I haven't been to a movie at a movie theater in years. The last movie I saw in the theater was Black Swan with Natalie Portman which was garbage.

This weekend Star Wars is been run on Showcase as a marathon. I won't bother watching I, II or III but will watch the rest.

Maggie, I was just lamenting the same with DH. We probably like similar movies.

Since we have different tastes, He sees one I want, I see one he wants. So, although it might not be my choice, it's still a night out. But lately, even he is feeling hard-pressed to find even one movie.

I agree about the trailers. I usually sit there and say not that one, nope not that one.

Find an "art house" cinema near you. We almost never go to mainstream theaters, there are so few blockbusters made for intelligent adults. They don't want our business, they want teens who will watch it 5 times and buy a t-shirt.

One day University is having a festival of short films I'd love to go see ...,Nov18 NYC, but I will be in Florida.

The last movie I saw was Ex Libris. I planned to see it in the city but it was sold out, for every show of its entire run. This made me more determined to see it. The next closest place was a 90 min drive. DH and I went last Sunday... it was a pretty drive and a quaint town with good dining so we made a day of it. Ex Libris is a 3hr17 min documentary about the NY Public Library.

off the top of my head, my fave movies are like Room With a View

My friend and I went to see I'll See You In My Dreams a year or so ago. We are both 60 now, and it was so nice to see a romance that wasn't sappy or too rom-com. Blythe Danner and Sam Elliott, wow! (We also invented a drinking game a la "Hi, Bob": every time you see Blythe with a glass of wine, take a swig. You'd be smashed by the end of the movie lol.) I suppose, though, that women our age are more likely to see the discount matinee, though, so not as much revenue?

I do like the new seating in movie theaters: so comfy, better views, and easier to move around the theater.

How did I miss this Ex Libris?? Thank you for the great tip, Mtn.

I don't really know what I would like to see in films. I have not had time for going to the movies for the past few years. Date night tends to be something live and girls night tends to just be dinner or book club and all the other nights- well they are taken up with regular night :-)

Lol, regular night!

Bpathome, when I go to those theaters with BarcaLoungers, I take an oversized purse with a neck pillow and a throw. Only problem is I fall asleep.

PS ex Libris is like literally in a handful of places across the country. Maybe if it wins an award it will be more widely distributed. But I would say it is def a niche film!

I’m not sure I can describe the movie I want to see. I like sweet, but not saccharine, relationship movies with relationship not limited to romance. I also like superhero and spy movies, but only if they are interesting. I tend not to go to the theatre because I would rather be able to stop and start the movie at my whim.

The latest movie I liked was Gifted. Thanks for the recommendation for Ex Libris. That sounds like something I would enjoy. Some older documentary movies I like are It Might Get Loud and First Monday in May.

For SF peeps, Ex Libris is showing at the Roxie. Tickets are available online for Oct 14 through 17. I am got tickets for the 14 (Fri.) I would be happy to meet up with any fellow GWers who are there.

I would agree to look at more of the theaters that feature art films or independent productions. There is one in my area and my sister and I go regularly ("Silver Tuesday" discounts for seniors) and we have seen some great movies there........also a few that were a bit more esoteric than I would prefer :-)) The Best Marigold Hotel (1&2), Marjorie Prime, The Viceroy's House, A Trip to Spain, Maudie, Beatriz at Dinner, The Hero (Sam Elliott), The Lion, Norman (Richard Gere) Manchester by the Sea, Nocturnal Animals, Moonlight. Minimal violence, no car chases, no superheros and just enough romance and sex to keep things interesting :-))

Looking forward to Victoria and Abdul this coming Tuesday!! Anything with Judi Dench is worth watching.

