Letters to the Editor: Moviegoers address the ‘real reasons’ they avoid theaters and watch at home

To the editor: Senior editor Ryan Faughnder fails to even mention the real reasons why so many people choose to watch a movie at home on their television rather than go to a theater (“The 2025 box office is off to a terrible start. Is the problem supply or demand?” March 25).

First, the need to arrive early enough to select a decent seat. With theaters so small now, there are only a handful of acceptable seats. Second, the 20 minutes or more of loud ads and trailers for movies of no interest are unpleasant to sit through. Third, too many rude patrons who think nothing of talking aloud. Their phones ring and they answer and talk — or they text, creating disturbing and distracting lights. It’s much more pleasant to stay home, where the popcorn and drinks cost much less!

Jeff Miller, Long Beach

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To the editor: My neighborhood movie theater has a marquee that no longer shows what is playing or the times. By the time I get home, I am too busy to look up the theater and its schedule.

Carolyn Dyer, Tujunga

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To the editor: Theaters need to start advertising their movie showings in the L.A. Times again because, as the saying goes, “out of sight is out of mind.” This is especially true for us retired folks who still read the hard copy newspaper and who have time to go to the movies during the week.

My movie attendance has dropped to almost nothing. Maybe they can’t budget for full-page ads anymore, but surely they can spring for an eighth of a page ad on the weekend. As another saying goes, “you have to spend money to make money.”

Gisele Fontaine, Inglewood