My wife went with her dad to see Oppenheimer last summer. She texted me 25 minutes in that the previews had just ended.

Fuck everything about that.

Not to mention the 10+ minutes of ads beforehand.

We pretty much only go now when it's an "event" movie - a Dune, an Oppenheimer, or similar.

Not to mention, they usually feel disgusting. The minimum wage employees don't care enough to bother, and I definitely don't blame them.

sounds like youre going to shitty cinemas- there are really nice cinemas out there with armchairs with footstools or recliners. these kinds of cinemas tend to have full bar service and some have full kitchens with servers bringing your food drinks at the beginning or halfway through the film.

I'm not sure if they have one where you are, but there are two here in Dublin, Ireland and when I was in Boston a few years back we say that shitty star wars ep 9. Terrible film, we almost walked out.

30 minute drive. Buy tickets at ~£15 each. Buy dry flavourless popcorn and drinks. Sit at the sides craning your neck because that's the only seats left. Watch 45 minutes of adverts and trailers after the advertised start time. Sit through 3 hours of movie that should have been about 1h45. Miss some dialogue because modern actors mumble and sound mixing is terrible. Go for a piss after two hours and miss something anyway. 30 minutes drive home.

Or, just turn on nice OLED TV and surround system and watch at home. Big sofa. Optimal listening position. Pause when I like. Turn on subs for any action movie by Chris Nolan. Eat lasagne and drink cider while doing so.

If you've got a big IMAX thing in your town, then great. But most of us just have a shitty multiplex miles away. The last cinema to close in my town still has a poster for The Woman in Black outside it, and load of homeless crackheads inside it.