I'm done with movies.

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For the past several years I have watched a movie in theaters roughly once every other week or so. I have noticed that studios are making these movies dumber and dumber over time. Also, it seems like scenes are being added by focus group and not to move the story forward. But all these things I can forgive. The reason I am done with movies is I just saw Captain America(one word review: meh) and before the previews there was 11 SOLID MINUTES OF COMMERCIALS!! ! I don't mind paying to see films in a theater. I understand the experience is better. I understand that the people who work hard on these films deserve to be compensated for their work. Plus, it's not like I have a massive screen and a projector laying around the house. What I refuse to tolerate is paying good money and then being shown ads for s**t I don't even want. I don't drink coke, I don't want a new car(the fact I can't afford one completely aside) and I don't want to have my teeth straightened. Hollywood studios think they can force us into their broken economic model through threats of litigation and bogus CRM. But they ignore one major fact. I don't have to go to the movies. I looked and nothing slated to come out until February interests me in the slightest. All I see are sequel after sequel and lame adaptation after lame adaptation. Please don't misunderstand me, I'm not lamenting my loss. In fact, the more I study my passion(computer programming in case you care) the more time I want to dedicate to it. Goodbye Hollywood. I wish I could say it's been fun, but you've disappointed me so often, all I'll say is I'm sorry your greed has come before your art.

The last movie I saw in a theatre was Iron Man 2. The last ones before that were District 9, Watchmen, and The Dark Knight. In each case, I was tagging along with someone else instead of deciding for myself that I wanted to go to the theatre to seem them. Hollywood movies are occasionally entertaining (I liked Iron Man 2 more than most people did, judging by the mediocre reviews I've read) but smaller independent films are where it's at. That's why Netflix is so valuable. You won't see a movie like Oldboy playing at your local multiplex. Don't give up on movies, and don't assume that Transformers 3, Pirates of the Caribbean 4, The Fast and the Furious 5, Scream 4, Harry Potter 7, and Cars 2 are your only options. Get a Netflix account if you don't have one, and start renting stuff you haven't been exposed to yet.

I think this is one reason why piracy has taken off. I don't engage in piracy myself because like you, I find that there is not that much out there worth watching. But as Hollywood continue to rip people off with substandard overpriced movies, they will drive away their customers. It is hard enough to compete with free, but it is going to get harder and harder as more crap is put out for a high price.

I get most of my entertainment through Miro (Video search and player program).

It took you this long to notice this?

The film studios are lucky if they can entice me to more than two or three movies in a year. In 2008, I watched Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Iron Man, Quantum of Solace, and The Dark Knight. In 2009, I went and watched Watchmen and District 9, and maybe one other film that escapes me for the moment. In 2010, I watched Alice in Wonderland, Let Me In, and Tron: Legacy. And so far this year, I have only watched Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. I might consider watching Apollo 18 and I intend to watch The Adventures of Tintin.

I've known it for years but I just reached my breaking point tonight. As I'd said, I've noticed that the overall quality of the moviegoing experience has been declining for years. It's just recently that the arrogance hollywood has shown became too much to tolerate. I mean really, 11 minutes of ads, 15 minutes of previews(which are technically ad ) before I see the movie I came(and paid) to see? Really???

The last time I stepped into a theater was to see the movie Avatar. That movie was worth the money I paid (about $21.00). The last movie I rented was about 6 months ago. Anyway, I am even thinking about turning off my satellite subscription due to all of the CRAP reruns and offensive commercials. The only thing I really watch on Satellite is Dexter and Whale Wars. If I pay for the season's DVD's rather than leaving the subscription running, I would save hundreds.

I also have watched a pirated DVD at a friends house after seeing the "legitimate" DVD. The thing I noticed about the pirated version was not bad quality, but the lack of advertisements and other B.S.
The entertainment cartels are not screwing me, they are screwing themselves.

You're complaining about 11 minutes? I had to sit through nearly an hour of advertisements a few days ago.

Oddly enough, i saw Captain America on Friday at my local Vue complex, and the adverts were only 5 minutes long. I will be enormously honest though, i have a LoveFilm account and have catched up on classics that i never got round to watching and other independent films that critics rant and rave about.

Which is why I prefer TV. The ads are still ubiquitous, but it's better value for money.

I'm also sick of the long ads they play at the movies. I've come to watch a movie not a series of long ads! Don't give up on movies altogether, I recently watched "grave of the fireflies" and it was one of the best movies I have seen so far

For less stupid films:

Go to independent cinemas if you are lucky enough to live near one.

For less stupid ads:

Make a habit of turning up ten minutes late.

You're perfectly entitled to give it up of course, I'm just presenting an alternative.

I saw it for free when our cable company gave us HBO for a few months, and I still felt shafted simply for wasting 2.5 hours. District 9 blew this movie away in every way.