I love going to the movies. Sitting in the back center with my Buncha Crunch, taking in the giant screen and the surround sound… love it.

So you can imagine my excitement for a Saturday night dinner-and-a-movie date this past weekend. First, I headed to San Sai – a yummy new Japanese fast-ish food concept restaurant – then I went to the local mall to see He’s Just Not That Into You. Mind you, I wasn’t expecting Oscar-worthy performances, just thought it would be funny and a good waste of 2 hours of my life.

I pull into the mall and proceed to spend 15 minutes trying to find a parking spot. Along the way, I battled mini vans travelling the wrong way down one-way aisles, SUVs backing up down the beforementioned one-way aisles to try and steal coveted spots… you name it.

Finally I parked a mile away and made my way up the stairs to buy tickets… where I was met with a sea of people 15 feet deep waiting in a winding line to buy tickets. I guess EVERYONE thought it’d be a good idea to see a movie that night.

I look at my boyfriend and tell him – no way. I was fed up by the parking situation. We left and decided to try a different movie theater. Since we missed the 7 o’clock show, we would go buy tickets to the 10 o’clock show and wait it out by going to get some ice cream or something equally as exciting.

So I drive to the other theater and quickly find a parking spot (score). I waltz up to the ticket booth and request 2 student tickets. Yes, I know I’m not a student. But so long as I can pass for one, I will take the discount. The movie theater employee informs me that they no longer offer student discounts, but that the total for my 2 movie tickets will be $22.

Twenty-two dollars.

“WHAT?” I exclaim, flabbergasted.

“Twenty-two dollars, please,” says the box office employee.

“For two tickets? No, thank you.” I mutter as I shake my head and walk away.

After the boyfriend and I wax poetically on the absolute absurdedness of paying $11 per movie ticket for an hour and a half long movie, we head to Blockbuster and rent two new releases for $9. Then we went to the grocery story and got Edy’s ice cream on sale for $3 and headed home.

After some research, it appears that the mega-screen tickets are $11/each. Whereas the normal movie ticket price is $9. That’s before you add in a $7 soda or $4 for a bag of M&M’s.

Call me a cheapskate, but I refuse to pay $11 for a movie.

When I was younger, the only thing to go out and do was go to the movies. Imagine a kid working a part-time job now. You’d have to work for two hours at minimum wage just to buy a ticket. Forget about the gallon of gas to get there or even bringing a date.

And woe to those that receive a $20 gift certificate to the movies for Christmas – you can’t even take a friend with you for $20.

It would cost a family of four just under $50 to see the latest Disney flick.

Here’s other movie-related things I’d rather do with my cash:

• Sign up for Netflix for $8.99 a month to get unlimited, 1 DVD out at a time and instantly watch movies online
• Enjoy movie 7 channels, including hi-def, award-winning original shows, sporting events, etc. by spending an extra $14 a month to add HBO to my DirecTv subscription.
• Go to the Circuit City liquidation and buy DVDs that I can watch over and over again.
• Watch free movies and TV shows online at HULU

Sorry, movie theater… but I’m just not that into paying $11.