Breaking the box office bank

Oh, to be young again. Remember when movie tickets were $6 or less? Remember when matinees might only cost $3? I do. Too bad I was too young to appreciate it.

I know it's nothing new. Talk to your parents or to anyone else born before 1980, and they'll have even more amazing tales to tell. A movie for a quarter? A dime? Stranger than fiction, eh?

But beyond making me feel old (a remarkable achievement in and of itself), rising ticket prices take a big wet bite out of my wallet, and sometimes it gets hard to justify shelling out $9, especially at some of the older theaters around Boston. I don't feel like I get $9 of value out of it.

Maybe tickets aren't too expensive _ maybe I'm just too cheap or poor _ but I'm unwilling to pay $9 for just any old movie. I can feed myself for less than $9 a day. So it's pretty rare that you'll find me going to a movie on a Saturday night unless the occasion really demands it.

Sure, sometimes it's worth it. Maybe I'm going on a date, maybe my friends all really want to go, maybe I need to get away from campus for an evening, maybe there's no other time that I could go. And I guess for a working professional with an actual paycheck, $9 is a minimal expense. Me? I believe in voting with my wallet: if I don't like the price, I don't buy the product. If enough people would follow suit, prices would come down. And so I seek alternatives.

Tufts students should already realize the benefits of the Somerville Theatre, but I can't avoid mentioning it. First off, it's within walking distance of campus, a fact that would give it a devoted following of underclassmen even without its other advantages. Besides being close, though, it's cheaper than first-run theaters, and it's nicer inside than some theaters, like the one at Assembly Square. Yes, movies show up at the Somerville a little later than they do elsewhere, but that can be an advantage, too. Maybe you only heard about a movie when its mainstream run was winding down, or maybe you want to take your friends to see something that they missed. The Somerville also gets independent movies that you'll never see at Loews or AMC. It's cheap, it's close, it's nice, it's quasi-avant-garde... what more do you want?

Okay, so you want timeliness, too, or you aren't sure that your movie's going to reach Somerville. You still don't have to pay full price to see mainstream pictures. I love matinees. No matter how many times I've gone to a movie during the day, I'm always shocked when I step into the bright outdoors at the end. It's like taking a nap at 5 p.m. _ my sense of time just vanishes. Maybe you don't like that surreal feeling, but it makes me feel like I just earned an extra day in my life. It also saves me money.

Many theaters are restricting their matinee policies, making arbitrary rules like only those shows starting before 1 p.m. or only the first shows of the day qualify as matinees. If it's 3 p.m. on a Tuesday, I'm calling it a matinee and I'm not paying full price.

Strange, then, that even as some establishments cut down on matinee discounts, new reduced rates become available by other means. Lots of theaters have student rates during the week (usually Monday through Thursday); bring your Tufts ID and you might get in for only $5 or $6. For those who aren't students anymore, hang onto your expired ID for as long as is plausible. You'll also find "twilight rates" that get you in for a matinee-type price for early evening shows during the week.

Still not happy? You want Spiderman. Fine. I understand. Renting movies can cost as little as a gallon of milk, and I really like renting movies. I also really like making fun of movies, and if a flick turns out to be a waste of time, it's a lot easier to tear it apart in the privacy of my own home. Stadium seating doesn't have a thing on recliners and a blanket. And the sad truth is that movies often look and sound better on my house's home theater system than they do at some of the older theaters like Fresh Pond and Assembly Square. Why get the surround sound and subwoofer unless you want to use them?

Look at the advantages: no babies, no sticky floors, no loud high school kids. Rather than overpriced candy, I can eat absolutely anything I want. Sure, I miss the thrill of smuggling cheaper Gummi Bears into the theater, but I can have coffee or tortellini or chips and salsa. The only thing I can't replace is the popcorn. I don't eat popcorn often, but no homemade variety compares to a bucket from a theater.

I'm not leading an anti-theater revolution _ I still go out to movies, and I think being in a theater makes the experience all the more intense. I'm just here to tell you that there are cheaper options for those of us who aren't gainfully employed.