shave and a haircut.

Just when I had sort of gotten used to the idea of paying ten bucks to see a movie, the greedy bastards had to go and jack up the price to $10.25.

I like going to movies, and when I was a student in Atlanta I went all the time. It was fun; Atlanta is full of new, modern theaters, and with the student discount it was cheap. You didn't have to be overly selective; you could see "Ishtar" or "The Saint" and not feel completely ripped off unless the popcorn was stale.

As a general rule, however, movie theaters in Boston suck. Most of them date back at least to the seventies, and the floors are sticky enough that you would think that was probably the last time anyone bothered to clean them. Likewise, the seats are dingy and torn, the theaters and screens are tiny, and the sound systems are anemic.

Sometimes (especially for big summer movies), it really does make a difference to see a movie in a nice theater with a big screen, stadium seating and solid sound. There are only two theaters that I know of in Boston that are up to par, and the one that is most convenient just jacked up their prices by a quarter.

One measly quarter. It really doesn't seem like much. But then, ten bucks was a nice round number. No screwing around like the lesser theaters in the area, which charge $8.50 to $9.50. This theater is by far the nicest one in town, and for a lot of movies it was worth an extra buck and a half to see it in a decent setting. Of course, I'm still not convinced it's worth $8.50 to see a movie (any movie), but if you accept $8.50 as the price of entry, it was worth $10 to see it without sticking to the seats.

But just as the recent spike in T-bus fare from 75 cents to 90 cents meant carrying extra (exact) change, the new $10.25 ticket price means now I have to keep track of an extra quarter in addition to my ten. Which is just plain wrong. It's like all those 35-cent tolls on the Jersey turnpike...they just nickel-and-dime you to death, and one gets the sense that they do it just because they can.

But what can I do? Wait for the DVD? In some cases, well, yeah, probably. I don't feel an urgent need to see "Dodgeball" on the big screen, but I'll probably rent it at some point. In other cases, I'll probably be more like Jim Carey in "Liar Liar" when his car gets impounded...I'll bitch and rant and rave, but at the end of the day I'll bend over and take another one for the team.