Annoyance du jour: don't bring YOUR food in here!

[Gifted Gourmet]

You are not allowed to bring any food or drinks with you into our movie theatre because, of course, we have our own concessions to sell at super-inflated prices! If we allowed outside food and drink to come in, we would be out of business very quickly. The tickets you buy to see our films pay back the film distributors apparently ...

while I fully comply and understand the command: turn off all cellphones!, the food issue annoys me no end ..and another thing: a box of Junior Mints, which is marked up 50-75%, is also annoying ... and should a Hershey bar be the same price as a new Porsche???

Do you ever "sneak" in a few of your own "treats" when you go to a movie theatre?

What do you take with you? (promise that I won't tell ...)

Sidebar here: as a kid, I went to see "The Sound of Music" with my mother .. the woman next to us had 4 kids with her .. she had packed a big fragrant garlicky salami and bread to make sandwiches for her kids after the lights went down .. to this day, I can not hear "These are a few of my favorite things" without conjuring up thickly cut salami sandwiches ... maybe I am aggravated because the woman didn't make a sandwich for me ...

[Bernaise]

Yes I do recall the first time I felt forced to smuggle in treats-not so much because the theatre treats were so expensive - they just didn't have what I enjoyed. In recent years Canadian multiplexes have sen an invasion of USA candies -milk duds junior mints etc. sadly we have lost Maltezers(sp).

At my most audacious, I snuck in fish and chips with a small cup of malt vinegar. The fragrant vinegar wafted throughout the theatre - I thought we were done for-but no! Often we split a sub sandwich, bottles of Perrier and once a huge bag of leftover halloween treats.

[Pam R]

These days you can buy everything at the movies. Burger King, Pizza Hut, NY Fries, hot pretzles, and all the regular stuff. Though it all costs a fortune, I almost always buy popcorn at a movie. How can you not buy theatre popcorn??

But - growing up we were always out of school at Passover - and our parents used to love to send us to the movies to get us out of the house. Not being able to buy any kosher for passover treats, this was the one time of year we would sneak food in. Special potato chips, strawberry and orange cream filled chocolate bars, toasted coconut marshmallows and Dr. Brown sodas. We used to feel so naughty - and it was even parent endorsed!

[WolfChef]

I always bring in two cans of beer. Back in my younger days I drank both, now my wife and I share. It's become a joke amongst our kids.

[Busboy]

I used to have an immense Navy surplus (not the U.S. Navy, but someone's) bridge coat which easily held a six-pack of beer without looking wrong. Friends of mine and I would go to a nearby art-house (The Circle Theater, for any DC old-timers), for sparsely-attended shows, drink beer and enjoy the flick. I remember one time kicking over an empty bottle and hearing it roll, with agonizing slowness -- glass on concrete, with the occasional metalic clink against the leg of a chair -- from almost the back of the theater to the front row. Amazingly, no usher appeared to throw us out and we enjoyed the rest of the movie is sudsy peace.

[Gifted Gourmet]

I almost always buy popcorn at a movie.  How can you not buy theatre popcorn??

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And those sizes? Almost like Starbucks .. the smallest is swimming pool sized and the largest is football field sized ... Oh, you want butter on that? and a small dump truck arrives to pour the melted butter on top ...

and the prices? should a box of jujubes really require a small bank loan??

[lperry]

I have been told by a friend who worked at a theater that the profits are almost completely from concessions because theaters barely recoup their fees for the films. Hence the outrageous prices. I'm curious if this economic analysis is accurate or if its something that management tells concession employees to get them to push the gallon-size cokes.

[Sugarella]

I have been told by a friend who worked at a theater that the profits are almost completely from concessions because theaters barely recoup their fees for the films.  Hence the outrageous prices.  I'm curious if this economic analysis is accurate or if its something that management tells concession employees to get them to push the gallon-size cokes.

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It used to be accurate, actually. Thousands of copies of films were printed on film rolls to show the film in all theatres at the same time (very expensive), had to be transported to them (very expensive) and had to be played by professional screeners in the film room (also very expensive). These days however, most studios distribute their copies of films on digital mediums, so it's very cheap to produce, to transport, and any low-wage schmo can hit a play button. The price of films these days has got nothing to do with anything but profit for the theatre companies.