I like lots of different thing from art house films to superhero summer tentpoles, so I don't have any problem finding things to watch. I'll admit to being frustrated with some of the trends in movie making. I think the big studios think that in order for movies to compete with the small screen (which as you note has a ton of great stuff, thanks to competition from and among cable networks and streaming services), they have to make everything bigger, louder, and more bombastic. You definitely see that in movies trying to draw in the younger crowd--Batman v. Superman, the Transformers movies, etc. They try so hard to be a spectacle, and are so CGI heavy, that they end up just being sound and fury, signifying nothing.

I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, where there are a ton of art house theaters, and you can usually find even the most obscure film playing somewhere. I also pay attention to entertainment news, so I hear about what movies got buzz at Sundance or Cannes and know to look for them when they eventually get wider distribution.

I recently watched Wind River (still in theaters), which might be up your alley. Jeremy Renner as a hunter/tracker who helps a rather green FBI agent investigate the murder of a young Native American woman on the Wind River Indian Reservations.

Battle of the Sexes (about the tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs) is well-reviewed (haven't seen it yet but hope to).

Oh, we do have an independent theater in town that shows less run-of-the-mill things, and I do go there both for new features and for classics night--went to see Cary Grant and Doris Day not too long ago, and it was as fun as anything recent.

My friends and I don't only go to matinees or discounted evening shows. When we want to go, we go. I guess from others' responses, though, maybe other people prefer to watch at home and there aren't as many 50-something+ ladies waiting around for good movies to come to town as I'd imagined.

I did love Room with a View, Mtn. I remember the summer it came out it was the date movie of the summer. I believe I saw it four times, on dates with different people. Those were the days!

I often think about if I could write a movie because there are so few movies out there that I have truly enjoyed, and they seem to be getting fewer and fewer. I don't like gratuitous violence in movies, I like movies that have themes and are about human relationships and endeavors. So for example, I liked the movie, "Chef" even though it was a tad too pat, because it was about a man's relationship with his son and also his craft and way of making a living. I love movies that have great scenery, so I love the movie "French Kiss" despite Kevin Kline's cheesy french accent. I love the movie "Electric Horseman" for both the scenery of Robert Redford and also the West, even though the movie is somewhat trite. I wish I could love Outlander, it's got cool relationships, fantastic costumes and sets and great scenery, but ridiculously too much overwrought and tawdry violence for my taste. They were violent times, but it doesn't ring true in Outlander, it's just too melodramatic and over the top. I'd much rather dwell in the space where Claire tries to figure out how to get along with all the interesting characters she meets. Romance novels have prerequisite rapey gorey stuff and I have zero prurient interest in any of that so it just makes me gag and I can't enjoy the movie. That's why however darkly odd they were, I was never ga ga over the Coen brothers movies, except for maybe the Big Lebowski. Talk about some colorful characters!

The movie I dream about writing is a movie about a young teacher working in an inner city school that has a great team of folks working together. I worked in a setting like that when I was younger. I'd set it as a romance between a white male teacher just starting out and a black female teacher in the school. I'd play a lot on the two cultures coming together, something like "The Big Sick" meets "Up the Down Staircase." Except I wouldn't gloss over the harsh realities. I love culture clash movies, I loved the movie "City of Joy" about rickshaw drivers in Calcutta and an American doctor played by Patrick Swayze.

I love historical dramas, like Amadeus, and classics like Jane Austin flicks. I took my mother to see Sense and Sensibility when it came out about 25 years ago. My late husband and I didn't go out much but we saw Avatar and Alice in Wonderland in 3-D, which was fun. Now I have Amazon Prime and Netflix and find plenty of things to watch at home.

Gardengal,

i was just hopping on on our way out to dinner to recommend Maudie. It was a rainy afternoon here and this thread made me want to see a movie. We r at our beachhouse so not a ton of choice ... I looked on Amazon and found Maudie. I though that it was a super little film, highly recommend. How funny it's on your list!

1929, I've been known to have a Benecio del Toro film fest when my husband is out of town...I'll watch your movie!

Spanish, that is a niche movie for sure.

