Well, here in the states, movies are still probably the cheapest form of entertainment and going out.
For example, I went to a concert this past weekend, 1 ticket, $75, a beer at the show, $9, far pricier.
The challenge comes in the allure of the venue. People will pay much more than a movie for a sports game, or a night at the club, etc., because there's a whole experience that cannot be bought and captured at home.
Movies on the other hand, you don't talk during them, much, or easily, so it's not like you share anything during the viewing at the theater, just before and after, screen size doesn't always mean much, especially with the low cost of big screens at home. There's a great deal of fun you can equal or even surpass with a solid home theater and a Blu-Ray, so it comes down to, is this movie worth the money to go see in a theater, or would I rather save some for another night at the bars and catch the movie at home, where $30 also ammounts to seeing it as many times as you want instead of a one shot deal.
At least in the states, it seems to me like where movies were once one of the big hooplas of culture to go out and do, in our decaying society, clubs, bars and all that sort of damaging lifestyle is the more appealing and movies are like a last resort almost, and you really have to want to see it to work it into your life.
Which is why I think TS isn't doing so well, it's good, but for a lot of folks, it's not worth giving up other things in your lifestyle for. Hell, if movies weren't such a big part of my life, I'd probably take people's word here about the quality of the film and just catch it on home video, but I like movies and there aren't a lot catching my attention and this one was a good one to get out and see, and I didn't walk away thinking I wasted my time going out, but I also didn't walk away thinking that was totally worth the effort to see, it was just good.
