Question of the Week: Movie Theaters?
It’s time for Question of the Week, which is intended to inspire enjoyable discussions of interesting topics.
This week’s question: when was the last time you went to an actual movie theater to see a movie? No wrong answers, including “I don’t go to movie theaters.”
For myself, the answer is simple: I went on May 31st to see MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: FINAL RECKONING.
The inspiration for the question was technological change. Like, I only went to the theater twice in 2024, for DUNE PART 2 and THE FALL GUY. In 2025, I’ve been to the theater twice in 2025 so far for THUNDERBOLTS and MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: FINAL RECKONING.
But a long time ago when I was (much) younger and had far fewer demands on my time, I would usually go to the movies on Saturday afternoons. If I saw something that looked at all interesting, I would go. Afternoon matinees were cheaper, and I usually preferred to spend Saturday night playing computer games anyway. Nowadays, like I said above, I only went twice in 2024 and twice in 2025 so far.
I’m not sure what changed. The obvious one is that I’m old enough and have enough to do that giving up three hours on a Saturday afternoon can be a problem. Technological change in the form of streaming is another, and perhaps one’s tastes change as one gets older. There was no way that I would go to the theater to see the MINECRAFT movie, for example, though I will probably watch in on streaming when it rolls around.
-JM
Last month we saw Monty Python and the Holy Grail (50 year release) in the theater. Yes, we have the DVD.
I guess Dune 2 is the last time I went to a theatre. For the price of going to the theatre I can wait and stream it later. If I don’t like the price I can even wait a few years. I’m not so quick to give them my money. Haven’t gone to the theatre yet in 25. Nothing called out to me.