See the Matrix (and other movies) for $1 Published on 05/12/03 at
22:08:52 CST by mr_doc

With the price of theater tickets so high, maybe you are wondering how
you're going to see all the summer blockbusters and still afford your
drug habits. The answer is astonishingly simple. I regularly go to the
movies and see them all for about 1$, today I'll tell you how.

First, you have to arrive at the theaters early. Matinee prices are much
cheaper. In my area, tickets are normally $9.00, but matinee tickets are
only $5.50. Next you choose which movie you'd like to see first. Since
I'll actually be paying money for the movie, I like to choose one that I
would actually support. Sometimes the choice is obvious and as a rule of
thumb it should never be a chick flick or have the title 'Agent Cody
Banks'.

Now comes the tricky part. You take your ticket inside and after the
movie, you go into another theater! Great huh? Divide the $5.50 or so by
the number of movies you see for your individual price per movie.

You might be thinking about having a friend open the side door for you
and letting you in completely free. I've seen that not work before and
I'd like to believe that the theaters aren't THAT stupid, but if you can
get away with it great. I always discard my original ticket after the
first movie is over.

If you can't make it to the theater in time for the matinee, but you
still want to see a few movies for cheap, get a student ID. They come
free with high school, and a community college ID might be a good
investment even if you're not planning on taking any classes. I've been
using my freshmen college ID for the last 5 years now even though it is
clearly expired.

Advanced Tips:

Even if you manage to see lots of movies for the price of 1 ticket, the
theaters can easily recoup their losses at the snack bar. Large popcorn
$5.50, Large soda $4.00, Candy $3.00, WTF is this disneyland? It's not
very good anyways. Always bring your own food with you. I stop short of
bringing a large pizza with me, just about everything else is cool
though. If you have a girlfriend/wife even better, they can bring a
large handbag. I go in with pockets bulging, carrying a mcdonalds bag
and a large coke. If you're going to see 5-6 movies you'd better come
prepared.

When your movie is over, don't immediately go into another theater, go
to the restroom. Then come out and proceed. This makes it harder to be
spotted. Not that any of the employees really care, but there are
security guards, and possibly a plainclothes manager.

Bring a watch or cell phone or some sort of timekeeping device. When the
movie gets out you'll want to know what time it is so you can find the
next available one. If the next movie you want to watch won't start for
a while, you should consider watching part of another random movie while
you wait. That way, that snack bar lady who's seen you there since her
shift started 5 hours ago won't have time to put 2 and 2 together. The
downside of this is that I accidentally watched part of The Tuxedo and
One Hour Photo doing this, so be careful not to duck into just any
theater to wait. If you're super elite, you can get all the movie times
before you arrive at the theater and sort of plot your course.

Don't be afraid to tell people to SHUT THE FUCK UP! Some people think it
is okay to bring crying babies (or any babies for that matter) into a
theater. Loudly mimic the babies crying. The same when somebodys phone
rings, make your phone ring, and then say loudly "HELLO, HELLO!"
Sometimes I find that pissing people off is more fun than the actual
movie, at least that was true during Battlefield Earth.

If you're with a large obnoxious group, you might be asked to leave, so
spread out a little if you mob deep so you're all seperated. Hold
contests to see who can perform the most outrageous stunts. Practice
fire drills. Have fun and get your moneys worth. Movie prices aren't
likely to come down anytime soon.

[Edit: Also, if they have one of those movie ticket kiosks it is easy
and fun to buy child tickets to any movie. I've never been challenged on
this when going to many R rated movies - Yo mama]