As for sneaking stuff in, just red licorice for me. And I always just buy a coffee, and that's it. If I'm going to pay that kind of money for food it better be good and it better be served to me by a waitperson in a fancy place.

Pam R brings up an important point though..... what do you do if you actually can't eat any of the concession food they serve? Should you have the right to bring things in in that case?

[SuzySushi]

I hardly ever see movies in theaters any more, but when I do, I usually bring in a chocolate bar and a bottle of water.

Most annoying story: when I lived in NYC, I once went to one of the movie theaters on East 59th street after doing my grocery shopping shopping in Katagiri, a major Japanese market down the block. I was toting two shopping bags and the tickettaker refused to let me in with "[my] own food." I had to argue with the theater manager that canned and packaged Japanese groceries were not snacks for consumption inside the theater! Grrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!

[Rebecca263]

I ADORE movie theatre popcorn. But, the past few times I've had it, really, since I've moved to NJ, I've gotten a sickening feeling when I ate it. We finally figured out why. We've been eating popcorn for years at a local South Florida chain, Sunrise Cinemas. Home of the World's Best popcorn! It seems that we've gotten spoiled. Plus, they use real butter for the topping! Duh. BTW, unless the film is amazing, the popcorn is SUPER important to the theatre experience for us. Last summer, Kiddle and I had seen this great looking theatre on the side of RT9 near Old Bridge, a few times. We finally got off of RT9 one day to see a film there. We went to buy our popcorn, and the popcorn was so stale, and actually inedible, that we had our tickets refunded, went to Blockbuster and rented a few films, and had our popcorn and movie time at home! The cinema has since closed. We're going to hunt for a local art cinema soon, I keep saying. And I hope they'll have decent snacks.

[andiesenji]

I take my own because they do not carry any sugar-free snacks and I am diabetic.

One of my friends and I went with another friend who is a quadriplegic in a powered chair and one of the ushers objected to her rack of liquids but she shut him up in a hurry when she informed him that the theater would be in violation of the Disabled Persons Act if he attempted to remove the necessary liquids she needs constantly. I was ready to hit him across the knees with my cane!!!

[moosnsqrl]

I rarely go to movies these days but when I did, I always took food. No one ever said anything but if they had, I simply would have said "if you sold ___, I wouldn't have to bring it."

I took a bottle of Pinot to Sideways. It didn't make the movie any better but I enjoyed the wine.

[TheFoodTutor]

I have been told by a friend who worked at a theater that the profits are almost completely from concessions because theaters barely recoup their fees for the films.  Hence the outrageous prices.  I'm curious if this economic analysis is accurate or if its something that management tells concession employees to get them to push the gallon-size cokes.

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It used to be accurate, actually. Thousands of copies of films were printed on film rolls to show the film in all theatres at the same time (very expensive), had to be transported to them (very expensive) and had to be played by professional screeners in the film room (also very expensive). These days however, most studios distribute their copies of films on digital mediums, so it's very cheap to produce, to transport, and any low-wage schmo can hit a play button. The price of films these days has got nothing to do with anything but profit for the theatre companies.

Is this really no longer true? I would have thought that the royalty fees would be raised more than enough to counter any lowering of costs through digital technology. After all, the amount of money actors make has certainly gone up, more than the rate of inflation, and the technology in making the movie has gone up in price, as more advances are made. And ticket prices have not gone up that much in the last 15 years, though there was a brief period that they seemed to inflate quickly, about 7 years ago, if I remember correctly.

The royalty fees for showing the movie in the prime period when it can only be seen in the theater were the biggest reason that most movie houses lost money on ticket sales, but recouped it on popcorn sales and soda sales (both very cheap products to make, but sold at a high price.) Lowering of the royalty fees allows $1 theaters to sell later-market tickets, after most people who want to see the film have already seen it, and still recoup their losses on concession sales.

Cinema employees have pretty much always been on the low end of the pay scale, at least in my lifetime, so I don't see how that's changed much, outside of the stagnancy of minimum wage in this country.

