Exactly my experiences, ctown. I hate going to the movie theater. Hate it.
I still end up going once or twice a year with friends or family, just to keep the peace when I'm out-voted on 'what-do-we-want-to-do-today' votes.
I would have to say that 4 out of every 5 movies I've gone to in the past six or eight years have been basically ruined by some aspect of being in a public theater. Be it rowdy or talkative children/teens, beeping or ringing cell phones, coughing/hacking people, dismal audio, broken film, or a disgusting theater. Don't even get me started on the prices.
The last straw for me was a few years ago whlie sitting in a higher-end theater (bigger widescreen, 'deluxe' sound, stadium seats, premium ticket pricing, etc) and about 20 minutes into the film there was a very audible POP from the sound system. The center channel just dissapeared. Poof. Gone. Great for dialog. After a few minutes, a couple of us went to complain to the management and were told (at least I was) that the other channels were still working and so there was nothing they could do. Nice...
I can wait 6-8 months for the DVD, no matter what the film.
