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I just dont get it.

Prehaps it the fact that my family has been in this business since projectors had a crank. Prehaps it is the memory of my late uncle drilling into me that the theatre business was intended to provide low cost entertainment for the masses.

But what seems to have arisen is a new business model - what I have grown to call the Premium Experience - designed not for the masses but rather for the elite who can afford. Whether that means IMAX, 3D upcharge, fork and spoon, or Living Room theatres it is from my viewpoint the same goal - to extract the maximum dollar from patrons.

Need evidence? Well take a look at this in the suburban Phoenix area ......

5 New Premium Theatres

We are a far cry from a "hole in the wall" theater, but the ignorance of the masses is apparent when people come in off the street BEWILDERED that a 2-screen theater (family owned) exists and ask us things like "Are you like a "REAL" theater?" and "What's wrong with your movies? Are they not good or something?"

Are we training them to only want the high-tech, $18/ticket big-city-price 3D mega blockbuster???