I'm lucky enough to have 2 art house movie theaters near me. In addition to foreign and independent films, they both run series of old movies. I enjoy seeing old movies on the big screen, like Hitchcock stuff, The Seven Year Itch, and Roman Holiday.

I loved Amélie and it's computer generated special effects but I don't like most (any?) of the mainstream special effects movies. I don't want to watch super heroes or violence or horror.

Even without ever seeing any of the space movies, they are such a part of popular culture I can't help but understand most of the references (Luke, I am your father).

A movie I love, and watched for the first time last year, is A Little Chaos. First romance I have seen in ages that I actually liked. Alan Rickmans last movie too and the historical setting, while not grittly accurate, was charming.

It seems to me that Hollywood only makes three movies these days:

1. The movie about running real fast and engaging in physically impossible acrobatics while things blow up all around.
2. The fart joke movie.
3. The dysfunctional relationships movie, which has two variants: pseudo-inspirational and frankly depressing.

Of course, these can be combined, as for instance, in the upcoming remake of Murder on the Orient Express which seems to combine Hercule Poirot, superhero, with the most dreary-looking trainload of miserable people you ever saw.

So I just don't go. The suggestion to go to an art house is clearly made by people who live in very major metro areas. I live just north of a major metro area, but still about 90% of the movies I might possibly wish to see do not play within 150 miles of where I live. I see about one movie a year in the theater.

Unfortunately, I do keep up with what's current when visiting my brother who has every known streaming service. I'm astounded at how fatiguing it is to try to be entertained.

We too are fans of art house movies.

My most recent favorite is Restless Creature, a documentary about dancer Wendy Whelan and her 30 years with the New York City Ballet. It speaks to transitioning out of a profession at which you excelled and that defined you. The men and women in our group thoroughly enjoyed it

It was just made available on Netflix Restless Creature

If you have Netflix, watch OUR SOULS AT NIGHT, it will put you in mind of the old movies. Stars Jane Fonda and Robert Redford.

I started "Hidden Figures" on an airplane and finally watched the final 30-40 minutes last night. If you haven't seen it, I think you would enjoy it. It involves civil rights, science, empowerment of women, and a great story. Awesome acting by everyone involved. The writing and directing were really well done and made you care about each character.

We do tend to like movies (or TV series) that intersect politics and culture. A good musical soundtrack doesn't hurt either. DH feels the golden age of movies is over, and many of our classic movies would never be made today.

I like Hidden Figures a lot too.

Thanks, Gardener123, for another recommendation that I’m sure I will enjoy.

I'm not a fan of movies in general, but once in a while one comes along that I see. We have a film society (a co-op, non profit) here in Olympia that gets all kinds of alternative films, which are perfect for people who hate the mainstream releases.

The last film I saw was Lion, which I adored.

WRitersblock,

hmm, that would be disconcerting if all I could access were blockbusters

And I disagree it needs to be a "very major metro" to find an art house ... the place hhireno refers to is an hour N of Phila, the place I saw ex Libris is 2:20 N of NYC, and we go in Maine to a place that is 1:30 N of Boston.

also, aren't you near Vero Beach? Their museum has a film society, and the old theatre there simulcasts from the Met, the National Theatre and Bolshoi.

I am also not located in a major metropolitan area - I live on an island which is mostly rural residential and not large at all. We do have a town center with a small multiplex theater that features the usual Hollywood stuff but we also have several small neighborhood centers, one of which is home to an old time movie theater (1936) and that is the one that is exclusively art films, indies and foreign movies. You can find these places just about anywhere.

If not such a place anywhere near you, then I'd consider Netflix. They offer dozens of movies that are a far departure from the typical Hollywood stuff. And some of that as well! And their line up and offerings change constantly.

The other thing people might consider if they are motivated is getting a group together and approaching a library, art center or small theater. I don't know what the economics are but it seems to me, esp if you wanted to do daytime, it doesn't take huge crowds for the numbers to work.