I'm very interested in hearing more, since the business model of the cinemas losing money on ticket sales, yet gaining it all back on popcorn and such, is one of the standards that many in the hospitality industry follow when calculating the overall budget for the month.

[Pan]

[...]Pam R brings up an important point though..... what do you do if you actually can't eat any of the concession food they serve? Should you have the right to bring things in in that case?

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No. Then, you simply do what I do: Eat before or after. I almost never get anything at the concession stand (the one exception I can think of is the Angelika independent theater on Houston St., Manhattan, which has an actual cafe in the lobby, and in that case, the snack would be consumed before entering the theater), though if someone I'm with decides to do so, I may have share it with them. And I like my popcorn without fat on it. So there.

[Kent Wang]

What? You guys don't have something like Austin's Alamo Drafthouse, where you can order beer and pub grub from your movie seat?

[Gifted Gourmet]

What? You guys don't have something like Austin's Alamo Drafthouse, where you can order beer and pub grub from your movie seat?

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Nope! That is a whole different animal .. the movie theatres where you have to deal with Concession Stand Captivity is what I had in mind here ...

[viva]

Er, does bringing in Vanilla Stoli to mix with the theater Diet Coke count? It was the only thing that made The Craft tolerable.

I miss the Brew N' View in Chicago.

[Gifted Gourmet]

Er, does bringing in Vanilla Stoli to mix with the theater Diet Coke count?

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anything smuggled into a theatre counts! Wow .. Stoli and Diet Coke ... how was it? Gas interrupt the film audience?

[viva]

Ah, no - my tolerance for diet coke is well documented. And the smuggled Stoli is a privilege reserved only for obscenely bad movies, of the Adam Sandler ilk.

[Alchemist]

Why arn't there more theaters with good cafes in them, like the Angelika? The peanut butter brownies are so good with a nice hot, espresso. Soo much better than normal concession food. I think Stoli Vanil and Diet should be a crime no matter where it's consumed.

Brew & View Rocks!

[tejon]

If I want something to snack on during the movie, I usually bring whatever sounds interesting along with me in my purse. Often I'll bring a small water bottle as well. If I had any interest in the food offered at the concession stand, that'd be one thing, but aside from the occasional craving for Bon Bons, I can't stand most of the stuff. And hell if I'll pay $3.00 for a bottle of water that I could bring from home for pennies.

[chezcherie]

we snuck a bottle of pinot noir into Sideways. made it much more enjoyable. even though i eased the cork out, a couple nearby heads did turn, trying to locate the source.

[bleudauvergne]

During one very poor time as a student I used to pop popcorn just before going to a movie, those 2 dollar places, and take in a sack in my purse to share with my friends who were in the same boat I was. Sometimes someone brought nuts. No sandwiches, though.

[TheFoodTutor]

What? You guys don't have something like Austin's Alamo Drafthouse, where you can order beer and pub grub from your movie seat?

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We have the Buckhead Backlot cinema here in Atlanta, but the choice of wine is only chardonnay and white zinfandel, and there are a few beers by the bottle. The food is ghastly, however, and the service is very poor, understandably, because servers can't patrol the tables after the movie starts. I got some wings the last time I was there (my second visit), and they were served with celery and carrot sticks that literally smelled sour and rotten. I actually would have been better off just getting the popcorn with the immitation-butter-flavored-grease.

The Lefont Theater on Monroe does sell bottled beer and little bottles of wine, though. And when you're done with the bottles, you can just roll them down the floor under the seats in front of you, like you did in high school.

[tmgrobyn]

I have always wondered why theatres don't just sell high end goods. I don't mind the price if it something of quality. However, $3.95 for a same size 59 cent snicker bar doesn't equate as quality to me.

We always take stuff in and buy a popcorn also. Junior Mints are a theatre must have and ours doesn't sell them anymore.

Best story ever on food brought in to a theatre: My friend AmishRobot's: Angst in my pants. It's the first on his list of favorites. I laughed so hard when I read this post! AmishRobot

Edited February 20, 2006 by tmgrobyn (log)