The End of the Movie Theater?

We all love the movies, but what is it like for a typical family night at the movies?  First, we try to gather up the kids, pile in the car and drive across town to the local theater where we drive around the parking lot looking for a place to park.  Then once inside we plunk down $40 - $50 for tickets to the movie that we want to see, provided that it is not sold out.  Then we wander through the refreshment area and plunk down another $20 for soda and popcorn.  Then it is time to head back to the theater.  We walk up the aisle in search of the perfect seat.  We spot an acceptable seat in the middle of the theater so we politely say excuse me as we try to delicately walk in the dark, through the popcorn kernals and soda stained floor, by the six people at the end of the row, trying not to step on their toes or bump the heads of the people in the row in front of us.  As we reach our destination and sit down in our moderately comfortable seats we cringe as we look up and see the group of rowdy teenagers, cell phones in hand making their way into the seats directly behind us.  For the first half hour there is nothing but commercials and previews on the screen.  At last the movie starts, but no sooner has the movie started then cries of "I need to go to the bathroom" are heard from our youngest and we have no option but to shimmy out of the theater for our first potty break.  We return and begin our quest for our seats all over again.

And why do we go through all of this?  There is simply something magical about the movies.  We go to be swept away into other worlds or to relive an era of history or simply to relax and be entertained through the sights and sounds of the big screen.

But todays home theaters can enhance your cinematic experience, without the drawbacks of the movie theater.  Although you may not be able to watch on a screen as big as the local theater, you can still enjoy a high quality, high definition, large screen picture with immersive surround sound and not have to worry about crying babies, excessive commercials or missing part of the movie because of having to go to a dirty theater bathroom. 

Throughout this site we will guide you and provide information on how to best create the home theater environment, with set up tips, home theater system reviews and tips about how to make your home theater family friendly, comfortable and unique.  We will look at the integration of video games and home theater and identify quality family friendly content to enjoy on your home theater. 

Many find home theater to be confusing with all the talk of HDTV, 1080i vs 720p, HDMI, HD-DVD vs Blu-ray, but we will take the mystery out of home theater and give you easy to understand answers to your questions.