"UP" with the movies.

I love to go watch movies. I love to go see movies in the theater. While I am happy to have the opportunity to watch a movie on demand or DVD in my husband's wonderful home theater room with surround sound, nothing compares to the experience in the theater. While it is nice to pause and go to the bathroom or to get a snack, the movie theater is where movies were born and where they belong. The popcorn smells better than microwaved corn, the candy shaking in the boxes is distinctive. My children always pick up their snack trash without a reminder. The big screen does make a difference even for the story/plot driven movies with no special effects. Plus, you share collective laughs, gasps, and groans with total strangers while you watch. You listen to the reviews start as soon as the credits roll as everyone weights in on whether the it was worth the price of the ticket. So we paid almost $49 dollars for four tickets to see "UP" in 3D today, plus about $20 for one bag of popcorn, two water bottles and one box of Reece's Pieces. And along with the family experience, we enjoyed the commentary of the three year old to my right as he became lost in the picture. We quietly laughed as he confided that the dogs were scary, when he announced "I only have one piece of licorice left!" and finally as he began to cry when he thought the house was lost forever, because the "The house isn't supposed to go away!" So when we left and talked about our respective favorite parts, we also laughed at the funny little boy on our row who took the entire experience to heart. He told his Dad that he wanted to stay until "all the words were gone". And we hope he gets more licorice.