I'll tell you why there's a movie slump!

There's a summer movie slump underway, reports USA Today and The L.A. Times. Instead of the seasonal uptick the industry expected, not a single flick has made if past the $300 Million Dollar ticket sale mark so far, unusual for a season when people are supposed to be flocking to the theaters. By this time last year, there were two flicks above that mark. And the slump is not just in the U.S.: The Wall Street Journal reports "Bollywood" is hurting too.

May I suggest a reason or two, at least as far as the US goes? These are strictly personal observations. I have no research to back 'em up.

Ticket prices are high enough, even in Alabama, that it's an investment to take a family. But the salt in the wound is being forced to sit through ten minutes or more of ads, even before the gazillion trailers for upcoming shows. It's a good fifteen minutes after the published showtime before the movie starts.

And moviegoers are part of the problem too. The last movie I went to was in an almost empty theater on a Monday evening. There may have been a few folks scattered about, but not many. In comes a group of four girls and a boy who pick the seats right in front of us (naturally). They then talk and laugh through the entire show (no, it wasn't a comedy). Fortunately it was a horror movie that didn't requires paying attention to a lot of dialogue, but good grief! The boy couldn't go five minutes without pulling out his cell and opening it, shining the bright blue light in our face.

With big screen TV's and great audio systems in homes now, how much longer will folks put up with the pain of going to a theater to watch a flick? At least at home when the teenagers act up you can send them to their rooms. Plus, a bottle of water isn't $4.00. And you can even pause the whole thing to take a break.