Our First Movie Theater Experience

I have to be honest: I enjoy The Hunger Games books and movies. Seeing the latest movie once a year on opening weekend has become an accidental tradition. Despite what we originally thought, being in Panama had no bearing on our ability to see the movie opening weekend which enabled us to have our first movie theater experience. 

When you see a movie in Panama they either have Spanish subtitles or are dubbed over. If it is a popular movie, you have to see the subtitled version quickly. We have found that those versions do not stay in theaters very long before the only showtimes they offer are dubbed. 

Because of how quickly subtitled movies go, we wanted to be sure to try to see the movie opening day, if possible. The plan was to get the tickets (just in case it was busy) and get dinner and come back for the 8:00 showing. The show times online were very different than the actual show times. It was 6:30 when we got to the theater and the movie started at 6:35. 

Robert stood in line for the tickets while I stood in line for the food. We had no idea how much either of these would be so Robert gave me $30 so I could buy us "dinner." Ten minutes later Robert had the tickets and I had the food. 

The cost of an evening showing in 3-D was $7.75 a person. What surprised us the most was how you literally pick your seats (they are all the same price) and you were expected to sit at the seats you picked. The picture above was our ticket which was different than the typical stubs you get in the States. 

Dinner included two 32 oz drinks, a hotdog, nachos, a large popcorn (I hope it was it was a large and not a medium), and Skittles.  After spending $15 for food we were ready to go. When we got into the theater it was us and a handful of other people; not at all what I was used to, especially on an opening night.

I am not sure what it is about this movie but it seems like we always sit next to the talkers and the people who have never read the book. This time proved no different. A woman and her mother showed up late and sat in our row and talked throughout much of the movie. They were talking so much Robert and I eventually moved down a few seats. 

They, along with other people in the theater clapped and "awed" during a few scenes. The Hunger Games may be a guilty pleasure but my guilty pleasure stops after I watch the movie one time. 

Despite the talkative people our first movie theater experience was a positive one. The movie itself was not anything fantastic but it made for a fun date night. We have been meaning to see a movie and Thursday night we finally did.