The MPAA and RIAA moan about how piracy is ripping them off, how it is causing
them to lose $x billion dollars. Local theaters talk about how people just
don't come to see movies as much and that it must all be caused by
cable TV, Pay Per View, DVDs, etc.

BS.

I suggest that the main problem is the movie experience itself. Let me illustrate.

Last night I went to see Mission Impossible III: Going Through Puberty by Tom Cruise.

First of all, to even get in to the theater I had to pay $8.25 for a
ticket. Ok, I can accept prices going up as time goes on. No beef there.

Next comes concessions. $4.50 for a small popcorn? $5.50 for a miniscule
amount of nachos + cheese? $3.50 for a small candy that costs $0.85 at
WalMart? We are told the theaters need to make money too, but why don't
they make money from the sale of movie tickets? Why does Hollywood take
so much of the ticket money and leave so little for the locals? I've
heard that, in general, Hollywood gets 80% of each ticket and the locals
get 20% for the first 4 weeks, then the percentages are reversed.

This leads into my next thought: movie quality or lack thereof.
Too much crap out now. Throughout the years there have been stupid and
worthless movies playing in the theaters, but it seems now the ratio
of good to garbage is way out of whack. Why is Hollywood charging
so much for drivel? People are not coming to the movies now because of
it, because they have the choice to watch something worthwhile at home.

You finally use your credit card to pay for a small popcorn, soda, and box
of candy. You've gotten into your theater where your movie is going to
play. The movie starts. Now you have to listen to people on their cell
phones, kids crying, people talking throughout the whole movie, etc.
Saying anything to them will get a "fuck you" response and saying anything
to management will get you a "what can we do?" response.

Finally, in the movies I no longer see actors/actresses but in many cases
political assholes, trying to tell everyone that since they played the part
of someone, they have more knowledge about a subject than anyone else.

Long live cams.