest movies (it used to matter to me but no longer does). I don't know when I'll be back, it was that mediocre of an experience.
My sound system isn't as good, but it seems like a better investment to add a couple rear speakers to my Sonos setup instead of continuing to see movies in theaters (at nearly 20/person!). Adding speakers would also make music and TV sound better, not just the movies.
I'm a huge fan of theaters. There's a local art theater (non-profit) that had a tier of support that allowed for free tickets to any movie. The price was $1500/yr, and you could write off a fair amount of that as a charitable donation on your taxes. I loved going, and would easily go multiple times a week, sometimes everyday for a whole week.
Sadly, I moved away from that town, and instead bought a 98" 4k TV. It cost about the same ($1500), and now I can't imagine going back to a theater. This size of TV gives me that same theater experience at home where I can see small details in movies that are hard to see normally on smaller TVs. My sound system isn't as great, good stereo pair, but I could easily improve that for another $1500.
Plus, those costs are generally one time costs, and this setup will likely last me at least 5 years if not 10. Going to a theater just doesn't make sense anymore.
And you've not even mentioned the benefits that everyone always talks about: can pause anytime, cheaper/healthier to eat food at home, etc.