Man, it's always wild to hear the varying experiences

We have a smaller chain of cinemas here that we prefer. But the larger chains in the area aren't absurdly more expensive. We mostly go to matinee performances because we're trying to avoid crowds, it's something we took up during the COVID aftermath and have just enjoyed it as a family. That definitely helps with both the cost and overall experience.

Most films are less than $10 a ticket because of matinee pricing, we're a family of 3. At this chain concessions are seriously not much more expensive if at all than when I was a teenager 30+ years ago. We buy one big tub of refillable popcorn and a couple drinks. We don't buy candy at the theater. If we do want candy we tend to bring some that we pick up at dollar stores or 5 below and keep at home for movie nights. We end up spending $45-60 US for a family movie. At most we go probably 6 times in a year, and that would be a pretty blockbuster year of movies. When I was a kid we we never went to movies monthly, going to the theater was an event so it's not really a change for me.

To those complaining about the ads, I say try to find a theater that offers reserved seating if possible. We do pay an extra fee per ticket to buy them online, but buying seats days or hours in advance means we don't have to be there at the "start" time when the ads play and we still get a great spot. It's worth the extra dollar or $1.25 a ticket our local places charge.

It sounds to me like people are probably living where there's not much competition and so the experience has really degraded because there's no alternative.

We're in a wealthy but still mixed income suburb of Chicago so there are 3 theatres within 15 minutes of us. Going out here can be expensive, but the movies are still not that crazy for a whole family experience. If I was single I'd probably be hitting the theater monthly since my costs would be so much lower.